Hot pot in Singapore is its own institution. You sit around a bubbling broth, drop in raw thinly-sliced meat, leafy vegetables and entire bouquets of mushrooms, then fish them out and dip them in your own sauce mix. The city has all the variants: Sichuan ma la for the brave, milky collagen broth for the curious, mushroom-forward broths for the umami-obsessed, and the Hai Di Lao show for everyone who's seen the noodle-flipping reel on TikTok.
How hot pot works, in 30 seconds
Order a broth for the pot — clear chicken, tomato, ma la, herbal, mushroom, collagen. Order raw ingredients — sliced beef, lamb, prawns, fish balls, tofu, leafy greens, glass noodles. Mix your own dipping sauce at the sauce bar — sesame paste, garlic, sa cha, chilli, vinegar. Cook things one batch at a time — thin slices take 10 seconds, dumplings take 3 minutes. Don't dump everything in at once or you'll cook nothing properly.
Stop 1 · Hai Di Lao — the famous one
Hai Di Lao (Haidilao) is the Sichuanese chain that turned hot pot into theatre. The headlines: free snacks, drinks and manicures while you wait; a noodle-master who hand-pulls a long ribbon of dough at your table; staff who refill your dipping sauce before you notice it's low. The yuanyang twin-broth (ma la + tomato, or ma la + mushroom) is the safe order. The Singapore branches are at 313@Somerset, Clarke Quay, Marina Square, VivoCity and others — the Somerset one is the easiest by MRT.
NS23 — the 313@Somerset branch sits at street level above the station.Clarke Quay MRT ·
NE5 — for the Clarke Quay Block C riverside branch.
Order: yuanyang twin broth (ma la + mushroom), hand-pulled noodle show, beef rolls, fish balls, premium beef, tofu. Skip the truffle premium add-ons unless you're celebrating.
Stop 2 · The Sichuan ma la option
If you want the full ma la experience without the Haidilao queue, Singapore has plenty of dedicated Sichuan hot pot. Look for the Chinatown Point Sichuan strip, the Xiao Long Kan branches, Yuan Yang Hot Pot, and the broader Chinatown / Bugis hot pot belt. The yuanyang (twin) pot lets one person eat ma la and the other eat clear — perfect for mixed tables.
NE4 / DT19 — for Chinatown Point and Outram hot pot strip.Bugis MRT ·
EW12 / DT14 — for the Bugis ma la cluster.
Order: the spicier broth at "medium" not "max" the first time, fatty beef slices, mushrooms (king oyster soaks up the chilli oil beautifully), enoki bundles, lotus root, frozen tofu.
Stop 3 · Mushroom hot pot — the umami option
If you love mushrooms, Beauty in the Pot (a Paradise Group concept across Suntec, VivoCity, Bugis+ and more) does a mushroom-forward broth and a milky collagen broth that's basically chicken essence with regrets. Tian Wai Tian Fish Head Steamboat in Geylang does a clear mushroom + fish head broth that's a Singapore classic. Pure-mushroom specialists pop up around Bugis and Clarke Quay too.
CC4 / DT15 — Beauty in the Pot Suntec.Bugis MRT ·
EW12 / DT14 — Beauty in the Pot at Bugis+.HarbourFront MRT ·
NE1 / CC29 — Beauty in the Pot VivoCity.
Order: the collagen broth (milky, rich), a mixed mushroom platter (enoki, shiitake, king oyster, oyster, beech), premium beef, prawns, glass noodles last so they soak up the soup.
Stop 4 · All-you-can-eat shabu shabu — the budget option
Want hot pot for under S$30? Look at the Japanese-style shabu shabu buffets:
- Suki-Ya at Plaza Singapura, Compass One, Bugis Junction — thin sliced beef, ponzu sauce, all-you-can-eat for around S$25 lunch / S$30 dinner.
- Shabu Sai at multiple malls — similar concept with longer dessert bar.
- Boon Tong Kee Steamboat in the heartlands for old-school Singapore steamboat.
NS24 / NE6 / CC1 — Suki-Ya at Plaza Singapura.Sengkang MRT ·
NE16 / STC — Suki-Ya at Compass One.
Ordering tips that save the meal
- Don't over-order. You will eat slower than you think. Two protein plates + one mushroom platter + greens + noodles is usually enough for two.
- Mix your own sauce. The default at most places is sesame paste + chilli + garlic + spring onion + coriander. Add sa cha for richness, vinegar for the boiled stuff.
- Watch the pot. Thin beef slices take 5–10 seconds. Lamb takes a bit more. Mushrooms take a minute. Fish balls 2–3 minutes. Dumplings 3–4 minutes.
- Salt the broth. A clear broth tastes flat at first — once you've cooked a few rounds of meat and mushrooms it becomes the best soup of the night. Save it for last.
A hot pot night by MRT
- 6:00pm — Hai Di Lao at 313@Somerset (Somerset MRT) for a casual show.
- or 6:30pm — Beauty in the Pot at Bugis+ for mushroom + collagen.
- or 7:00pm — Sichuan ma la at Chinatown Point.
Why GoBus SG helps here
Hot pot ends late and last-train cutoffs are real in Singapore — the trip planner stitches together the last MRT + connecting bus so you don't end up taking a costly Grab. Star the dinner MRT station as a favourite the day before; the widget will have the night's options ready.
Open these stops in GoBus SG
Search any MRT or stop above for live arrivals across bus, MRT and LRT — with home-screen widgets and multi-modal trip planning.
