Han Kee Fish Soup (Amoy Food Centre) – Delicious Fish Soup with Crazy Long Queue & Feisty Lady Boss
Most Singaporeans working in the CBD area will know of Han Kee Fish Soup at Amoy Street Food Centre. This iconic food stall is famous for its delicious fish soup and snaking long queue. I checked out this stall again recently to see what’s the standard like now. This article was last updated on 15 February 2020.
Queuing for My Fish Soup
I queued for about 25 minutes for my fish soup, which is actually a relatively “short” waiting time by usual standards.
I was slightly nervous as I had heard stories about the lady boss losing her temper at unwitting customers, and had even witnessed one of these outbursts myself before.
Today however, she seemed to be in a good mood, and was even happily engaging in friendly banter with a few male customers.
Sliced Fish Soup ($7)
Not wanting to waste my long wait, I ordered a medium sized Sliced Fish Soup ($7), along with a small bowl of rice ($0.30).
I was happy to see that there was a very generous portion of fish slices in my soup. After eating one slice, I could understand why so many people rave about Han Kee fish soup.
The mackerel fish was firm, but still delicate and springy with a nice smooth texture – one of the best I’ve had in Singapore! I enjoyed drinking the soup too, which had a satisfying savoury-sweet flavour.
Han Kee Fish Soup Menu
Tips on Ordering Han Kee Fish Soup
– Make sure you know your order well and articulate it clearly to avoid incurring the wrath of the fish soup aunty
– If you do not want fried shallots, coriander or pepper, make sure you inform EARLY because these will be added in by default
– Ask for extra chilli at your own risk (I highly discourage it, because there is a high chance that you will get scolded by the aunty)
Conclusion
Would I order Han Kee fish soup again? Of course. Would I queue for over 30 minutes for it? Probably not. Perhaps it’s because my expectations were too high, or maybe it’s because I know I can simply visit the nearby Mr Batang Fish or Piao Ji Fish Porridge stall for delicious fish soup dish too.
Han Kee Fish Soup (汉记鱼汤)
Address: Amoy Street Food Centre, 7 Maxwell Road #02-129
Opening Hours: | Mon to Sat: 10am – 3pm | Sun: Closed |
6 Comments and Questions
The lady boss from this fish soup stall has a most HORRIBLE attitude one can find. Politely asking for more chilli incurs her wrath. She reluctantly gave me more chilli and made it a point to discipline me by continuing to chide me as she dished out the chilli sauce to me. While the fish slices are different from what you will get at other stalls, the bad service spoilt my appetite and made the fish taste awful. This will be the first and last time I patronise the stall. I am sure there are plenty more fish soup hawkers that are worthy of my visit. Located nearby is Piao Ji and their fish soup looks legit. I will try Piao Ji next.
Sorry to hear about your bad experience!
While the soup tastes a tad better then some others, the lady’s (Boss/helper) attitude is horrible. I paid $8 for fish head with roe and I don’t even have the right to get a few more saucers of chilli padi? I was ticked off and disciplined like the way Irene was above. I WILL NOT come back a second time. There are many more good fish soup stalls around.
Hi Amy, I’m sorry to hear about your bad experience.
All of you got scolded for asking for more chill (including myself) because you are girls. Have you noticed she is more polite and obliging to the guys? 重男轻女。I once asked for more chilli (the ones she gave were so little) while eating halfway. She actually told me to get back to my table to take my used saucer for her to refill!
Had lunch there. As usual very feisty and super rude lady. Cannot ask for more chilli and soya sauce, cannot ask questions. Kept nagging said she is not rude to people, doesn’t scold people..delusional lady…. Told me don’t bother buying from her anymore ..She does not want to do my business.. I don’t mind eating there but to queue for more than 15 minutes, it’s a pure waste of time.. To be honest, her fish slices portion is really value for money as it’s a lot compared to other shops.