A household name in Sichuan, China, Tanyoto has been serving its ‘ma la’ hotpot for over 15 years. A variety of soup bases – from pickled cabbage with fish to healthy tomato – are available, but the Tanyoto piquant soup (essentially the classic ma la soup base) remains our favourite. Quality meat such as sliced US beef and kurobuta pork are available, but what sets this hotpot establishment apart from the rest is its selection of fish and fish parts.

The food arrived swiftly after our orders were placed. The waitress brought out a whole fish head to us. “A Tanyoto special”, she said. We stared at the fish acknowledging its freshness; it stared back. She proceeded to slide the head gingerly into the fiery red soup bubbling away in the hot pot, followed by the fish lips. “A must-savour delicacy that’s rich in collagen”, she assured. It is definitely not something we would have ordered usually, but the promise of collagen was enough for us to give it a shot. She fished out a piece of floppy lip out of pot and presented it to us. We tucked in and agreed it was like biting into lightly spicy fish-flavoured jello. Surreal, but not unpleasant. Meat from the fish head was surprisingly tender, with a subtle sweetness that comes through despite the numbingly spicy broth.

We enjoyed the dong doufu or frozen beancurd, which is a cross between tau kwa and tau pok. The beancurd soaks up the broth as it is cooked and delivers an explosion of flavours in the mouth.  We also thought the fresh prawn paste was rather addictive. Hand-piped out of a conical polyethylene bag directly into the boiling broth, the paste forms threads of noodles that when cooked through, turns barely pink and has a slightly chewy consistency. Classic Sichuan dishes like dry-fried spicy French beans with minced pork are also available on the a la carte menu. Alternatively, try the boiled fish fillet in spicy soup which comprises chillies and fresh fish slices spiced up with boiling hot oil. The fish slices’ texture is wonderfully smooth with the lingering fragrance of chilli. As a form of quality control, Tanyoto even grows its own produce including chilli peppers. Finally, if you must have dessert, soothe your taste buds with a chilled herbal jelly or aloe vera with honey. 177 River Valley Road, #01-25/25A, Liang Court Shopping Centre, Tel: 6836-6839

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