King's Fish Soup: Savvy 21st Century Hawkers
This stall is closed
With AlecEe, Kathleen, smart, pk, iwatch_ueat, liverpool and zanzoo
It's interesting to observe how our hawkers are evolving. If you think that the typical hawker is your dialect speaking, internet unsavvy, middle aged Auntie/Uncle, then think again. There is a new generation of young and hip hawkers that will transform the local hawker scene during our lifetimes.
These young hawkerpreneurs don't start with the concept of opening just one stall to sell their food. No, they incorporate a Pte Ltd company with the vision of opening chain stalls. They think about the marketing aspects of their dishes, trying to differentiate on quality, and carving out a niche for themselves by focusing on key competitive advantages.
Now why am I saying all this? Well, its because King's Fish Soup is just one great example of the 21st century hawker. The lady (one of our blog readers) who invited us to her stall turned out to be no hawker mama. She's young, attractive and also happens to hold the title of the Business Development Manager!
The food also reflects modern thinking.
Traditionally, fish soup tends to be Teochew in origin, but these people proudly declare that theirs is Cantonese Fish Soup. According to them, its different because its been boiled longer and they have the addition of the shredded deep fried eggs on top. They also make the big point that there is no MSG added to the soup. Rather then using the cheaper Dory for the fried fish, they use fresh Batang for better flavour.
I found the fried fish very tasty and the deep fried eggs are sinfully good. But redemption for that sin comes from the MSG free soup which was tasty and sweet, although with no MSG, it did lack that extra ooomph. 4/5
Conclusion
MSG free soup and fried Batang fish sets this stall apart from the rest. And of course, you get to order from a Business Development Manager cum Customer Relations Officer!
King's Fish Soup
Blk 6 #02-18 Tanjong Pagar Plaza
Tanjong Pagar Food Centre
Mon-Sat 11am to 7pm
64668187
Disclaimer: We were invited to review this stall by Claire
39 comments:
putting a deep fried eggs into the fish soup is nothing new. Blanco Court fish soup stalls did that years ago, and they are not Cantonese fish souu stalls.
Dear 'a', if only you can use a penname. I believe you are well verse in local food. You have talent pls share more good food.
I have tried their fish soup but it's nothing special, even a little bland. Though it seems the different thing they are trying to do is the image of new hip hawker owners and something to do with a retired ceo of some company. But I don't see what's that got to do with good honest hawker food.
Love your previous intro of the steamboat place! Value for money!
dun look very tempting to me though..
in fact, i never eat fish soup outside -- fear of fishy smell.. even e tot of it really makes me wanna puke..
no offence to anyone though!
Tried it previously and find it average. From your writing , they probably has improved or our preference for fish soup differ.
One man's meat is another's poison
I am a firm believer of fish soup being "cheng" to allow the freshness of the fish to be tasted in its full glory.
And adding oily fried eggs to the fish soup actually lowers the value of fish soup as a delicious, low cholestrol AND healthy meal.
Am a Teochew Ah Niang hehe..and yup, fried eggs on fish soup are not new.
: )
This blog worked because it was a honest review of food and we knew it was good as the author of the blog would only include it in if it was good. However now with shop and stall owners inviting the author to review their stalls. My question is would this blog be accurate anymore? Reasoning? If I know that many readers use this blog as a honest food guide, why would I not invite the author, cook him a super special and good portion and let him write and praise me to 7th heaven and see the business start rolling in. After which I go back to my normal nothing big deal standards.
Also to add, honestly to me a foodie, I dont really give a care even if you tell me the cook is the former Prime minister of Singapore... I only care if your food is good or not. So if the owner is a Biz Development Mgr or whatever? Not relevant to if the food is good.
Forgive me if Im overly blunt just that Im quite disturbed that we are getting more articles that are invites and question the validity of the reviews.
u can always choose not to visit this blog anymore. dont make the readers sound like they are a bunch of idiots who cant judge.
many times, i disagreed with ieat's rating (the stalls didnt invite him) and found other places better.
Last, i think this is just a blog, a personal diary. I think its called entries and not articles.
