What a steamboat!

I wish I remembered the name of the steamboat restaurant that a group of 10 went to a couple of weeks ago now as part of our eating extravaganza. It is on the top floor of the Vantage Mall on Jalan Tanjung Tokong heading out of Georgetown in the direction of Tanjung Bunga, on the right. Top floor and right at the very right hand end of the mall. Sorry, that's the best I can do for now. However, I will return and make sure I grab a card or something so I can report more accurately its name and precise location.

It is worth it for the place is great. Really great.

It could be the fact that it is something that is really unique, well to me anyway, so I will take a little time to describe it all in detail. (Others have very probably done this and more professionally that I will but I don't think they will do it this way).

This is the steamboat thing. In the centre of the round table is a recessed upside down dome under which is a gas ring (there is a big gas cylinder under the table that the waiter turned on and off) which heats it up. Into this dome shaped thing you dump...

... this time anyway, chicken or veggie broth and chopped up chicken. Turn the gas ring on and replace the holed round thing that you can see in the picture above on the left. It fits.

Next, order loads of stuff. The group of 10 left this arduous task to Lisa (from before), Lye Hock and Kee who between them ordered gargantuan amounts of food only partially shown on the trolley that the waiter brought over, He brought over many other dishes and trolleys before the meal was over, but this was the first.

First up was barbecued, well actually steamed chicken buns in the format of char siu bau. As this is a no pork restaurant, no surprise here and the buns were very nice indeed.

Next up was chicken and steamed veggies before the fishy stuff kicked in...

Big shrimps... 

Little clams marinated in garlic...

Scallops also marinated in garlic and coriander...

Amazing HUGE clams also marinated with coriander, garlic and a little ginger. This was a very strong middle order! I hadn't seen clams that big before and they were so sweet and tasty.

After a little breather came the fish ball/duck/squid combo... remember all the juices from these dishes were seeping into the porridge happily bubbling away underneath added to which the waiter who came with new dishes and took away the debris, would always scrape the food debris into the pot below and give it a jolly stir...

After the shellfish came the veggie mix, greens and mushrooms before the piece de la resistance...

The steamed fish was fresh tilapia according to the waiter with various chillies, scallions, chives, garlic and lemon/lime juice... probably limes on reflection as they are everywhere whilst lemons aren't so prevalent. Whatever, it was delicious and the juices kept on dripping into the bubbling vat below...

Then it was ready. The waiter scraped the fish remnants into the bubbling mass, stirred vigorously for a bit, added some white liquid (more broth I think) and then on top some scallions, coriander and chopped ginger. Very artistic...and yummy too. I had 4 bowls. It was incredible!

To follow, some sweet potato cleansers ...

What a dinner. Friends said that restaurants like this were all over Malaysia. I don't know about that but this was a first for us. 

Vantage Mall is in Tanjung Tokong on the main road, E6 or Jalan Tanjung Tokong, heading out of Georgetown towards Tanjung Bunga and Batu Ferringi. The restaurant is on the top floor of the mall on the right hand side. Go there and enjoy!