Johor Bahru Honbin Seafood Restaurant 宏运海鲜 in Permas Jaya

My friend Bryan has been telling me about the steamed catfish at Honbin Seafood 宏运海鲜 for a while, and today we finally gathered a few kakis to pay this restaurant a visit.



Honbin Seafood is located at a quiet corner of Permas Jaya, not far from the AEON JUSCO mall.



The simple menu is written out on this white board. Besides the usual fish, prawns and crabs, Honbin has the proper license to serve certain wild game like terrapins, boar and squirrels.



Hian is the friendly owner and head chef. Honbin started as a street side stall, slowly working their way to today's simple but good size restaurant.



Sally and her husband Hian are visibly and deservedly proud of their restaurant which is the result of their decade of hard work.



First up was this mixed platter of crispy fish roll, fried chicken balls and crispy fried chicken.



The fish roll was made of tender minced fish meat and vegetables wrapped in crispy thin tofu skin. A quite interesting and tasty snack or appetiser.



The fried chicken ball is made of minced chicken and water chestnuts. Would be perfect if the chicken balls were a little more moist.



I like Honbin 's crispy fried chicken with a savoury and sweet sauce. The thin slice of chicken with skin on is fried till the skin is crispy while the flesh still retains some chew and juice. Though different, it did remind me of those small square pieces of roasted suckling pig. I like this.



Steamed catfish is one of my favourite dishes and I will order one whenever it is available. Honbin's steamed catfish is made with wild caught river fish. Very sweet and bouncy white flesh, with not even the slightest hint of muddiness.



Hongbin's herbal turtle soup is made with wild caught terrapin from the rivers near Kota Tinggi.



The clean tasting broth is clear and light with herbal and ginseng flavours and aroma. (Note: This is not the murky, full bodied, umami savoury style of broth commonly served in Singapore.)



The meat and gelatinous parts of the turtle tasted mildly sweet and had mouth feel somewhere between fish and chicken.




We also had Honbin's braised catfish which is made from live fish. The large chunks of tender catfish were braised in a mildly flavoured savoury sauce. I love chewing the chunks of soft meat, skin and fat of the catfish.



Sally is proud of this lala shellfish stir fried with fried garlic and shallots. Savoury garlic and shallot bits blended with natural flavours of chewy bouncy lala.

The total bill including a pot of tea and rice came to RM140 nett for 6 adults, which I thought was very reasonable.

Overall, I found the ingredients fresh and the dishes well executed. Honbin's dishes use less robust flavourings (like sauces) and rely more on the ingredients' natural flavours. I like Honbin because over time I learnt to better appreciate the original flavours of ingredients.

For wild caught ingredients, it is best to give Sally a call at +6012-797-7231 or +6019-754-7930 to find out what is available before proceeding to Honbin.

Restaurant name: Honbin Seafood Restaurant 宏运海鲜
Address: 2, Jalan Permas 1/3, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya, Masai, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/ZB51M
GPS: 1.517583,103.821069
Hours: 3:00pm to 1:00am
Non Halal

Date visited: 28 Nov 2013

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My friend Bryan has been telling me about the steamed catfish at Honbin Seafood 宏运海鲜 for a while, and today we finally gathered a few kakis to pay this restaurant a visit.



Honbin Seafood is located at a quiet corner of Permas Jaya, not far from the AEON JUSCO mall.



The simple menu is written out on this white board. Besides the usual fish, prawns and crabs, Honbin has the proper license to serve certain wild game like terrapins, boar and squirrels.



Hian is the friendly owner and head chef. Honbin started as a street side stall, slowly working their way to today's simple but good size restaurant.



Sally and her husband Hian are visibly and deservedly proud of their restaurant which is the result of their decade of hard work.



First up was this mixed platter of crispy fish roll, fried chicken balls and crispy fried chicken.



