There are many, many places for hotpot, steamboat and BBQ grill in Singapore, but throw out the suggestion of "steamboat at Beach Road" to just about anyone, and three places will automatically come to mind.
It is no coincidence, of course, that all three are located right next to each other, and all of them sit around the junction of Liang Seah Street and Beach Road.
The one we went to sits closest to Park View Hotel- literally right next door- and, unlike the other two who look like they are eyeballing each other, this one sits nonchalantly on her own looking out directly onto the main Beach Road.
We were there on a weekend afternoon, reaching the place just after the end of the lunch hour, so there was sufficient space inside and out. We were given a choice, and although on other days I would go for the spruced up interior with cool air-conditioning, it so happened that this was a very cool, windy day, and so we decided on a table right next to the drink machine on the out.
It was a good spot- there was a bit of aircon, we were near to the food counters, and best of all, not too far away from the sauces and the utensils. Being near to the utensils is important. You never know when you need a last minute ladle, a last minute pair of tongs or an extra plate or two.
We settled down. I went off to gather the bowls, the plates, the tongs, the spoons, the ladles, and the chopsticks, after which it was the sauces. Both of us took two little bowls of sesame sauce mixed with sesame oil. One bowl had chopped garlic. The other had parsley, spring onions and chives.
One very good thing about steamboat and BBQ is that you can tailor your sauces however you like, and it is up to you if you want soy sauce, peanut sauce, sesame sauce, or just a mix of chili, sugar and salt.
Lunch that day was meat.
Lots and lots of meat.
I think we must have loaded up on two portions of pork, two portions of chicken, a little bit of pork belly and three portions of beef. Add to that the ingredients that we dropped into the soup, and there would have been two servings of corn, two handfuls of mushrooms, a bit of noodles, lettuce, cuttlefish balls and prawns.
We had a great time.
The cooking was fun, the meal was filling. Eventually we forwent the dinner hour and simply went straight for tang yuan dessert elsewhere when it was time.
The cooking was fun, the meal was filling. Eventually we forwent the dinner hour and simply went straight for tang yuan dessert elsewhere when it was time.