Xiao Mu Deng Locations & Outlets 重庆小木凳怀旧火锅
Xiao Mu Deng Hotpot 小木凳火锅 started off in 2017 by offering authentic Chongqing cuisine in Chinatown. Other than hotpot-cum-barbeque buffet, the restaurant also serves à la carte dishes that diners could add on to their buffet. As its name (literally translated to little wooden stools) suggests, the interior of the restaurants mimics that of typical old Southwest Chinese décor that are furnished with traditional wooden stools. The group also operates another Chinese cuisine restaurant Han Yu Ke 韩鱼客碳火烤鱼, specializing in Chongqing grilled fish.
Xiao Mu Deng currently operates 2 outlets as follows (as of May 2022):
- GR.ID Mall – (Dhoby Ghaut) 1 Selegie Road, #01-18, Singapore 188306
- Downtown East – (Pasir Ris) 1 Pasir Ris Close, #02-125, Singapore 519599
Xiao Mu Deng Buffet Price
Hotpot Only
- Lunch (11:00am – 4:00pm)
- Adult: $24.80++
- Child: $12.40++
- Dinner (4:00pm – 2:00am)
- Adult: $26.80++
- Child: $13.40++
Hotpot + BBQ
- Lunch (11:00am – 4:00pm)
- Adult: $26.80++
- Child: $13.40++
- Dinner (4:00pm – 2:00am)
- Adult: $28.80++
- Child: $14.40++
Soup Base 汤底
- Signature Butter Soup 招牌牛油汤 – $18.00++
- Classic Spicy Soup 经典麻辣汤 – $5.00++
- Spicy Soup 清油麻辣汤 – $5.00++
- Thai Tom Yum Soup 泰式冬阴汤 – $5.00++
- Gourd Chicken Soup 金瓜老母鸡汤 – $5.00++
- Clear Chicken Soup 清鸡汤 – $4.00++
- Pork Bone Soup 猪骨汤 – $4.00++
- Tomato Soup 番茄汤 – $4.00++
- San Xian Soup 三鲜汤 – $4.00++
- Mushroom Soup 蘑菇汤 – $4.00++
Specialty ala-carte items (per serving) 特色菜 (每份)
- Fried Crispy Meat (Pork) 炸酥肉 – $5.00++
- Brown sugar glutinous rice cake 红糖糍粑 – $5.00++
- Pig’s brain 猪脑 – $3.00++
- Bullfrog legs 牛蛙退 – $3.00++
- Chinese yam 山药 – $2.00++
- Lettuce 莴笋 – $2.00++
Beverages 饮料
- Coke (per can) 可乐 (每罐) – $1.50++
- Sprite (per can) 雪碧 (每罐) – $1.50++
- Jiajia herbal tea (per can) 佳佳凉茶 (每罐) – $1.50++
- Wang Lao Ji (per can) 王老吉 (每罐) – $2.00++
- Kang Shi Fu Green Tea (per bottle) 康师傅绿茶 (每瓶) – $2.00++
- Kang Shi Fu Iced Red Tea (per bottle) 康师傅冰红茶 (每瓶) – $2.00++
- Kang Shi Fu Plum Juice (per bottle) 康师傅酸梅汤 (每瓶) – $2.00++
- Kang Shi Fu Snow Pear Juice (per bottle) 康师傅冰糖雪梨 (每瓶) – $2.00++
- Mango Cheese (per bottle) 芒果小酪 (每瓶) – $2.00++
- Coke 1.5L (per bottle) 1.5升可乐 (每瓶) – $4.00++
- Sprite 1.5L (per bottle) 1.5升雪碧 (每瓶) – $4.00++
- Tiger Beer (per bottle) 老虎啤酒 (每瓶) – $8.00++
- Heineken Beer (per bottle) 喜力啤酒 (每瓶) – $8.00++
- Tsing Tao 2000 Beer (per bottle) 青岛2000 啤酒 (每瓶) – $5.00++
Xiao Mu Deng Buffet Menu
Below are its all-you-can-eat menu items (subject to availability) at no additional charges:
Specialty 特色菜
- Mashed shrimp (limited) 手打虾滑 (限量)
- Fresh Prime Beef 精品牛肉
- Fresh Prime Mutton 精品羊肉
Meat 肉类
- Special Recipe Tender Beef 秘制嫩牛肉
- Pork Belly 精品五花肉
- Three Layer Meat (Pork) 精品三层肉
- Marinated Pork with Soy Sauce 酱香滑肉片
- Chicken Slice 鸡肉片
- Spicy Marinated Ribs 麻辣排骨
- Pig Skin 猪皮
- Large Intestines 肥肠
- Pig Stomach 猪肚
- Pig Kidney 猪腰
- Duck Stomach 鸭胗
- Omasum Tripe 牛百叶
Meat Balls 丸子类
- Fish Ball 鱼肉丸
- Chicken Ball 鸡肉丸
- Pork Ball 猪肉丸
- Beef Ball 牛肉丸
- Mushroom Ball 香菇丸
- Seafood Tofu 海鲜豆腐
- Cheese Tofu 芝士豆腐
- Sausage QQ香肠
- Crispy Sausage 脆皮肠
- Fish Ball with Roe 鱼包蛋
- Crab Stick 蟹棒
- Luncheon Meat 午餐肉
Vegetables 蔬菜类
- Cabbage 大白菜
- Lettuce 油麦菜 、生菜
- Watercress 西洋菜
- Chinese Cabbage 小白菜
- Broccoli 西兰花
- Sweet Corn 玉米
- Winter Melon 冬瓜
- White Radish 白萝卜
- Lotus Root 莲藕
- Bamboo Shoots 竹笋
- Potatoes 土豆
- Bean Sprouts 豆芽
Beans & Mushrooms 豆类蘑菇类
- Fried Tofu 豆泡
- Tofu Skin 腐竹
- Tofu 豆腐
- Dried Beancurd Sheets 千张
- Fried Tofu Skin 炸豆皮
- Frozen Beancurd 冻豆腐
- Shiitake Mushroom 香菇
- King Oyster Mushroom 鸡腿菇
- Shimeji Mushroom 白玉菇
- Black Fungus 黑木耳
- Seaweed 海带
- Enoki Mushroom 金针菇
- Oyster Mushroom 平菇
Seafood 海鲜类
- Crab 螃蟹
- Mussels 淡菜、青口贝
- Lala 啦啦、蛤蜊、蚬子
- Dried Squid 发鱿鱼
- Dory Fish 多利鱼
- Prawn 青虾
Others 其他
- Fried Bun with Condensed Milk 金银馒头
- Rice 白米饭
- Instant Noodles 方便面
- Straight Noodles 直粉
- Sweet Potato Noodles 红薯宽粉
BBQ 烧烤菜单
- Secret Beef 秘制牛肉
- Secret Pork 秘制猪肉
- Secret Chicken 秘制肌肉
- Secret Mutton 蜜汁羊肉
- American Prime Beef 美国肥牛
- Chicken 鸡肉
- Ribs 排骨
- Chicken Wings 鸡翅膀
- Scallops 扇贝
- Pig Throat 炖鲜黄喉
- Duck Stomach 鸭胗
Xiao Mu Deng Review (GR.ID Mall)
