Dining out in recession times

Kimmy's been forced to take leave from today till the week after, it's his company's bid to save costs in these bad times. As a result, he'd have a drop in his salary this month and he announced to me determinedly that it was time for us to cut cost and save money...no restaurant meals.

Alas, it's Sunday night and there was no food at home for dinner. We decided to try Hotpot Culture at Marina Square. We had passed a promotional poster which advertised $7.80 steamboat sets, and it was a cold rainy day, perfect for some tummy-warming broth.

I forgot to take photos but here's one, courtesy of careryeeee from hungrygowhere.com.


There were 5 choices for the soup stock and we chose hot & sour, and chicken herbal. Both were your usual flavoured saltwater type soup, but with all the steamboat ingredients added in, it made for a tasty and hearty meal. Hotpot Culture was a great "recession times restaurant" for us. At $7.80++ a set, with aircon, service, sufficient soup and meat, and lots and lots of vegetables, it was worth every penny. Drinks are a tad expensive at $2.00 for lemon tea or barley, and more for coke or fruit juices, but rice was a decent 70cents. Overall we spent $27 for 2 sets, 2 drinks, 2 bowls of rice and a side dish of fish dumplings ($2.50, a bit expensive) and had a fairly great time. We'd definitely be back for more, the food's better than the food court, and environment more tolerable than at the hawker. It also beats Sakae Sushi 10 to 1, a joint we once favoured when we were scrimping and saving back in the day.

6 Raffles Boulevard
#02-138D Marina Square

Operating Hours
Sun - Thur: 11:30am - 10:00pm
Last order @ 9:15pm

Fri, Sat, Eves of & On PH: 11:30am - 11:00pm
Last order @ 9:45pm