Star Chef Skudai Braised Duck and Kway Teow Kia in Taman Sri Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

 

This street corner in Taman Sri Skudai can be called the Braised Duck Central of Johor Bahru. There are three popular braised duck shops here, namely, Skudai Duck Mee (MIS Restaurant), Sin Hai Cheng, and Star Chef Skudai Duck 星名廚鸭肉.

 

I have earlier tried Skudai Duck Mee (MIS Restaurant) and Sin Hai Cheng. I sampled Star Chef Skudai's braised duck following a chance meeting with Alex, Star Chef Skudai's boss. I liked the duck so much that I decided to make a special trip to Star Chef Skudai to try their braised duck and also kway teow kia at the invitation of the owner, Alex.

 

 We had this plate of braised duck meat for 3 people at RM12.

 

 

The duck meat in the subtly herbal gravy was tender, and when chewed, turned smooth and smokey in the mouth. Our taste buds were treated to the delicate gamey flavour of live ducks which duck lovers appreciate.

 

Star Chef Skudai's braising sauce is made with nearly 20 different types of herbs. Yet, the duck and pork only have subtle notes of herbal taste, as the herbs only served to bring out the natural flavours of the fresh duck and pork.

 

 

 

Besides its famous braised duck, Star Chef Skudai is also popular for its kway teow kia.

 

We couldn't resist the braised duck and pork organs on offer and so indulged in the RM12 plate of tender and tasty braised duck and pork organs.

 

Pork intestine

 

Duck liver

 

Don't tell my doctor - these were some of my favourite pieces of pork and duck organs.

Braised belly pork

The best of the best. Strikingly delicious blend of natural sweetness of pork, and savouriness of the braising sauce. The balance of skin, fat and lean meat was smooth and tender. I was simply bowled over by this delightful piece of meat.

 

Alex the boss, personally attends to the soup

 

 

Star Chef Skudai pays a lot of attention to the details. For example, they use 6 different types of herbs to brew the tasty soup to accompany the braised duck and pork.

With three good braised duck and pork restaurants side by side, we foodies are really spoilt for choice at this corner of Taman Sri Skudai.

 

Star Chef Skudai Duck 星名廚鸭肉 is definitely on my list of favourite braised duck and kway teow kia shops in JB.

Restaurant name: Star Chef Skudai Duck 星名廚鸭肉
Address: 30, Jalan Emas Putih 2, Taman Sri Skudai, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/XIcvo
GPS: 1.546550,103.656483
Hours: 08:30am to 6:30pm (closed on Thursday)
Non Halal

Date visited: 14 Sep 2012

 

This street corner in Taman Sri Skudai can be called the Braised Duck Central of Johor Bahru. There are three popular braised duck shops here, namely, Skudai Duck Mee (MIS Restaurant), Sin Hai Cheng, and Star Chef Skudai Duck 星名廚鸭肉.

 

I have earlier tried Skudai Duck Mee (MIS Restaurant) and Sin Hai Cheng. I sampled Star Chef Skudai's braised duck following a chance meeting with Alex, Star Chef Skudai's boss. I liked the duck so much that I decided to make a special trip to Star Chef Skudai to try their braised duck and also kway teow kia at the invitation of the owner, Alex.

 

 We had this plate of braised duck meat for 3 people at RM12.

 

 

The duck meat in the subtly herbal gravy was tender, and when chewed, turned smooth and smokey in the mouth. Our taste buds were treated to the delicate gamey flavour of live ducks which duck lovers appreciate.

 

Star Chef Skudai's braising sauce is made with nearly 20 different types of herbs. Yet, the duck and pork only have subtle notes of herbal taste, as the herbs only served to bring out the natural flavours of the fresh duck and pork.

 

 

 

Besides its famous braised duck, Star Chef Skudai is also popular for its kway teow kia.

 

We couldn't resist the braised duck and pork organs on offer and so indulged in the RM12 plate of tender and tasty braised duck and pork organs.

 

Pork intestine

 

Duck liver

 

Don't tell my doctor - these were some of my favourite pieces of pork and duck organs.

Braised belly pork

The best of the best. Strikingly delicious blend of natural sweetness of pork, and savouriness of the braising sauce. The balance of skin, fat and lean meat was smooth and tender. I was simply bowled over by this delightful piece of meat.