The fish roll was made of tender minced fish meat and vegetables wrapped in crispy thin tofu skin. A quite interesting and tasty snack or appetiser.



The fried chicken ball is made of minced chicken and water chestnuts. Would be perfect if the chicken balls were a little more moist.



I like Honbin 's crispy fried chicken with a savoury and sweet sauce. The thin slice of chicken with skin on is fried till the skin is crispy while the flesh still retains some chew and juice. Though different, it did remind me of those small square pieces of roasted suckling pig. I like this.



Steamed catfish is one of my favourite dishes and I will order one whenever it is available. Honbin's steamed catfish is made with wild caught river fish. Very sweet and bouncy white flesh, with not even the slightest hint of muddiness.



Hongbin's herbal turtle soup is made with wild caught terrapin from the rivers near Kota Tinggi.



The clean tasting broth is clear and light with herbal and ginseng flavours and aroma. (Note: This is not the murky, full bodied, umami savoury style of broth commonly served in Singapore.)



The meat and gelatinous parts of the turtle tasted mildly sweet and had mouth feel somewhere between fish and chicken.




We also had Honbin's braised catfish which is made from live fish. The large chunks of tender catfish were braised in a mildly flavoured savoury sauce. I love chewing the chunks of soft meat, skin and fat of the catfish.



Sally is proud of this lala shellfish stir fried with fried garlic and shallots. Savoury garlic and shallot bits blended with natural flavours of chewy bouncy lala.

The total bill including a pot of tea and rice came to RM140 nett for 6 adults, which I thought was very reasonable.

Overall, I found the ingredients fresh and the dishes well executed. Honbin's dishes use less robust flavourings (like sauces) and rely more on the ingredients' natural flavours. I like Honbin because over time I learnt to better appreciate the original flavours of ingredients.

For wild caught ingredients, it is best to give Sally a call at +6012-797-7231 or +6019-754-7930 to find out what is available before proceeding to Honbin.

Restaurant name: Honbin Seafood Restaurant 宏运海鲜
Address: 2, Jalan Permas 1/3, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya, Masai, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/ZB51M
GPS: 1.517583,103.821069
Hours: 3:00pm to 1:00am
Non Halal

Date visited: 28 Nov 2013

Return to home page.

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Claypot Catfish at Restoran Top Chance 聚品鲜 in Taman Daya, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

I was food spotting around Taman Daya at about 2:00pm when a full house at Top Chance 聚品鲜 restaurant caught my attention. Top Chance looked like any other run of the mill family run seafood and zhe char restaurant ubiquitous in Johor and Malaysia.

As usual, I scanned the assembly of dishes on the tables and saw that almost all the tables had that claypot with a gooey dark gravy with lumpy chunks inside. I stopped and asked one of the staff what that claypot dish was and was told that it was their popular claypot catfish.

Bingo! My suspicions confirmed. Catfish braised in sweet, sour and savoury sauce is one of favourite dishes :) So I sat down and ordered one to try out.

 

The claypot catfish arrived still popping hot bubbles, releasing a pleasant aroma from the dark steaming concoction.

 

The next thing that struck me was the catfish head because so far, I have not had claypot catfish served with the head.

 

The catfish flesh was fresh, tender and fatty. The smooth scaleless skin added to the texture of the dish. The soft flesh was naturally sweet and I didn't notice any of that muddy smell associated with catfish (which is basically a scavenging bottom feeder).

 

The key to a good claypot braised catfish is its sauce. Top Chance's sauce was thick like a syrup and its flavour was robust and pungent. In the gooey tacky dark soy based gravy, I found stalks of lemon grass, chunks of ginger, chili padi, dried chili peppers, peeled onions, whole garlics, and curry leaf. All these ingredients and more, blended together to create a tangy, sweet, spicy and savoury gravy.

 

The flavourful gravy combined well with chunks of tender, smooth, fatty catfish flesh and skin resulting in a creamy, tasty treat.

