Best hotpot restaurants in Singapore: Sumptuous buffets, sets and a la carte menus

Despite our year-round tropical climate is more suited to frozen sweet treats or ice cold beer, our Singaporean propensity for all things soupy is hard to defy. We get it! Some days you just want to sit around a steaming pot of broth with friends and family, nibbling on fresh slices of meat, vegetables and other handmade goodies. Here's a round up of some of our favourite hotpot restaurants in Singapore, from buffets and set meals to a la carte menu.

Hot Pot Buffet and Set Meals

Guo Fu Hotpot Steamboat

Since its inception in 2005, Guo Fu Hotpot Steamboat has made its mark as a forerunner of individual hotpots. Experience their lip-smacking Fat Cow Hotpot Buffet, providing diners with a rich selection of more than ten nourishing soup bases like the Beauty Soup and Male Vitality Soup or popular favourites like the Millet Golden soup.

Meat lovers can also look forward to an array of over 60 offerings, including an unlimited supply of sumptuously premium fatty beef. However, the real highlight is the handmade Xiao Long Bao, perfected over 17 years through a secret recipe and is available in unlimited supply. With an impressive assortment of house-crafted dipping sauces to accompany your hotpot, Guo Fu Hotpot Steamboat promises a satisfying gastronomic adventure.

Guo Fu Hotpot Steamboat is located at 20 Cross Street #01-31 Cross Street Exchange, Singapore 048422, p.+65 6557 0906. Open daily for lunch (S$29.90++ per adult, S$15.90++ per child) and Mon-Thu & Sun (S$31.90++ per adult, S$17.90++ per child), Fri-Sat (S$33.90++ per adult & S$17.90++ per child) for dinner. 

Si Chuan Dou Hua at Parkroyal on Beach Road

Si Chuan Dou Hua takes Mala up a notch with its Signature Sichuan-style Mala Butter broth, balanced with spice and buttery flavours. The flavourful spicy broth is best enjoyed in the Majestic Sichuan Hot Pot Set that comes with generous servings of seafood, meat, and vegetables — from lobsters and 8-head abalone to Australian wagyu beef and Kurobuta pork, and a vegetable platter. Less spicy but equally delicious broths like the Boiled King Garoupa Bones with Preserved Capsicum and Double-boiled Imperial Fish Maw Collagen are available too for folks looking for a milder base.

Si Chuan Dou Hua at Parkroyal on Beach Road is located at 7500 Beach Rd, Singapore 199591, p.+65 3138 6711. Open daily 11.30am -2.30pm & 6.30pm -10pm. Majestic Sichuan Hot Pot set is S$98++ per person (minimum 2 to dine, one-day advance reservations required). .

Suki-Ya

Bringing the warmth of Japanese hotpot cuisine to Singapore's vibrant food scene with its all-you-can-eat hotpot buffet, there's a reason Suki-Ya is deemed "House of Hotpot". Transporting guests to a realm of exquisite Japanese flavors with unique soup bases like Sukiyaki, Butaniku, and the nutritious Japanese winter broth, Fresh Soy Miso (add S$2), the spot has got something for everyone and every occasion.

Whether you're heading down to feast for a celebration or to meet with friends, delight in their top quality chilled Shabu-Shabu beef, pork, or farmed chicken, alongside heaps of fresh greens from the vegetable bar. You can even grab a quick lunch with their newly launched Shabu Shabu Hot Pot Lunch Set (S$12.90++). The fuss-free set comes with a soup base of your choice and three trays of meat, vegetables, fish balls and noodles.

Price for all-you-can-eat hotpot buffet:
Regular Lunch S$22.90++, Regular Dinner S$27.90++
Premium Lunch S$32.90++, Premium Dinner S$38.90++

Suki-Ya has various outlets throughout Singapore including Bugis+, Bukit Panjang Plaza, Heartland Mall Kovan, Kallang Wave Mall, Marina Square, Plaza Singapura, and VivoCity (Suki-Ya Kin). For more information, please visit their website. 

Xiabu Xiabu Restaurant 

Combining two favourites — hot pot and bubble tea, the popular Chinese hot pot chain Xiabu Xiabu offers set meals starting from S$28++ with bubble tea. Every diner gets an individual pot with their signature mushroom soup base and an additional choice from its menu of five soups. Crowd favourites include Tomato soup and the Stew Pork Tribe and Chicken Soup (add S$2++). The set meal also includes free-flowing desserts, condiments and noodles such as vermicelli, udon and more.

Xiabu Xiabu is located at Lazada One, 51 Bras Basah Rd, #01-03/04, Singapore 189554, p+65 6022 0116. Open daily 11am -11pm.

The Buffet Restaurant

The first halal steamboat restaurant in Singapore's city centre, The Buffet Restaurant at M Hotel, features a Chinese-style steamboat buffet with extensive seafood, meat and vegetable options alongside a "live" prawn station. Accompany these with Chef's house-made dipping sauces and MSG-free broths like Supreme Collagen Rich Broth (+S$9), Spicy Thai Tom Yum and Singapore Laksa. Round up the meal with a delightful dessert platter served upon request.

