Friday, December 29, 2017

Hero Pot (火锅英雄) @ Karpal Singh Drive, Georgetown, Penang.

Consider yourself incredibly lucky if you are a fan of Sze Chuan food, more options for you right now with the opening of Hero Pot at Karpal Singh Drive. Belongs to the "Mix", a convenient store that sells fancy imported goods from China, Japan, Korea etc, Hero Pot offers Sze Chuan-influenced dishes and of course... Sze Chuan "Mala" Hot Pot. But everything is designed to be ostentatious here, when you are about to enter the premise, you will be greeted by servers wearing traditional Chinese outfit. They will bring you to your table and before you are seated, they will shout "heroes are coming"... an awkward start to a meal. The menu is Hot Pot-centric, with a few classic Chinese snacks. Service is attentive but do not expect things to be cheap here, expect to fork out at least Rm 50 per pax for a decent meal here. Not particularly impressive as far as taste is concerned... if you must know.



Combo Pot 鸳鸯锅底- Sze Chuan Spicy Soup 麻辣汤底 + Herbal Soup Bases 药材清汤底 (Rm 22)


Cheese Scallion Cake 芝士葱油饼 (Rm 15)


Sweety Dessert/ Caramelized Yam and Sweet Potatoes 拔丝鸳鸯 (Rm 22)


Pumpkin Cake 南瓜饼 (Rm 8)

Diners may opt for the level of spiciness and the adventurous in us decided to go for the spiciest rank but it turned out to be a disappointment. The Sze Chuan Mala broth was barely spicy, not even a hint of the "ma" (numb)... obviously they skimped on using Peppercorns. The Herbal Soup however, was great. It was simple but reasonably seasoned with mild but discernible herbaceous flavors. Meats come with hefty price tags here. The Australian Beef we had was priced at Rm 21.80, with a few miserably and finely sliced meat. The texture was not even great and we thought it was very expensive for that portion and the cut. 

Cheese Scallion Cake seems to be a popular item at Hero Pot but it is basically Taiwanese Scallion Cake with melted Cheese and tastes like Pizza. We had our share and did not think it was impressive. It was in fact, very greasy sans the Scallion-aroma. The Pumpkin Cake was equally disappointing so you may skip that as well.

Sweety Dessert or Caramelized Yam and Sweet Potatoes may seem expensive at first (Rm 22) but the portion was rather big. It is a famous Chinese dessert but uncommonly found in Penang- Yam and Sweet Potatoes are deep fried first and coated with caramel. It's soft on the inside and crisp-crunchy on the outside. We had ours and we thought it was pretty good, but perhaps too much even for the 2 of us. 


Australian Beef 澳洲牛肉片 (Rm 21.80)


Fish Balls 西刀鱼丸 (Rm 6.80) + Enoki Mushrooms 金针菇 (Rm 3.80) + Seafood Tofu 海鲜豆腐 (Rm 5.80)


Squid Balls 墨鱼丸 (Rm 6.80) + Fried Tofu Skin 生面筋 (Rm 5.80)


Fried Beancurd Sheet 炸腐皮 (Rm 4.80)


Ratings:
Taste: 6/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)
Service: 7.5/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)
Price: 6/10 (1-3 expensive, 4-7 average, 8-10 cheap)
Parking: 6.5/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)
Ambiance: 7.5/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)
Non-Halal
Service Charge: Yes 10%
Government Tax: No

Additional Information:
Address: 12, Persiaran Karpal Singh 2, Jelutong, 11600, Georgetown, Penang.
Business Hours: 11 am to 3 am. Opens Daily.
Contact Number: 604- 281 1073

4 comments:

  1. I love how they slice the beef so thinly. I guess they have the machine to do that.

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  2. Chinese style hotpot like this always comes with exaggerating expensive price >_< They really earn a lot, that enoki mushroom not even 1 full packet, sold at RM3.80!

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