A Hot Hideout Review: Is This Famous SG-Born Mala Chain Still Worth The Hype?

A Hot Hideout is a popular mala chain with 11 outlets

Mention mala, and one brand that’s sure to pop up in conversation is A Hot Hideout. If you didn’t already know, they’re a popular, local-born mala chain that went viral a while back for their unconventional toppings, scrambled eggs, and an assortment of deep-fried items. What first started as a passion project by two NTU students, A Hot Hideout now operates a whopping 11 branches in Singapore.

We were impressed by their mala during our visit to their first NTU outlet in 2021. Given how quickly they’ve expanded since then, we figured it was time for another visit to see if they’re still as good as we remembered—this time at their Kallang outlet in Aperia Mall.

Food at A Hot Hideout

Your meal is charged by the weight here. TLDR, you weigh out a bowl yourself at the machine, and it comes at quite an affordable price of $3.25 per 100g for all ingredients. This price also includes their unique toppings, which consist of their deep-fried potato, lotus root, and scrambled eggs ($1.50).

Carbs are just as important as veggies and meat in mala, so we were glad to have a wide selection, including spinach noodles, sweet potato noodles, rice cakes, and instant noodles. We also made sure to get our favourites to fill our bowl: luncheon meat, pork belly, sausages, tofu skin, cheese tofu, spinach, cabbage, and enoki mushrooms—to name a few.

Their base prices start at $1 for the non-spicy Oriental Stir Fry and $1.50 for the classic Mala Stir Fry. But what we really wanted to try here were their soups, as they are not just any mala broth.

We kickstarted with their signature Mala Collagen Soup ($2.50). While I’m not the biggest fan of spice, my colleague is a mala fanatic, so to compromise, we settled for the medium spice level.

Though we definitely felt a kick as the first spoonful went down our throats, we were glad it was pretty milky from all the collagen, which certainly helped to dial down the heat. Even with a lower spice tolerance, I could still see myself getting this broth again if I craved a comforting, spicy bowl of soup—but probably at a lower spice level.

For the best experience, we recommend pairing this broth with their pork belly. While the meat wasn’t the most tender, the fatty slices added a tasty, savoury depth that took the dish up a notch.

If you’re thinking of adding noodles to your soup, go straight for the purple sweet potato noodles. We loved that it was cooked to a springy al dente texture. It also didn’t get soggy after sitting in the broth for a while, which is a recurring issue at a lot of other malatang places.

On the other hand, the instant noodles were too soft for our liking and quickly became soggy after just a short while in the broth.

Next, we got the Collagen Soup ($2): a safe choice if you want something more clean-tasting. As it was on the lighter end, it really allowed the other ingredients to shine through.

We recommend going for the healthier ingredients here, such as the seafood, and lots of veggies to add a bit of sweetness to the otherwise mild broth.

We went all out on this bowl and got a trio of cuttlefish, prawn, and fish.

All of the seafood tasted fresh, without being off-putting or overly fishy. They were also cooked perfectly: the prawns were plump and meaty, cuttlefish delightfully chewy without being tough, and the fish delicate, soft, and flaky.

For the last bowl, we went for the Tomato Collagen Soup ($2.50), another great option if spice isn’t your thing. As someone with a relatively low spice tolerance, this is a soup flavour I often go for when I have hotpot. Thankfully, the tomato soup didn’t fall short of my expectations, and I thoroughly enjoyed the comforting, sweet and sour broth here. This tasted especially delicious with the warm bed of scrambled eggs atop the soup and other ingredients.

This was my first time trying their scrambled eggs, and after having tried some, I could finally understand the hype around it. They were silky, fluffy, buttery, and unexpectedly tasted great in the soup. Unlike in an egg drop soup situation, the thick scrambled eggs here soaked up all the flavours of the soup well, all while still miraculously retaining their heavenly, cloud-like texture.

We’d also like to give a special shoutout to their cheese tofu. Unlike other hotpots, the filling in this one didn’t have any of that artificial nacho cheese flavour. Instead, each piece was stuffed with a ton of creamy, oozy white cheese.

We recommend pairing this with the tomato broth, as the savoury cheese core goes extremely well with the bright, tangy flavours of the soup.

A quick word of warning: do let the tofu cool slightly before digging in, as the melty cheese inside can get piping hot.

Instead of being cooked in the broth, the lotus root and potato were thinly sliced and deep-fried to resemble chips with a delightful crunch, adding a nice contrast of textures. Thanks to the crispy texture, this item was our favourite out of the bunch. That said, you’ll have to eat these fast, as they get soggy quite fast.

Don’t forget to add their house-made chilli powder. A sprinkle of this magic dust does wonders, lending each bite an addictive, umami-rich depth and subtly spicy kick.

We ended our meal with the fragrant, sweet Thai Milk Red Tea ($3.50) and Thai Milk Green Tea ($3.50), which did the perfect job of quenching our thirst after all the heavy flavours. The former drink boasted a delicious, bold, roasted flavour, while the latter had a refreshing jasmine and floral note.

Ambience at A Hot Hideout

A Hot Hideout currently has 11 locations scattered across the island, but we visited their Aperia Mall outlet in Kallang for this review. The space is decked in a black and red interior, with large, cushioned booths, comfortably seating around 100 people at a time, in tables of two to six. They can get quite busy during peak periods, so we recommend heading down early.

The restaurant is conveniently located on the mall’s ground floor, a quick seven-minute walk from Bendemeer MRT Station and an eight-minute walk from Lavender MRT Station. It’s also within walking distance of Kallang MRT Station.

A Hot Hideout – Eatbook review

A Hot Hideout has earned itself the Best Mala In Singapore title several times, and after our visit, we could see why. With a huge variety of ingredients, including some unique ones that can’t be found elsewhere and relatively affordable prices, you can’t call yourself a mala lover if you haven’t given this place a shot! Now with 11 outlets across Singapore, it’s more convenient for everyone to make a trip.

For more mala recommendations, check out our Xiao Man Niu Mala Xiang Guo feature for a $10 mala buffet in the CBD! Alternatively, read our Bendemeer food guide for more great eats in the area.

Address: 12 Kallang Avenue, #01-58/59, Aperia Mall, Singapore 339511
Opening hours: Daily 11am to 9:30pm
Website | Full list of outlets
A Hot Hideout is not halal-certified.

Photos taken by Heather Ng.
This was an independent review by Eatbook.sg.
This article was originally written by Aruni Nair on 2 September 2024.