I guess you will have hawkers who do not realize that they lose out in the long run by providing only "better" portions for reviews....the same said for readers and customers who do not read the disclaimers that it was a invited review...I tend to take these reviews with a pinch of sugar and salt...good if I have found another nice makan place or a once only visit... :)
"I dont really give a care even if you tell me the cook is the former Prime minister of Singapore... I only care if your food is good or not. So if the owner is a Biz Development Mgr or whatever? Not relevant to if the food is good." yup not relevant if the food is good, but interesting to know the background of these stallowners whom some do it for passion, making loads of money or just trying to eke out a living....:)
Another Mr. 'a' coming to commend without a pen name, so sad. I suggest you come along the next time ieat n makan kakis go food tasting. Met the owner, Claire. She started the stall in June and give her time to inprove on her fish soup. For me the fish soup is not bad only that she add too much veg which should be 'cheng'. The teochew version dont add fried egg too but her version is NOT new but her own way of attracting customers.Mr. 'a' if you know Dr. Les, he will NOT give great review for a bowl of free fish soup.The ieatishootipost blog is well read by 4,000 daily n they are not fools.Also the blog must be a interesting read, so he mention ex-ceo,etc for informative reading.
I think "smart" might be a little harsh in the comments. What the people commenting is the possiblity that the food served at invited reviews might be better than the ones served during normal times and you have to agree that that's possible.
And as much as we appreciate the informative facts on the blog, what we or I personally is saying that food to me is food, good a not I don't consider the background of the chef nor how new the stall is.
Maybe the owner should get the soup right before selling than waiting to improve over time because once is enough for me. If I don't like the food, I won't go back and that's the way it is. Can't expect people to be sympathetic about any facts about the owners and kept giving it a chance.
No offense to ieat cos I admire his blog alot and his reviews on hawker food, but aren't we entitled to give our humble opinions on the food as well?
Frankly my mum could cook more flavoursome fish soup with no msg than king's, though maybe not as presentable. And I had been there, no idea who was claire but I didn't really like the service as well.
But i'm just one in 4000 readers and this is just my humble opinion. Not to offend with anyone
I think it is important for everyone to share their personal experience with any of the food stalls. That is why the comments is there for. It is also important for readers to read other people's comments before venturing to eat at the stall. So I encourage everyone to give their opinions.
The most important thing is to be honest and write under your own pen name because people know you and know that you are not hiding behind a cloak of anonymity. Because anonymous comments can be honest reviews or competitors, no one can be sure. So build up your credibility by writing under a pen name!
To Dr Lesile as per your request for a pen name.
I dont mince my words and Dr Lesile, I believe you being as learned as you are would know that often critism is better than a whole lot of supporters blindly saying yes. To the issue of readers being dumb and not able to judge. Well let's just say that Dr Lesile, you have something good going on here, this blog. It can be commercially viable and it can become a guide of sorts. Its all up to you on how you expand your blog into something that people would be willing to pay for. Something for you to think about and to not let the standards drop. When you have too many reviews that are invited and too many comments stating that the food is not only not nice but in fact terrible... something is very wrong. Example would be the Michelin Star awards in Japan, Michelin Star winner but condemned by the rest of the Japanese customers as crap.
So seriously dont spoil a good thing and start letting the review quality drop. Honestly if the reviews are going to be by people who invited you and then expectly cook up a feast, I would say that is not the reason why 4000 of us started reading your blog. You said yourself that you would only blog about good food, so what is the point when the food only taste good to you and crap to the rest of us because it was just a publicity stunt by the shop.
As for the part of me saying the person's background doesn't play a part in whether or not the food is good? Reasoning being we are actually putting down hawkers and cooks... each time we say "he or she was a ex lawyer, engineer, doc etc etc" and now he or she is a hawker.... is it that shameful to be a hawker? Think about it.... I would rather eat from a stall served by a hawker who has been doing this all his life and the food is good than to be served by a person of former high status but the food is only so so...
CK
haha... i think you are very funny... did any one say that it is shameful to be a hawker?
i think this blog started out as an interest, a hobby. As a foodie, i dont see any reason for anyone to reject any meal when it is good (stall must be somewhat confident of their food before inviting) and Free.