Xiao Mu Deng at GR.ID Mall (formerly known as POMO or Paradiz Centre) is located on Level 1 of the shopping mall next to SOTA. It is co-located with Han Yu Ke, with the latter having the frontage to main road. Patrons may enter from Han Yu Ke’s entrance or from Xiao Mu Deng’s own entrance inside the mall.
Prior to our visit, we have read its reviews online and learnt that its buffet price excludes soup bases and drinks. We were fine with the additional charges and made a Hotpot+BBQ buffet reservation for 11am on a Saturday afternoon with 50% discount on Eatigo. As we arrived at their outlet, we were ushered in promptly and noticed that there were 2 other pair of diners in the restaurant before us.
After getting seated, the elderly service staff then informed us in Mandarin that soup bases are excluded from the buffet price and asked if we were good to proceed. We acknowledged the additional charges and ordered a Tomato Soup and a Clear Chicken Soup. After which, she pointed us to a specialty menu where some items are chargeable while three items are already included in the buffet. We had wanted to order all three items without additional charges but were told that the Mashed shrimped was out of stock. Thus, we only got the fresh prime beef and mutton.
While the other service staff prepares the soup and the specialty items that we ordered, we went to the chiller to get the other raw ingredients. We picked most of the seafood available at that time, including crab, mussel, dory fish and squid, as well as some marinated pork, mutton, beef and chicken meats. Though cumin mutton (孜然羊肉) is popular in Chinese restaurants, only cumin beef (孜然牛肉) was available. So we took a little of that to try. Subsequently, we went to the sauce bar to mix our own dipping sauce.
Just as we were about to get started with our meal, we fumbled with the given chopsticks. They were a little too short and there were holes at the bottom end of the utensil. The elderly service staff came over and patiently demonstrated to us on extending it with disposable extensions taken from the small yellow packages on the table. It dawned on us then that these extendable chopsticks were used for hygiene purpose. How ingenious!
After a minute or two exploring the utensil, we finally got started with dipping our meats into the hotpot and barbequing on the hot plate. On our review of the taste and quality of the food, the seafood and raw meats from the specialty orders were fresh and tender. The marinated meats from the chiller were well seasoned, and we liked the cumin beef so much that we went for a second helping (and that was the last helping as it ran out after we took it). Though we wanted to get more of their specialty fresh prime beef and mutton, we were told they had ran out of beef.
We felt a little disappointed as three items (prawn paste, prime beef, and cumin beef) ran out with just 6 customers in the restaurant in just 20 minutes (we were the first customers of the day). The quantity that the restaurant had prepared was apparently inadequate.
Although the seafood was fresh in general, the flower crab (花蟹) was small and did not come with much meat. Prawns were also unavailable on our visit. Diners who come to this restaurant to feast on seafood may be disappointed. After another helping to whatever meats were available, we called it a day and went to pay our bill at the cashier. We paid a total of S$41.00 for two, inclusive of two lunch buffet with 50% discount (S$26.80), two soup bases (2 x S$4.00), and service charge & GST (S$6.20).
Though the final bill was close to what we would pay in other similar restaurants without Eatigo’s discount, we enjoyed the hotpot and BBQ lunch at Xiao Mu Deng. It was a pity that the experience could have been better if they had prepared sufficient meats and seafoods. There were only six diners throughout our lunch and it was not much to ask to prepare the quantity for at least 10 people for a all-you-can-eat buffet. We rate the quality of their ingredients a 4/5, their value-for-money a 3.2/5 (considering the 50% discount and also the shortage of items for a buffet), their clean and pleasant dining environment a 4/5, and excellent service a 4/5.