 

The catfish meat came with bone on and was a little bony, so be careful there.

The catfish liver was softer and smoother than chicken liver and tasted similar. This was the first time I ate a catfish liver - not sure if it is a healthy thing to eat :P

 

The robustly flavoured gravy and sweet catfish flesh complemented the light and fresh tasting steamed white rice perfectly.

After my sumptuous meal which came to RM28 together with two plates of steamed rice and drinks, I spoke with the owner MR Fong to understand more about his restaurant. MR Fong had been running Top Chance with his family for over twenty years.

 

MR Fong then told me that the catfish I just ate was live and was cut only when an order was made. This was the first time that I had claypot catfish with live fish. In other places, the catfish was already cut into chunky cubes ready for cooking.

This explained the catfish head and also the slightly longer waiting time.

I love Top Chance's braised claypot catfish and I shall be back for their braised belly pork with preserved vegetables which MR Fong highly recommended.

 

 

Restaurant name: Top Chance Seafood Restaurant 聚品鲜海鲜
Address: 11, Jalan Sagu 4, Taman Daya, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/JxIpW
GPS: 1.543606,103.765391
Hours: 11:30am to 11:30pm
Non Halal

Date visited: 9 Nov 2012

I was food spotting around Taman Daya at about 2:00pm when a full house at Top Chance 聚品鲜 restaurant caught my attention. Top Chance looked like any other run of the mill family run seafood and zhe char restaurant ubiquitous in Johor and Malaysia.

As usual, I scanned the assembly of dishes on the tables and saw that almost all the tables had that claypot with a gooey dark gravy with lumpy chunks inside. I stopped and asked one of the staff what that claypot dish was and was told that it was their popular claypot catfish.

Bingo! My suspicions confirmed. Catfish braised in sweet, sour and savoury sauce is one of favourite dishes :) So I sat down and ordered one to try out.

 

The claypot catfish arrived still popping hot bubbles, releasing a pleasant aroma from the dark steaming concoction.

 

The next thing that struck me was the catfish head because so far, I have not had claypot catfish served with the head.

 

The catfish flesh was fresh, tender and fatty. The smooth scaleless skin added to the texture of the dish. The soft flesh was naturally sweet and I didn't notice any of that muddy smell associated with catfish (which is basically a scavenging bottom feeder).

 

The key to a good claypot braised catfish is its sauce. Top Chance's sauce was thick like a syrup and its flavour was robust and pungent. In the gooey tacky dark soy based gravy, I found stalks of lemon grass, chunks of ginger, chili padi, dried chili peppers, peeled onions, whole garlics, and curry leaf. All these ingredients and more, blended together to create a tangy, sweet, spicy and savoury gravy.

 

The flavourful gravy combined well with chunks of tender, smooth, fatty catfish flesh and skin resulting in a creamy, tasty treat.

 

The catfish meat came with bone on and was a little bony, so be careful there.

The catfish liver was softer and smoother than chicken liver and tasted similar. This was the first time I ate a catfish liver - not sure if it is a healthy thing to eat :P

 

The robustly flavoured gravy and sweet catfish flesh complemented the light and fresh tasting steamed white rice perfectly.

After my sumptuous meal which came to RM28 together with two plates of steamed rice and drinks, I spoke with the owner MR Fong to understand more about his restaurant. MR Fong had been running Top Chance with his family for over twenty years.

 

MR Fong then told me that the catfish I just ate was live and was cut only when an order was made. This was the first time that I had claypot catfish with live fish. In other places, the catfish was already cut into chunky cubes ready for cooking.

This explained the catfish head and also the slightly longer waiting time.

I love Top Chance's braised claypot catfish and I shall be back for their braised belly pork with preserved vegetables which MR Fong highly recommended.