The Buffet Restaurant is located at 81 Anson Road, M Hotel Singapore, Level 2, Singapore 079908. Opens daily 6pm-10pm. Steamboat Buffet runs Wed-Thu S$55++ per adult, S$27.50++ per child & Fri-Sun S$65++ per adult, S$32.50++ per child. Reserve here.

Good Combo Hot Pot & BBQ Buffet 

If variety is the name of the game, Good Combo definitely comes up on top with its tiered buffet selections, featuring over 90 items, along with 10 premium items in its extensive menu.

From specialised meat cuts for hot pot and grill to customisable dipping sauces, let your culinary imagination go wild as you cook up a storm. Catering to diners' palates, the restaurant occasionally launches new soup bases like Pumpkin broth, while their staple selections of Tomato, Chicken, Mushroom, and Prawn broth deliver robust flavours all year round.

Good Combo Hot Pot & BBQ Buffet is located at 75 Pagoda Street (Chinatown MRT Exit A), Singapore 059234, p. +65 6980 7666. Open Mon-Thu 11.30am-10.30pm & Fri-Sun 11.30am-1am. The tiered buffet runs from S$19.99++ per person in the Superb Buffet, from S$27.99++ per person in the Signature Buffet & from S$42.99++ per person in the Supreme Buffet.

Hot Pot with A la Carte Menu

Coucou Hotpot‧Brew Tea

This Taiwanese-style hot pot restaurant pulls away from the rest with its upscale look — sleek and dark ambience, wafting mist embellishing the entrance — and bubble tea. The hot pot chain offers unique broths such as the Taiwan Style Spicy Soup Base, Fish with Sichuan Pickles, and Coconut Chicken, served in an iron pot fashioned after the ancient cooking cauldron known as the 鼎. Besides fresh seafood and meat, the menu also includes braised offals that you can boil or eat on its own.

Coucou Hotpot:Brew Tea has various outlets throughout Singapore including Jewel, Suntec City, and i12Katong. Please refer here for full details.

Xiao Long Kan Hotpot Singapore

Eating at Xiao Long Kan Hotpot is like stepping back in time into a traditional Chinese eatery, complete with wooden door frames and hanging lanterns. Their sizzling hot pots cook up a symphony of Sichuan flavours in their piquant Butter Spicy Soup. Balance the spicy soup in the double pot with soup bases like Tomato, Mushroom or Pork Bone to enjoy. Together with the wide range of seafood and meat, enjoy speciality dishes like beef tripe, minced handmade prawn and the meat and seafood balls platter.

Xiao Long Kan Hotpot Singapore has various outlets throughout Singapore. Please see here for full details.

Beauty in The Pot

It's said that collagen is good for the skin — and that is in abundance at Beauty in The Pot, where their nourishing soups are served protein-rich with health benefits. Offering yin and yang soup bases Beauty Collagen Broth and Spicy Nourishing Broth free-flow, feast on handmade offerings such as Fish Tofu and Fried Beancurd Skin, accompanied by a wide selection of fresh vegetables, fish and meat.

Beauty in The Pot has various outlets throughout Singapore. Please see here for details.

Shang Pin Hot Pot

If two soup bases aren't enough, go for a trio or a quart of broths at Shang Pin Hot Pot. Featuring assorted fresh meats and vegetables as well as over 20 condiments for you to customise your sauces, they offer four bases, from the tangy Tomato to the rich Pork Bone and spicy Sichuan Mala that each brings out different nuances in the ingredients.

Bring down a large group to share all three soups — Shang Pin is generous while being affordable at the same time. Save some room for dessert, as you slurp away the unique "ice kacang" hot pot.

Shang Pin Hot Pot is located at 80 Marine Parade，#01-10, Parkway Parade, Singapore 449269. Open daily 11 am–10.30 pm & 6 Raffles Boulevard, #02-102/102A Marina Square, Singapore 039594. Open daily 11.30 am–11 pm, p+65 6966 7666. 

Hai Di Lao

The popular go-to for hotpot with outlets around the island, Hai Di Lao makes the addictive heat-laden broth as they do in China — the original Hai Di Lao opened in 1994 in Sichuan and has since expanded to other cities in and beyond the country.

Here in Singapore, they boast eight soup bases, including Tomato, Pork Stomach and Chicken, Bai-Yu and Laksa, along with a wide list of ingredients from meat and vegetables to soybean products and seafood to cater to all tastes. We recommend going for the specialities to spice up your dinner — among this, the Tofu Pudding and Handmade Cuttlefish Cakes come to mind.

Hai Di Lao is located in multiple locations. Please refer here for full details.

Imperial Treasure Steamboat Restaurant

For a posh spot to dine, Imperial Treasure Steamboat Restaurant offers signature soups and options perfect for indulging in steamboat. Situated in malls in town, the restaurant offers premium produce such as tiger king prawn and abalone get their time to shine, and bases are made daily from scratch and simmered for hours to bring out the best in flavours.

Have yourselves their Four Treasure Ball Platter, handmade from prawn, cuttlefish, pork and canton dace fish daily, in any of their 10 available soups, from Century Egg & Parsley Soup to Satay Flavour Soup for something more local.

Imperial Treasure Steamboat Restaurant is located at Ion Orchard, Great World City, and 111 Somerset. Please refer here for full details.

ALSO READ: Just Opened June 2023: New Restaurants, Cafés and Bars in Singapore This Month

This article was first published in City Nomads.