Wu Wang Guo: Hotpot heaven open till 3am with slurp-worthy soup & 100+ ingredients like dragonfruit prawn paste
This is for all you hotpot fanatics— there’s a new contender in town, and boy, it is good. Wu Wang Guo is located on the third floor of Chinatown Point, and even though they just opened in February 2022, their wide variety of insanely good soups, freshly made ingredients and excellent service might just win you over.
You’ll find Wu Wang Guo nestled in an unassuming corner of Chinatown Point’s third floor. Specifically, they’re located above Chinatown Point’s main atrium, which contains other well-known shops and restaurants such as Starbucks and my favourite Ten Ren’s Tea.
While most might opt to come here for lunch or dinner, Wu Wang Guo could potentially turn into your next supper hangout spot. Not only is it open till 3am daily, all ingredients are discounted at 25% off from 9.30pm onwards.
If you thought that was the best part, wait till you hear this. The 25% off ingredients supper promo is applicable every single day! Yes, even on weekends, public holidays and special occasions like Mother’s Day.
Adopting a coral colour scheme is certainly refreshing, and I loved the curved, seashell-like booth seats, which made the entire space seem soft and inviting.
Wu Wang Guo also has private rooms that can fit larger dining groups, though a minimum spend of S$500 applies. While they currently only have two rooms that can sit up to 10 pax, we hear that they’ll be expanding their current unit to accommodate more in the future!
What I tried at Wu Wang Guo
As with every hotpot experience, I was most excited to try the soups first. We opted for the Quart Pot so that we could try four different soups.
At the staff’s recommendation, we went with three specialty soups that they were known for: WWG Collagen Beauty Soup (S$11), WWG Spicy Tom Yam Soup (S$7) and Nourishing Drunken Chicken Soup (S$8). We also ended up trying one of their newest soup bases: Golden Fish Maw with Pig Stomach Soup (S$7).
Just a side note: the prices mentioned above are for the Quart Pot, and each soup’s price will change depending if you choose the Single, Twin, Tri or even Personal Pot.
Chope: Save 29% at Wu Wang Guo
I’m a huge fan of collagen-based hotpot soups, and Wu Wang Guo’s rendition of this popular favourite was spot on. After having been boiled for over eight hours (according to a tested age-old secret recipe!) with a combination of pork and chicken bones, premium scallops, fish maw and sea cucumber, the collagen soup is super aromatic and rich with collagen. Full-bodied and sticky sweet, I could taste a fine silkiness that coated my lips like gloss. I know some collagen soups can get quite gao, but this was relatively light in texture and remained pretty drinkable throughout the meal.
The WWG Spicy Tom Yam Soup surprised me with its strong intensity. To create this soup, Wu Wang Guo had to boil chicken bones for 2.5 hours, before adding the chef’s secret recipe paste, which is made from herbs like lemongrass, galangal and chilli padi. The addictive soup was packed with sour and tangy flavours, with a rich base that made it a real delight to have on its own. As for its spice level, I’ve got to admit that it was spicier than expected, leaving me coughing slightly from its bright heat.
The Nourishing Drunken Chicken Soup was so delicious that I finished my whole bowl immediately. It tasted as if it could’ve been served at a fine-dining Chinese restaurant as it is— it was fragrant and sweet, with an intoxicating aroma from the added hua diao and glutinous rice wines. No wonder, as it had been made from a medley of premium herbs like red dates, Chinese Angelica root and Goji berries, and a milky broth that could’ve only been attained from slowly simmering chicken bones for six hours.
As if I wasn’t impressed enough, the newly launched Golden Fish Maw Soup with Pig Stomach turned out to be the undisputed favourite amongst my dining companions and I. Brewed for six hours with pork bones, pig stomach, chicken feet, fish maw and pumpkin, this robust and delicious soup was peppery and piquant. With every sip, it hit the spot and warmed my entire body.
Frankly, all four soups were so good that we spent the first 10 to 15 minutes drinking soup. It was fantastic. All of us agreed that we’d come back to order the Golden Fish Maw Soup with Pig Stomach again, while our second choice varied between the Nourishing Drunken Chicken Soup and WWG Collagen Beauty Soup.
Be sure to pay its condiments counter a visit! Wu Wang Guo charges S$3.80 per pax for free-flow condiments, which include fruits and appetisers.
Seasoned hotpot fans will love being able to concoct their own favourite sauces, but for those who might need a little help, Wu Wang Guo has cute illustrations that depict the recipes for their signature sauces. You can also ask the friendly staff to recommend and make the sauces for you.
Time to move on to the meat! As we wanted to try as much as we could without over ordering, we went with Wu Wang Guo’s assorted platters.
The Assorted Beef Platter (S$78.80) came with four types of beef, which were (clockwise from left) US Prime Short Rib, Beef Brisket, Japan A5 Wagyu Beef and Sliced US Beef.
Each of the beef slices are also available à la carte in half and full portions.
