Low Maji Winter Melon Steamboat: Only try once, their fault

As a regular visitor to Malaysia, my Thai bf has his usual must-visit-must-eat food and restaurant list. Soup + Melon + Hot pot = not one, but three of bf’s favorite.  How do I slot in Lao Mazi’s winter melon steamboat at Bandar Puteri in Puchong, given the limited time he usually has in town? Creative scheduling, is what I did 🙂

Many bloggers advise arriving early, or be prepared for a long wait. Well, the restaurant has been there for ages – I thought that the hype has died down. And I was wrong. Arriving around 7pm, we waited for a good half and hour for a table. First and foremost, give your name to a staff, and wait for your name to be called.

Our dining experience was quite chaotic – we were attended by a foreigner staff, and I had trouble understanding him. If I got him right, only the Set Combination comes with the winter melon steamboat. Otherwise, we have to pay more for the winter melon steamboat. Anyhow, we decided to go with Vegetarian Pot (RM 33++) and to add other non-vege ingredients. We were prepared to pay more for the  Winter Melon hot pot (RM 20++)  add-on, even though it was an expensive option.

While waiting for us to fill in the order slip for the additional ingredients, we were served Set Combination for 2 persons (RM 36++). We were told that they do not have the Vegetarian Pot anymore – huh? Isn’t it all veges? We didn’t create any fuss and just go with what was served.

The winter melon pot comes in two layers, with soups on “outer ring” and the winter melon on the “inner ring”. Read that you’re to scoop the soup and replenish the “inner ring” of winter melon pot. Some say vege items inside the winter melon, meat in the outer ring. Some say only food inside the winter melon … Staff were too busy for us to confirm the correct cooking way.

Perhaps it was a faulty cooking stove, but the soup in the outer ring just refused to boil.

We ended up using the winter melon to cook most of our ingredients. Anything we put at the outer ring, ended up being transferred to the inner ring .. We also scooped the soup into the winter melon pot.

Plenty of sauces, but the labelling is in Chinese. Dang.

The dipping sauce was just normal. Nothing to shout about, despite the many choices.

Oh, and it was blardy hot .. eating steamboat is usually hot, I get that .. but that shop was really hot. We were drenched in sweat – not pleasant at all.

When the bill came, it was incorrect – and we had to correct them twice. Total bill: RM 41.75, including 10% service charge and 6% GST. Do check your bill before paying.

“Never try, it’s your fault. Only try once, my fault” right in front of their shop.

So, must be good, right? Bf said it’s more of a gimmick; boiling the melons in a soup will gives the same taste 🙂 No more next time for me, unless if to accompany someone; their fault lah.

My elder brother invited me for dinner, so off I went to Low Maji restaurant at their Kepong branch. On a weekday evening at 8.30pm, the restaurant has lots of customers, but no queue. The local staff are more knowledgeable – explained that the RM 40 set comes with winter melon hot pot, and the RM 36.00 comes with yin yang soup.

We chose the RM 40 set to cater to a pax of 3. The ingredients are not enough, and we added few ala carte ingredients.

Staff told me that the number carving on the winter melon is for lottery-buying purpose.

Second try – do I like it? No, I don’t .. I still find it just a gimmick.