Mushroom Pot is tucked away on the fourth level of Orchard Point, where it is obscured by shelves of winter wear and bedding. We muttered about the obscure location, and when the child at the table next to ours started banging his spoon on the table, we were tempted to leave. The bright orange décor and unflattering lighting didn’t help either. But we warmed to the extensive menu of mushroom dishes and chose to start with monkey head mushroom with Thai spices, mushroom fries and baby octopus with chili and pickle. While the octopus was an alarming shade of too-bright red, it was subtly spicy with the pickle stuffing adding a sweet sour twist. We gave it a thumbs up. The monkey head mushroom tasted rather like oyster mushroom, and was delicious served cold with a lime, chili and lemongrass marinade. We gobbled up the very interesting julienne mushroom fries, and were thankful that these airy slivers didn’t seem to take up any space in our tummies. That’s because we were moving on to the rather substantial golden mushrooms fried in breadcrumbs and light batter. The flavor was pleasantly earthy though some of us found the grease too heavy by the third mushroom. Oddly, our hotplate of mixed mushroom, potato and cheese with fish roe arrived with salmon chunks instead of fish roe, without a word of explanation. Perhaps the adolescent waiter thought we wouldn’t notice. Roe or no, the combo of potato, creamy salmon and soft mushroom, ensconced in melted cheddar cheese, was super indulgent and rib-sticking. The array of imported Italian gelato desserts contrasted interestingly with the mushroom menu. We went for the chocolate tartufo, and hazelnut mezante, which were fine but not excellent. Overall, we were satisfied but not super impressed.
Great for sharing, steamboat is popular in Singapore no matter what the weather. Here are some steamboat variations you gotta try.
