Review of Singapore Turtle Soup at Fu He ● Berseh Food Centre 福和草龟●山瑞

Once in a while, I do indulge in a bowl of turtle soup with yam rice. I like the mouth feel of turtle gelatin which only turtle has.

My go to place for turtle soup in Singapore is Berseh Food Centre since the 1990s. Another of my favourites is in Geylang. (Please share with me where else can I get good turtle soup in Singapore. Thanks!)



Berseh Food Centre is the turtle soup hot spot of Singapore. During its heyday, there were four famous and popular turtle soup stalls here. Now, there are only two remaining.

Turtle soup is a disappearing dish in Singapore's hawker scene as old stalls close down and there are no new ones replacing them.



One of the two stalls remaining at Berseh Food Centre is Fu He Turtle Soup 福和草龟; the other stall is Very Lucky Turtle Soup 大幸运山瑞.



Mr. Lee Hock Hoe age 80+ has been a hawker since he was a teen. Mr. Lee established Fu He Turtle Soup 36 years ago. Mr. Lee's daughters are helping him run the busy two shop lot stall. 



We ordered this SGD25 (2015 price) clay pot of turtle soup to share (as we had already eaten a heavy chicken rice lunch elsewhere). The clay pot of turtle soup wasn't really that large, and I can finish it all by myself (if I haven't eaten earlier).

Fu He's turtles (soft shelled terrapins 鱉 actually) are wild caught, imported live from Indonesia and slaughtered in a HACCP food safety certified slaughterhouse in Singapore.



Many people are into turtle soup because of the purported medicinal qualities of the herbal broth.

The herbal broth is medium bodied and mildly flavoured with a good balance of sweet, savoury and herbal. The broth has a subtle hint of brandy as they added a small drizzle of XO into the clay pot. Overall, the broth is likeable and drinkable. (The higher priced servings - up to SGD50 - come with more brandy added.)



To me, besides the herbal broth, turtle soup is mostly about the skin and gelatinous parts beneath.



Soft smooth jelly like with a slight bounce and spring. It has not much flavour; it's all about the mouth feel (and the supposed health benefits).



The lean meat is quite bland and relied on the herbal broth for taste.



Though tender, the meat is quite fibrous and required quite a of lot jaw effort before it was soft enough to swallow.



With only two turtle soup stalwarts left at Berseh Food Centre, it's still the go to place in Singapore for me for the tasty brew. Please tell me where else I can go and I will gladly go check them out 😄 

Thank you in advance!

Restaurant name: Fu He Turtle Soup 福和草龟 ●十全鸭 (also known as Hock Hoe)
Address: 166 Jalan Besar stall #02-40 Berseh Food Centre, Singapore 208877
GPS: 1.307259, 103.856548
Tel: 6294 9203
Hours: 11:00 am to 8:30 pm (Closed on Thurs Fri)

Written by Tony Boey on  10 Aug 2015 | Updated 30 Mar 2023