Bustling on a Friday night, HoChiak strives to live up to its name & stand out amid Kuchai Lama's crowded steamboat scene.
Variety is the virtue of HoChiak; the seafood selection is encyclopaedic, so whether you're seeking whole pomfrets, little-neck clams, scallops, jellyfish, mussels or abalone, or processed fare like fish cakes, crab sticks, lobster balls or prawn dumplings, there's probably something here for every idoliser of the ocean's harvest.
From quail eggs to pork meatballs, Chinese cabbage to corn & white jade mushrooms, there are bound to be both hits & misses, but our overall impression remains positive. This won't convert steamboat sceptics into supporters, but that's OK. Prices seem reasonable; a plate of, say, Pulau Ketam fish balls costs RM4, meat balls are RM5, while fish maw is RM10.80.
For folks who focus on the broth, HoChiak's specifications swirl from the mild & milky herbal to the spicy Sichuan Mala; each begins boiling in an understated fashion but flourishes in flavour as the meal matures & more food is popped into the hot pot.
HoChiak also delves into BBQ - we might skip the mushy cheese-&-curry stuffed crab (RM11.80), but some of the skewers, which span pork, beef, lamb, chicken, sausage & bacon (starting from RM2.50 each), might work well enough for customers who want to bite down on meat. And for the drinkers, HoChiak doesn't serve wine, but you can bring your own. Many thanks to the HoChiak team for hosting this meal.
Ho Chiak Steamboat & BBQ
37, Jalan Kuchai Maju 7, Off Kuchai Lama, Kuala Lumpur. Daily, 12pm-1130pm
Check out the latest edition of Eat Drink KL: 100 Favourites, featuring 100 recommended restaurants for January-March 2015. This eBook is available to read or download at this link: http://eatdrinkkl.cld.bz/2015
This link expires March 31, 2015. Please check the newest blog entries after that for fresh links.
Stay up to date: The Eat Drink KL newsletter is sent by email to subscribers every Monday; it's the Klang Valley's foremost weekly round-up of new restaurant openings (even before they're featured on this blog), F&B promotions & other tasty tidbits.
Subscribe to Eat Drink KL Weekly for free via this following link:
Note to subscribers on Gmail: The newsletter will be in the Promotions folder of your inbox.
Sausages to sambal. Muffins to marshmallows. Peanut butter to mango chutney. Cornflake ice cream to honey aloe yogurt. Lavender-laced lemonades to lychee-&-guava juices.
Eat Drink KL: Small Businesses, Huge Flavours is the first eBook to help customers navigate the diversity of independent F&B entrepreneurs who bake & boil in their own kitchens, offering some of Malaysia's finest, most fascinating food products.
This resource will be continuously updated with new listings: www.eatdrinkkl.publ.com/businesses
