Chef Andre Chiang opens upmarket hotpot restaurant Bon Broth at Raffles City

SINGAPORE – Calling all hotpot fans. The highly anticipated Bon Broth by Taiwanese celebrity chef Andre Chiang has opened at Raffles City. 

Launched on Feb 18 in partnership with home-grown food and beverage group Surrey Hills Holdings, the 2,150 sq ft restaurant is set to elevate the hotpot experience in Singapore. 

The 40-seat space features two 14-seat circular bar seating arrangements, as well as booth seating.

Each diner gets an individual hotpot and there are two menus, priced at $110 and $138 – both available for lunch and dinner. Both sets offer an array of seafood, meat and vegetables, with more luxe ingredients in the $138 menu such as rock lobster and South African abalone. 

There is also an a la carte menu and a small selection of desserts. 

Set aside about two hours for the dining experience, which kicks off with a choice to taste two of the eight broths available at the broth bar counter. 

Options include the signature Sichuan green pepper, South-east Asian-inspired curry laksa, Taiwan-style satay (sha cha) or Japanese-influenced Hokkaido broth, a Hokkaido milk and miso collagen broth.  

Chiang, who is in town for Bon Broth’s opening, likens the experience of tasting and picking one’s broth of choice to going to a bar and choosing a cocktail.

Once the soup is picked, each one is prepared with a bone broth base – brewed for 14 to 16 hours on-site with a mix of beef, pork and chicken bones – and infused with Chiang’s spice paste which is made in Taiwan. 

The preparation of the refined, flavour-packed broths is a nod to his background in French cooking. He also highlights that people do not pay enough attention to brewing quality soup at steamboat eateries, with many passing off “kombu and hot water” as an acceptable soup base. 

“People talk about the wagyu and lobster, but not about the broth. And with a good broth, you don’t need dips,” adds the 48-year-old, who has worked his way through several Michelin-starred establishments. He used to helm the famed two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Andre in Singapore before it shut in 2018 and he returned to Taiwan.

So, do not expect any condiments at Bon Broth. He notes that the concept is also on trend with diners wanting healthier options – sans condiments, carbs and fried items. 

Bon Broth was born from Chiang’s time at the now-defunct Sichuan Moon restaurant in Macau, where he started serving hotpot to VIP guests in the private rooms. 

Word caught on and, wanting to present a more accessible and approachable offering, he decided to develop Bon Broth as a stand-alone concept. 

Calling Singapore his second home, he says it was a no-brainer to debut Bon Broth here, and plans to launch it in Tokyo, New York and Los Angeles in the second half of 2025. 

His decision to work with Surrey Hills Holdings was because the group’s “day-to-day quality lifestyle dining” concepts aligned with his vision for Bon Broth. 

It is the final opening in the foodie enclave at Raffles City, which houses the group’s Surrey Hills Grocer, ramen restaurant Mensho Tokyo and Spanish restaurant MoVida Original. 

Bon Broth’s entry into Singapore adds to the recent crop of openings here, including other new hotpot brands such as China’s Shu Da Xia at Tampines 1 and Macau-born The Dolar Shop at Chijmes. 

This year will be a busy one for Chiang. He has stepped back from day-to-day restaurant operations, but has several projects overseas. 

This includes transforming Taipei’s now-defunct Raw restaurant – which shut on Dec 31, 2024 – into a culinary academy to groom young chefs. 

He hopes to extend training programmes to the younger generation of chefs and service staff in Singapore too. “Andre’s everywhere, you’ll see me everywhere,” he adds.