Farmland Porridge Steamboat

My friend, W**** frequents this outlet whenever she's in KL. She's raved about the porridge steamboat for a long time, but I had yet to try it. It so happened that we were in KL together, and she suggested we have dinner at the Farmland Porridge Steamboat restaurant along Jalan Pudu.

At about 7.00 p.m. on a Sunday night, the place was packed, with many more people lining up for tables. I understood why. The tables were limited, and each set of diners took at least 1 1/2 hours to dine. I mean, steamboat is not something you can gobble up and go. Most people take their time to eat, enjoying fellowship over the meal.

We ordered half a pot of porridge and clear broth for the other half. The pot sits in the middle of the table and diners can chuck into the pot whichever they like to eat.

Half clear broth, half porridge broth

We then ordered 4 seafood sets for the 5 of us. Each set had assorted fish and meat balls, prawns, tofu, tofu skins, and vegetables. Each set also came with an egg.

2 seafood sets

Part of the seafood set

On top of that, we ordered some individual items that we liked.

Century eggs with preserved ginger slices

伊麵 orYee Min noodles

Fish noodles

Thin pork slices

After trying both the porridge and the clear broths, we agreed unanimously that the porridge broth was tastier. Even bro, who does not usually prefer to eat porridge, agreed that the porridge broth was good. So don't try the clear broth unless you really have an aversion to porridge.

The service was not that good. The waiter kept coming with the wrong orders. First, came a pot of porridge broth, when we ordered only half a pot. Then, part of the seafood set did not come. Next, we ordered cold Chinese tea, but it never came. I think the restaurant did not have enough workers, and at peak hours, they could not keep up with the orders.

Parking was also very limited. There were only a few parking lots that lined the road. We had to park round the corner after the Caltex station, at a really dark parking lot which may not be safe for any car.

Another outlet is located at Serdang, just opposite South City Mall. Perhaps you can check that outlet out, in case Pudu is inconvenient for you.

Anyway, the meal came to a little bit more than RM120, which some would say was expensive. What say you?