This was so good omg!!! One of my new favourite hotpot places to go to! Ordered the pork bone soup and tomato soup and holy the tomato soup was so good, I kept drinking it (coming from someone who hardly drinks soup lol)! Ingredients were super fresh and generous too. Definitely a must go!!!
Dinner with friends = HOT pot time! ✌🏻 Inspired by @eatbooksg who ordered everything on the menu at places like Shake Shake, A&W & The Alley (honestly we were just being gluttons 🐷🐷🐷), we ordered almost everything on the menu of @upinhotpot. 😂 After hours of feasting (& we did a decent job in finishing most of the food, it cost us $50 per pax (for 6 ppl), which I felt was very reasonable! 👌🏻 [NOT SPONSORED!]
.
We ordered the dual yuan-yang pot with their signature Tomato Soup 🍅 & Butter Soup (essentially Spicy Mala Soup 🌶 with blocks of butter!) for $18++. Honestly speaking, it was extremely intimidating looking at the amount of butter (& dried chillies) floating atop at the start 😱 - I could already feel my arteries choking up. But as they melted, the fragrance of the butter enhanced the soup base, which became a faint aroma especially after topping up soup. 🥣
.
We ploughed through the wide range of food items they offered & was delighted with the variety. 😍😍😍 Meats (prime beef $15 🥩, black pork $12 🐷, pork belly $8, mutton slices $10 🐑) were tender with no gamey taste, mash shrimp paste $12 🦐 was fresh, meatballs (we had cheese beef balls $12, mushroom meatballs $8, handmade pork balls $8, sweet corn pork balls $8) were firm yet bouncy. 💕
.
It was Fear Factor (Upin edition) 😱😱😱 with exotic items like Beef tripe ($12) & Swine throat ($12) but these were 2 items that we wouldn’t recommend as they were too tough. 🙅🏻♀️ Pig’s Stomach ($10) & pork liver ($6) were alright though! 👌🏻
.
Not only was it a gastronomical experience, it was also a cultural one - there was Sze-Chuan 变脸 (face-changing) performance 💯, as well as Dancing Noodles performance, just like at Hai Di Lao. 😊
.
Will we return? The answer is Yes! ✔ Mental note: do not over-order next time!
Portion here is huge. They do not have half portion so it will be better to come in a group so that you can try more! Pales in comparison to BIAP and Haidilao but overall still decent. Service was good. Allowed us to cancel the dishes after ordering.
Situated at Clarke Quay Central & Orchard Gateway, Upin Hotpot is a rival of the famous HDL, but in a pocket-friendly way.
They have popular soup bases such as mala and tomato soup, which is cooked daily to ensure its freshness and standards.
You’d be able to find the typical favourites such as shrimp paste ($12), Fried Beancurd Skin ($6) & the usual meaty suspects, Pork Belly ($8) & US Beef Slices ($12).
Portions all come in full sizes as half sizes are not available (yet), but still remains fairly affordable at
Visited Upin for a small pre-CNY gathering with friends after reading some reviews that it’s the more affordable and ‘some say even better’ than HDL option.
I made a reservation online requesting for a table overlooking the river (definitely do that because the view is nice!). Since it was for CNY, I also asked if it was possible to order Yu sheng or bring our own. They do serve Yu sheng but it requires one day advance booking. I received a call from them the day after confirming the reservation and asking about the Yu sheng. I’m a jiak kantang so I get antsy when Chinese restaurants call me especially if they speak mandarin - thank goodness this wasn’t the case here. The lady who called to confirm my reservation was very pleasant.
There was no queue at Upin when I arrived at 6.30pm and was promptly escorted to our table overlooking Clarke Quay. Like HDL, drinks are free flow but with additional charge (except for water). Condiments - similar situation. They pressed us to order the broths we wanted despite 3/5 of our group still absent. A max of 3 broths can be ordered, so we opted for mushroom, tomato and ma la. I do think the broths are pretty yummy, and they can go toe to toe with HDL, although the fragrance of the ma la broth wasn’t as strong or spicy.
Yu sheng was served after the hotpot. When it arrived, the colour on the dish looked quite dull. Not the usual vibrant colours of Yu sheng that excite me. The veg didn’t taste very fresh, and we didn’t enjoy the Yu sheng much. But of course they are a hotpot restaurant, so I can’t hold it against them. Would definitely give this a miss if I ever visited during CNY period again.
Overall, the decor isn’t as fancy, the service isn’t as attentive or friendly, nor are the ingredient and condiment selections as extensive as HDL. But it is definitely a more affordable option - so if budget is what’s on your mind - Upin is a viable alternative. For me though, there are other hotpot places I’d give a try before returning here, and I’d stick with HDL for the times I want to splurge on hot pot.
Yu sheng was served after the hotpot. When it arrived, the colour on the dish looked quite dull. Not the usual vibrant colours of Yu sheng that excite me. The veg didn’t taste very fresh, and there seemed to be way too much pickled veg which overpowered the taste of everything else. We didn’t enjoy the Yu sheng and didn’t finish the small portion shared amongst 5 of us. But of course they are a hotpot restaurant, so I can’t hold it against them. Would definitely give this a miss if I ever visited during CNY period again.
Their tomato base is like their signature or crowd favourite. The food here is fresh and the staff are helpful. It's bustling but you can still walk in. Fresh fruits complimentary and a few housemade drinks free flow like ice lemon tea and water chestnut of good quality and only $3!
The 3 soup option was quite a good deal and you get to choose which 2 soups you want as the main and which as the smaller soup. We got pork bone/tomato as the main and mala as the mini one.
