Friday, August 8, 2014

The One Spot Soup House 湯.com (2nd visit)

FIRST POST ON THE ONE SPOT SOUP HOUSE 湯.com [HERE]

The One Spot Soup House (湯.com) specializes in herbal soup along with clay pot rice, and closed their restaurant to move to a larger one a few doors down on Victoria Drive.

The restaurant is a lot larger than their previous location and there are plenty of seats as well suitable tables for parties of ten (only a couple). Furthermore, asides from the larger restaurant, 湯.com has expanded their menu as well. There are more options of clay pot rice and the new additions of congee as well as Hong Kong style noodle rolls. We wanted go for their geoduck and sea cucumber with chicken congee, but the restaurant did not offer any at the time. Perhaps later on in the future?


COMPLIMENTARY DAILY SOUP.
A bowl of daily soup is included with the purchase of a clay pot rice. The broth has a light taste and not much flavour. After adjusting the sodium level, there is a slightly better but only a light flavour of carrot, daikon and pork broth.

COMPLIMENTARY SMALL APPETIZER
Also included with a purchase of clay pot rice is a small side of seaweed. The seaweed may be considered a preferred side compared to their previous pickled carrot and daikon. However, the seaweed tastes slightly slimy and not very fresh. This could be because the restaurant prepares them on plates in advance.

PARTRIDGE SOUP ($6.95).
The soup is served in a clay pot and arrives steaming hot. We only went with one soup this time because the both of us find their soups not very flavourful. Like some Chinese herbal soups, at 湯.com, adjusting the sodium level is a must to bring out the flavours in the soup. However, I still like to first take a sip to see how the soup tastes.

After adjusting the sodium level, there is a strong aroma of Chinese almonds and a rich broth. Partridge is more lean compared to Chicken, and the broth is a bit less oily which some may prefer.

PAN FRIED PORK BUN ($3.95).
Some parts of the buns have a doughy white patchy hard crust and the taste is not very pleasant. 

As for the filling, the meat tastes a bit bouncy but is more leaning towards mushy. Furthermore, there is a very heavy soy sauce base and neither of us like it. The pan fried buns are probably one of the worst I ever had and taste very similar to what Shanghai Lu offers. However, this may be a personal preference because of the very heavy soy sauce base.

CABBAGE PORK DUMPLING IN SOUP ($6.95).
湯.com offers dumplings in-soup or without and despite thinking it was odd on the first visit because we already ordered soup, we went for the in-soup. The dumplings taste moist as well as juicy, and are a lot tastier than the pan fried buns. As for the broth, there is a chicken and heavy MSG flavour (we are not against MSG btw).

CLAY POT TOPPED WITH PRESERVED DRIED DUCK ($8.50).
One of the best choices for clay pot rice is to choose anything with a preserved smoked meat. The smoked meat provides a rich aroma and the rice tastes extremely flavourful as well as moist, but not oily. 

After trying the pork belly as well as the minced pork cake on the last visit, we had to stick with a classic. The flavours of the smoked duck and Chinese sausage are fused with the rice, and there is a rich smoked meat aroma. However, I personally prefer Shining Garden's more because they use smoked pork belly which provides a richer aroma and taste. Also, I have seen an advertisement of Hoy's Wonton House offering clay pot rice as well, and wonder how theirs are too.

TOTAL: $30.80 + TIP $4.20 = $35.00.

POSITIVES
- For those who want herbal soup and clay pot rice
- Plenty of choices

NEGATIVES
- Food is average
- There are better herbal soups and clay pot rice at other Chinese restaurants, that do not specialize in them
- Hard to get the staffs' attention considering the restaurant was not busy
- Pan fried buns (0/5)

LITTLE THINGS
- First post on The One Spot Soup House 湯.com [here]
- Congee may be really good
- Crispy rice at the bottom is not important to us but to some, may be disappointed if the rice is not very crispy

Food: 2.5/5
Service: 2.5/5

The One Spot Soup House on Urbanspoon

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