I avoided this place for several weeks because the decor was so nice I thought it would be really expensive. Turns out it wasn't, how about that!
It's hard to rate a huoguo place as better or worse than others because very little of the cooking is done for you, and everyone gets their ingredients from pretty much the same place. I base my opinion on how good a place it on the sauces.
90% of places, even expensive ones sometimes, get their hot sesame paste (ma la jiang) from a bottle. You can always tell when they do, because it has that wierd red-orange color and tastes unmistakably canned. The fresh kind is ten times more fragrant, like freshly ground peanut butter.
Little Sheep passed this one basic test of mine. The ma la jiang was fresh and wonderful, the service was friendly, the ambiance is great, and I don't think I spent more than 60 RMB feeding two hungry people.
Dont you have any mistaken belief that I am anyone other than a full blue fair dinkum Malaysian living in Brisbane for the last 2 years. I used to live in Taiwan, PNG and many other countries but always make it a point to return to Malaysia, and I did lived there from 1992 to 2003 when I left for good. During those times when it was the biggest boom town in SE Asia I tasted some of the best food Malaysia could offer.
When I had an entertainment budget of MYR 22K per month, I sure knew what I was looking for and could afford to be picky.
Believe me I know what is the best food, the best fruit and where to get them in Malaysia Singapore Australia and Shanghai.
This was recommended to us by a local and we found it to be pretty good. Location is convenient to Youhao Square and its cheaper than the hotpot place across from Yoshinoya. Place was busy with locals and we were seated in a room rather than out in the main dining area.
Food was good and you could choose to have half spicy and half normal soup for the hotpot. It wasnt expensive and the menu has pictures if you cannot read Chinese.
Overall pretty good dining experience and not overly expensive.
Alexis.Chu
Coltsfan
