I didn’t set out to eat this much fish soup.

It started on a rainy afternoon, the way most of my food obsessions do. I ducked into a food centre to escape the downpour, ordered a bowl of fresh fish soup because it felt like the right thing to do, and sat there watching the rain while the clear fish soup broth warmed me from the inside. While raw fish from sushi in Singapore will always be a favorite, I’ve been chasing that flavourful feeling from a warm and cooked fish broth. ever since.

Where to Find the Best Fish Soup in Singapore To Slurp Away From

Over the last two years or so, I’ve worked my way through the clear-broth purists and the milky comfort bowls with adding evaporated milk, the fried fish crowd-pleasers and the one-dish specialists who sell out before you’ve finished your morning coffee. Some I queued forty minutes for during peak hours. Some I stumbled into at hawker stalls or coffee shops. All of them taught me something about what makes a good bowl of fish soup tick.

Fish Soup Stall	Their Bowl Speciality
Hup Lok	Grandpa’s Pomfret Soup with a generous serving of tender pomfret in a full-bodied batang collagen broth, balanced with salted plum and tomato for a gently tangy, lightly sweet finish.
First Street Teochew Fish Soup	A heritage fish soup stall offering multiple fish choices, from affordable batang to premium grouper and pomfret, with a traditional clear broth.
Piao Ji Fish Porridge	A premium seafood-heavy bowl featuring fresh fish, prawns and fish roe in a richer, more savoury broth with a famous chilli dip pairing.
Jin Hua Fish Head Bee Hoon	A comforting fish head bee hoon specialist serving creamy, collagen-rich broth with fried fish, milk options and generous fish cuts.
Blanco Court Fried Fish Noodles	A nostalgic fried fish soup favourite with crispy egg floss, fried fish pieces and a richer broth that turns a simple bowl into a hearty meal.
Han Kee Fish Soup	A minimalist Teochew-style fish soup known for fresh, thick fish slices and a clean, delicate broth that lets the seafood shine.
Arcade Fish Soup	A CBD-friendly fish soup staple known for chunky batang slices, aromatic fried garlic and a comforting weekday lunch bowl.
Jun Yuan House of Fish	A modern fish soup spot that goes beyond traditional broths with XO, herbal and seafood-based soups plus add-ons like egg floss and fish roe.
Mei Xiang Black & White Fish Soup	A one-dish specialist famous for pairing crispy fried fish (“black”) with fresh sliced fish (“white”) in a deep, gingery broth.

This isn’t a ranking. Fish soup rarely works that way. It’s more a map of moods, ordered loosely so you know what you’re walking into. Match the bowl to the day, not the other way around.

Here are the fish soup stalls I keep coming back to.

1. Hup Lok: The $13.80 Pomfret Bowl Worth the Upgrade

Nearest MRT: Tiong Bahru, about 8 minutes on foot.

I normally start questioning a bowl of fish soup once the price creeps past $10. Singapore has plenty of favourite fish soup options at hawker centres, from Mei Chin Fish Soup to stalls around Newton Food Centre, and even regulars at places like Xin Yuan Ji will have their own personal favourites. So why spend $13.80?

At Hup Lok, the answer is the fish. Grandpa’s Pomfret Soup comes with delicate pomfret instead of the usual batang, giving the bowl a softer, more tender texture. The fish is sliced thinly and cooked just enough, so I would eat it early before the hot broth continues cooking it.

The soup is where things get interesting. It has the body of a richer, almost cloudy fish soup, but Hup Lok gets that texture from fish bones and collagen rather than adding milk. It is based on the restaurant’s own recipe, with salted plum and tomato bringing a gentle tang and slight sweetness to the broth.

That puts Hup Lok in a different lane from the lighter bowls you might pick up during lunch hours when you’re just trying to feed hungry customers, colleagues or yourself. This is a bowl I would take my time with.

You will also come across plenty of food videos comparing fish soup styles, with some bowls finished with fried garlic bits or built around fried fish. Hup Lok’s approach is quieter. The pomfret and broth do most of the work.

For me, this earns a place among the best fish soup in Singapore because the higher price buys a noticeably different fish, not just nicer surroundings. And there is a deeper reason behind it: Hup Lok comes from a family with three generations in the fish trade, so seafood is not an afterthought here.