Even if the food tasted good to ieat during the invitation, people's comment can kill the stall if there is a mismatch in standard later on. i doubt any businessmen will be so short sighted.
You are really funny! Suddenly, you represent 4000 readers for the reason for reading this blog.
I think ck does have a point in what he is saying.
This blog and the author being so popular, it is inevitable that new hawkers who want to start up their business will take this "short-cut", if you like to call it that, to market their stall and increase their exposure to consumers.
I find no problems with this methodology and in fact I like it and admire the effort. I would certainly try it out but I suck at cooking. After all, if we don't support these young entrepreneurs, and if we have no young hawkers entering the scene, then what are we going to eat in 20-30 years time?? hahaha
But this being a food blog, of course there must be some QC and I think leslie did a great thing by indicating that he was invited to review the food because there are so many variable factors that can make one's perception of food good or bad.
I have not tried the stall so i can't comment on the food but one cannot rule out the theory that his mere presence that day motivated the owner to do her best.
So what's the solution. Recently I read food.recentrunes and I think the author had a good point when he stated that he always avoid reviewing new stalls maybe until 6 months to a year to let the owner settle down and get used to the job. Maybe that's a point to note.
Dictator, are we not entitled to free speech or as your nick suggest... are you a insecure individual who finds his thrill by coming in here to take offence at every statement that doesn't agree with you?
Not wanting to argue with you which incidentally I would find really childish but honestly... you are making yourself look silly by your rambling and bashing... you sound like my 18 year old intern....
Thank you Ken Mun, you understand what I am trying to say all this time. I love this blog and I find that this is one of the best food guides around and I honestly dont hope that it dies a early death ironically due to its popularity when more reviews are turn out good for Dr Lesile and followed by a string of bad comments. Honestly I would prefer the old days of honest reviews and when readers go try it, the food lives up to its name. And not when they go, it turns out to be horrible. That would defeat the whole aim of the blog as a food guide that stands out from the rest around.
CK
Since chancing on this blog, it has provided me my daily dosage of interesting food reviews, wittyly penned from a sincere heart...Thanks Leslie! Keep up the good work. A real feat to be able to post a food review almost every day, to whet our reading pleasure and food appetite, and surfacing many unknown good food stalls which we would otherwise have missed!And many of your recommendations are for the 'man in the street' where budget is a constraint..Yes, reasonably priced good food prepared from the heart.
alright, people.. PLEASE stop e arguing n name-calling already..
u r just trying to put ur point across but perhaps e other party misunderstood e point?
let's put tis issue to a stop, k?
thanks! =)
oh.. haha.. are you making another assumption? its is just a nick, of coz you can say anything you like.
i do understand your point but not relevant. Where did you infer that the aim of the blog is to be a food guide that stands out from the rest around?
This is not a biz food blog. It is just a personal blog to write review, a hobby, for friends to know where he eats, and for any readers finding this blog interesting.
I think a 18 year old intern can understand a blog better.
dictator: PLEASE STOP all these flaming.
CK: I hope U can be sensible enough to stop replying to any comments which is trying to get U or anyone upset, pls? Thanks.
I am thinking about something ....
with all tis going on about whether an invited review is a good/bad thing, y isnt the author himself air his own opinion ?
Or he got something to conceal ?
Lets be honest.
Dear Dear Mr. 'a'. why hide yourself? What do you mean by 'to conceal' and 'be honest'. Pls elaborate. Why conceal your identity?
We are still entitled to give our honest opinions coupled with constructive criticism (if negative). I may be an ardent supporter of this blog, but I (have) also dare(d) to criticize - albeit in a constructive manner - any post which may feature 'bad' food from my personal experience
Whether the food is good or bad, the viewers can discern for themselves and this is reflected in precisely the comment box; but any opinion by anonymous persons offer no credibility whatsoever.
Haha, it's pretty obvious we've got some fellow competitors who just drank red wine vinegar during teatime.
Wah what a bunch of non food related rants.
Back to the food cos' that's what I visit this blog for, based on this review, I went to try the soup since it's near my workplace, and though it isn't anything to rave about at first taste, I must say it's what fish soup should be, 'cheng', yet deceptively tasty despite its 'clearness', and healthy to boot. And I like that touch with the batang fish, dory fish in fish soup just tastes weird to me.
