Kent Thong Turtle Soup at Chinatown Complex

Kent Thong Turtle Soup stall 

Kent Thong Turtle Soup is a stall at Chinatown Complex hawker center.  To locate it, look at the color of the tables, first go to the blue zone, then look for its unit number, #02-188, a very auspicious number in Chinese custom.  

I ordered the $12.00 turtle soup.  First impression, the smell of Chinese herbs was minimal.  The only scent came from the aroma of Chinese parsley.   It will be more acceptable to people who don't like strong herbal smells.  

The portion of meat and soft-shell was reasonably generous.  The turtle meat here is different from those from Ser Seng Turtle Soup.  Ser Seng's turtle meat has no bones, but here there were quite a bit of bones, which was quite a nuisance sometimes.  The section of meat of the turtle probably was also different.  The meat here was dryer, harder to chew.  It will suit those who like to chew beef junkies.  I must also point out that one piece of the turtle meat actually had some unpleasant smell.  Probably it was not properly cleaned.  The soft-shell part was good, soft yet crunchy, sounds very self-contradicting, but it happens.  

On the day of my visit, only one old lady was tending the stall.  She handled everything, from taking orders, receiving payments, to delivering food to your table.  I seriously think she should just ask the customers to self-service instead.  She was in good spirits and agile, but then when she was out to deliver food, nobody was at the stall.  

How I came to know this stall is worth mentioning.  After I put up a post in instagram of Ser Seng Turtle Soup, kent.thong_turtle.soup, an instagram user, actually liked my post.  That's how I first heard of this stall, and decided to give it try.  

My verdict?  I most probably will choose Ser Seng over Kent Thong.  I think they should have more man power so that the older generation can focus more on the food preparation, while the younger generation can handle the duties of cashier and serving food.  Just my 2 cents.

Ser Seng Turtle Soup at Potong Pasir

Ser Seng Turtle Soup is located along the same stretch of road as Gu Ma Jia Private Kitchen at Tai Thong Crescent.  Great minds think alike :-)

The interior design is simple and pragmatic, nothing fancy.  It feels like transporting to a Malaysia coffee shop, very relaxed.  The menu is super simple, there are only 3 items on offer.  Turtle soup, pig stomach soup with pepper, black chicken soup, that's all.  There are different prices for different sizes. For turtle soup, the cheapest is $15, most expensive one is $30 I think.  You can opt for soup with both turtle meat and skin (soft shell), or meat only.

I went to the cheapest one, and chose meat and soft shell.   The soup is thick, probably boiled for hours together with some Chinese herbs.  I first tried the soup, it was very good.  Sweet, coupled with the fragrance from the herbs.  It lingered in your mouth to stimulate your taste buds, then went up to your nostril to satisfy your sensors of smell.  Thumbs up!

I was expecting the meat might be dry and hard to chew.  It was nothing but far from the truth.  The meat was actually still tender.  Most importantly, no strange smell.  The soft-shell was crunchy, and bouncy.  I enjoyed it very much.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, turtle is said to benefit your kidneys, and helps to detox your body. I don't know whether it is true, but for that night, somehow my insomnia was cured.