D11 Steamboat

Do not expect gourmet. Do not expect aesthetics. Do not expect comfort.

Expect variety. Expect to get hot and sweaty. Expect to eat more than you should be eating. :P

***

I walked into D11 Steamboat at Ban Hock Road at about 6.30 p.m. My first impression was that the shop was very dimly-lit. The poor lighting made the interiors seemed dark and dull, and it seemed to suppress my appetite rather than whet it. Then, I noticed that many tables were already occupied, with people standing and busily cooking on the hot grill and hot pot at the centre of every table. 

I walked inside the shop, where the food was ....

 Cooked Food

At the side of the shop was a table, where there were 4 trays of cooked food. One contained assorted processed food like deep-fried fishballs, fish sticks and beancurd skins. Another contained deep-fried chicken wings. Two more trays contained stir-fried kueh tiaw and stir-fried noodles. A giant rice cooker contained cooked white rice. On this table also set the condiments like a variety of soy sauces, chilli and tomato sauces, pepper, chopped parsley and preserved cabbage or winter vegetable (冬菜). 

Inside the shop were 3 huge chillers. Inside every chiller were trays and trays of ingredients used for cooking. Grab a plate and a tong .... and just pick up whatever that fancies you to cook it in whatever way that you wish.

The main chiller at the centre of the shop contained seafood - like prawns, calamari rings, cockles, fish slices. There were meats marinated in different styles - like chicken breast slices, bishops nose, lamb shoulders, beef slices. Then, there were stuffed tofu, stuffed bitter gourd, tofu slices, and fishballs.

 The centrepiece

Of course, do not expect paper-thin slices or quality cuts of meat. 

Two more chillers were at the side of the shop - one contained assorted noodles, eggs, fresh vegetables, 

black and white fungus, kelp and seaweed. The second chiller contained trays of frozen processed fishballs, meatballs, surimi crabsticks, artificial prawns and so on.

We sat down and got the table set up for us. The staff turned on the stove, and poured water into our pot. Hmn ..... so unlike other steamboat outlets which uses stock as the soup base, this one uses only water. A small container of butter was on the table - and that was for us to grill our food with. 

The hot grill and hot pot

 My grilled meats 

I do think that the meats are well-marinated, that the flavours were infused into the meats. 

Since the lighting was pretty dim, I couldn't tell whether my meats were cooked or not, or whether they were overcooked. Since there weren't labels on the food, I couldn't tell which meat was marinated in which sauce. I could only make a guess, really - some meats in black pepper sauce, some in a bright red char siew kind of sauce ..... 

But in the end, when everything was cooked together on the grill, it became all mixed up anyway. Overall, the marinate was slightly on the sweet side, which agreed to my palate. Of all the meats, I enjoyed the lamb shoulder and also the beef slices very much. 

Despite plain water being used for the hot pot, it wasn't difficult to create a tasty soup which all of us enjoyed. The dong cai (冬菜) created a wonderful flavour, together with some salt, kelp, seaweed and seafood. 

Ice-cream was on hand for dessert - for which I had 2 bowls. :)) 

Here, everything was self-service .... grab your own plates and bowls, grab your own cutlery, grab your own condiments ..... grab your own food, cook your own food. Only the drinks needed to be ordered from a staff. 

Adults pay RM21 per person, exclusive of 6% GST. Drinks are charged separately. It is advisable for large groups to do a reservation to guarantee a table. Some say this is the best steamboat outlet in Kuching - I can say that it's certainly one of the more successful steamboat outlets around. Overall, it is a fun experience dining in this way.