Loyal readers of my blog would have realized that I seldom, if ever at all, blog about steamboats.
Well, Im just not a fan of soup-based meals.
And steamboats are to me, a messy and ardous affair. Im not one of those who enjoys the cook as you eat or cook-your-own meal ala Pepper Lunch sort.
If Im out for a meal, please serve me my order piping hot and all ready for me to tuck in, thank you very much. Besides, Im an impatient person so I always ended up eating half-cooked fishballs during steamboats as I dug them out before they are thoroughly cooked. :p
Also, steamboat meals are of prolonged periods since its not possible to just chow down your one-portion dish and leave immediately after. Portion controls are difficult too as the trend for steamboat meals now are eat-all-you-can buffets or sets meals for a minimum of 2 pax.
Having said that, a steamboat meal is best savoured with a group of friends, gossiping over the bubbling pot and sipping the soup after an hour or so of cooking. The soup is much tastier and richer after having all the ingredients thrown in for the last hour.
Below: Like I said, steamboat is fun with a group of friends!
Umami Steamboat at Sunway Mentari is PORK-FREE and I recently joined a group of Malay bloggers for a review session that was organised by the management. For a non-pork outlet, Umami more than makes up for it with its abundance variety of other meats and seafood.
TheirBuy 2 Free 1 offer on Mon and Wednesdays is enticing too.
Basically for RM26.80 x2 = RM53.60, 3 pax gets to eat all they can and that includes cooked side dishes, over 100 variety of fresh seafood, salads, barbeque meats, free flow ice cream, drinks and fruits!
Thank goodness! I get to belly up on ready cooked food and BBQ meats/fish while waiting for the pot to boil! :)
Here it is; my favourite section - The Barbeque.Everything is hot off the grill!
Gobble up on grilled chicken skewers, banana leaf grilled fishes, flame-grilled chicken wings and more. Imagine, you get to eat as many crabs as you can for less than RM20/per paying adult.
One of Umamis signatures is their chicken wings, which everyone loves for its crispy, honeyed skin.
The satay here is a bit different, grilled & coated with honey instead of peanut sauce. I personally dont fancy it much but I liked the fact that chicken breast meat was used. Time to load up on the protein! :)
The selection varies each day, though some dishes may be repeated! at time s. The pictures below are taken over a few visits.
The Sweet and Sour crabs is the crowds favourite.
Umamis Marmite Chicken is pretty good too!
So is their sweet & sour chicken.
Both the fried rice and kuey teow are oily at times, but that could be just me, since Im diet-freak.
The fried snacks bar has an assortment of fish cakes, dumplings, mantaos, spring rolls and deep fried chicken skin for your nibbling pleasure.
The Salad Bar is worth a pit stop as well. Get your fibres and protein from the coleslaw, mushrooms, egg and fruits salads.
Of course not forgeting one of the main components of any steamboat meal the fish cakes and assorted fish/meat balls.
There is also a wide assortment of mushrooms.. seriously Umami provides the complete steamboat experience!
Ample fibres for the vegetarians even!
Eat-all-you-can ice -cream.
Freshly brewed herbal tea and fruit cordials. The selections its rotated on a daily basis. Some days I get Pu Er tea and sugarcane, other days theres chinese herbal tea and crysanthemum.
Oh, you can order Ice Kacang too. As many bowls as you like!
Have all your food with some house-made sauces!
The ambience at Umami is conversational and family-friendly; nicely lit trays of fresh seafood and steamboat ingredients, reasonable use offluorescentand tungsten-tinted lights around the dining area, and directional spotlights at the ingredients section.
Spacing between the tables are good, with the basic tried-and-tested plastic chair and wood table layout.
There is also a room available for private functions, so if your friend/cousin/mother/aunt is a fan of steamboat, it will be easy to have a party uninterrupted by the other patrons in the general area.
Note the photographs of seafood and steamboat preparations on the wall. If you werent hungry before you entered, youll definitely get hungry! soon.
So do over to Umami Steamboat the next time the steamboat craving strikes! As per my review, theres something for everyone, even if youre not a steamboat fan. But rest assured, once you sit down and get going, youll be digging into that steaming pot as enthusiasticallyas any other steamboat lover! :)
GPS: N03 06.33.5 E101 35.40.2
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Last but not least a cool video by Umami Steamboat showing the directions there and the food and the restaurant layout. Watch it! :)
