Soup Restaurant

My stomach was not feeling as good these few days. Wondering if its gastric that I had gotten beause of all the irregular hours of dining due to work. Ted says maybe I should get a good remedy through drinking some nice hot nourishing soup. I thought maybe too.. because my stomach seem to have lost its sense of hunger and wasnt capable of absorbing or feeling for solid food anymore.

With that in mind, we headed for Soup Restaurant. Some nourishing soup to cure my stomach or gastric hopefully! A pleasant nice ambience with bamboo settings at the exterior of the restaurant welcomed us.

Soup Restaurant. The House of Chinatown Heritage Cuisine. The cuisines offered at the restaurant were simple dishes which used to be the staple food of the Chinese Samsui women in Singapore's Chinatown. (Some history for your information, Samsui women are the Chinese Hakka and Cantonese female immigrants from China who used to work as construction workers during the olden days. Wearing red headgear and in blue uniforms, these strong women were called the "Samsui women" because of their place of origin, the Sam Sui district of Sanshui county. Samsui means "three water", a reference to three rivers that flow there, namely the West River, North River and Sui River which are branches of the river Zhu Jian.) The simple pleasures are cleverly delivered at the restaurants as fine Chinese cuisines. Chinese herbal soups, in particular are what this restaurant boosts of. And you will know why the Chinese is so good at it! The soup really sizzles! It is also precisely the reason why Ted and me went there for! SOUP!

We surveyed the brown environmental friendly paper menu. We decided upon the Boiled Soup of the Day for two - which was the Winter Gourd with Lean Meat Soup. There were also many other delicious Chinese herbal soup such as Scallop with herbal Black Chicken, Lingzhi Chicken Soup, Herbs with Snakehead Fish Soup etc etc. Each soup is to remedy a specific cause, for example, some is to remedy fatigue, combat insomnia, for strengthening the body or just simply to supplement the lungs. That is how amazing the Chinese soup can be!

Steamed Minced Pork with Water Chestnut

The recommended dish at the restaurant was actually the "Samsui Ginger Chicken" but we decided to give it a miss as my stomach was not too good. To a foodie like me, its very sad when you are sick and dont feel for food anymore... Just to complete the dinner, we also ordered the Steamed Minced Pork with Water Chestnut and the staple Ah Por (in Chinese meaning "Grandmother's") tapioca leaves. I feel bad that because of my state, Teddy had to endure and have these simple dishes for dinner with me. But fortunately the cuisines turn out simply great!! And Ted has no complaints about it. He even surprised by saying that we should go to this place more often to have more healthy and nourishing meals!

Boiled Soup of the Day - Winter Gourd with Lean Meat Soup & Peanut appetiser

Despite my failing stomach, I could feel for the hot and delicious Winter Gourd with Lean Meat Soup. It came served in a hot Chinese herbal pot. It must have been boiled for hours because the natural goodness of the meat and the gourd just blends so well into the soup. Making it such a wonderful remedy to my stomach. Thank you! It was such a nice warm feeling.

The other 2 cuisines we ordered though simple, were well cooked too. Maybe the cooking sauce is the key to the great taste. My taste buds did not fail me and I could still savour the tantalising food. I am sure anyone looking for simple satisying meal will not be disappointed at The Soup Restaurant. You should try it too! And dont forget to try those steamed peanuts served as appetisers before the meal. They were simply unforgettably good!

Soup Restaurant has 13 outlets located over Singapore, in places like Changi Airport, Jurong, Ang Mo Kio, Bras Basah, Suntec City, Novena, Orchard, Scotts, Somerset, Tampines, Woodlands and Sengkang. The one we visited was at 19 Hougang Ave 10 #02-21 Hougang Mall, Singapore 583766 Tel: 6386 6188.

Hotel Intercontinental Olive Tree Restaurant

Craving for some delicious nice food, we headed for Hotel Intercontinental at Bugis Junction. Olive Tree Restaurant caught my attention immediately when I stepped in the hotel. The electronic signboard was displaying “$55++ Seafood Buffet”. Delicious and being so hungry that I could chew an elephant down, I persuaded Ted to have that with me. So it was Olive Tree for us that evening!

I love a place that sets me at ease when I dine. That’s how Olive Tree Restaurant made me felt in that warm cosy Mediterranean ambience. Feel like I’m transported to Italy!

The people in the restaurant are all real gem too! Really friendly and thoughtful! I put them to the test that evening when I asked for a paper bag to pack the empty clam shells I had. The waitress didn’t wink a wee bit at my request and even offered to wash the clam shells for me if I want to bring them home. How nice!!

Then there was also the kind dessert bar chef Francis Foo who asked if I would like some crepes. I said yes and there he went, grilling some nice freshly made crepes for me. Dipped into some nice yellow honey, he also added some cubic-sized mangoes onto of my plate atop my crepes. Then he also gave me some green ice-cream which tastes so deliciously milky!!! Really love the desserts there. Some of the unforgettable desserts I had are: Crème Brulee (simply wonderful!), fruit mousse and also the marshmallows dipped in sinful chocolate fondue!!


Before I forget, we actually started off with a tantalising wonderful palate of starters. Great selection! These are just some of those I picked.


The soup of the day was Cream of Mushroom and there was also the Kiam Chai Ark (in Hokkien translated as “Salted Vegetable Duck”) Soup. Both soups taste just as heavenly.

The buffet spread that evening also included cold crabs, oysters, fresh prawns, clams, mussels and Japanese sushi. The mains were great offerings like: buttered rice, nonya curry chicken, Indian battered peas and cheese, sambal prawns, grilled ikan, cheese broccoli, duck breast with orange and chives, grilled pork with fennel among others! Exotic yet fine and tantalising cuisines served. How I wish I had 2 stomachs to fill all the delicious food there that evening! If you wish for a great meal with variety and everything good, please remember to head to Olive Tree!

Olive Tree Restaurant is located at Hotel Intercontinental, 80 Middle Road, Singapore 188966 Tel: 6338 7600