My cravings for pork bone broth took me to another steamboat seeking night. I asked Wendy for a recommendation of steamboat and the answer was the newly opened Hometown Steamboat in SS2.
Hometown Steamboat is a new addition to SS2, but it actually hailed from Bandar Menjalara, ground zero for steamboats. Feels like quite a safe bet, isn’t it? Opportunely, Hometown runs a package for its pork bone broth; RM18 for single pork bone broth or RM22 for an additional soup base type.
Pork Bone Broth:
I got what I came for – creamy pork bone broth and as if they needed to proof they were serious about the ingredients, a big pork bone layered the bottom of our pot. Hometown’s pork bone broth can be easily differentiated from others, as they added fried garlic oil into the mix. If you like fried garlic, then it’s good news for you but even if you don’t, the taste will still be rather balanced.
Tomyum Broth:
Most of the time, I will scoff at ‘chinese style’ tomyum but Hometown’s version was rather good. It’s thick with flavours from lemongrass, kaffir leaves, lime and chilies. The soup thickened as the cooking goes, so by the end of the meal, it became a little saltier.
The Balls!
The homemade Pork Balls were rather tasty, although the big fats layers were a little unappetizing. I will still prefer Bone and Pot’s version, where the fats did not cling conspicuously.
Mushroom Pork Balls were a disappointment. I could be wrong but the mushroom doesn’t taste like any mushroom, at all.
Prawn Balls were the star, attributed to their freshness.
Pork Slices were a little thin, in my opinion, but nonetheless fresh.
Service:
As the restaurant got crowded little by little, the service level started to take a slower pace. We had to call out four times before we got our soups refilled. By the time they refilled for us, our pork bone broth was already dangerously charred at the bottom. The tomyum soup ended up like a messy spicy goo.
The hot pot was a little difficult to handle, being thin-bottomed and glides easily at a slightest touch.
Despite the shortcomings above, I will still gladly dine here again due to their wide selection of items, a little cheaper than Bone and Pot.
Hometown Steamboat Restaurant
Address: 61-9A (1st Floor) Jalan SS2/75, Petaling Jaya 47300, Selangor