All the soups were quite good, pork bone one being rich and flavorful, tomato was tangy and appetizing and the mala was spicy yet fragrant.
They had a sauce condiments table with all the different sauces + some side dishes and fruits and service was rly good all around.
Hits: TauKee roll, Potato Starch noodle, squid dumpling, prawn and mushroom balls, lotus root
Misses: Fish, meat and chive dumpling
would defo come back again and they’re open to 3am at clarkequay so y’all know what that means :/)
Helmed by a former chef from Hai Di Lao, the lesser known Upin sports a similar concept and menu sans the queues and steep prices. Mala fiends, note that the thickness, along with oil and spice levels of the mala broths here are customisable! As ingredients do not come in half portions here, come in big groups and order wisely – we'd recommend the Black Pork ($10) and Wide Vermicelli ($5).
Photo by Burppler Wei Zhi Chiang
If you don't wanna queue for HDL or feel uncomfortable with their over-the-top service, do consider dropping by Upin Hot Pot for something very similar. Everything here is ala-carte and you can choose up to 3 soup base, with the tomato soup being their signature. It was tangy, flavourful and, as with their other soups, pretty light and tasted clean on the palate. They also have a DIY sauce bar with access to some fruits, chopsticks which were longer, and provides apron if you need. While their staff stretching the lamian failed pretty badly, they kinda made it up with a Chinese face mask changing performance which was quite legit and entertaining.
All in all, Upin is similar to HDL with regards to the quality and cost, but loses when it comes to variety, service, and ambience.
Soup is legit! Decent steamboat place with good value. Great view of Clarke Quay also. Staff is super friendly and accommodating. Will come back again for sure😊
Variety ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - great selection of liao and sauces
Food quality ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - fresh but felt like some liao can be bought from the supermarket
Taste ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - rich and distinct soup base
Service ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - a service staff offered her cardigan bc one of us was feeling chilly
Price 💰💰💰💰 - so ex
⚠️⚠️
Inevitable effort not to compare this to the greatly appalled hdl. Some say the soupbase here is nicer since the standards has fallen at hdl. The dishes here are all in full portion though. Whereas i see this as a good alternative if u wanna skip the long queues at hdl for a smaller setting here.
.
#upinhotpot #hotpot #steamboat
Tucked away on the third floor of Clarke Quay Central, this is an underrated spot for a la carte steamboat. According to Burppler Tay Brenda, the chef here used to be from Hai Di Lao, which explains the similiar concept and menu items albeit at more affordable prices. For starters, choose the thickness of your broth, along with the oil and spice level if you're going for the mala soup base. Burpple Tastemaker Wei Zhi Chiang went for the Twin Pot ($14-$16, depending on broth type) and loved how both the mushroom and mala broths started out light yet got increasingly flavourful. Ingredients are really fresh and come in generous portions — they don't do half portions, so take Wei Zhi's advice to visit in a group to stretch your dollar. Some recommendations include Black Pork ($10), Prawn Paste ($12), Indian Lettuce ($4), Kelp ($4) andd Wide Vermicelli ($5). Beverages are free flow at $3 per person, while access to the sauces, seasonings and fruit table costs $4 each.
Pro tip: Upin takes reservations till 6.30pm before dinner crowds peak, and also opens till 3am for supper daily.
Avg price: $35
Photo by Burpple Tastemaker Wei Zhi Chiang
Very solid tomato base soup. Much tastier than HDL.
However choices of dishes are pretty limited to me. Why no cheese tofu???
This ala carte steamboat place is really underrated. We had a good variety of fresh and good quality ingredients to choose from. The food came really quickly also (just in time for us to do our flatlay photo 😂) Sauces and drinks are also free flow (one downside is that they should have more speciality sauces). Service was also attentive and refilled our drinks frequently. They also have entertainment in the form of the 'Face Changer'. Bill was also much cheaper than HDL! Definitely will be back!
Got to Clarke Quay with an izakaya in mind for lunch, but it poured so badly we found ourselves around this bubbling hot pot instead! Upin's relatively new and snugged on the 3rd floor of Clarke Quay Central. Can't say that I like this more than my fav HDL, but it was still really satisfying! We got the mushroom broth and ma la (why of course). Both broths started out lighter and became more flavourful half way through, as compared to HDL where the flavours hit you well from the start. Similarly, you also get to choose the amount of oil, level of spiciness as well as numbness for the ma la base. We went for the spiciest and it was good!
Prices are lower here, but they don't do half portions, so come in a bigger group to stretch your dollar! Some prices for comparison - Twin Pot ($14/$16, depending on the higher cost of soup among the two chosen), Black Pork ($10), Prawn Paste ($12), Indian Lettuce ($4), Kelp ($4), Wide Vermicelli ($5). Ingredients were fresh, quality and came in relatively big portions. Service was great too, we were served by a very friendly 吴阿姨! Beverages are free flow at $3 a pax, while access to the sauces, seasonings and fruit table is at $4 a pax. Upin takes reservations up till 6.30pm before the dinner crowd fills up the space, but is also open till 3am for supper. Will be back!
Decent, do not order the pork belly though, instead can try 栗子梅花肉. Overall above average.
lol. crowd is definitely shorter than hdl and beauty. ingredients were so so. special mention for the mala soup base. for someone who don't takes mala soup, i find it nice. there's the 香 in the mala. need more pple to join next time so they can lim more and also find out the pro in charades.
27 per pax.
#upinhotpot #steamboat #rtg4lyf #rtg4lyfxhotpot #burpple #hungrygowhere #8dayseat #whati8today #igfood #foodstagram #sgeats #sgfoodie #sgfood
