I tried a bowl of Singapore's famous frog porridge, which is made with 3 whole frogs. It doesn't taste anything like chicken.

Geylang was established in the mid-1800s by the British colonists, according to the Urban Development Authority (URA). The town, which covers an area of 10 square kilometers (3.8 square miles), was initially a Malay floating village.

Today, Geylang is Singapore's only legal red-light district. But the licensed brothels are not the area's only attraction — it also has a bustling food scene.

The open-air restaurant is located on Lorong 16, one of the streets where prostitution is legal.

One of the owners, Ten Chew Kiat, told me she opened a stall that served frog-based dishes with her husband Chua Seak Khen in 2000. The couple moved the business to its current location in 2019, and made it into an open-air restaurant.

"Frogs can be eaten, [it's] just like any other food," Ten told me. "There's no harm trying."

Frog is a delicacy in many parts of the world, including in Southern US states like Louisiana, parts of Asia, and European countries including France.

While I've never eaten frog meat before, family and friends who have say it tastes, as the saying goes, "just like chicken." It was finally time to put that expression to the test.

Unlike other countries, many frog restaurants in Singapore cook the entirety of the frog, and not just the legs.

Compared to other restaurants, the frog porridge is affordable. Frog meat can be pricey in Singapore, with 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of fresh frog legs costing 18.95 Singapore dollars ($14).

While a bowl with three frogs at the restaurant costs S$10 ($7.30), it can cost as much as S$20 ($14.70) at other eateries.

"We started with farming frogs, and realized we had a surplus at times," Ten said. "It's the main reason we can sell our porridge at a low price."

One of the restaurant employees, Joseph, welcomed me into the kitchen. It was spacious and clean, and had claypot-style bowls stacked above the stoves.

Live frogs are typically delivered at noon, he said. I had seen the frogs, which jumped up to a meter high, when I first visited the restaurant last month while on another assignment.

He told me that this time, I had just missed the delivery.

Joseph said the restaurant sources it frogs mainly from Malaysia and Taiwan. He said there was a meat shortage, and that two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of frog costs S$2 ($1.40). But this didn't include the extra fees to deliver the frogs to Singapore.

"Singaporeans eat [frog] too much," he told me, laughing.

After getting skinned and cleaned, the frogs are chilled in a small, glass refrigerator so that dishes can be cooked on demand.

"It's our own family recipe," Ten said. "We wanted to achieve our own unique taste and texture, and we did through trial and error."

The porridge itself was like any other Chinese-style congee, with some vegetables. The frog meat had a substance coating it that resembled egg whites.

It would be difficult to tell if the meat was frog meat just by looking at it. Because of the way it had been cut, the meat looked like bits of chicken wings and drumlets.

Ten said the restaurant has customers who eat frog porridge on a daily basis. It was lunchtime when I went, and I spotted a handful of diners pairing their frog dishes with beer. I paired mine with a cup of iced lemon tea.

I was surprised by how mild the frog meat tasted. The meat just blended into flavors of the porridge, which was lightly seasoned.

As for the texture, it was unlike any other meat I've had before. It was less firm than chicken, but firmer than the fillet of a fish. I think the closest food I can compare frog's texture to is crab — it's tender, but not mushy.

I stared at the menu again, and debated having the dried chilli frog, but ultimately decided I would come back another time to try it out.

"We think foreigners should it give it a try," Ten said. "Some even get addicted to eating frogs after trying it out," she added.