Food Picks: Soothing samgyetang at Modu

SINGAPORE – The benefits of samgyetang are reportedly many and various, so multitudinous that Singaporean diners are only too happy to wait in line for the privilege of dining at the country’s first restaurant specialising in ginseng chicken soup.  

When I drop by Modu on a Tuesday at 7pm, a snaking queue has formed, and staff – most of whom are doing their best to avoid eye contact – have their hands full dishing out piping-hot pots. 

At least service moves fast. There are only three sections – soups, shareable dishes and dessert – in the menu, so no danger of decision paralysis here. 

Dining in a pair? Even easier. Save a few dollars, and seconds of deliberation, by getting the 2-gather meal ($98+), which comes with two pots of soup, an appetiser, side dish and dessert to share. 

A waitress recommends two flavours – the collagen herbal ($35), made with chicken, ginseng root, glutinous rice, leek, jujube, chives and pine nuts; and hangover ($37), consisting of mostly the same ingredients, but with an extra dollop of secret spicy sauce. I follow her advice, then sit back to wait with a twinge of trepidation, having been burned one too many times by the crushing disappointment of a samgyetang that sacrifices flavour at the altar of wellness.

Thankfully, Modu’s soups taste nothing like those bowls of bland liquid. They are, on the contrary, robust and hearty, flavourful enough even without the assistance of salt and pepper. Each bowl comes with a young spring chicken, stuffed with sticky glutinous rice and simmered till fork-tender.

The collagen herbal samgyetang ticks all my boxes, but the hangover version is somehow better, enjoyable even when stone-cold sober. Spicy and garlicky, it provides the kick I never knew I needed from a soothing bowl of ginseng chicken soup. 

The supporting cast is less impressive. The MiNaRi pancake ($18) is a tad too oily and the GotGam MaRi ($12) – categorised as a dessert but really more of a petit four – that rounds off the set is too small and fleeting to leave much of an impression.

I will stick to the a la carte soups on my next visit. At the minimum, they guarantee a satisfying meal. As for whether they will transform me into a healthier, prettier version of myself, I can only wait and see. 

Where: 02-37 Mandarin Gallery, 333A Orchard Road
MRT: Somerset 
Open: 11.30am to 3pm, 5.30pm to 11pm (Mondays to Fridays); 11.30am to 11pm (Saturdays and Sundays) 
Info:

modu.sg