Bon Broth: Hotpot concept by chef Andre Chiang opens in Singapore

Who doesn’t love hotpot? And while everyone may have their preferences, one thing’s for sure: You probably haven’t had a hotpot experience like the one Bon Broth promises to serve up, yet. 

Step into Bon Broth and the first thing that’ll strike you is its refined setting, almost akin to that of a fine dining establishment, just that it is hotpots that are being served up.

And it’s in individual hotpots, too — every diner has their own pot, with broths that are cooked, from scratch, upon order.

You choose from two set menus of ingredients to have your hotpot with — there’s a deluxe set at S$110 and a premium one at S$138, with the choice to add on more ingredients a la carte after the set is served. 

Bon Broth is the brainchild of Taiwanese chef Andre Chiang, who had previously headed up now-closed Michelin-starred restaurants Restaurant Andre in Singapore, and Raw in Taipei.

Started in partnership with local F&B and lifestyle group Surrey Hills Holdings, Bon Broth is located at Raffles City Shopping Centre, next to two of the group’s other new openings Mensho Tokyo and Movida Originals. 

Chef Andre says: “I’ve been thinking for years: How to do something that isn’t quite fine dining, something more everyday life — and yet good quality — and we can also showcase our speciality in seasoning and flavours?”

Bon Broth is not only the culmination of that, but Singapore also marks the first market that chef Andre is opening Bon Broth in — a city that “holds a very special place” in his heart.

He plans to expand this concept to major cities such as Tokyo, New York and Los Angeles later this year, though HungryGoWhere understands the expansion will be independent of his partnership with Surrey Hills. 

Bon Broth’s focus is on the broth

From the time you step in, it’s clear Bon Broth’s focus is on its broth. 

Diners are seated at a round bar table, circled around a vat, which contains the “mother broth” and forms the base of the restaurant’s eight broth flavours. 

The broth is first individually enhanced with herbs, spices and condiments, depending on your choice of flavour, before it is served up to you. 

Selecting your broth for your meal is also quite the experience.

Diners are invited to the broth bar, where they’ll get to sample two broths out of the eight on the current menu — Signature (Sichuan green pepper), satay, mala, sauerkraut, Hokkaido (fish head collagen with Hokkaido milk), laksa, herbal and sukiyaki — before they pin down their broth of choice. 

If trying two isn’t quite enough for you to make up your mind, you can always speak to the broth “sommelier” and let them know what flavours you enjoy, so they can provide suggestions. 

Once selected, the “sommelier” passes you a slip of paper, which resembles a perfume sample card, and you can head back to your seat to wait for your broth to be served.

Each broth here tastes vastly different, and everyone will definitely have their favourites or preferences. 

I personally prefer a lighter base, as I love drinking copious amounts of soup while digging into my hotpot ingredients, so the Signature with mild notes of Sichuan green pepper and Taiwanese pickled chilli was an easy choice. I could experience the numbing (ma) feeling without necessarily needing to kill my tastebuds with spice (la). 

Those who love their spice however, will do well to opt for the mala, which has 26 finely blended spices, or even the local-inspired laksa.

Another one that caught our eye and taste buds was the Hokkaido, which blends fish head collagen broth with miso, sake and Hokkaido milk. It is extremely decadent (and definitely not for the lactose-intolerant!), but also plenty satisfying. 

Straightforward menu options 

Apart from choosing your broth, you’ll also have a choice of either a deluxe set (S$110) or a premium set (S$138), which differs in its spread of ingredients.

Both sets come with a good selection of seafood and meat, however the premium set comes with more upscale options such as cod fish instead of seabass, and also includes rock lobster and abalone.

For meat, the premium set serves up duck breast instead of Australian lamb shoulder, on top of pork and beef. Though we understand that, if you take neither lamb nor duck, you can just let the kitchen know and it can be swapped out for something else. 

If you enjoyed any ingredient in particular, there’s always the option to order them as a la carte add-ons.  

Though, there really wasn’t any need to, for us — besides the generous servings of meat and seafood, the sets come with a staggering 22 other inclusions, such as vegetables, mushrooms, shrimp paste, tofu, fish dumpling, among others. 

Andre also says that they’ll only be serving up these two set menus for now, till the crowd stabilises, with a lunch menu and the choice to order a la carte options coming in at a later date.

A hotpot experience quite like no other

As you dig into your meal, it’s clear the dining experience fits the price tag — a watchful waitstaff is standing within arm’s length at all times, ready to help you with the tricker seafood items, or even to take them into the kitchen for deshelling.

Despite the spacious furnishings, however, the many ingredient boxes mean that the table can get a tad cramped. (There is little wiggle room for your arms, bowl and plate).

I got around this by going through one box and eventually consolidating some of the items into another box to give myself more tabletop space during the second-half of my meal. 

If Bon Broth could look into optimising how its items are served up, whether it is using less containers, or in batches, it could work around its space constraints, for sure. 

Minor space issues aside, it was all in a luxurious experience that would make for an intimate date night, a leisurely business lunch, or just a random tete-a-tete with the pals. (There are a few booth seats that can accommodate up to four diners.) 

Just remember to book ahead — chef Andre tells us there’ll be 40 seats for lunch and dinner, for now. 

This was an invited tasting. 

For the latest food news, check out McDonald’s latest secret launch, curry McNuggets, as well as this new churros specialist from Hong Kong that’s just opened a shop at Novena. 

Enjoy up to 50% off when you dine with GrabFood Dine Out. 

You can also book a ride to Bon Broth at Raffles City Shopping Centre.