One Pot 一锅: Under-the-radar steamboat with 15 ingredients & refillable soup at S$20 in Mountbatten
When we think of steamboat, folks are quick to name the famous few — Hai Di Lao, Beauty in the Pot, etc. But, have you heard of One Pot 一锅 at an ulu coffeeshop in the Mountbatten area?
Known for their affordable rates, this steamboat spot was opened by Singaporean inline skater Brent Tay. Brent used to skate at the nearby Kallang Leisure Park and would often drop by this very coffeeshop to grab some grub. He long dreamed of setting up a stall here and his dream has come true in the end.
There’s something so sentimental about setting down new roots where you first started, so I can understand the passion behind this skater’s mission. Will this truly be a hidden gem? There was only one way to figure it out.
This steamboat joint definitely is well-hidden. Yet, its popularity is astounding. On a Sunday night, just 2 hours after opening, groups had to be turned away due to quickly-disappearing ingredients. This is probably the only time that being a lone diner worked to my advantage, as there was just enough for me to be accepted to be seated in the midst of the other ‘successful’ customers.
With the smell of that pork bone soup wafting through the air, I sat and waited eagerly for my ingredients to arrive. An important note would be to have patience, as there were only 3 wait staff among the sea of customers. I waited a good half hour, which was not too bad considering the immense crowd.
What I tried at One Pot 一锅
The ordering system is quite straightforward. A selection of either Beef, Chicken or Pork as your protein is selected for your set. Each platter set comes with a boatload of your usual steamboat galore, with cabbage, mushrooms, fish balls, crab sticks, prawns and many more. They even provided quail eggs!
Having gotten the 1 pax Beef Set (S$20), I genuinely was not expecting much. Thus, the huge platter blew me away. For lots of deluxe ingredients like enoki mushrooms, handmade fish balls and cabbage, this was definitely a steal!
One Pot offers only a single broth — Pork Bone broth, which apparently comes from a supplier and isn’t made in-house. Though I have heard complaints, I had none as the soup had a deliciously light taste that complemented the items well. Simple yet fantastic, what was there to complain about?
It definitely helps that the soup is refillable, with soup kettles at the storefront for convenience. The soup refilling is completely self-service, so what better way to ask one of your dining partners to do that while you sit back and enjoy?
Another negative assumption I made was that the ingredients would be of low quality since they provide such a large quantity. I was glad that my assumption was wrong. As an extreme lover of cabbage in steamboat, I was elated to find out that it was sweet, which is evidence of its freshness. My personal advice would be to cook it till it’s soft and has soaked up that goodness from the broth!
To my surprise, the fish balls were translucent, unlike store-bought ones. Freshly made, these goodies are incredibly bouncy and practically spring into your mouth. I had practically devoured my first and was immediately scavenging for the second ball with utmost urgency.
There was an ambiguous minced meat, which I found out was minced pork. I loved how the meat was freshly minced, and wholeheartedly believe that there is a stark difference in flavour compared to pre-minced meat.
Likewise with the beef. One Pot is the first coffeeshop stall I’ve seen that uses their very own meat slicer. s, Brent emphasised the importance of the freshness of the beef in a few blog posts, before making the call to get the machine. Although it was not melt-in-your-mouth standard, it was still very good.
Be sure to either book in advance or not come as late as I did, as my platter only had 4 slices of beef due to low stock.
Overall, my absolute favourite item was the Prawn Paste (S$5). As a complete prawn paste fanatic, it is truly a shocker that my lofty requirements were satiated here. Containing huge chunks of prawn meat distributed well through it, the paste was practically calling my name. I almost ordered a second tub, unable to resist the freshness of that prawn flavour.
Final thoughts
Would I come again? Definitely yes. Though, in order to not compete in the literal hunger games, I would probably come on a weekday to avoid the weekend fever. A piece of noteworthy advice would be to contact One Pot to reserve a platter to avoid disappointment.
Expected damage: S$20 – S$30 per pax
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