My favourite slice of meat for the night was the Japan A5 Wagyu Beef. Fat and meat melded together to create a surprisingly soft and silky mouthful that was such a delight.
Frankly, just thinking about being able to enjoy the Assorted Beef Platter at 25% off after 9.30pm made me so happy that I immediately told my friends and family about it, so yes, you’ll definitely see me again at Wu Wang Guo.
We moved on to the Assorted Pork Platter (S$38.80), which had (clockwise from top left) Nagano Pork Belly, Sliced Pork Collar, Spanish Iberico Pork Collar and US Kurobuta Pork.
Out of all the types of pork, the one that I enjoyed the most was the Nagano Pork Belly for its tender and juicy meat. Each thin slice of pork belly turned out amazingly soft, making me go back for more.
Personally, my go-to sauce comprises a mixture of garlic, soy sauce, chilli padi, crispy soy beans, coriander and spring onions, but two of Wu Wang Guo’s sauces won my heart that day.
The first was the Crispy Garlic Spicy Dip. For all you folks who love garlic crisps, this is for you. Filled with roasted notes and a savoury fragrance, it went well with all the meats that we had that day, though I’ve got to admit that it was oilier than expected.
I kept going back to the WWG Sesame Sauce for its piquant nutty flavours. It had a sweet saltiness, but it coated each meat slice in a velvety and silky way that reminded me of dipping my meat slices in raw eggs at shabu shabu places.
Be sure to order Wu Wang Guo’s specialty homemade pastes. The knockout star was the Dragonfruit Prawn Paste (S$12) which stunned me with its vibrant colour. After being cooked, I couldn’t taste any hint of dragonfruit in the springy balls of prawn meat, though I noticed it was juicier and slightly sweeter than normal.
You can also go for the Black Ebiko Prawn Paste (S$13), which popped in my mouth in a delightful way and went perfectly with the tender prawn meat.
For the ultimate show-stopping experience, try Wu Wang Guo’s Sake Drunken Prawn (S$13 for half portion, S$26 for full portion). Live prawns were covered with sake and served to us in a closed container. It was a real sight, with wriggling, fresh prawns that were jumping in the container!
While we tried to be brave and opened the lid of the container for a photo, trust me when I tell you to let the staff handle this dish instead. Though the prawns stopped moving due to the potent sake, they suddenly jumped out of the container, surprising us!
After our laughable attempt, the friendly staff at Wu Wang Guo took over and even peeled our prawns for us. A+ for effort.
While I was hesitant to try the crab knowing I’d have to deshell it by myself, I learnt that Wu Wang Guo’s staff would actually cook and deshell the entire crab for you. Huge points for service, because I barely had to get my hands dirty!
The last thing we tried was the Assorted Ball Platter (S$12.80).
While it originally came with four types of handmade balls— Ebiko Prawn Ball, Pork Meat Ball, Black Pepper Pork Meat Ball and Fish Ball, the friendly staff decided to add on two pieces of Coriander Beef Ball for us to try.
Note that the Coriander Beef Ball is available on its à la carte menu for S$5.20 for half portion and S$10.40 for full portion.
Though we had accidentally left the Coriander Beef Ball cooking in the soup for longer than we should’ve, they were still unbelievably soft and tender. Thankfully, the taste of the coriander was not too overpowering and added a fresh bite to the juicy meat.
As if we weren’t utterly stuffed already, Wu Wang Guo let us try three of their new dishes: Smoked Duck Dumpling (S$4.20 for half portion, S$8.40 for full portion), Scallop Prawn Ball (S$6.40 for half portion, S$12.80 for full portion) and the most intriguing of them all, the Signature Homemade Crab Tofu (S$2.20 each).
I’d recommend you try the Signature Homemade Crab Tofu— the outside was soft and firm, like cooked fish meat, while the inside was stuffed with juicy crabmeat that made this a real must-try.
Note that these new dishes will be available from 31 August 2022 onwards.
To end the meal, Wu Wang Guo brought out two shots of Palate Cleansers. The icy and refreshing yuzu and lychee shots helped to ease our fullness, rounding off the entire meal nicely.
Final thoughts
This was an impressive hotpot meal that left my dining companions and I stuffed, satiated and undeniably happy. When asked what was the best part of the meal, all three of us agreed that the soups were the main highlight, with the wide variety of ingredients coming in second place.
Being able to enjoy 25% off all ingredients after 9.30pm is a huge draw, and not to mention, Wu Wang Guo opens till 3am daily too. You can definitely bet that I’ll be back, be it for dinner or supper, to enjoy another piping hot bowl of Golden Fish Maw Soup with Pig Stomach with my newly found favourite ingredients and dips.
Note that if you’re dining past 10pm, do exit via Chinatown Point’s entrance with the taxi stand as the other one will be closed. For those driving, you can use the mall’s entrance at the Level 3 carpark.
Expected damage: S$35 – S$80 per pax
* This post was brought to you in partnership with Wu Wang Guo.
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