SINGAPORE - (THE NEW PAPER) Successful chain restaurant Souper Tang - formerly Taang Shifu - has made its debut in Singapore.

It has 18 outlets in Malaysia and opened here this month at the new and promising F&B section of The Centrepoint.

Souper Tang's menu is filled with nutritious soups (the owners ran a Chinese medical hall) but it's not as cheerless as that sounds.

A lot of these dishes will make you forget that Chinese herbs are the foundation of each dish.

As a lover of soups (there are a dozen types here), I'm excited about this place.

The benefits that these soups supposedly offer range from being anti-inflammatory to anti-oxidant, to even helping you in the bedroom.

Isn't it a good idea to boost your vitality and health? It'll make pigging out a less guilty experience.

The Souper Tang Signature Soup (from $26.90) is obviously the visual treat. It's a wow-worthy display of conpoy, shiitake mushrooms, American ginseng, fish maw and chicken. The bonus? It tastes good too.

The home-braised pork belly in rich dark sauce ($18.90) is as oily as it looks, but there is a lot to love about it. It's tender and aromatic because it is cooked with oolong tea, angelica root, star anise and orange peel.

While the seafood is the star of the claypot Atlantic codfish with fish maw ($29.90), for me, it's the sweet and delicate seafood stock that's memorable.

I also like the steamed chicken with cordyceps flower ($19.90), with Souper Tang's own bottled chicken essence poured over it. It's a simple dish but the chicken essence enhances the flavour.