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Grandpa’s Pomfret Sliced Fish Soup: The Teochew Pomfret Bowl of Fish Soup Masterpiece

The Teochew Pomfret Fish Soup at Hup Lok. They call it “Grandpa’s Pomfret Soup” on the menu. I usually ignore sentimental names. Kitchens often use nostalgia to mask lazy cooking. I didn’t expect much, but the broth corrected me fast.

They start with an overwhelming amount of twenty liters raw ingredients and reduce them down to twelve of concentrated liquid. The math translates directly to the palate. The broth is absolute clarity – clear and thick from hours of boiling pork bones and fish bones, resulting in a comforting meal. 

It is deeply savoury with natural collagen, yet completely clean tasting and flavourful, with a full-bodied taste and a slight sweetness from the fish. It leaves no heavy residue on the tongue. A Clear Soup perfect with a bowl of white rice.

Each generous serving is presented in a piping hot bowl, served with a generous amount of fresh fish slices. The pomfret slices are smooth and tender, with thicker cuts providing a better mouthfeel. A luxury away from the usual sliced batang fish mixed soup kinds you get at amoy street food centre, maxwell food centre, newton food centre or even coffee shops.

Value for money is evident in the generous serving and the amount of fish slices in each bowl, especially since fresh fish can be expensive. The taste is fresh without being overly fishy, with a balanced sweetness and brininess, all the boxes checked for a classic clear fish soup experience.

Teochew-style sliced fish soup is a classic comfort food, not the cloudy soup kinds, typically enjoyed as a hearty meal, the same kind of honest, everyday eating I found at Great Nanyang Heritage Cafe.

No Fried Fish, No Fish Maw, just pure good pomfret for the best fish soup Singapore offers

The pomfret is impeccable. Cooked exactly to the point of turning opaque. The flesh holds its structure in the hot liquid. There is no muddy aftertaste. The ginger and preserved vegetables provide a sharp, necessary counterpoint to the rich fish stock.

The broth is clear fish soup, highlighting the original taste of the fish fresh without the need for adding milk or evaporated milk for that milky broth one usually eats.

This simple dish shut me up for a moment. Perfect for fish soup fix. No notes.

If you are looking for fried fish soup, white fish soup with batang fish slices, teochew fish porridge or even herbal seafood soup, look elsewhere.

Alaskan King Crab Bee Hoon: Luxury Made Accessible

We followed the soup with the Alaskan King Crab Bee Hoon. They charge $38.80 for half an Alaskan king crab. That price point is unheard of in Singapore. Ordering king crab in most restaurants feels like a trap. The ingredients are treated as luxury items, marked up aggressively to punish the diner.

Here, affordability and generous portions are the primary element. The crab was handled with respect. The meat was distinctly sweet and pulled cleanly from the heavy shells. The bee hoon beneath it did exactly what it needed to do. It soaked up the rich, crustacean-heavy broth without turning to mush.

It is a very solid plate of food. Yet, even with the weight of the king crab, it still played second to the pomfret fish soup, a standout among other fish soups and seafood soup options often found at popular fish soup stalls.

Not everything on the menu commands the same attention. The Claypot Hokkien Mee and the Prawn Noodle Soup, littered with fresh fried pork lard, are highly prized by the regular crowds. I found them average.

They are entirely outshined by the bowl of fresh fish soup, which to me actually felt like a steam fish soup style dish, that are often accompanied by green veggies, spring onions, egg tofu, fried garlic, bitter gourd and fried shallots. Perhaps Hup Lok could consider creating their own version of this dish, blending their signature fresh fish soup with a unique twist to delight their patrons even more.

The deep-fried platter was decent, with a crisp batter that was not overly greasy.

It did its job.

A Legacy of Seafood: From Fishmonger to Fine Dining

The food here makes total sense once you understand the kitchen’s history. I spoke with the owner, Hong Junchen. He is a third-generation seafood man. His Father was a traditional fishmonger and he wanted to follow the footsteps.

The Wholesale Advantage: Quality Ingredients at Hawker Prices

Junchen initially walked away from the family trade. He spent years building a career as a BCG consultant. He returned to food to open a high-end seafood restaurant previously located at Marina One. Then remote work hollowed out the central business district. The foot traffic vanished. The restaurant closed.

He pivoted. He moved into Japanese seafood wholesale. That business gave birth to Hup Lok, where the focus is on sourcing only the best seafood.

Surviving the Crisis: How Hup Lok Turned the Tide

This is a wholesale-first model. Junchen only opens a restaurant when he knows he has a definitive edge in raw materials. Take their prawns. They use Ecuadorian “kami no ebi” prawns. The water in Ecuador is colder. The salinity is higher. The prawns naturally carry more umami. They sea-freight them frozen to completely strip down the logistics costs.

That is how the menu stays firmly in the $15 to $20 range. Each meal comes with a generous amount of fish and seafood, ensuring diners get excellent value for money. You get fine-dining quality sourcing at hawker center prices.

You can walk in wearing flip-flops and eat well.

The Owner’s Journey: Hong Junchen’s Full-Circle Story

Singapore’s food and beverage scene is suffocating right now. The middle class is being squeezed from every direction. Discretionary spending is dropping fast. Junchen saw the writing on the wall when he noticed the unprecedented empty parking spaces at Tiong Bahru Market. It was a real signal of a serious affordability crisis.

Hup Lok almost became a casualty of that crisis. The restaurant was dead quiet from September 2024 to January 2025. It survived only because of an unsolicited review in the Straits Times following an anonymous visit. That review changed the tide.

Why Hup Lok Stands Out in Singapore’s Food Scene

Despite the sudden influx of crowds, the kitchen holds up. The service is incredibly fast, even as long queues form at the stall during peak hours – a testament to its popularity. They move high volumes of food without dropping the standard.

Junchen describes his food as hearty local hawker stall fares done a little bit better, and the classic fish soup here is true comfort food for many regulars. He is right. He stripped away the fine-dining pretense, abandoned the corporate consulting world, and simply went back to his family’s roots.

A Pivot to Affordability at Havelock Road, Just Opposite the Food Centre

He created a place that feeds people properly, honestly, and affordably. Good food needs no explanation. This was one of those meals. If you’re nearby, stop thinking and go.

Author’s note: Original Article updated to correct Fish Soup dish name and ensuring accuracy in descriptions for better clarity and to improve reader understanding.