Welcome to sleepy town, Shang Shan Tang!Located at Balmoral Plaza together with a handful of the other longstanding eateries, this new hot pot establishment is a welcoming addition to quiet Bukit Timah as far as food is concerned. And though they are still in the fine tuning phase and opened currently for dinner only, it’s kicked off to a pretty decent start, packing in quite a number of curious neighborhood residents every evening.Hot pot begins with an outstanding broth and Shang Shan Tang has 6! Note the drama-mama 🎭 names of these homemade soup bases…. Then ask, and you shall be humored with the stories behind each title. It’s one fun history lesson before dinner 😄!

The different soup bases cater to different tastes and preferences. I really enjoyed the house special, QinShiHuang’s Legendary Divine Soup for its rich, heavy flavor and find myself unconventionally starting my hot pot meal with the soup! The Dream Mushroom Soup, a close second favorite, comes with assorted mushrooms floating in it. I was warned that unlike the former, this would be a clean, clear  and light broth since no artificial flavor or msg is added to it (and for that matter, to any of the soups). Indeed, except for the dinstinct mushroom flavor, the soup was rather plain but, nothing I couldn’t fix with just a dash of superior soy sauce. And after a few rounds of dunking meats and seafood in there, plain funghi turned golden! The Tom Yam soup is a crystal clear broth smelling of fresh lemongrass, deceiving me into thinking it wasn’t spicy! Boy was I wrong :-0 ! This oiless soup packs a good amount of Thai spiciness and zest and would surely be a hit with Tom Yam fans.

SST’s extensive beef and pork choices make perfect accompaniments to their perfect broths. I gleamed with delight as these plates of fresh pink meats settled on my table. I watch my meats closely so not to overcook them and they came up soft, tender and juicy.

Having said that, one little fella was forgotten and left sitting in the pot for quite a while. Though wrinkled to an unrecognizable state, it was still soft to the bite upon discovery! Much less juicy, of course, but hey, still good to go👌!

Design your own dip at the sauce & condiment counter to go with your meal. May I suggest not to get over enthusiastic or you’ll end up with a bad mishmash. My failproof cocktail of peanut sesame dip goes perfectly with both the fresh pork and the beef. Armed with all three and a SST super soup, I am a happy trouper 😉 !

Shang Shan Tang @ 271 Bukit Timah Road Balmoral Plaza #01-04 Singapore 259708

Update: 29 December 2016 – Shang Shan Tang has ceased operations.