Damage: $13.80, before 10% service charge.
Order This: Grandpa’s Pomfret Soup.
Main Character Energy: Fish soup regulars ready to trade their usual batang bowl for delicate pomfret.
Skip If: Your priority is keeping lunch comfortably below $10.
Worth Knowing: Eat the pomfret first. The residual heat keeps cooking it.

2. First Street Teochew Fish Soup: The Heritage All-Rounder Fish Maw

Nearest MRT: Kovan, about 7 to 9 minutes on foot to the original outlet.

First Street traces its history back to 1988, and it earns its place for range. This is Teochew fish soup with more fish choice than most stalls bother offering, including batang fish slices, garoupa and premium pomfret fish soup. The pomfret fish soup is the splurge; the batang fish soup is the accessible everyday order.

The skinless fish slices are cut relatively thick, which helps the flesh stay tender in the clear fish soup. The broth runs clear but naturally sweet, the kind of familiar comfort food that regulars have relied on for decades. Batang fish slices are the safe pick, but ask what premium fish came in that day if freshness matters more than price to you. There’s also mixed seafood soup and a fish maw version for more variety, though those broths contain pork.

Damage: Batang from roughly $10.90 on delivery; walk-in usually lower.
Order This: Batang fish soup, garoupa when fresh, or the fish maw for variety.
Main Character Energy: Families or groups where everyone wants a different fish.
Skip If: Your top priority is the largest fish portion for the lowest price.
Worth Knowing: Visit the original Kovan stall for the heritage angle, ideally at breakfast or early lunch.

3. Piao Ji Fish Porridge: The Richer Amoy Street Fish Soup

Nearest MRT: Tanjong Pagar, about 6 to 8 minutes on foot.

If Han Kee Fish Soup is what I want when I am craving restraint, Piao Ji Fish Porridge is the Amoy Street Food Centre queue I join when I want my fish soup louder. Their latest menu is surprisingly more focused: Fish Soup or Fish & Prawn Soup, both made with batang rather than the pomfret older regulars may remember.

I would spend the extra on the Fish & Prawn Soup. The batang fish slices taste clean and naturally sweet, while the large prawns give the bowl a proper seafood payoff. What really separates Piao Ji from other fish soup stalls, though, is the broth. Pork lard and fried shallots push it towards a deeper, more savoury flavour, with slightly more grease than a delicate clear fish soup. I like that richness with white rice, which gives the stronger soup somewhere to go.

This is not my pick for a light lunch. It is the one for days when a simple sliced fish soup sounds a little too polite.

Damage: Fish Soup $8 to $16; Fish & Prawn Soup $13 to $22; rice about $0.50.
Order This: Fish & Prawn Soup with white rice.
Main Character Energy: Fish soup lovers who want fresh seafood and a fuller, pork-lard-fragrant broth.
Skip If: You prefer very clean, light broth or hate waiting through a CBD lunch queue.
Worth Knowing: Piao Ji changed ownership after its long-time operator stepped away; the present menu is much tighter and no longer centres on pomfret or fish roe.

4. Jin Hua Fish Head Bee Hoon: The Creamy Maxwell Comfort Bowl of Fish Soup

Nearest MRT: Maxwell, about 2 to 3 minutes on foot.

At Jin Hua Fish Head Bee Hoon, I would skip my usual sliced fish soup instinct and order the Fish Meat Bee Hoon/Soup with fried fish and evaporated milk. This is the Maxwell Food Centre bowl I want when clear Teochew fish soup sounds a little too virtuous.

The broth is the whole point. Old mother hen, yellow beans and fish bones give it a strong savoury base, then adding evaporated milk pushes it into a creamy, slightly cloudy soup that clings nicely to the thick bee hoon. Fried shallots add fragrance, while vegetables, tomato and tofu keep the bowl from feeling like pure richness.

I prefer the fried fish here because the chunky pieces soak up the broth without disappearing into it. By the last few bites the coating softens, but that is honestly part of the appeal.

This is unapologetic comfort food, not my pick when I want fresh fish slices and a delicate broth.