 

Alex the boss, personally attends to the soup

 

 

Star Chef Skudai pays a lot of attention to the details. For example, they use 6 different types of herbs to brew the tasty soup to accompany the braised duck and pork.

With three good braised duck and pork restaurants side by side, we foodies are really spoilt for choice at this corner of Taman Sri Skudai.

 

Star Chef Skudai Duck 星名廚鸭肉 is definitely on my list of favourite braised duck and kway teow kia shops in JB.

Restaurant name: Star Chef Skudai Duck 星名廚鸭肉
Address: 30, Jalan Emas Putih 2, Taman Sri Skudai, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/XIcvo
GPS: 1.546550,103.656483
Hours: 08:30am to 6:30pm (closed on Thursday)
Non Halal

Date visited: 14 Sep 2012

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镇江排骨 Pork Ribs at Star Chef Skudai 星名廚 in Taman Sri Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Update: This restaurant has moved with effect from 12 Oct 2012. Only the address has changed, the management, Chief Chef, kitchen crew, and staff remained the same. The updated information is as follows:

Restaurant name: Restaurant Star Chef 星名廚
Address: 51, Jalan Gelang Emas 1, Taman Gelang Emas, Gelang Patah, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/qTJV6
GPS: 1.451155,103.585903
Hours: 08:30am to 10:30pm (Closed on alternate Thursday)
Non Halal

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The following post is based on the restaurant's previous location in Taman Sri Skudai.

 

It was a chance meeting with Alex, the boss of Star Chef Skudai restaurant 星名廚 in Taman Sri Skudai.

I was having a late lunch at the famous 822 Super King Duck at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah. Even though it was already 3:00pm, 822 restaurant was still full of customers. So, we did the usual thing in Johor, which was to share a table with a perfect stranger.

When our char siew and siew yok arrived, I started to do what Johor Kaki always does. I was totally absorbed in taking photos of the food and writing down notes about how it tasted.

All this while, Alex the "stranger" with whom we were sharing the table was observing our "odd" behaviour curiously.

When I finally paused and returned back to "reality", Alex introduced himself. We soon had a nice conversation about my blog and my vision about putting every good Johor hawker on the World Wide Web. Alex then shared that he is the owner of Star Chef Skudai restaurant 星名廚 in Taman Sri Skudai and invited us to visit.

As we were between appointments and so had a little bit of spare time, we accepted Alex's gracious invitation and was next at Star Chef Skudai restaurant.

At the well appointed, air conditioned Star Chef Skudai restaurant 星名廚, Alex invited us to try his Chief Chef Chia's signature pork ribs  镇江排骨.

We were hardly hungry as we just had excellent char siew and siew yok at 822 Super King Duck restaurant, yet we managed to polish off Star Chef Skudai's signature 镇江排骨 pork ribs easily :)

 

The ribs were an interesting blend of flavours and textures making it a memorable taste and bite experience.

The savoury and slightly sweet sauce enveloped a gently crispy, caramelised outer layer.

Sinking my teeth pass the crispy caramelised layer, revealed the moist, juicy and tender meat inside that was naturally sweet.

The friendly Chief Chef Chia kindly allowed me to photograph him in action.

 

Deep frying the specially marinated pork ribs in hot oil.

 

Chief Chef Chia tossing the deep fried pork ribs in a super hot wok to sear in the flavours and caramelise the outer layer.

Just across the road from Star Chef Skudai restaurant is Star Chef Skudai duck which was started more than 20 years ago by Alex's father. Alex offered us some of his braised duck which we initially declined as we were totally stuffed - we had been "find" dining in JB since the morning :)

 

But with our appetites whetted by Star Chef Skudai's delicious signature pork ribs, we reluctantly picked up the thin slices of braised duck. Well, we couldn't stop after that until the whole plate of braised duck was gone :) After the first bite, we somehow found space in our stomachs for the braised duck :P

 

We were struck by the tenderness of the braised duck slices and the delicateness of the herbal braising sauce.

 

The tender duck also had that subtle, distinctive gamey flavour of fresh duck meat. When I asked Alex how to get duck meat so tender and flavourful, he shared that Star Chef Skudai uses only live ducks.

