Review of Havelock Turtle Soup ● Hidden Gem Right Under Our Noses 合洛山瑞

Recently, I shared about my favourite turtle soup places in Singapore - Tan Ser Seng in Geylang and Fu He (Hock Hoe) in Berseh Food Centre. Then, a few buddies asked why I never go said I should try Havelock Turtle Soup.

So, here I am 😬

Stall name: Havelock Turtle Soup  合洛山瑞

Address: 22A Havelock Road, stall #01-04, Singapore 162022 (stall in Havelock Cooked Food Centre)

Nearest MRT: 10 minutes slow walk from Havelock and Tiong Bahru stations

Tel: 6273 3061

Hours: 9:00am - 3:00pm (Sun, Mon, Tues off)

I actually passed Havelock Turtle Soup many times but always ended up eating at other stalls here. When I crave for turtle soup, I just go back to my reliable old favourites Tan Ser Seng and Fu He.

I have tried other turtle soup stalls elsewhere but they don't leave much impression.

I wasn't sure if Havelock Turtle Soup will be nice, so I ordered the smallest serving for $10. Towkay uncle Ong just raised his prices recently.

The serving looked typical with turtle parts fully submerged in soup and parsley on top. I noticed that there was no floating oil on top.

The soup was light bodied and had a dull murky, almost milky look. As mentioned, there was no grease.

Th soup was gently savoury sweet with hardly any herb taste. Actually, there was wolfberry, and licorice, etc., but only in trace amounts.

My first thought was "cannot compare with Tan Ser Seng" especially if you like herb taste.

But, the meat and skin blew me away 😲

Smoother than the smoothest chicken skin, more tender than the most tender chicken flesh.

The lean meat was only slightly less tender than fish belly meat, and the gelatinous skin was just slightly less smooth than fish fat. The gelatinous skin was also softer and much smoother compared to sea cucumber. You get the idea.

Way better than any crocodile meat dish I've had.

And, stall towkay uncle Ong gave a generous amount of meat and gelatinous skin even for the smallest $10 serving.

via GIPHY

Wonderful lah.

Like that, this is my favourite turtle soup stall in Singapore liao lo.

Though Havelock's turtle soup isn't as nice as Tan Ser Seng's soup, Havelock is the best in the meat and skin department, in my humble opinion 💪

The mildly savoury sweet yam rice was not too bad too and costs 70 cents.

So tasty and satisfying for $10 - for turtle soup in Singapore today, this is actually cheap good value for money.

Went to say hello to stall owner towkay Ong Eng Kok after my meal. He is 70 years old now. When I thanked him for the nice meal and said that I will be back, he replied "要吃要快点来 want to eat, come faster" - was towkay Ong hinting at retirement? I hope not, but uncle is already 70 and had been in the trade since he was 15 years old. So mai tu liao... I mean, don't wait already.

Havelock Road hawker centre is relatively small but centrally located with plentiful parking and has a few popular stalls selling:

Kway chap 👈 click

Fried kway teow 👈 click

Handmade fishball noodle 👈 click

Laksa 👈 click

Tu tu kueh 👈 click

Prawn mee 👈 click

Written by Tony Boey on 31 Mar 2023 | Updated: 7 Sep 2023

🎗 Opinions in this blog are all my own as no restaurant paid money to be featured. 

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