 

 

Restaurant name: Top Chance Seafood Restaurant 聚品鲜海鲜
Address: 11, Jalan Sagu 4, Taman Daya, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/JxIpW
GPS: 1.543606,103.765391
Hours: 11:30am to 11:30pm
Non Halal

Date visited: 9 Nov 2012

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Bak Kut Teh @ Restoran How Inn 好運 in Taman Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru

I had earlier tried the famous claypot catfish at How Inn 好運 restaurant in Taman Johor Jaya, and told myself that I must come back for their popular bak kut teh.

So, here I am today as promised to myself :)

This is How Inn's bak kut teh in a claypot. The fresh pork in a bubbling hot claypot of clear herbal broth topped with crackly fried tofu skin.

As usual, I asked for the soft bone (cartilage) which is my favourite cut.

The meat was naturally sweet and firm yet tender.

Another of my favourite cuts, slices of belly pork with lean meat, fat and skin. Deliciously sweet and smooth.

The clear herbal broth has just a slight herbal note and was tasty and drinkable. We loved it and slurped it all up merrily.

We couldn't resist ordering a claypot of How Inn's signature catfish.

The heap of ginger shreds used in How Inn's claypot catfish.

Again, the fresh tender catfish chunks cooked in black gooey soy sauce with plenty of ginger shreds and dried chilies teased and pleasured our excited taste buds.

How Inn's signature claypot catfish always pleases.

The flavourful catfish was a complex blend of tangy, sweet, salty and spicy hot. There was not even the slightest hint of any muddy river taste in How Inn's catfish. How Inn 好運 very well deserves the honour being dubbed the King of Catfish in Johor.

Originally from Kota Tinggi, How Inn restaurant has been serving happy customers for 17 years. 

Restaurant name: Restoran How Inn 好運
Address: 1, Jalan Dedap 6, Taman Johor Jaya, 81100 Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/ASrB
GPS: 1.540829,103.805759
Hours: 10:00am to 10:00pm (closed on Mondays)
Non Halal

Date visited: 13 Aug 2012

I had earlier tried the famous claypot catfish at How Inn 好運 restaurant in Taman Johor Jaya, and told myself that I must come back for their popular bak kut teh.

So, here I am today as promised to myself :)

This is How Inn's bak kut teh in a claypot. The fresh pork in a bubbling hot claypot of clear herbal broth topped with crackly fried tofu skin.

As usual, I asked for the soft bone (cartilage) which is my favourite cut.

The meat was naturally sweet and firm yet tender.

Another of my favourite cuts, slices of belly pork with lean meat, fat and skin. Deliciously sweet and smooth.

The clear herbal broth has just a slight herbal note and was tasty and drinkable. We loved it and slurped it all up merrily.

We couldn't resist ordering a claypot of How Inn's signature catfish.

The heap of ginger shreds used in How Inn's claypot catfish.

Again, the fresh tender catfish chunks cooked in black gooey soy sauce with plenty of ginger shreds and dried chilies teased and pleasured our excited taste buds.

How Inn's signature claypot catfish always pleases.

The flavourful catfish was a complex blend of tangy, sweet, salty and spicy hot. There was not even the slightest hint of any muddy river taste in How Inn's catfish. How Inn 好運 very well deserves the honour being dubbed the King of Catfish in Johor.

Originally from Kota Tinggi, How Inn restaurant has been serving happy customers for 17 years. 

Restaurant name: Restoran How Inn 好運
Address: 1, Jalan Dedap 6, Taman Johor Jaya, 81100 Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/ASrB
GPS: 1.540829,103.805759
Hours: 10:00am to 10:00pm (closed on Mondays)
Non Halal

Date visited: 13 Aug 2012

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Pecel Lele @ Kak Long Tomyam in Meldrum Walk, Johor Bahru

I needed a quick dinner one evening and as I was in Old Downtown JB, I walked briskly over to Meldrum Walk for a quick bite.

Decided to go for Kak Long’s pecel lele or Indonesian style fried catfish with rice.

