Whenever H and I hangout, hotpot becomes sort of the default meal of choice lol. We wanted to try something beyond the usual places, though, so H suggested Fei Fan Hotpot, as she’s heard good things about it from a colleague. The brand has several branches in the Klang Valley; the one we tried was at 1Utama.
Fei Fan Hotpot specialises in Cantonese-style hotpot. Unlike many hotpot chains that have sort of a nude/beige colour scheme, Fei Fan’s interiors feature more cooling, soothing hues of grey, medium-dark wood, and muted teal walls.
We booked a table for 11am as we wanted to avoid the Saturday lunch crowd. You get a maximum of two hours to dine in.
We were ushered to a corner table upon arrival. In retrospect we should have requested to change, because the air-conditioning vent was positioned in such a way that it blasted all the steam right into my face. But by then we were already settled in so I just had to perch on the edge of the seat to avoid smelling like a walking hotpot after lol.
If I’m being completely honest, I don’t see much of a difference between what they offer and the various other Chinese hotpot chains out there. You have the standard soup selections like pork bone broth, spicy Mala, tomato soup, and pepper pig’s stomach soup; as well as a decent selection of meat including pork collar/shoulder and belly + beef and chicken slices. I will give them props for shrimp dumplings, as this is usually a ‘premium’ item that requires an additional fee in most other hotpot places. Not a lot of chains serve intestine and liver too, so if you enjoy offal, this could be a good choice for a fix.
Service was attentive. We ordered via the QR code at our table, choosing the mushroom herbal soup and pork bone broth, and started off with a couple of pork and beef platters.
While waiting for the soup to boil, I hopped over to the self-service counter where they have veggies, noodles, and frozen, processed items like chicken balls, fish balls, and tofu. Some distinct items include the lotus root slices, quail’s eggs, bamboo shoots, and wood ear fungus.
Unlike Hai Di Lao where you have to pay extra for sauces and condiments, here you can get as much chili oil, garlic, onion, etc as you want. to enhance your hotpot experience. Drinks are pretty standard fare, with options such as soft drinks, tea, and honey lemon.
Some of the items we ordered. My favourite cut was the pork belly, as the meat was fresh and had a nice, fatty marbling to it. Something I learned from eating shabu-shabu is to crack a raw pasteurized egg, whip it, and then use it as a dip once you pluck the meat out of the bubbling hot soup. It coats the meat and gives it a smooth, creamy texture.
Another noteworthy mention are the shrimp dumplings. The wrappers had just the right thickness, enveloping largish pieces of juicy shrimp within. Most of the ingredients were fresh and tasty. The soup base was okay; you can draw out the flavours by cooking more ingredients in it, but I wouldn’t call it outstanding.
To wrap up the meal on a sweet note, we got vanilla ice cream from the self-service machine. Despite servers at ice cream parlous making it look easy, getting that perfect looking ‘tower’ requires a lot of practice. Mine always ends up like a pile of… 😀
To mask the horrendous appearance, I heaped a liberal amount of sprinkles onto my cup. The ice cream is pretty good. Not too sweet, milky, and with a nice consistency.
Our meal for two came up to just over RM120, which I think falls in the range of what most other hotpot chains offer. Overall impressions: quality food, good service, okay selection, reasonable pricing. While it won’t dethrone Wagyu More in my book, it’s a decent enough place to get your hotpot fix.
FEI FAN HOTPOT (1UTAMA)
S122, Level 2, Old Wing, 1 Utama Shopping Centre.
Phone: 03-7731 7928
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