The braised duck came with this special chili sauce which was tangy, and only slightly spicy hot and sweet. The chili sauce complemented and enhanced the taste of  Star Chef Skudai's duck meat very well.

Our stomachs filled, we bid the friendly Wee family good bye and went on to our next stop in "find" dining in Johor.

Star Chef Skudai 星名廚 restaurant has many other interesting dishes which I will be coming back for :)

Restaurant name: Star Chef Skudai 星名廚
Address: 1, Jalan Emas Putih 4, Taman Sri Skudai, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/BQpnW
GPS: 1.546333,103.656606
Hours: 10:30am to 2:30pm and 5:30am to 10:30pm (Closed on Thursday)
Non Halal

Date visited: 10 Sep 2012

Update: This restaurant has moved with effect from 12 Oct 2012. Only the address has changed, the management, Chief Chef, kitchen crew, and staff remained the same. The updated information is as follows:

Restaurant name: Restaurant Star Chef 星名廚
Address: 51, Jalan Gelang Emas 1, Taman Gelang Emas, Gelang Patah, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/qTJV6
GPS: 1.451155,103.585903
Hours: 08:30am to 10:30pm (Closed on alternate Thursday)
Non Halal

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The following post is based on the restaurant's previous location in Taman Sri Skudai.

 

It was a chance meeting with Alex, the boss of Star Chef Skudai restaurant 星名廚 in Taman Sri Skudai.

I was having a late lunch at the famous 822 Super King Duck at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah. Even though it was already 3:00pm, 822 restaurant was still full of customers. So, we did the usual thing in Johor, which was to share a table with a perfect stranger.

When our char siew and siew yok arrived, I started to do what Johor Kaki always does. I was totally absorbed in taking photos of the food and writing down notes about how it tasted.

All this while, Alex the "stranger" with whom we were sharing the table was observing our "odd" behaviour curiously.

When I finally paused and returned back to "reality", Alex introduced himself. We soon had a nice conversation about my blog and my vision about putting every good Johor hawker on the World Wide Web. Alex then shared that he is the owner of Star Chef Skudai restaurant 星名廚 in Taman Sri Skudai and invited us to visit.

As we were between appointments and so had a little bit of spare time, we accepted Alex's gracious invitation and was next at Star Chef Skudai restaurant.

At the well appointed, air conditioned Star Chef Skudai restaurant 星名廚, Alex invited us to try his Chief Chef Chia's signature pork ribs  镇江排骨.

We were hardly hungry as we just had excellent char siew and siew yok at 822 Super King Duck restaurant, yet we managed to polish off Star Chef Skudai's signature 镇江排骨 pork ribs easily :)

 

The ribs were an interesting blend of flavours and textures making it a memorable taste and bite experience.

The savoury and slightly sweet sauce enveloped a gently crispy, caramelised outer layer.

Sinking my teeth pass the crispy caramelised layer, revealed the moist, juicy and tender meat inside that was naturally sweet.

The friendly Chief Chef Chia kindly allowed me to photograph him in action.

 

Deep frying the specially marinated pork ribs in hot oil.

 

Chief Chef Chia tossing the deep fried pork ribs in a super hot wok to sear in the flavours and caramelise the outer layer.

Just across the road from Star Chef Skudai restaurant is Star Chef Skudai duck which was started more than 20 years ago by Alex's father. Alex offered us some of his braised duck which we initially declined as we were totally stuffed - we had been "find" dining in JB since the morning :)

 

But with our appetites whetted by Star Chef Skudai's delicious signature pork ribs, we reluctantly picked up the thin slices of braised duck. Well, we couldn't stop after that until the whole plate of braised duck was gone :) After the first bite, we somehow found space in our stomachs for the braised duck :P

 

We were struck by the tenderness of the braised duck slices and the delicateness of the herbal braising sauce.

 

The tender duck also had that subtle, distinctive gamey flavour of fresh duck meat. When I asked Alex how to get duck meat so tender and flavourful, he shared that Star Chef Skudai uses only live ducks.

The braised duck came with this special chili sauce which was tangy, and only slightly spicy hot and sweet. The chili sauce complemented and enhanced the taste of  Star Chef Skudai's duck meat very well.