I was pleasantly surprised that for a reasonable RM6, the chef actually took a large fresh catfish, gutted and cleaned it on the spot, only after I had made my order.

The catfish was then marinated with sauces and curry powder, and deep fried till golden brown.

What would be “normal”, would be pre-cooked catfish – which was what had I expected. So this fresh fish was beyond my expectations J

This is the set of freshly fried catfish smothered with crispy crackles on a banana leaf, and it comes with a generous heap of steamed white rice, tempeh, tofu, vegetables, sambal and a clear soup.

I enjoyed this catfish, as I always do. The tender flesh was sweet and doesn’t have any of that “muddy” taste normally associated with catfish.

The sambal was mild and unremarkable - personally, I much prefer mine to be more robust and extra spicy hot.

If you like pecel lele, Kak Long’s is definitely a very good choice.

Restaurant name: Kak Long Tomyam

Address: Stall in Meldrum Walk in downtown Johor Bahru

Map: http://g.co/maps/n7qhh

GPS: 1.460045,103.764673

Hours: 5:00pm to midnight

Halal

Date visited: 29 May 2012

I needed a quick dinner one evening and as I was in Old Downtown JB, I walked briskly over to Meldrum Walk for a quick bite.

Decided to go for Kak Long’s pecel lele or Indonesian style fried catfish with rice.

I was pleasantly surprised that for a reasonable RM6, the chef actually took a large fresh catfish, gutted and cleaned it on the spot, only after I had made my order.

The catfish was then marinated with sauces and curry powder, and deep fried till golden brown.

What would be “normal”, would be pre-cooked catfish – which was what had I expected. So this fresh fish was beyond my expectations J

This is the set of freshly fried catfish smothered with crispy crackles on a banana leaf, and it comes with a generous heap of steamed white rice, tempeh, tofu, vegetables, sambal and a clear soup.

I enjoyed this catfish, as I always do. The tender flesh was sweet and doesn’t have any of that “muddy” taste normally associated with catfish.

The sambal was mild and unremarkable - personally, I much prefer mine to be more robust and extra spicy hot.

If you like pecel lele, Kak Long’s is definitely a very good choice.

Restaurant name: Kak Long Tomyam

Address: Stall in Meldrum Walk in downtown Johor Bahru

Map: http://g.co/maps/n7qhh

GPS: 1.460045,103.764673

Hours: 5:00pm to midnight

Halal

Date visited: 29 May 2012

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Claypot Catfish @ 哥打泥鳅王 in Austin Food Zone, Taman Mount Austin, Johor Bahru

This is another "stumble upon" good food find J We were driving around the industrial part of Taman Mount Austin when we saw this large purple coloured banner proclaiming immodestly that they are the 泥鳅王 or  "King of Catfish".

 

Well, the banner's eye catching, sparkling catfish logo and self assuredness worked - it got us curious enough to get down from the car to test their claim. We walked into a large coffee shop buzzing with chattering customers and had to wait a while for empty seats. We did not mind waiting as this is usually a good sign that we had discovered a new good food find J

There were only two stalls here, besides the usual drinks stall. One was this stall 哥打泥鳅王 serving claypot catfish and the other was "MR Pau 包" a handmade pau stall. Seeing that most of the tables had a claypot, I knew we had found a "must try" dish.

The boss Candy had been running 哥打泥鳅王 for more than 10 years. Candy personally does all the cooking which was done completely at the front of the stall - this is the usual set up in Johor food stalls. Lots of ginger shreds and dried chilies were used in making the claypot catfish.

Candy stir fries the thick meaty chunks of rosy hued, fresh catfish with the ginger shreds and dried  chillies.

When nearly cooked, Candy added large dollops of special blend homemade sambal chili and dark soy sauce to the claypot of catfish.

Our large sized claypot catfish costs RM16

A quick stir with deft movements by Candy and the claypot of piping hot catfish chunks was ready to serve.

