I don’t always buy vouchers from group-buying sites. But when I do, I make sure it is worth it. Recently Groupon had a deal for Tian Siang Hui Wei – a restaurant that could be summarized as a fine-dining grade of steamboat/hot pot based on their pricing and service. I have heard a lot about them from friends who have dined there before and although all the feedback was encouraging, they all shared the same comment that it is not cheap too.
Anyway, the Groupon’s deal I mentioned earlier was that each RM50 voucher cost only RM25, which is equivalent to a saving of 50%. The catch is that it could only be used solely for food only while drinks and service charges must be paid in full. Regardless it was still a great deal and being a steamboat freak that I am, there is no better opportunity than this to try Tian Siang Hui Wei.
The restaurant looks like a proper Chinese restaurant rather than a normal steamboat place – clean, comfortable. Each diner is given a set of individually wrapped cutlery as well. Also, let me tell you about their “immaculate” service – it is quite extreme that we feel it was borderline intrusive.
At Tian Siang Hui Wei, you are expected to be seated and do nothing but pick food from the pot. I don’t know if that’s how steamboat is enjoyed back in Taiwan/China or wherever the waitresses come from, but I think part of the joy of steamboat is that you get to cook your own food at your desired pace. Here, the waitresses would help you dump everything into the pot unless you stop them. And boy do they look unhappy about it lol.
Other than that the meal was great and this is no doubt one of the best steamboat in town (if you do not consider the price factor) There are two types of soup base here – either spicy (Tain Siang Pot) or non spicy (Hui Wei Pot) like what you would have expected. We chose the latter because all of us don’t really like the spicy and numbing sensation. It cost RM35 for a pot and luckily any subsequent refills are free or else.
The reason they are charging for the soup, as opposed to most steamboat restaurants that provide it for free is that it was boiled with 60 all-natural ingredients (mostly Chinese herbs) without any MSG or food chemicals. I could vouch for that since I drank like tens of bowls of the delicious soup but did not feel thirsty at all. But make sure you consume a few cuppa of their specially concocted cooling tea later to reduce heatiness in your body.
We ordered more than 20 items from the menu so I am going to be brief and not going into detail for every one of them. But just so you know both the meat and seafood are very fresh so don’t worry about the quality. The most expensive meat we had that night was the 5 Cereal Beef @ RM48 – great marbling, tender and very flavorful.
If the 5 Cereal Beef is too expensive, you could opt for the High Grade Beef instead @ RM38.
Five Flower Pork @ RM23 – need I say more about this?
Sea Prawn @ RM36 – kind of pricey but very fresh and large sized.
Prawn/Squid Paste in Bamboo (both look the same) @ RM20 – contains real squid and prawn meat inside and the paste does not taste fishy at all, very highly recommended.
Squid Sausage @ RM36 – a must have here. You know they are cooked when they are all curled up.
Mongolian Wraps @ RM20 – a delicious vegetarian bun made of tofu with mushroom and asparagus filling.
Pork Shoulder @ RM21 – not bad but I would get the Five Flower Pork instead because the presence of fat makes it so much nicer.
Ostrich Meat @ RM35 – a very rare ingredient as far as steamboat is concerned. The meat texture is very similar to beef but as you can see it is very lean with no visible fat. A healthier option to beef but some may find the meat slightly tough when cooked.
Scallops @ RM30 – frozen ones but still fresh nonetheless. I wouldn’t order this again in my next visit though, simply because six of these are not really worth the price. I’d get another plate of meat instead.
NZ Mussels @ RM18.
Tain Siang Fish @ RM32. I am not sure what this fish is called since it is simply labeled as ‘Tain Siang Fish’. But I did some findings on my own and suspect that it could be Sea Bream. Anyway there are a few types of fish to be ordered here but they are all way over our budget (imagine RM100+ for 1 fish) Tastes surprisingly good with a buttery texture, not bad at all.
Another rare ingredient called Monkey Head Mushroom @ RM17. No prize guessing where it got its name from, it is all hairy and does look like a monkey’s head. Unlike most mushrooms that are soft with an earthy taste, this one is quite tasteless with an interesting meat-like bite.
And lastly, their signature handmade noodle @ RM24 – nothing special for me, it tastes like pan mee if you ask me. Takes a long time to cook too.
If you are wondering the total damage for this meal, here you go. A nice and satisfying meal only worth doing again using Groupon’s voucher, which helped us saved RM300.
Tian Siang Hui Wei 天香回味
D-1-58, IOI Boulevard,
Jalan Kenari 5, Puchong
Tel: 03-8082 2168
wow..the price quite expensive one..
600+ for a steamboat meal is quite ridiculous!
700 for 2? That’s really expensive. I’ve not tried this place, but recently, I found the absolutely best steamboat in KL, which I suspect is better than this. You should try it, Elegant Inn, the chinese restaurant in Menara Hup Seng, yup, they do steamboat too. The broth is brilliant, no MSG, subtle taste that does not overpower the fresh ingredients. You could order a whole tiger garoupa, for 200+, they would slice it for you and you would dip the fillet in the soup, and they would deepfried the head & bones salt & pepper style. Excellent. And it’s still cheaper than this. We paid 570 for 4 pax, although not so much meat slices, but it was an excellent meal, go try it!
It’s 5 of us actually
this is not unlike the ubiquitous hotpot(火锅） restaurant in china.nice indeed to have something i always crave for while in malaysia-will endeavour to make it to the restaurant this weekend.in china they have different grades of sliced beef with price ranging from MYR24 to MYR60.in beijing for a decent hotpot meal for 4(顺来德 or even 小肥羊） it will probably cost about MYR300 inclusive of beer(cheap in china about 4 ringgit for a bottle of 青岛啤酒）
thanks for the recommendation
Glad you found this. It’s one of my favorite steamboats as well, and like you I will only go with 50% discount coupons LOL!
I think next time you can try the signature transparent noodle, but I forgot the name. It’s quite good, but very slippery to pick with chopsticks though.
I Think everything is good. But Cost is Very Expensive. But i like steamboat meals. i accept any cost to it.
Very expensive steamboat meal you have there. No wonder the restaurant looks empty.
The Ostrich Meat and squid ink sausage is really interesting in a steamboat menu.
But then again 700 bucks is really expensive to say the least.
Foods are over-priced with 50% discount. This is the trick. End up you are paying at normal price and will not be cheap. I bought RM500 (coupon value RM1000) and ate a few times at their Pudu old branch (now closed down) since few years ago.
Though they emphasize no MSG used but i doubt there are some other MSG-like condiment used in the soup, eventually made me very thirsty and body heaty. Well my body cannot tolerate with too much MSG.
Never visit again after spent the RM1000 coupon. :)
China restaurant do serve people like that..you just sit back and enjoy..