Damage: Fish Meat Bee Hoon/Soup from $5, depending on size.
Order This: Fried Fish Meat Bee Hoon/Soup with evaporated milk.
Main Character Energy: Anyone whose ideal fried fish soup is creamy, filling and noodle-heavy.
Skip If: You want a light clear soup where the fish itself stays centre stage.
Worth Knowing: Maxwell’s stall is #01-77 and currently opens Friday to Wednesday, 11.30am to 7.30pm; closed Thursday.

5. Blanco Court Fried Fish Noodles: The Indulgent Fried Fish Bowl

Nearest MRT: Nicoll Highway, about 7 to 9 minutes on foot; Bugis is farther.

Blanco Court is where you go when fish soup should feel like a proper cheat meal. This isn’t the austere sliced-fish soup of weekday diets. It’s fried fish noodles at their most satisfying, and the detail that makes it sing is the fried egg tofu topping. Small, crisp-edged pieces that soak up the broth while holding pockets of oily richness.

The fried fish brings texture and heft, making this one of the more substantial bowls in the category. Michelin points to the fried fish soup with crispy fried egg tofu as the headline order, though sliced fish is available too. My move is fried fish bee hoon with milk, which turns the broth full-bodied and creamy. If a whole bowl of fried fish feels like too much, mixed soup is the safer route.

Damage: Around $7 to $12.
Order This: Fried fish bee hoon with milk, or mixed fish if you want it lighter.
Main Character Energy: Rainy days, hangovers and anyone who wants fish soup to feel like an occasion.
Skip If: You specifically want clear, low-oil soup.
Worth Knowing: Keep some fried fish resting above the broth and dip each piece as you go. Leaving everything submerged sacrifices the crunch that makes this bowl worth it.

6. Han Kee Fish Soup: The Clear-Broth Purist at Amoy Street Food Centre

Nearest MRT: Tanjong Pagar, about 6 to 8 minutes on foot.

Han Kee keeps things almost stubbornly simple. There’s no fried egg tofu, no swirl of evaporated milk, no overwhelming amount of toppings fighting for space. Just clean clear soup, fresh fish slices, spring onions, green veggies, preserved vegetables and your choice of carbohydrate like bee hoon or white rice. Tucked inside Amoy Street Food Centre, this is the stall for people who judge fish soup on fish fresh first and everything else second.

The signature is the sliced fish soup or sliced fish bee hoon, with small, medium and large bowls reportedly going for $5, $7 and $9. Fish-head versions start from around $6. What sets it apart from the richer bowls elsewhere is the restraint. The broth is gentle, almost delicate, and it lets the fish do the talking. The fresh fish slices come thick and genuinely fresh, which is the whole point.

Damage: Around $5 to $10.
Order This: Sliced fish bee hoon, or the sliced fish soup with rice.
Main Character Energy: CBD workers and fish-soup purists who want a clean, no-milk bowl.
Skip If: You’re after fried fish, egg floss, a milky soup or a slow seated meal.
Worth Knowing: Han Kee and Piao Ji share the same food centre. Serious readers could compare both, but doing it at noon means committing to two formidable long queues. Add the chilli-and-soy condiment gradually rather than tipping the whole lot in.

If cooked fish isn’t on your cravings today, maybe you’d like it raw which you can find from our guide to the best sashimi in Singapore.

7. Arcade Fish Soup: The Dependable CBD Fix a Bowl of Fish Soup

Nearest MRT: Marina Bay, about 4 to 6 minutes on foot to the Marina One outlet.

Arcade Fish Soup is the kind of fish soup fix I understand immediately in the middle of a workday. The family has been serving its fish soup since 2003 and the Marina One counter still attracts the office crowd for bowls that feel noticeably more loaded than a minimalist sliced fish soup.

I would order the Mixed Fish Soup. You get both sliced and fried fish, which makes the bowl more interesting halfway through when plain batang fish slices can start feeling repetitive. Recent bowls have also come generously filled with cabbage, tomato and other add-ons, but my favourite detail is the fried garlic on the side. Add it gradually and the broth gets more savoury without letting the garlic take over completely.

Arcade’s soup is flavour-forward rather than delicate. The original broth is clear and umami-led, while the current menu also offers tomato and mala bases. If your idea of the best fish soup is an almost whisper-light Teochew bowl, this probably is not it. For filling CBD comfort food, though, it does the job well.