These catfish chunks may not look very photogenic, but the sweet tender meat with smooth skin on, was simply deletable. The ginger shreds, dried chilies, sambal chili and black soy sauce gave the dish a tangy and spicy hot flavour and taste. There was none of the "muddy" taste normally associated with catfish at all. As I like my food extra spicy, this was absolutely delicious to me.

Noticing that their yellow wine chicken 黄酒鸡 was also very popular, we decided to add it to our order. Candy poured generous dashes of rice wine to the claypot of fresh chicken chunks.

Small sized yellow wine chicken costs RM7

The fresh chicken meat was tender and naturally sweet. The rice wine broth had an extra robust rice wine flavour and taste due to the generous doses of wine.

We are very pleased with our latest good food find and highly recommend 哥打泥鳅王's claypot catfish and yellow wine chicken.


Restaurant name: 哥打泥鳅王 (no English name - literal translation "Kota Catfish King")
Address: 24, Jalan Mutiara Emas 5/20, Taman Mount Austin, Johor Bahru, Johor
Map: http://g.co/maps/3grmu
GPS: 1.551393,103.769055
Hours: 10:30am to 8:00pm (Mon to Fri); 10:30am to 3:30pm (Sat); Closed on Sunday
Non Halal

Date visited: 18 May 2012

This is another "stumble upon" good food find J We were driving around the industrial part of Taman Mount Austin when we saw this large purple coloured banner proclaiming immodestly that they are the 泥鳅王 or  "King of Catfish".

 

Well, the banner's eye catching, sparkling catfish logo and self assuredness worked - it got us curious enough to get down from the car to test their claim. We walked into a large coffee shop buzzing with chattering customers and had to wait a while for empty seats. We did not mind waiting as this is usually a good sign that we had discovered a new good food find J

There were only two stalls here, besides the usual drinks stall. One was this stall 哥打泥鳅王 serving claypot catfish and the other was "MR Pau 包" a handmade pau stall. Seeing that most of the tables had a claypot, I knew we had found a "must try" dish.

The boss Candy had been running 哥打泥鳅王 for more than 10 years. Candy personally does all the cooking which was done completely at the front of the stall - this is the usual set up in Johor food stalls. Lots of ginger shreds and dried chilies were used in making the claypot catfish.

Candy stir fries the thick meaty chunks of rosy hued, fresh catfish with the ginger shreds and dried  chillies.

When nearly cooked, Candy added large dollops of special blend homemade sambal chili and dark soy sauce to the claypot of catfish.

Our large sized claypot catfish costs RM16

A quick stir with deft movements by Candy and the claypot of piping hot catfish chunks was ready to serve.

These catfish chunks may not look very photogenic, but the sweet tender meat with smooth skin on, was simply deletable. The ginger shreds, dried chilies, sambal chili and black soy sauce gave the dish a tangy and spicy hot flavour and taste. There was none of the "muddy" taste normally associated with catfish at all. As I like my food extra spicy, this was absolutely delicious to me.

Noticing that their yellow wine chicken 黄酒鸡 was also very popular, we decided to add it to our order. Candy poured generous dashes of rice wine to the claypot of fresh chicken chunks.

Small sized yellow wine chicken costs RM7

The fresh chicken meat was tender and naturally sweet. The rice wine broth had an extra robust rice wine flavour and taste due to the generous doses of wine.

We are very pleased with our latest good food find and highly recommend 哥打泥鳅王's claypot catfish and yellow wine chicken.


Restaurant name: 哥打泥鳅王 (no English name - literal translation "Kota Catfish King")
Address: 24, Jalan Mutiara Emas 5/20, Taman Mount Austin, Johor Bahru, Johor
Map: http://g.co/maps/3grmu
GPS: 1.551393,103.769055
Hours: 10:30am to 8:00pm (Mon to Fri); 10:30am to 3:30pm (Sat); Closed on Sunday
Non Halal

Date visited: 18 May 2012

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