Review of You Yi Fried Fish Soup 友谊炸鱼汤

Block 22A and 22B, Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre, #01-30

Nearest Mass Rapid Transit Station: Tiong Bahru MRT

Buses to Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre: 5, 16, 33, 51, 63, 64, 121, 122, 123, 186, 195

Opening Hours: 08:00 to 15:00 (Daily)

Queue: 1 to 3 people (Waiting Time: Less than 5 minutes)

Service: Fast and good

Environment: Clean and nostalgic hawker centre

Reputation: Traditional Singapore Fish Soup and Seafood

Thoughts after eating: Giant pieces of fried fish but average tasting soup

Value for money: 79/100

Will I come back again in 6 months' time? No, there are better alternatives

My opinion:

You Yi means "friendship" in Chinese. This stall specializes in Singapore fried fish soup and seafood. For this food review, I have tried their fried fish soup with rice for $4.00. When the male owner handed me my food, I was stunned by his generosity.

There were 8 pieces of fried fish, 1 bowl of soup full of "goodies" and moderate amount of rice in my food portion. Although the fried fish pieces were crispy, enormous and soft, their "skin" was too thick (too much flour used) and actually tasted like western food!

Soup had a lot of ingredients including doufu, egg, tomato and vegetables. Strangely enough, the soup was extremely plain tasting and only had a mild veggie fragrance. Rice was a severe letdown as it was dry and rough. Adding soup to the rice would only make the problem worse as the food became even more awkward tasting.

In conclusion, I applauded the owners for the huge amount of fish meat in my food portion but they suffered a "Waterloo" defeat at the rice and soup areas. Therefore, I will only recommend this stall to hardcore fish soup or seafood lovers.

Ways for the owners to improve their food ratings:

Reduce the amount of flour in fish preparation process, add more flavor to the soup and thoroughly review the rice cooking process.