Singapore, April 13, 2012
Soup Guru
Food Republic
Level 5, 313 Somerset
When Hong Konger soup master Sham set up shop in Chinatown in 2009, he not only re-introduced familiar Cantonese-style soups, but rekindled a love of such soups here.
As they are widely available here, he had to make a loud splash with a budget version of the pricey banquet soup, Buddha Jumps Over The Wall.
Although it didn't seem to have the more expensive delicacies like sharkfins and abalone, he was able to create a lipsmacking soup packed with the rich flavours of dried scallop and fish maw.
His USP-soup soon attracted a cult following, who also lapped up other nourishing herbal and non-herbal soups. As the popularity of his soups spread, he opened more stalls in joint ventures with different partners.
Recently, Mr Sham encouraged one of of his disciples, Mr Simon Sim, to open his own chain - it's called Soup Guru, which offers free refills.