Rating: 4/5
Ambience & Setting
Tucked into the industrial sprawl of Tai Seng, Shiok! Hotpot occupies that curious liminal space between neighborhood hawker and modern casual dining. The evening air carries the smoky perfume of charcoal before you even locate the shopfront—a sensory breadcrumb trail that leads you to tables clustered around glowing claypots, each one a small volcano of bubbling broth.
The space itself is unpretentious: fluorescent lights overhead, utilitarian tables, plastic stools that scrape against concrete floors. But there’s an energy here, a convivial hum of conversation punctuated by the hiss and crackle of charcoal, the theatrical moment when ladles of broth hit hot clay. It’s the kind of place where you’ll leave smelling like smoke and seafood, your jacket absorbing the evening’s olfactory narrative.
The open kitchen concept means you’re complicit in the theater—watching ingredients get prepped, broths ladled, fires stoked. It’s democratic dining, stripped of pretense, where the food does all the talking.
The Prawn Collagen Broth Experience ($29.80)
What sets Shiok! apart in Singapore’s increasingly crowded charcoal claypot scene is their lesser-seen Prawn Collagen Broth—a milky, almost opalescent liquid that arrives at your table with an intensity that commands attention.
Visual Poetry
The claypot arrives wreathed in steam, the broth a cloudy amber-white that catches the light like liquid silk. Whole prawns curl along the surface, their shells blushing coral and crimson against the pale broth. There’s an immediate visual richness here—this isn’t the clear, refined elegance of a consommé but rather the full-bodied opacity of something that’s been coaxed from bones and shells through hours of patient extraction.
Textural Symphony
The first spoonful tells you everything: this broth has body. There’s a lip-coating richness, a subtle viscosity that comes from collagen broken down into gelatin. It’s not quite sticky, but there’s a luxurious mouthfeel—the broth clings gently to your lips, leaves a sheen on the spoon. This is liquid that has substance, that feels nourishing on a cellular level.
As the meal progresses and the charcoal continues its work, the broth thickens imperceptibly, becoming more concentrated. The unlimited refills mean you can modulate intensity—add more liquid when the umami becomes overwhelming, let it reduce when you want that deeper, more primal flavor.
Flavor Architecture
The prawn flavor is assertive but not aggressive. It’s the deep, slightly sweet taste of crustacean essence—head fat and shell extractives creating layers of marine umami. There’s a subtle brininess, a whisper of the ocean, but nothing aggressively fishy. The collagen adds a rounded, almost creamy quality that softens any sharp edges.
What’s remarkable is how the broth evolves. In the first 15 minutes, it’s bright and forward. By the 30-minute mark, after ingredients have released their essences, it becomes deeper, more complex—a communal soup that reflects everything you’ve cooked in it.
The Ingredients: Building Blocks of Flavor
Hokkaido Scallop ($9.80)
These arrive plump and ivory, their flesh almost translucent. In the prawn broth, they cook quickly—30 to 45 seconds until just opaque at the center, the exterior developing that characteristic slight firmness while the interior remains butter-soft and giving.
The scallop’s natural sweetness plays beautifully against the prawn broth’s savory depth. Bite through the tender exterior and there’s a moment of marine sweetness, clean and delicate, before the prawn-infused broth flavor floods in. The textural interplay is exquisite: the scallop’s silky yielding against the tongue, the slight resistance before it gives way entirely.
Crayfish ($7.80)
Smaller cousins to lobster, these freshwater crustaceans bring their own sweet, delicate meat to the pot. The shells blush deeper orange as they cook, their flesh transforming from translucent gray to opaque white. There’s a satisfying hands-on quality to eating them—cracking shells, sucking out meat, the primal pleasure of working for your food.
The crayfish absorb the broth’s character while contributing their own subtle sweetness to the collective. Their meat is firmer than scallop, with a slight snap—more textured, more toothsome, requiring a gentle bite to release flavor.
Shabu Pork & Marbled Beef
The pork arrives in delicate, almost translucent sheets—so thin you can see the marbling patterns, fat distributed like rivers on a topographic map. In hot broth, it cooks in seconds, the meat curling and firming, fat going from opaque white to glossy translucence.
The beef is more heavily marbled, each slice a study in red and white striations. It’s richer, fattier, and in the prawn broth it becomes an interesting fusion—land meeting sea. The beef fat enriches the broth further, adding a mammalian depth to the oceanic base.
Vegetables: The Supporting Cast
Fresh greens—bok choy, napa cabbage, enoki mushrooms—provide textural relief and help balance the richness. The cabbage softens to silky sweetness, the enoki maintain their delicate snap, the bok choy stems offer aqueous crunch against their wilted leaves.
The Charcoal Difference
This isn’t merely aesthetic theater. Charcoal burns hotter and more evenly than gas, creating a consistent, intense heat that keeps the broth at a vigorous bubble. There’s also something ineffable—a subtle smokiness, a primitive quality to fire-cooked food that connects us to older ways of eating.
The claypot itself becomes part of the cooking equation: clay retains and radiates heat differently than metal, creating gentler, more even cooking. Ingredients don’t scorch; they surrender slowly to the heat.
The Verdict
Shiok! Hotpot succeeds by doing one thing exceptionally well: they’ve created a distinctive broth that stands apart in a crowded market. The prawn collagen base isn’t just different—it’s demonstrably delicious, offering both unique flavor and a luxurious textural experience.
At $29.80 for the base with unlimited refills, it’s positioned as affordable indulgence. The 50+ ingredient selection means you can customize endlessly, building your ideal meal across multiple visits.
Strengths:
- Distinctive, richly flavored prawn collagen broth
- Genuine charcoal cooking adds authenticity
- Unlimited soup refills encourage leisurely dining
- Extensive ingredient selection
Considerations:
- Industrial location requires intentional visit
- Basic ambience won’t appeal to those seeking refined dining
- Can get smoky and humid during peak hours
- The richness may be overwhelming for those preferring lighter broths
Perfect for: Groups seeking a communal, interactive meal; prawn soup enthusiasts; those wanting something beyond standard steamboat; cold evenings demanding comfort food.
Shiok! Hotpot delivers exactly what its exclamatory name promises—a satisfying, flavor-forward experience that makes the trek to Tai Seng worthwhile. Come hungry, come with friends, and prepare to leave smelling of smoke and satisfaction.