Our stomachs filled, we bid the friendly Wee family good bye and went on to our next stop in "find" dining in Johor.

Star Chef Skudai 星名廚 restaurant has many other interesting dishes which I will be coming back for :)

Restaurant name: Star Chef Skudai 星名廚
Address: 1, Jalan Emas Putih 4, Taman Sri Skudai, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/BQpnW
GPS: 1.546333,103.656606
Hours: 10:30am to 2:30pm and 5:30am to 10:30pm (Closed on Thursday)
Non Halal

Date visited: 10 Sep 2012

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Braised Duck @ Sin Hai Cheng in Taman Sri Skudai, Johor Bahru

Today, I went to try out Sin Hai Cheng, another of the famous four big braised duck shops in JB’s “duck central” in Taman Sri Skudai.

Sin Hai Cheng has built up its own following of fans. Even at 3:00pm when I was there, the restaurant was still doing a brisk business with a steady stream of customers.

The taste of braised duck has a lot to do with the skill in cutting the meat. This gentleman may be young but he has already mastered the art of cutting the duck so that its best flavours are presented.

The nicely sliced duck meat was tender and tasted smoky and naturally sweet. Even after dipping in the light braising sauce it was not too salty.

The thin gizzard slices were slightly firm yet still tender. It tasted slightly salty and naturally sweet.

The kway teow doused with braising sauce was generously topped with fresh spring unions and fried shallots. When stirring the kway teow, waffs of shallot oil fragrance raised to the nose – hmm… nice.

My meal of duck and gizzard with a kway teow and soup came to RM7. Definitely an excellent meal at a reasonable price.

Restaurant name: Restoran Sin Hai Cheng

Address: 26 & 28, Jalan Emas Putih 2, Taman Sri Skudai, Johor Bahru

Map: http://g.co/maps/khsfm
GPS: 1.547124,103.656059

Hours: 11:00am to 9:00pm (closed on Weds)

Date visited: 27 Mar 2012

Today, I went to try out Sin Hai Cheng, another of the famous four big braised duck shops in JB’s “duck central” in Taman Sri Skudai.

Sin Hai Cheng has built up its own following of fans. Even at 3:00pm when I was there, the restaurant was still doing a brisk business with a steady stream of customers.

The taste of braised duck has a lot to do with the skill in cutting the meat. This gentleman may be young but he has already mastered the art of cutting the duck so that its best flavours are presented.

The nicely sliced duck meat was tender and tasted smoky and naturally sweet. Even after dipping in the light braising sauce it was not too salty.

The thin gizzard slices were slightly firm yet still tender. It tasted slightly salty and naturally sweet.

The kway teow doused with braising sauce was generously topped with fresh spring unions and fried shallots. When stirring the kway teow, waffs of shallot oil fragrance raised to the nose – hmm… nice.

My meal of duck and gizzard with a kway teow and soup came to RM7. Definitely an excellent meal at a reasonable price.

Restaurant name: Restoran Sin Hai Cheng

Address: 26 & 28, Jalan Emas Putih 2, Taman Sri Skudai, Johor Bahru

Map: http://g.co/maps/khsfm
GPS: 1.547124,103.656059

Hours: 11:00am to 9:00pm (closed on Weds)

Date visited: 27 Mar 2012

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Braised Duck @ Skudai Duck Mee 士古来鸭肉 in Taman Sri Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

Skudai Duck Mee 士古来鸭肉 started as a popular roadside stall back in 1975 and is today a spacious corner shop unit in Taman Sri Skudai. The famous large shop has comfortable round table seating inside and spilling over into the bright and airy, covered, open area outside.

Still, it has that old time, laid back, cosy coffee shop ambiance in a quieter part of JB.

Skudai Duck Mee is an long established name in Johor Bahru, and its reputation spread far and wide after it was featured in popular Malaysian celebrity Axian’s food show in 2008.

Besides it’s signature Teochew braised duck, Skudai Duck also serves braised eggs, pork, pig’s ears, tongue, snort, and innards such as intestines.

Despite its fame, many of Skudai Duck’s customers are regulars, some for more than decades including the provision shop owner MR Ng who brought me here and introduced me to the owner of Skudai Duck Mee. (Thank you, MR Ng J)

Sitting comfortably in the shop, there was Teochew opera music playing softly in the background. Then there was that rhythmic, quick, chopping tak.. tak.. tak.. sound of the chopper blade against the chopping board.

