New Shabu Days at Hillion Mall kopitiam offers solo hotpot with five broth options and a wide range of mains from S$14.90

If you love your shabu shabu, Shabu Days is a new spot worth checking out. Opened on April 8, it’s located within the new kopitiam at Hillion Mall — a casual, accessible setting right in the Bukit Panjang neighbourhood.

This is a concept that lends itself well to solo dining. While there are tables for groups, there’s also a counter for individual diners. Plus, each set is portioned just for you — so you enjoy your hotpot without sharing broths or ingredients across the table.

The individual hotpot experience isn’t new — places such as Broth & Beyond have done it — but Shabu Days stands out as a more affordable, casual alternative. It’s a place that’s quite ideal for a quick and easy meal.

Five broths to choose from for your shabu set

There are two ways to dine here: Order a la cartes, or go for a shabu set. For us, the set is the way to go.

It covers all the essentials for a complete solo hotpot: Your choice of main, broth, and carb. Prices start from S$14.90 and go up to S$39.90, depending on your protein.

The broths are a crucial part of a hotpot experience — and we’re glad that the broths are all good here. 

It’s down to your preference, but there are five options: Sukiyaki with pasteurised egg (S$4) and spicy umami (S$5), but other options include the bonito kombu (S$4), herbal angelica (S$4), and tango tomato (S$5).

What’s especially nice is that you can sample all the broths before committing to one. It’s a small detail, but makes a big difference.

We went with the sukiyaki and spicy umami, which ended up being our favourites after trying the samples.

The sukiyaki is rich and sweet-savoury, with a rounded depth that pairs especially well with the pasteurised egg — cracked and whisked in. The spicy umami, on the other hand, leans bold and peppery, with a slightly numbing heat.

The rest, however, followed quite closely. The bonito kombu is clean and light, but flavourful, the herbal angelica is gentle and not overly medicinal, and the tango tomato has a bright tang that doesn’t overwhelm, with a satisfying richness.

Customise your broth with sauces and sides

The sukiyaki broth really came alive once we started playing around with the condiments on the table. Our favourite was the crispy garlic chilli soy sauce — it adds a punch of savoury depth and just enough heat to balance out the sweetness of the broth over time. 

There’s also crispy garlic soy sauce, yuzu vinegar, sesame sauce, and regular soy sauce, so you can tweak flavours as you go.

Each set also comes with a yasai garden bowl, filled with vegetables such as green and red coral lettuce, enoki and shimeji mushrooms, carrots, and pumpkin. 

It also comes with the Three Treasures, a collection of Japanese hotpot staples, featuring kinchaku (stuffed tofu pouch), mini chikuwa (tube-shaped fish cake), and gyoza — these are great additions to your hotpot. We particularly liked the meatiness of the gyoza.

For carbs, you can choose between Calrose rice (a medium-grain rice), ramen, or raw udon (extra S$1). We went with the ramen — a safe and solid option that soaks up the broth well.

A wide range of proteins

There’s a good spread of mains, depending on how indulgent you’re feeling.

For beef, options range from the beef brisket (S$19.90) and mega beef brisket (S$28.90), to the richer Australian wagyu chuck roll (S$29.90) and Japanese A5 wagyu chuck roll (S$39.90).

Pork lovers can go for the pork collar (S$16.90) or mega pork collar (S$22.90). Other options include the chicken thigh (S$14.90).

Seafood options include the Toman fish (S$16.90), and a seafood Treasure platter (S$29.90) with Toman fish (100g), two pieces of scallop, and four pieces of tiger prawns.

We tried the Japanese A5 wagyu chuck roll, pork collar, and seafood Treasure platter.

The Japanese A5 wagyu chuck roll has a soft and tender bite, and is thoroughly indulgent in the broth. But if you’re after something more everyday, the beef brisket or pork collar would do the job just as well — the latter stood out as a solid choice that we enjoyed.

The seafood Treasure platter is decent, though we found better value in the meat options overall. That said, the Toman fish was the highlight here — fresh, tender, and well-suited to the lighter broths.

End your meal with an egg risotto

If you still have some broth left, there’s a fun way to round things off: DIY egg risotto (extra S$3.50). It’s a simple Japanese-style finish — you’ll get rice, a pasteurised egg, and condiments, along with an instruction card if needed. 

With about one-third of the broth left, add the rice, seasonings, and egg, then mix it all together into a creamy, porridge-like risotto.

We didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as we did, but it turned out to be surprisingly comforting. Even when we were already full, we found ourselves polishing it off. It’s a great way to transform the last of your broth into something new.

This was a hosted tasting.

For more hotpot ideas, read on Shuai Jiang Jun in Singapore with a 40-year-old Chongqing recipe and Tiantai Hotpot, a hidden Chongqing-style restaurant on a Chinatown rooftop.