Some food brands are so closely associated with a particular dish that it’s practically impossible to think of one without the other.
For instance, mention Ya Kun, and you’ll probably think of kaya toast. Likewise, Song Fa Bak Kut Teh and its signature peppery pork rib soup.
For Tan Ser Seng Herbal Soup, that dish is turtle soup. After all, the Geylang institution has been serving it for 80 years, earning itself a reputation that has lasted three generations.
Image courtesy of Tan Ser Seng Herbal Soup
But while being famous for something is usually a good thing, third-generation owner Allan Tan, whose grandfather started the business in 1946, has found that it comes with its fair share of misconceptions.
“There are a lot of people who have this perception that all our dishes contain turtle meat or are turtle-related,” Mr Tan told MS News. “But that’s actually not true. Only the turtle soup contains turtle.”
That’s not even the strangest misunderstanding he’s encountered.
Mr Tan recalled watching a passer-by spot the words “turtle soup” outside the brand’s newly opened Great World outlet and react in horror, declaring that it should be “banned” and threatening to report the restaurant.
As it turns out, some people mistakenly believe that the restaurant uses endangered sea turtles to prepare its most famous dish.
But Mr Tan was quick to clear the air. Tan Ser Seng actually uses freshwater softshell turtles sourced from farms in Indonesia, where they are bred specifically for consumption.
He also addressed another misconception: that live turtles are slaughtered on the restaurant’s premises.
“When you go to a chicken rice stall, you don’t see them killing the chickens there, right?” he pointed out with a laugh.
Source: @tansersengherbs on Instagram
Mr Tan acknowledged that turtle isn’t exactly an everyday ingredient, unlike chicken, pork, or other meats that Singaporeans are more accustomed to eating.
“People fear what they don’t eat, or what they don’t know,” he observed.
While the dish might not be everyone’s cup of tea, Mr Tan hopes to help diners better understand what goes into it before forming their opinions.
And with Tan Ser Seng’s new outlet at Great World, he hopes to introduce a younger generation of diners to everything else the restaurant has to offer.
Interestingly, Mr Tan didn’t even realise his family’s restaurant was famous until secondary school, when his classmates’ parents started recognising the name.
Before that, he simply thought of his parents as hawkers. Even at a young age, however, he knew just how hard they worked to keep the business running.
They would start their days at 3am and work until late at night, with Thursdays being their only day off. But family outings weren’t always guaranteed, as they were often simply too exhausted.
“I really don’t understand how they did it,” he said.
Ironically, Mr Tan had no plans to follow in their footsteps.
Having studied Green Building and Sustainability at Temasek Polytechnic, he initially intended to further his education after National Service.
But when Mr Tan’s brother-in-law, who was helping to run the family business alongside his eldest sister, developed spinal cord issues and needed an extra pair of hands, he decided to step in.
That was nine years ago, and he hasn’t looked back since.
With no formal business or F&B training, Mr Tan found himself doing what his parents did and more, from waking up at 3am to cook soup to managing staff, finances, and marketing.
“I had to really learn from scratch. I didn’t know anything, like a single thing,” he admitted.
Undeterred, he sought advice from fellow F&B owners and began introducing changes of his own, including food delivery services as early as 2016 and 2017.
His father initially objected, worrying that the food might arrive cold and compromise the dining experience. But Mr Tan persisted, and by the time Covid-19 hit, the restaurant was “very ready” for the shift towards delivery.
Source: @tansersengherbs on Instagram
And he had even bigger ambitions. In fact, expanding Tan Ser Seng beyond Geylang had been on his checklist from the moment he joined the business.
His father, however, was understandably hesitant about risking what the family had spent decades building.
Still, Mr Tan was determined to make his own mark rather than simply inherit the business.
I always felt that each generation of the business owners, they have their own story to tell, they have their own achievements.
After years of planning and convincing, Mr Tan finally got his wish when Tan Ser Seng opened its second outlet at Great World in late Oct 2026, marking the family business’s first-ever expansion.
This wasn’t a decision made on a whim. In fact, the family had already invested in a central kitchen about two years earlier, even though they were still operating just one restaurant at the time.
It was a significant financial risk, but Mr Tan wanted to ensure the team was familiar with the equipment and ready to support another outlet when the time came.
While the expansion has allowed him to retire from his daily 3am cooking duties after nearly eight years, that doesn’t mean his workload has gotten any lighter.
His brother-in-law now oversees the cooking, while Mr Tan focuses on the new outlet, including its food quality, service, marketing, and day-to-day operations.
“I think it’s more stressful,” he quipped.
Source: @tansersengherbs on Instagram
Not surprising, considering he’s still the go-to person for everything from HR and finances to paperwork and serving customers when the restaurant is short-staffed.
We saw this first-hand during our interview at the new outlet, when a staff member approached Mr Tan with a question.
He briefly offered his input before leaving the matter in someone else’s hands and returning to our conversation.
In other words, CEO or not, it’s still very much a bao ka liao (do-everything) job.
As for what diners can expect at Great World, the Double Boiled Turtle Soup, of course, remains the star of the show.
Image courtesy of Tan Ser Seng Herbal Soup
Prepared with freshwater softshell turtle, Chinese herbs, and a splash of the family’s own herbal wine, the soup carries on a recipe rooted in the restaurant’s earliest days.
But as Mr Tan has been trying to tell people, there’s plenty more on the menu.
For those who prefer something more familiar, there’s the Ginseng Black Chicken Soup, a recipe created by his mother, featuring black silkie chicken and a whole ginseng root rather than powdered ginseng.
Image courtesy of Tan Ser Seng Herbal Soup
Another option is the Cordyceps Flower Sakura Chicken Soup, developed by his eldest sister using Sakura Chicken, cordyceps flowers, and Chinese herbs.
And it’s not all soup, either. Diners can round out their meal with homestyle dishes such as Jade Tofu, made fresh daily with pressed soy milk, or Steamed Seabass with Yellow Chilli Sauce, served with enoki mushrooms and a fragrant chilli, garlic, and ginger sauce.
Image courtesy of Tan Ser Seng Herbal Soup
There’s also Persimmon Sweet & Sour Pork, featuring crispy pork tossed in a sweet-and-sour yuzu sauce with dried persimmon.
If you’re planning to check out the new outlet, here are the details:
Tan Ser Seng Herbal Soup @ Great World
Address: 1 Kim Seng Promenade, Great World, #B1-106/107, Singapore 237994
Opening hours: 11am – 10pm daily
Nearest MRT station: Great World
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Featured image by MS News, adapted from Google Maps, and courtesy of Tan Ser Seng Herbal Soup.