Bone & Pot (Yau Guat Hei) Steamboat Restaurant @ SS25, Petaling Jaya

Frequent commuters of LDP would notice a rather new steamboat restaurant called Bone & Pot just before (or after if you are coming from Kepong direction) Kelana Jaya station. The restaurant’s Chinese name – 有骨气 (Yau Guat Hei) is rather catchy too, as it doubles in meaning as “person of high integrity” and also to tell that their signature broth is prepared with pork bone.

Naturally there are three things that make a good steamboat meal: broth, fresh ingredients and dipping sauce. Bone & Pot realizes this very well so they put more emphasis on the broth’s quality by simmering it with big pork bones for over 24 hours – until it turns milky white naturally rich with pork bone flavor. Because of this, unlike the average steamboat restaurants that gives out their MSG-laden broth for free, Bone & Pot actually charges RM15 for their Signature Pork Bone Broth.

Bone & Pot also emphasizes a lot on homemade steamboat ingredients especially their meat balls and noodles. Their Homemade Pork Balls (RM6.90 for 4 pieces) is something I would highly recommend to try. Size of a ping pong ball, firm and tender when cooked, they are simply delicious. The obvious tradeoff is the price, which is really expensive at an aveage RM1.70 a piece. The White Crab Roe balls behind are equally recommended too, but also even more expensive @ RM8.80 for 4 pieces.

Not all the pork balls appealed to me though, I felt the Mushroom with Homemade Pork Ball @ RM7.90 was too overwhelmed by the strong mushroom taste.

Fresh Pork Neck Slices (RM15.90) are always enjoyable in any steamboat for their tenderness. Some people like to swish these thin meat slices in the boiling broth like Shabu Shabu but I suggest you to cook them properly for safety reasons. These are not those highly graded Wagyu or Kobe beef that could be consumed safely even though undercooked.

Pork Roll Needle Mushroom @ RM10.80, looks delicious but doesn’t deliver much on taste.

One of the more expensive item seafood they had is the Raw Shrimp (Sang Har) @ RM18 each. Each shrimp is conveniently halfed so you won’t have to peel off the hard shells to get into the flesh.

Despite being huge and fresh and all, the shrimps are certainly not worth the expensive price tag. But we ordered it anyway just for the heck of it.

If properly cleaned, Pork Abdomen (RM9.90) is a lovely addition to any soup based dish for its scrumptious texture. If you do order this, make sure you add them last or risk making your entire pot of broth tasting like pork stomach soup only. Take it from our experience, ok?

Six types of mushroom are available here and I particularly liked the White Mushroom (RM6.80) for its original, mild taste.

Shrimp Dumpling (sui gao) @ RM6.90, very much nicer than the average and packed with delicious fillings.

Fried Yam @ RM5.50, quite a rare snack but tastes nothing really special since it is more like a filler for the meal.

The signature broth might not be as flavorful as initially expected, I have to admit on that. But after adding in the various ingredients and let the broth slowly absorb the flavors, it gets a lot better gradually. While the average steamboat’s broth usually get really salty and not drinkable, this one tastes fine as long as you don’t add in the intestinal parts early.

Coupled with a few other items we ordered that I did not mention the bill came to a total of RM204.40 for 5 pax inclusive of 10% service tax. No doubt Bone & Pot is one of the better steamboat restaurant around that serves quality broth and fresh ingredients but they are not cheap, in fact overpriced for certain items.
And if you plan to give them a try you better make a reservation especially during weekends. Even though the restaurant looks big and spacious from outside, the number of tables are actually quite limited (upstairs is reserved for VIPs only). Plus, the turn around time for steamboat is longer than any other meals so be prepared to wait in line if you plan to dine as walk-in customers.

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