Heritage Zi Char Eatery Ka-Soh Returns With Pop-Up; Owner Says It’s A Test For The Brand's Future

Ka-Soh’s signature dishes return

Available at both Tanglin Cookhouse outlets, the limited-time menu spotlights two of Ka-Soh's best-known signatures: fish noodle soup and prawn paste chicken mid wings.

Founded in 1939, Ka-Soh is widely regarded as the pioneer of Singapore's Cantonese-style fish noodle soup. Over the decades, it built a loyal following for its rich, milky fish broth, counting Hong Kong superstars like Jackie Chan, Jacky Cheung and Andy Lau among its celebrity fans. The restaurant also earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2016.

Creative Eateries’ chief marketing officer and actor Andie Chen, the F&B group behind Tanglin Cookhouse, says Ka-Soh was the natural choice to launch the Heritage Series, which aims to preserve beloved local food brands through collaborations.

"Since we acquired Creative Eateries, our goal has been to support the small, independent F&B brands that can't compete with the multinational giants dominating Singapore's food scene," he tells 8days.sg. 

"We can use Tanglin Cookhouse as a platform to collaborate with brands we want to keep alive in the industry, so that these flavours don't disappear for the generations coming after us."

Slightly more premium take on Ka-Soh’s fish noodle soup

Cedric worked closely with Tanglin Cookhouse's culinary team to recreate Ka-Soh's signature dishes, training the chefs on his recipes and techniques while fine-tuning the dishes for the pop-up.

The fish noodle soup ($18) stays true to its familiar milky broth (achieved with fish collagen, not dairy), though the snakehead fish slices have been swapped for premium grouper.

Meanwhile, Ka Soh’s yummy prawn paste chicken ($15 for eight mid joints) and its accompanying tangy chilli sauce have been tweaked slightly so they could be produced in Tanglin Cookhouse's halal-certified kitchen.

Diners can also take home Ka-Soh's frozen fish soup ($12 for a 400g pack), while a Heritage Set Menu for two ($58) includes the fish noodle soup, prawn paste chicken, another main such as tiger prawn spicy aglio olio and Indian butter chicken, plus two desserts.

'I needed a partner that understood the industry'

For Cedric, the collaboration is also about finding a sustainable path forward for Ka-Soh.

After Ka-Soh closed, he says he received no shortage of offers — from investors wanting to revive the restaurant to those keen to take the brand overseas. He turned them all down.

"I needed a partner that understood the industry," the 41-year-old tells 8days.sg.

"For me as a heritage brand, it's not so much about the short term. I'm looking more towards longevity."

What convinced him was Andie’s vision of supporting independent heritage brands and building something for the long term.

Small concept is the way to go

Rather than reviving Ka-Soh as a full-fledged zi char eatery, Cedric now believes the brand's future may lie in a much leaner concept centred around its two biggest draws: fish soup and prawn paste chicken.

He sees the Tanglin Cookhouse collaboration as a test bed for that vision.

"If these two items do well, then there's a chance of success," he says. "If I want to do a small concept, I need a proof of concept."

Selling fish soup from his HDB flat

More importantly, the collaboration could solve one of Cedric's biggest challenges since closing the restaurant: how to scale up production.

Since shuttering Ka-Soh's final restaurant, Cedric has been running a one-man home-based business selling frozen fish soup from his Punggol HDB flat. Space and equipment constraints mean he can produce only a limited number of soup packs each week.

The venture has also come with financial sacrifices. Cedric has been relying on his savings to get by, with his income now around 70 per cent lower than when he was drawing a salary while running Ka-Soh's restaurant.

Still, he says he always knew the home-based venture wasn't meant to be a permanent solution.

“I know this model is not a long-term model, it’s really to see whether this works and if I need to scale up, then I will need to find ways to scale up,” he says.

By tapping Tanglin Cookhouse's production kitchen, Cedric now has a potential way to increase production without having to invest in a central kitchen of his own.

"It opens another door for me," he says. "It gives me more flexibility to explore different options."

The partnership could also pave the way for Cedric to finally sell one of Ka-Soh's most-requested items through his home-based business. Since Tanglin Cookhouse's production kitchen now knows how to prepare his prawn paste chicken, he's exploring the possibility of offering frozen packs after the collaboration ends.

"That's still in testing, but it's something I have in mind,” he says.

No rush to reopen Ka-Soh

Making frozen fish soup is no small feat. Producing a batch of around 20 packs takes about 10 hours, from cleaning fish bones and simmering the broth to cooling, packing and vacuum-sealing the soup. He also personally handles marketing, customer service and deliveries. He currently sells about 100 packs each month.

Despite the long hours, he says he enjoys it.

"To be honest, it's to have something to do for myself," he admits.

"I didn't want to go back into the rat race, the corporate world. Continuing the family business was a convenient excuse. Of course, I hope it leads somewhere," says the former PR executive.

The business has also given him the chance to reconnect with longtime customers through deliveries and conversations, something he says he missed while running a busy restaurant.

For now, he is in no hurry to open a permanent outlet. 

"I don't want to do something that's very short term. Our brand has been around for more than 80 years. [Operating for just] three years is just a drop in the bucket," he says.

With rents remaining high, Cedric says he's content to keep exploring collaborations while waiting for the right opportunity to take Ka-Soh's next step.

Asked what he hopes Ka-Soh will become in the next few years, Cedric laughs.

"I don’t really know. I think you just need to be like a cockroach and refuse to die.

"You have to be a certain level of delulu to continue being in F&B. Sometimes delulu is the solulu (internet phrase meaning delusion is the solution)."

Ka-Soh pop-up takes place from Jul 15 to Aug 31 at Tanglin Cookhouse, #01-106, Tanglin Mall, 163 Tanglin Rd, S247933. 

Paya Lebar Quarter outlet is at #01-07 PLQ 3, 2 Tanjong Katong Rd, S437161. Open daily from 9am-10pm. More info via website, Facebook and Instagram.

Photos: Tanglin Cookhouse, kasohsg/Instagram

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