CouCou Hotpot (湊湊火鍋), more commonly known as the online celebrity hotpot restaurant, recently opened its second outlet at Changi Jewel. CouCou, does not mean ‘Smelly Smelly’ as what you might perceived. Instead, it meant ‘ to gather’, something that CouCou has done exquisitely well with their interior design – a sense (sort of) of privacy, yet not suffocating in terms of the surrounding.
CouCou Hotpot (湊湊火鍋) is a sub-brand under the XiaoBu Catering Management (Listed in Hong Kong), a hugely successful hotpot brand in China, that has now footprints in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and soon Malaysia and Thailand.
We decided to pay CouCou Hotpot (湊湊火鍋) a visit at their recently opened Changi Jewel Outlet at level 2. The outlet is not only serving hotpot though, as there is also a milk tea station. Different milk teas are suggested to pair with whatever soup base you order. More on that later.
First Impression – CouCou Hotpot
We absolutely loved the interior design of CouCou Hotpot (湊湊火鍋) at Changi Jewel. It felt almost you were dining in a ‘nest’. Tables, Chairs and technology are all imported from China, making it a super authentic experience.
The Food
As it is a hotpot restaurant, we are highly interested in their soup bases. There are several soup bases to choose from, and we were recommended two of the most popular ones – Taiwan Mala as well as Coconut Chicken soup. For the former, it was the usual Szechuan Mala soup base filled with red chili oil, Szechuan peppercorn and tons of flavor. We find the Taiwanese Mala soup to be less spicy as compared to other hotpot restaurant, and extremely flavorful. By ordering this soup base, you will also have unlimited servings of braised Tofu as well as duck blood (depending on countries).
The coconut chicken soup was sweet, and very coconut-y. It almost felt like you were drinking warm coconut juice. The chicken in the soup was very succulent. The flavor of the soup changes the more you cook it, and the flavor soon became savory with a slight hint of sweetness from the coconut. Our recommended soup base!
We also ordered some bubble tea to go with our soup, and we were recommended the Da Hong Pao Bubble Tea and Pu Er Bubble Tea. Both milk tea tasted yummy, although we find that the Pu Er Bubble Tea is a bit too sweet for our liking. The milk tea works in cleaning your palate as well after indulging in some mala goodness.
There was also a sauce bar (chargeable) with many different condiments to personalize your favorite sauce. Unlimited sliced fruits are included in the price you pay for the sauce bar. My personal favorite sauce: mixing Sha Cha, XO, Mushroom sauce, Garlic, Green Onion and a little bit of Chili Oil/Peanut sauce. That being said, you can always approach the friendly waiter/waitress there and ask for recommendation.
The golden rule of eating a hotpot is that you always MUST order some meat to go with the hotpot. Although there were many choices of meats on offer, we decided to go for the Berkshire Pork Collar and Australian Lamb Leg, both a crowd favorite.
We found the pork to be beautifully marbled, and tastefully flavored. The lamb slices has a combination of fat and lean met, and the meat was not gammy at all! Talking about freshness.
We also ordered a small vegetable platter that consists of different kinds of vegetables and mushrooms, as well as a meat ball platter, Basa fish slices, and the signature prawn paste. The meat ball platter came with a combination of fish, pork and beef (tho we had the beef ball changed to pork since we don’t eat beef). The fish slices was a bit too fishy for our liking. Our favorite was the prawn paste, very ‘Q’ (Taiwanese way of describing something this is bouncy) and fresh, we would highly recommend going for the prawn paste.
In the middle of your meal, you will be served some super refreshing Mango slushies to cleanse your palate. At the end of your meal, you will be served some ice creams too.
Final Thoughts
CouCou Hotpot (湊湊火鍋) aims at rivaling traditional hotpot giants by offering something that is uniquely different, yet able to satisfy all your hotpot cravings. They are trying to bring the Taiwanese Hotpot culture into South East Asia, and it is not too late now to check out why CouCou Hotpot (湊湊火鍋) has become one of the largest hotpot chains in East Asia. They currently have plans in expanding further in Singapore, and soon in Malaysia and Thailand as well.
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