Haidilao Somerset 313 @ Orchard (2021)

This is the new normal, we are all used to dining out with social distancing. And that regulation applies to communal eating like hotpots.

Haidilao was founded in 1994 and it began serving the worldwide popular Sichuan style hotpot. Since then, the founders have became Singaporeans, they are listed on the local stock exchange which made the founders billionaires and many of their staff millionaires.

We have been to Haidilao many times, and I was not so interested to blog it again. But there were some interesting innovations that made this meal very interesting.

We ordered a quadrant style hotpot – that’s right, 4 types of soup base! And then the server (which has always been a highlight of meals in Haidilao, super attentive and courteous) brought out these coriander drips for the hotpot. Very useful for putting in quick cooking items like pig liver and wagyu beef before they get lost in the murky soup.

And then there’s the latest craze in manpower shortage due to Covid – robotic waiters. These self-driving carts ferry the food from the kitchen to the table and they can avoid the people around them. Interestingly, it was the human that did not know how to respond around them. These robots are programmed to avoid a collision with a human, but when a human tried to swerve and slide around them, the program seemed to stall. Need more work, humans, learn to just be human and let the robots avoid us. Remember the three laws of robotics.

Well, the food was as usual good, the service impeccable, and we just have to get use to not being able to go help ourselves with the free flow popcorn and snacks while waiting for a table, free manicure and all the DIY sauces and free snacks around the buffet tables. These have all gone away because of Covid. The queue was much shorter, everything has to be served individually, and the manicure is gone. We just have to be thankful in Singapore, we still have these good restaurants that we can dine out and yet keep safe.

Haidilao 313@somerset
313 Orchard Rd, #04-23/24, Singapore 238895
Tel : 68357227

Date Visited : Mar 2021