Damage: Around $8.50 for a standard fish soup at Marina One.
Order This: Mixed Fish Soup with white rice or bee hoon.
Main Character Energy: Office workers who want a generous serving and more going on than fish and clear soup alone.
Skip If: You want the most delicate, clean-tasting batang on this list.
Worth Knowing: Marina One operates Monday to Friday, 11am to 7.30pm, with an earlier 3pm close on the last Friday of the month; weekends and public holidays are closed.

8. Jun Yuan House of Fish: For People Who Want All the Extras

Nearest MRT: Pasir Ris, about 5 to 8 minutes on foot.

Jun Yuan House of Fishsteps away from the plain Teochew formula entirely. The menu covers several soup bases and fish combinations: XO Fried Fish Soup, XO Double Fish Soup, herbal seafood soup, sliced batang fish and black grouper. This is the bowl for diners who look at a plain sliced fish soup and immediately start asking what else can go in.

The Pasir Ris outlet is the one to visit. The signature orders are the XO Fried Fish Soup and the herbal seafood soup, especially with egg tofu or fish roe added. The XO broth runs stronger and more aromatic than an everyday bowl, while the herbal version carries a distinctly medicinal, Chinese-herb profile that regulars love precisely because it tastes nothing like the usual milk-or-no-milk debate. The egg tofu turns fried and savoury once it soaks up the soup.

Damage: Roughly $7 to $10 before noodles and premium add-ons.
Order This: XO Double Fish Soup with egg tofu, or the herbal seafood soup.
Main Character Energy: East-side diners and fried-fish fans who love customising their bowl.
Skip If: You only want a delicate, crystal-clear Teochew broth.
Worth Knowing: Start with either egg tofu or fish roe, not both. The broth is already full-bodied, and too many rich add-ons make the last few spoonfuls heavy.

9. Mei Xiang Black & White Fish Soup: One Dish, One Queue, No Overthinking

Nearest MRT: Jalan Besar, about 3 to 5 minutes on foot.

Mei Xiang Black & White Fish Soup sits inside Berseh Food Centre, and it’s about as focused as a fish soup stall gets. There’s effectively one order: the Black & White Fish Set, around $6.50. “Black” is the deep-fried fish; “white” is the fresh sliced fish. Both land in a cloudy, fish-bone broth with a pronounced ginger kick.

No agonising over fish species, noodle type, milk or soup base. You queue, order the set, and eat what the stall has spent years perfecting. The broth is the star, rich and savoury and distinctly gingery, with enough body to coat both the fried and fresh pieces. The fried fish soaks it up especially well, and the chilli cuts through with a sharp, spicy counterpoint.

Damage: Around $6.50 for the set with rice.
Order This: The Black & White Fish Set, eaten fried pieces first.
Main Character Energy: Diners who love a rich, gingery broth with both fried and fresh fish.
Skip If: You want light, clear soup, dislike navigating bones, or need takeaway.
Worth Knowing: Treat this like an appointment, not a flexible late lunch. Arrive around 11.15am, because the set can sell out as early as 12.40pm on some weekdays. Bring someone to hold seats while you queue.

The Best Fish Soup in Singapore Isn’t One Bowl

After two years of queuing, slurping, and taking extensive notes, I still would not name one universal winner. Whether you crave the original taste of a clear Teochew fish porridge or prefer richer, milky broths with generous portions of fried fish or sliced fish, each bowl offers something unique. Some days I want the delicate pomfret at Hup Lok; other days I want Han Kee’s clear broth, Piao Ji’s pork-lard richness, Jin Hua’s creamy fried fish soup or Mei Xiang’s black-and-white combination.

That range is the point. Batang, snakehead, garoupa and pomfret all show up across Singapore’s fish soup landscape, while the broth can move from clean and clear to cloudy and milky. You will also find everything from bitter gourd slices, tofu cubes and dried seaweed to thick bee hoon, yee mee and fried fish, depending on the stall.

Remember to add the chilli dip gradually to enhance, not overpower, the delicate broth. This approach checks all the boxes for an authentic, comforting experience that keeps you warm and eager for your next anonymous visit. For more food news beyond Singapore’s best fish soups and other fish soups, stay tuned and keep exploring with us at Influencer Foodie.