Zi Wei Yuan Steamboat is a large busy restaurant at Jalan Raja Uda, Butterworth.
I’ve been there for a steamboat dinner half a dozen times.
Run by Big Boss and Lady Boss, they conduct the business via a wireless PA system. Both bosses watch the employees with an eagle’s eye directly the employees.
One thing is for sure. Diners will not go unnoticed or hungry as service is fast.
Zi Wei Yuan Steamboat’s Volcano Hotpot?
The local “volcano” hotpots or steamboats are excellent places to cook with an old-style burner within a metal pot, with a chimney holding the charcoal.
Zi Wei Yuan Steamboat is famous for its milky, flavorful broth made by boiling fish bones and yam.
Waiters are ready with metal kettles to replenish the pots with boiling soup.
There is a giant vat of boiling soup station in the middle of the restaurant where the waiters refill their kettles.
Guide to Ordering a Delicious Steamboat Dinner
Zi Wei Yuan Steamboat offers set menus and a la carte ingredients.
The signature fresh Grouper Steamboat and signature Fish Head Steamboat are famous.
We ordered the RM288 set of fresh grouper fish with an additional serving of fried fish and two plates of yam.
A jar of herbal drink. Without rice, the bill reached RM359 for the eight of us.
The choices are plentiful. Seafood choices range from ordinary to lavish.
There are slices of fish, cuttlefish, squid, fish maw, and fish balls.
Fresh prawns, sea cucumber, mantis prawns, oysters, razor clams, Pacific clams, scallops, and even abalone!
Meat items include bacon, pork meatballs, innards, chicken, and beef slices.
Fried items are bean curd, dumplings, and deep-fried pig skin.
Our favorites are the fried yam slices and fried bean curd sheets.
There is a good choice of mushrooms that differ in texture and flavor: button, straw, golden, and abalone!
Other good choices are leafy vegetables and the must-have, “tang oh.”
How to Cook Your Steamboat Ingredients?
To enrich the taste of the soup, we started by adding the fried fish, followed by the prawns and clams.
We layer the stockpot with meats, meatballs, and vegetables.
Then we added the squids and cuttlefish, which require little cooking time.
At each eating stage, we ensure we clear all the ingredients.
We added fresh boiling soup and more ingredients and let the pot cook again.
As different ingredients require different cooking times, adding anything and everything will spoil the steamboat.
Our final choice was adding the “Tang Oh” with vermicelli and fresh oyster.
This brings out the taste of the plump tiny oysters beautifully.
Zi Wei Yuan Steamboat is different from the Lok Lok Steamboat that you can find.
When Do You Eat the Carbs?
You could order a bowl of yam or white rice or add vermicelli, yellow mee, and instant noodles for your carbs.
The dipping sauce packs a satisfying spicy, garlicky, and sourish kick, perfect for boiled food.
Freshly fried fish against a wall of steamboats on a rack.
There is a giant vat of boiling soup station in the middle of the restaurant where the waiters refill their kettles.
Fresh ingredients. Photos: Doris Lim
Fried fish, fried bean curd sheets, and yam are my favorite. The dipping sauce has fermented beans, chili, and garlic. Photos: Doris Lim
There’s the little volcano-burning chimney with charcoal. Photos: Doris Lim
The lovely soup at a rapid boil. There are fried pig skin and fried yam! Photos: Doris Lim
Everyone is happy and enjoying a lovely, lively dinner together. Photos: Doris Lim
Do go early or reserve ahead, as there is usually a long queue for a table.
Zi Wei Yuan Steamboat (紫薇園魚頭火炭爐)
6525, Jalan Raja Uda, Butterworth
Telephone: +604-331 2736, HP: 012-452 4741
Hours: 6.00 PM to 11.00 PM
Closed on Wednesdays