The huge chopping board cut from a chengal tree trunk is a family heirloom. Sometimes, the blade pinged against the hard chopping board letting off a sound like that of a tuning fork. The Teochew opera and the fluid chopping sound blended together with the chatter of the customers produced a kind of unique Skudai Duck "music". I love this.

I ordered a set of duck meat, gizzard, liver, and kway teow. The set came with a soup and chili sauce. Total bill for this delicious and sumptuous meal was RM8. Very reasonable.

The succulent, juicy duck meat had an appealing light brownish colour absorbed from their famed decades old braising sauce. When I chewed on it, the slightly firm meat felt moist and quickly turned smokey and tender in my mouth. The meat tastes naturally sweet and slightly herbal from the braising sauce.

The gizzard had an interesting chewy and firm texture, adding fun to the experience. It tasted like salty and sweet candy – I like it.

The braised liver had that tender grainy feel indicating that it was nicely done just right.

The kway teow stirred with the braising sauce complements the duck and innards well.

(There are altogether 4 braised duck shops in this little corner of Taman Sri Skudai - it's like, this is the Teochew braised duck central of JB. I will be trying them all J)

 

Restaurant name: Skudai Duck Mee (MIS Restaurant) 士古来鸭肉

Address: 29, Jalan Emas Putih Dua, Taman Sri Skudai, Johor Bahru

Map: http://g.co/maps/25vmj

GPS: 1.546577,103.656563
Hours: 11:00am to 9:00pm

Non Halal

Date visited: 20 Mar 2012

Skudai Duck Mee 士古来鸭肉 started as a popular roadside stall back in 1975 and is today a spacious corner shop unit in Taman Sri Skudai. The famous large shop has comfortable round table seating inside and spilling over into the bright and airy, covered, open area outside.

Still, it has that old time, laid back, cosy coffee shop ambiance in a quieter part of JB.

Skudai Duck Mee is an long established name in Johor Bahru, and its reputation spread far and wide after it was featured in popular Malaysian celebrity Axian’s food show in 2008.

Besides it’s signature Teochew braised duck, Skudai Duck also serves braised eggs, pork, pig’s ears, tongue, snort, and innards such as intestines.

Despite its fame, many of Skudai Duck’s customers are regulars, some for more than decades including the provision shop owner MR Ng who brought me here and introduced me to the owner of Skudai Duck Mee. (Thank you, MR Ng J)

Sitting comfortably in the shop, there was Teochew opera music playing softly in the background. Then there was that rhythmic, quick, chopping tak.. tak.. tak.. sound of the chopper blade against the chopping board.

The huge chopping board cut from a chengal tree trunk is a family heirloom. Sometimes, the blade pinged against the hard chopping board letting off a sound like that of a tuning fork. The Teochew opera and the fluid chopping sound blended together with the chatter of the customers produced a kind of unique Skudai Duck "music". I love this.

I ordered a set of duck meat, gizzard, liver, and kway teow. The set came with a soup and chili sauce. Total bill for this delicious and sumptuous meal was RM8. Very reasonable.

The succulent, juicy duck meat had an appealing light brownish colour absorbed from their famed decades old braising sauce. When I chewed on it, the slightly firm meat felt moist and quickly turned smokey and tender in my mouth. The meat tastes naturally sweet and slightly herbal from the braising sauce.

The gizzard had an interesting chewy and firm texture, adding fun to the experience. It tasted like salty and sweet candy – I like it.

The braised liver had that tender grainy feel indicating that it was nicely done just right.

The kway teow stirred with the braising sauce complements the duck and innards well.

(There are altogether 4 braised duck shops in this little corner of Taman Sri Skudai - it's like, this is the Teochew braised duck central of JB. I will be trying them all J)

 

Restaurant name: Skudai Duck Mee (MIS Restaurant) 士古来鸭肉

Address: 29, Jalan Emas Putih Dua, Taman Sri Skudai, Johor Bahru

Map: http://g.co/maps/25vmj

GPS: 1.546577,103.656563
Hours: 11:00am to 9:00pm

Non Halal

Date visited: 20 Mar 2012

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