Qi Xiang Hotpot, The Chevrons: Free bubble tea, all-day Western breakfast menu, fried dishes, and over 90 hotpot menu items to choose from
I’m always looking out for supper spots, especially now that the alcohol ban has been lifted, and I foresee myself boozin’ past 10.30pm. So when I heard Qi Xiang Hotpot opens till 3am, I obviously had to recce the place before jio-ing my group of friends over. I also found out they’ve an all-new, all-day breakfast menu!
Located on the third floor of The Chevrons, Qi Xiang Hotpot is a flagship restaurant of the popular Qi Xiang Chicken Pot (located at a coffee shop in Kovan). Bear in mind, I’m a true blue Eastie so it took a lot out of me to travel all the way down to Boon Lay Way… for food.
What I tried
Before I begin, how many hotpot places do you know can say that they’ve got table-side sauce service? That’s right, not many. However, the joy of having someone wheel a cart of over 10 different kinds of sauces right to you and blend your personal sauce bowl is happiness like no other. I opted for their spiciest concoction, of course, while my colleague, Rachel, decided to go with the owner’s favourite.
It’s not often that you’ll find a cooked food section of the menu at hotpot places, let alone local cuisine. So, when we heard that Qi Xiang Hotpot had a range of them, we had to get it. We opted for the XO Carrot Cake (S$10.90++), Crab Meat Fried Rice (S$14.90++), Oyster Omelette (S$10.90++), and the fancy Boston Lobster (S$35++).
The Boston Lobster comes deep-fried with a crisp golden crust on top of its shell and is surprisingly meaty and full of flavour, despite it being seasoned with only salt and pepper. Suffice to say Rachel went to town on the lobsters completely disregarding the fact that we had more dishes to guzzle down.
We also enjoyed the XO Carrot Cake and Oyster Omelette. To quote Rachel, “they really know how to fry things ah; everything here’s so good”.
Next up, is the all-new, all-day breakfast menu. Honestly, I was sceptical. It’s pretty unorthodox for a hotpot joint to have an all-day Western breakfast menu, right? Either way, we were excited to try the Rosti Plate (S$10.90++) and Smoky Chicken Chop (S$9.90++).
The Rosti Plate comes with a side of semi-runny scrambled eggs, grilled sausage, salad, and sour cream. Let me just state for the (non-existent) record that Qi Xiang Hotpot quite possibly serves one of the best plates of scrambled eggs and rosti we’ve ever tasted.
The golden-brown potato patty was better than I had expected it to be— it was crisp and buttery, and close to perfection. If not for the hotpot feast, Rachel and I would’ve gone for another round of the Rosti Plate. Not forgetting the creamy scrambled eggs that would probably drive Gordon Ramsay to weep with joy. All in all, this dish is a clear winner in our books.
The Smoky Chicken Chop came highly recommended and is essentially a piece of grilled chicken thigh slathered with black pepper sauce, with a side of french fries and salad. Not a fan of chicken chop in general, the meat here was a tad chewy and dry for my liking. Personally, I would give this a miss and focus on the Rosti Plate.
Finally, the hotpot. Like any other hotpot place, we started with the soup base. At S$11.90++ per soup base, they’ve eight different flavours to choose from: Pumpkin, Signature Broth, Sour Vegetable, Herbal, Tom Yum, Laksa, Collagen, and Mala. We chose the Signature Broth Soup, as it came highly recommended, and the Mala.
The Signature Broth Soup tasted eerily similar to kicap ayam (an Indonesian/Malay chicken dish simmered in sweet soy sauce). It was sweet due to the soy sauce, but also had a tinge of spiciness thanks to the chillies. A soup base I’d come back for because Qi Xiang Hotpot knocked it out of the park!
The Mala soup base was creamy and spicy, and wasn’t what I was expecting. Although it didn’t capture me as much as the Signature Broth Soup did, I’d recommend this base for those of you who are huge fans of tonkotsu.
For vegetables, we got the Veg Platter (S$16.90++). It consists of cabbage, leafy greens, black fungus, and enoki mushrooms.
For seafood, we got a bowl of Fish Ball (S$4.90++), Fish Ball with Fish Roe(S$4.90++), and Quail Egg (S$4.90++).
Lastly, for meat, we got the US Beef Ribeye (S$19.90++), Chicken Cocktail Sausage (S$4.90++), and Iberico Pork Collar (S$14.90++).
Both the Wagyu and Iberico Pork Collar were thinly-sliced hence, they cooked within minutes, and although they were lightly seasoned, they oozed of flavour. I especially liked how well they complemented the soup bases.
If you like freebies, you’d love this bonus feature:
For a free Chicken Cutlet: say “winner, winner, chicken dinner” or “大吉大利，我要吃鸡”
For a free Pork Belly and Pork Collar Platter: say “我是小鲜肉 (Wǒ shì xiǎo xiān ròu)”
For a free Bubble Tea: Sing the chorus of GEM’s “泡沫 (Pào mò)”
Final thoughts
While I don’t foresee myself coming back here weekly due to distance, I’d definitely be back soon for their Rosti Platter and delicious Signature Broth soup base.
Qi Xiang Hotpot brims with so much promise, and the fact that they’re open till 3am makes it all the better for anyone to get the hotpot fix and any time of the day. Besides, where else can I get a well-executed rosti past 10pm?
Expected damage: S$10.90 – S$35 per pax
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