Xiao Long Kan Hotpot 小龙坎老火锅 (Bugis Junction)

Indeed crispy, and not bad as a side but nothing amazing.

The food overall surpassed expectations, but the experience was quite no-go for us. Ventilation was extremely bad and the mala spices were triggering all of our noses - couldn't stop sneezing/ sniffing throughout the entire meal, which kinda ruined a would-have-been-perfect meal.

There's 10% off @chopesg voucher you can purchase to make it more worth it!

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 (solely for food and service, and if not for the extremely bad ventilation)

Surprisingly not bad - different from those wokhei laden fried rice from tzechar stalls, but still quite comforting, and decently flavoured.

🌟 Dumplings ($6 for 9 pcs) were worth ordering, as I was surprised how juicy and flavourful the dumplings were!

They're known for their triple flavour pot ($20), and we picked their Pork Bone, Tomato, and Butter Mala (you really need to be able to handle spicy food because the 小辣 was pretty spicy). Tomato broth is less sour compared to HDL's, and pork bone was less bold in terms of flavour but still not bad! Overall enjoyed their broth (minus the mala because too spicy for us).

Meat were q fresh and chicken was surprisingly really soft (not chicken breast). Meatballs were not bad too, quite flavourful.

Don't skip this if you're a fan of mochi! The rice cake was hot and crispy, and the inside was so so chewy I loved it. The sweet sauce doesn't do a lot to flavour, but it does provide some sweetness to the rice cake. But don't leave it till it's cold - it'll become q hard on the outside.

NGL apart from the hotpot and broth, I was actually there more for their cooked food -

🌟 Fried bun with condensed milk - Full Gold (aka Fried Man Tous) ($6)
Must get imo! Extremely crispy, and well-fried fragrant mantous, which paired well with the condensed milk (thankfully not diluted unlike some other places) - and not every hotpot place does fried mantous well so YES worth ordering.