Famed Kong Kee Mutton Soup serves Singapore’s rare heritage food, closing in end Mar 2023

Unlike chicken rice or wanton mee, we rarely see old school Chinese mutton soups in the Singapore hawker scene anymore. Kong Kee Mutton Soup is one of rare few standing Chinese mutton soups left in Singapore, but that will be short-lived as they will be closing in end Mar 2023.

Maybe it’s the heavy tasting nature of mutton or its gaminess, but the lack of its presence in most coffee stalls or hawker centre speaks of its low popularity. I’m certain that even some teenagers might not know of its existence right now. Even I personally don’t have mutton soup often— I only did when I tried out Hong Wen Mutton Soup.

I only found out that most of the customers who frequent mutton soup stalls are regular customers. So who knows, if you’ve haven’t tried mutton soup as of yet, give it a go and you might become a new addition to the mutton soup cult.

Kong Kee Mutton Soup feeds the neighbourhood of Jalan Besar; they were previously at Kitchener Road but they moved to 209 Jalan Besar in recent years. Those that have been loyal customers of Kong Kee will understand how the stall has transformed both its outlook and recipe over the years.

Many years before this, they used to be churning out bowls of hot mutton soup in a run down stall that was even described as “dingy”. But those that patronised them then would always say that it was worth the delicious bowl of steaming hot soup. Since then, they’ve been noticed and their fame grew.

Helmed by an elderly couple, they’ve been at works of perfecting the recipe for more than 30 years. However, the owner recently announced that he would be closing the stall end Mar 2023 to pursue retirement.

For S$10.50, you’ll get a bowl of Mutton Soup with Rice. Albeit on the pricier side as compared to most hawker dishes, know that you’re paying for New Zealand lamb, which is harder to get as compared to other livestock.

You’ll receive a dense brown soup exuding a strong fragrance that is more pronounced because of the addition of Chinese wine in the broth. The broth is cooked for many hours, so when you scoop up pieces of meat, they’ll immediately fall off the bone.

It’s a pity that the stall will be closing after being in the industry for over 3 decades. At least we know that they aren’t closing without announcement, so you still have a month to patronise and enjoy such a delicacy.

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