Chuan Jiang Hao Zi Steamboat Restaurant (川江号子火锅楼）- Cheated BIG TIME

Yesterday evening a friend and I decided to have hotpot, so we went to one of the ubiquitous PRC-run steamboat places in Chinatown. We went into the first one we saw, which was Chuan Jiang Hao Zi Steamboat Restaurant (川江号子火锅楼） at No. 12 Smith St.

We were hard-sold by the PRC lady boss into ordering the buffet, but we stood firm since we were not keen to overeat. We ordered 5 dishes from the a la carte menu: beef fillet, chicken fillet, lotus root, golden mushroom and Chinese cabbage. This was what we got: (guess how much it cost us eventually?) Notice that there were only 3 slices of lotus root! We had a bit of a shock because the menu said $3.00, which meant that it was $1 per slice. The amount of golden mushroom was pathetic given that the menu said $3.00.


Check out the menu below, with relevant items circled in red:

The meats were probably of a more decent serving. Beef supposedly cost $4.90 and chicken $4.00.
Imagine our shock when the bill came totalling more than $40. We were told (rather agressively too) by the lady boss that while she was persuading us to have the buffet, that the prices on the menu had gone up and that it was a 5 year old menu and that we had disregarded her good advice to have the buffet. So the beef was $.690, the chicken $6.00, and the golden mushrooms and lotus root $4.00 each! (that makes it $1.33 per slice).

Her word against ours, but after 2 years of working on a project in China, I am quite sure that I would have understood that. My friend, who speaks Mandarin at home, had a go as well, but we realised rather quickly that it was pointless to argue. So we paid and left quickly.

After getting home, I realised we had been charged for a dish we didn't order, ie there was an extra 2x2.00 charge. 40 bucks for that silly plate of veggies and meat (ok, including 2 soft drinks) was ridiculous.

And to make things worse, we realised they recycle their soup base! We didn't order any prawns....so why was there a prawn leg in the soup????

Please eat at your own risk at 12 Smith Street!