I had not thought we would be going to Happy Lamb this afternoon- I mean there were things to do- but then my friend said they had that same great lunch deal and everything, it would be a pity to not spend an hour or two just slurping soup and munching away.
So- hotpot fan that I am- we went.
Especially since I felt the pictures from the last round didn't seem to turn out too good and I wanted to take better, nicer pictures this time.
My friend was in charge of ordering the meats.
Me, I went over to the counter and got myself a a plate of vegetables.
Those who know me and my hotpot style will know that I am a keen fan of lettuces when it comes to hotpot. Something about being able to dunk all them vegetables in at one go and watch them cook means a great deal to me.
I love the way the leaves soak up all the soup.
I love the way the soup bursts out of the leaves every time I take a bite.
There's just something soft and mushy and slurpy that speaks to me all at the same time.
So this time I filled up my plate with lettuces.
At first I was planning to take only lettuces, but then when I got to the counter I saw that their cabbages were very huge, and fresh too. Feeling it impossible to resist- I do like stir-fried and boiled cabbage- I got myself a couple of leaves.
Somewhere further down from the leafy counter, I saw that they had quail eggs, so I got myself three. Then there was this abundance of bean curd skin, which, whilst with other dishes I might not take as a choice, the ones here looked interesting, and I knew, for sure, they actually went very well with the soup.
How many strips of these bean curd skins I took, I don't know, perhaps there were four or five.
It wasn't just all fresh ingredients on the plate.
Yes, very tempted I was to get myself some of those balls that I fancy very much- lobster balls and sotong balls- but they fill up, and so I helped myself to just two pieces of cheese tofu.
By the time I got back to the table, the meats had arrived.
So, into the pot they went, slice by slice.
I've always loved the way Happy Lamb serves up their chilled beef. Never once has it been that the beef comes out half chilled, or haphazardly dumped onto the plate. Always has it been that they come out chilled, cold (sometimes almost frozen) but beautifully rolled up, aesthetically arranged. Some platters get you an extra decor of a flower in the center of all the meat. Ours- since we're really just there to eat, don't.
But it doesn't matter.
I am really there to just eat.
5 or 6 of these platters we got this afternoon.
It might sound like a lot, but the slices are really thin, easy to eat, and so tender when swirled around in the pot.
I like my meal alternated between cooking and eating.
That way it becomes a rhythm, a pattern where the mouth and hand don't stop but go at a pace that is comfortable and satisfying both at the same time.
Helps, of course, that there is variety.
I don't mean it in terms of meat alone, but also their cooked, which, one has to be careful to not take a lot, even if you might want to.
Here they have offerings in the form of finger food- potato fries, sweet potato fries, onion rings, spring rolls, mantous, and fried rice. There's also braised pork, which to date I haven't tried, mostly because I'm too occupied with the fried.
It would be lovely if I had enough stomach room for the fries, but I don't, so I go for either the onion rings, or the spring rolls instead.
Not just one serving, mind, at least two, or three, depending on my mood that day.
This afternoon I think I took at least six onion rings altogether, and maybe two, three spring rolls.
And because they didn't have mayonnaise, I dipped them with condensed milk instead. It's not any special flavor, just, well, milky sweet, which, to my surprise, tastes just as nice anyway.
The highlight of a hotpot here at Happy Lamb, naturally for me, is the meat and the vegetables, but one cannot come to a buffet spread like this and not cast an eye over the rest of the ingredients.
There is, in fact, a lot to be had, and perhaps next time I should consider helping myself to more.
It seems a tad silly to not go for their carrots or leeks or sweet corn.
It also seems a tad silly to not go for their variety of hotpot faves, like the fish balls, the lobster balls, the kelp, the fresh tofu, the processed tofu, even the hot dogs and all those stuff they said are made from fish or some other seafood but one isn't sure.
But I made sure I had my fill of those big green lettuces.
Plus a few more pieces of cheese tofu.
There was one other thing I tried this particular afternoon.
Sweet potato noodle strips.
The diner at the next table had had it, and I thought it looked interesting, so to the counter I went for a strip or two.
It turned out to be one of the best new discoveries to be had here at Happy Lamb.
See, I am the sort who likes her noodles flat, thick, and chewy.
At many a place it would be rice noodles hor fun.
Here, however, is the sweet potato noodle, and so good it is, too,
Thick, soft, chewy, all at the same time, it made for an additional texture to the meal- without filling me up. I had it with a piece of soup-soaked cabbage, a soup-soaked piece of dark green lettuce- and so wrapped my tongue up in a wee bit of soup taste too.
I might go for more of these sweet potato noodles at another time.
Especially since I don't see them at hotpot buffets very often.
They would make for a very nice bowl of carbs that you cook, put aside, with all the ball ball and cheese tofu, then pick out and eat whenever in the course of the meal you so desire.
There'll definitely be more than one strip, for sure.
We finished our meal with some dessert this time.
At the counter there were almond jellies and what I think might have been chin chow jellies. I thought of having some, but decided on a strawberry soft serve instead.
Ice cream makes for a gorgeous end to a meal, and better yet, a good meal, where, I realize, I can take cups more than one if I should so wish to.
Maybe I will, when I come back here again, another time.