Eam Huat Charcoal Steamboat Restaurant @ Batu Lanchang, Penang

Steamboat is gaining traction and rose in popularity in Penang, especially after the opening of Hai Di Lao in Gurney Paragon and Xiao Long Kan in Sunrise Tower. However, the traditional way of enjoying steamboat still remained popular among Penangites - Charcoal Steamboat, in which charcoal is used to heat up the soup in a pot with chimney. One of the popular spot among Penangites to enjoy Charcoal Steamboat is Eam Huat, located in a coffee shop opposite of Central Park condominium in Jelutong.

Eam Huat practices the traditional way in which clear soup is prepared using fish and boiled in the pot using charcoal to infuse subtle aroma. As a result, the soup itself is sweet and delicate, with a sleek finishing that you'd wish for more.

Those picky with ingredients can choose what to go along with your steamboat pot from their menu. If you prefer a quick way, you can take their pre-set package, which is priced at RM 88, RM 108, RM 128, RM 188 and RM 238 respectively.

Our RM 188 package came with a range of ingredients such as fish maws, grouper fish slices, pork slices, cheese balls, fish balls with fillings, enoki mushrooms, prawns, abalone slices, Chinese sausages, tofu, vermicelli and etc. In our opinion, that is a competitively priced package which best shared among 6-8 adults.

The soup itself offers a natural sweet taste but adding prawns to it gave the pot an elevated taste. You may request for fried shallots and chives to be added to the soup for better taste.

Thin pork slices, aka Shabu-shabu pork is best enjoyed by dipping it into the boiling pot for a few seconds. After that, dip these cooked pork slices into the sambal and it is a wonder to enjoy.

Other ingredients here are enjoyable too. Be wary when enjoying the meat balls and fish balls as the fillings may squirt upon biting into it.

If you prefer something more solid, you can order white rice to go with your steamboat. Alternatively, the steamboat stall also offers snacks such as fried tofu (RM 1.5/piece) and salted fish skins.

Overall, Eam Huat Charcoal Steamboat is worth enjoying in terms of taste and economically. However, the coffee shop imposes a charge of 50 cents per pax if you are not ordering any drinks, which we find it ridiculous.

We understand it is difficult for the business if nobody is ordering drinks but when more than half of the table is ordering drinks (with 3 children), yet you still yelling here and there, trying to push your honey lemon and apply the surcharge?

Not to mention the chrysanthemum drink here is on a mission to create a diabetic world...