TGIF folks! Are you planning for your weekends already? I have been really busy this week and I am so glad that weekends are just around the corner. If you are planning to have a meal with your family, Old Geylang may be a good choice for you. It housed a combination of heritage brands like Turtle House, Old Punggol International Seafood as well as a durian fruit store, so you can enjoy turtle soup, chilli crabs and durians all under one roof. What’s more, you can also enjoy some crocodile tail! How wonderful is that!

The durian fruit store is located right at the restaurant’s entrance.

One of the item I was looking forward to try is the nourishing herbal turtle soup in claypot from Turtle House! The brand dates back to the pre-world war 2 era as a pushcart stall at Chinatown. Now, you can savour their turtle soup in Old Geylang! The Herbal Turtle Soup (山瑞脚皮汤 $20, $40, $60) here is pleasantly light and savoury with mild-tasting turtle and herbal flavours. It might taste a bit boozy, but it’s not strong enough to make you drunk. If you want more wine, there is rice wine available. The restaurant gets its turtles from Indonesia and Thailand.

We ordered some rice to pair with the soup. The owner recommended us to have a bowl of white rice. White rice? Got anything special about the white rice meh? I ordered a bowl to try, oh mine, it was such a good bowl of white rice. I swear! The white rice here is very fluffy, fragrant and tasty. I thought some ginger or garlic was added because it has a mild chicken rice flavour but no, the owner said nothing was added in his white rice. It is just the way he cooks it that helps to retain the flavours. For the whole night, I was bugging the owner to share his way of cooking. Haha!

I have tried many different sauces that was used to pair with oysters. Many of the sauces are more zesty but Old Geylang chose to use salted egg yolk instead. I was rather surprised but upon trying the Live oyster with salted egg yolk (咸旦生蚝, $8/pc), I was convinced. The fresh fatty oyster is deep fried to a crisp texture and coated with a thick gravy of salted egg yolk. When I pop the whole oyster into my mouth, I can first taste the fragrant salted egg yolk, then the taste of sea from the oyster. It has lots more oomph here than at most places!

Another favourite is the Crocodile Tail in red braising sauce (红烧北菇绘鳄鱼尾, $12/pc). One crocodile tail can only cook two such portions. Cooking this is nothing complicated, the tail is simply drenched in a typical braising sauce in Chinese restaurant. I was looking at the thick crocodile skin and laughing within myself how much collagen I will have from eating this precious gem! Smooth and jelly like texture… yums!

Old Geylang is literally an all-in-one stop for diners. Besides the durian, the turtle soup and the crocodile meat, they also have a roast corner which does pretty okay roast. Our Roast Pork and Char Siew (港式烧腊双垪, $12) comes with a super fatty char siew and a slightly over salty sio bak. Nevertheless, each piece of meat has a nice smoky flavour.

Their Homemade Tofu with Mixed Mushroom (自制翡翠双菇豆腐 $12, $18, $24) is prepared fresh daily. The tofu is so smooth!

Don’t sweat when you see their Signature Chilli Crab (辣椒蟹, $52/kg). The fiery red gravy has a strong tomato base, so it is not that spicy lah! Crab meat was thick, sweet and fleshy, and you may find yourself in a finger-licking situation. Do order the delicious golden-brown mantous (fried buns) to dip into the leftover sauce, which for many of us is probably the best part about the chilli crab experience.

We skipped the usual desserts and chose to order durians from the durian stall just outside the restaurant. The good thing is, we can enjoy our durians in the air conditioned restaurant, at the comfort of our seats! Unfortunately, the season is over so the variety is limited. But come to Old Geylang must eat some durians lah!

All of us feeling satisfied after our meal! This place used to be a school and where we were standing, used to be the stage. We looked like we were taking a class photo right?

Enjoyed my dinner at Old Geylang because the quality of the food was good. And I enjoyed the convenience, to be able to sit comfortably in the restaurant and savour the best from three different brands. Old Geylang is located in the same compound as the Singapore Badminton Hall and is very near Aljunied MRT station. If you do drive, the restaurant provides a free valet service at the roadside.

Thank you Old Geylang for the invitation.

Old Geylang

Address: 1 Geylang Lorong 23, Highpoint Block 6
Tel: 6844 6041
Opens from: Sun to Thur 12pm to 2am. Fri, Sat, Eve, PH 12pm to 3am.

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