The good people behind The Soup Spoon have (finally) moved beyond their staple Western soups to cater to those of a more local palate with Soup Broth Asia, which specializes in home-styled Asian soups such as itek tim, tom yum and herbal pork ribs, and the result is somewhat middling. Sure, it’s affordable to dine here (you start with a soup which comes with a complimentary bowl of white rice; and you can choose to top up with an appetizer and a meat or vegetable dish, and a dollar more gets you want both the meat and the veg), but we wish that the kitchen team would step up when it comes to quality control. To be fair, we wouldn’t actually pick on anything in particular—the kai lan that we had was hot off the wok, the wasabi prawns had just the right amount of wasabi in it for that instant kick, although neither was particularly memorable—perhaps the main problem was the soups themselves. Our itek tim lacked the sourness that we so longed for (and a trademark of any itek tim dish, in fact)—where were the sour plums?—but the duck meat was tender enough. Our Indonesian-style chicken opor was almost devoid of any real taste (more black pepper and salt might do the trick)—although again, the meat was equally tender and juicy. We’d give it to these guys for coming up with quite a novelty for the busy lunch crowd—service was decent and you had to order at the service counter first before taking your seats and being served, which ensured a spiffy delivery—but at an average of $14-17 per person, Soup Broth Asia is probably more appealing for dinner. Despite the fact that the basement level of this shopping mall where Soup Broth is located in is going through some renovations which can prove to be very frustrating (try navigating around the area without consulting the directory, we dare you), we don’t mind coming back again to try the other 10 soups on offer. Maybe this time, it’ll be better.
