One last trip to Berseh Food Centre for old-school hawker favourites, which will be closed for renovations from 29 Sep till 28 Dec 2025.
Many of the hawkers, in particular the turtle soup hawkers, were formerly from the roadside hawker centre in front of Tong Ji Hospital 同济医院, aka Thong Chai Medical Institution, at Eu Tong Sen Street. Thong Chai was one of my parents’ favourite, and my mom always said I pretty much grew up with the turtle soup there while still in her womb, which might explain why I love the taste of turtle soup.
It was a makeshift evening market that sprung up in front of the old Tongji Hospital which the older generation would refer to as 同济医院前 (literally “in front of Tongji”). Officially it’s called Wayang Street, and due to expansion of Eu Tong Sen Road and gentrification of the Chinatown area, this evening market ceased to be.
Many of the hawkers were relocated to Berseh Food Centre near Sungei Road, and Hill Street Hawker Centre. And some of these were turtle soup sellers that were prying their wares there moved along to Berseh. But recently there were only two stores left. Many of the stalls have been here since the 1980s, though a few have announced retirement in recent months, such as Very Lucky Turtle Soup and Lim’s Fried Oyster.
Fu He Delights 福和 is one of the stores better known for its turtle soup. With the retirement of Very Lucky, it becomes the only stall left at the centre that serves it. Although their claypot rice is also popular, most come for their double boiled soups like herbal black chicken, ginseng black chicken, lotus root with pork ribs and shi quan (ten medicinal) duck soup.
A good bowl of turtle soup needs to have a bit of everything – meat from the legs, soft tissues from the shell, bits of offals, etc. And the soup itself must be sticky to the lips as the collagen from the turtle melts into the stock. Very Lucky was better than Fu He, but Fu He lasted to the end.
I have no idea how the tradition of pairing yam rice with turtle soup (and for that matter with braised duck) comes about. These days the yam rice is not that well done. It used to be full of fried shallot flavour and bits of fluffy yam. You would be lucky if you get more than two pieces these days.
Lao Liang Pig Trotter Jelly & Shark Meat 老两猪脚冻白牙沙魚 has been selling pig trotter jelly since the days at Tong Ji and is one of the few stores I would go to every time I am at Berseh.
Their pork trotter jelly 猪脚冻, aka in western term Pork Terrine, is probably the best in town and their shark meat together with the sauce was legendary. But sadly due to stupid regulations, they are no longer selling the shark meat, although the sharks used are reef sharks that are consumed in many parts of Asia and are not endangered.
Like all things old in Singapore, it’s inevitable to move on given the changing demographics and shifting tastes. Princess was with me this lunch, but she is representative of the new generation – she would prefer her ice latte in an air-conditioned food court. Other than location, her generation has grown up without these “wild” food as chicken and other farmed meat are readily available.
Looking forward to its reopening in a couple of week to see what’s changed. Even when these hawker centres are refurbished and renovated to improve the air flow and ventilation, many nostalgic stores and traditional food will be gone as the hawkers retire and no one took over their skills and recipes. And usually in its place are F&B newbies trying out with their fusion recipe. Many would not last through the first year.
Berseh Hawker Centre
166 Jalan Besar, Berseh Food Centre Singapore 208877
Visited Sep 2025
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