With the rainy season in full swing these days, blankets and sweaters are comforting. But none of these can beat the warmth that a steamy hot chow brings. Yes people, it’s the season for steamboat again! Never mind if the recurring flood (or ponding as it is officially now known here) ruins our party shoes or the cabs become an extravagant refuge, because a spoonful of savoury hot soup will make life good again. Here is our little contribution to your happiness in this, what we would like to call, a bitter cold period. We pick our fave five steamboat joints. But please don’t dine alone with a hot pot before you because that’s just plain sad.

Yet Con Chicken Rice Restaurant

25 Purvis Street

This is one of the oldest Hainanese set up with a history dating as far back as 1940s. It has a cozy, no-frills ambience – the old school foldable tables and chairs remain and the owner still uses an abacus to sum up the bills. Unlike their modern counterparts that serve a vast array of fancy items, only the basic meats, seafood and vegetables are available here. They do, however, crack an egg over the beef, to tenderise and smoothen the meat. As for the rest, they serve them fresh, simple and homey like homecooked food. Rather than plain rice, you could order the more savoury chicken rice to fulfill your daily carbo intake.

Nan Hwa Chong Fish Head Steamboat Corner

814 North Bridge Road

It is one of the very few steamboat restaurants still using the old fashion charcoal chimney pots. Come evening time, the smoky aroma of the charcoal will emanate the whole eatery or, in fact, the whole street. The soup has a distinct accent of teepo, or dried roasted sole fish. There are a few types of fishes to choose from – snapper, pomfret, and garoupa. For a meal with more variety, you could also order their cze char dishes like prawn paste chicken wings and oyster omelet, but they aren’t the main reasons you come here for.

Hua Yu Wee Seafood Restaurant

462 Upper East Coast Road (Only available from Mon to Thurs)

Opened in the 60s, they are one of the very few surviving East Coast Road seafood restaurants. Their traditional Hainanese-style steamboat is very popular, especially the beef set, in which the tenderised beef is marinated with nam yu (fermented red bean curd). They must have found great success with this winning ingredient, as it is even added to their chilli sauce. Everything else, besides the beef set, would be a consolation prize here.

Imperial Treasure Steamboat Restaurant

111 Somerset Road #01-21/22/23 Tripleone Somerset

Come here if you like to be given not just many but also good choices. The soups include the usual Sichuan and herbal chicken, and the unconventional ones like satay, seaweeds and kelp, and drunken chicken; the condiments range from peanut sauce to plum sauce and chopped garlic to chicken rice chilli; the ingredients include an assortment of mushrooms, handmade prawn and meat balls, crispy fish skin, seafood, Kurobuta pork belly and more meats. With fine décor and fine service, it naturally comes with an even finer bill (on average $50 per person).

JPOT

1 HarbourFront Walk #01-53 VivoCity (Lobby F)

The J, we suspect comes from its parent company Jumbo Seafood so you can expect fine and fresh ingredients. This is also another popular and relatively new steamboat establishment. They offer a choice of individual or communal pot, with stocks like Superior (chicken broth), Herbal, Bah KutTeh, Laksa and Tom Yum. The ingredients, to purchase on ala carte basis, include seafood, meats and vegetables. Many people are impressed by their range of condiments, which includes chilli sauce, sha cha sauce (savoury sauce involving ingredients like garlic, shallots, chillies, dried fish), garlic oil, chopped coriander, sesame seeds, and deep-fried garlic. There is even a recipe to concoct some of the restaurant’s specialty dips and the results are pretty good.