I even went back the next day to eat it again, and joked with the pretty owner that she must have put some opiate in it cos' I seemed to be craving for it the next day!
So in my plebian foodie opinion, this fish soup is good for now, and in time, as things improve, recipes change, I see the potential for it to become even better.
And Leslie, just to put in my next two cents, I like the bits of history and background in your reviews, just as you do with the oldest traditional hawker stalls, you were consistent with this new age-y business oriented hawker stall. Good nugget of info!
I love fish soup but I'm afraid I haf to agree with other comments that the soup is tasteless, fried eggs does nothing but add a layer of oil for me. Fish was dried from overcooking and a tad stale tasting.
Doesn't taste the difference between the batang fish from other dory fish from other stalls. In fact other stalls fish taste nicer to me.
No pretty owner in sight, went by a few times cos I worked there, only saw a young auntie there.
our doctor blogger is still being silent ....
i tried this, but not to my taste sadly.
I hope you all realize this one fact: What you get to read on the blog is not all the stuff that I have photographed and eaten! There are many unused photos in my hard drive and many stalls that you will never hear about.
This blog is not just a directory of the best Singapore food. It also chronicles the history and development of the Singapore food scene. That is why I include a lot of history and background stories of the hawkers who provide us with their food.
The fish soup story was included because it highlights the trend in the development of hawkerpreneurs which I thought was interesting. My philosophy has always been to highlight what is good or distinct about the stall and that I have done in the conclusion.
It is good to hear your opinions and comments so keep writing in and please use a pen name so that everyone knows who it is that is making the comments. So many anonymous commentors that we don't really know if it is one or many persons commenting.
Really Blah..nothing to write home about.
oh come on stop these flaming nonsense. i think whats important to discuss here is the quality of the fish soup,...who cares if its some retired CEO doing it?? for all you know? he's the one doing the cooking. haha!
Anyhow, i went down to try the food and to my surprise and disagreement to some of the ppl here.. the soup is better than what i expected. and yes the fried eggs thingy? heavenly lah!
well ok it may not be like the best in the world but yes def worth a try.
Wow… so much banter but isn’t this blog suppose to be food centric, so putting things back to perspective;
So I went by the stall and………guess what! I really like it as the soup was very tasty and the ingredients very fresh. In fact I find it quite addictive. Brought my mum and her friend too… and she liked it as well, especially the homemade chili sauce which is really different as fish soup stalls usually serve the standard red-cut chilli.
I have eaten this fish soup a few times - it is different from the usual type. Good value for money and healthy. The chilli is different too - goes well with the fish.
wow ck...wow anonymous...u both sound like you are very pro-makan sutra ppl!!! haahaa...maybe you guys are him?? or maybe you are friends of his?? Personally, i find this blog of Dr. Les very useful and objective as compared to lotsa of self-proclaimed food guru but infact intro only those who suck up to him (if u know who i m referring to..haa)...though, sometime i find the comments here abit personal, like damien's but in general if we are talking abt the fd recommendation, my gf and i like 95% of the food he recommended! And wkends are always interesting and exciting for us! Be it breakfasts, lunches, dinners or even suppers! My next challenge is to find that italian rest he just recommended! (if not i will be minced by my gf)....saveeeeeeeeeee me....
Jia you jia you, Dr. Les.
I tried King's Fish Soup outlet at ABC market today. I thought the fish soup was good. Fish was definitely fresh with no fishy smell and the fried egg added did not make the soup oily so I thought extra steps was taken to drain out the oil.
The 2 service staff were really polite and patient with me despite me changing my mind like 3 to 4 times :P
the stall is no longer at Tanjong Pagar Hawker Centre anymore. In place is another Fish Soup stall.
i have just eaten it today, and frankly speaking it taste rather yummy. The service is friendly, as the stall attendant would walk up to you and ask and recommend the 3 dishes they are selling. What more would one expect from the service from a hawker center? there is no service charge moreover, its service seems pleasant =).
this stall close le for very very time le
ya, close liao, but I went before they closed and they said they moving to maxwell. Then i heard they expanded to ABC market at Bukit Merah also.
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