I am a fan of curry pork and also of pork ribs, especially that part with the cartilage. So when Mdm Chan, the lady boss of Fourstorey 四楼小吃 told me that their signature curry pork ribs is made with that part with the cartilage on, I didn't wait long to return to the stall. Actually, I was back the next day.
Old Bukit Indah stall.
Fourstorey 四楼小吃 used to be the very popular curry rice stall in Taman Bukit Indah. At the Bukit Indah stall, they used to sell the whole range of curry meat and vegetable dishes to go with their fragrant rice. Old Bukit Indah stall. Recently, the stall moved to the 4 storey flats at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah. The lady boss told me that they decided to move because their previous stall was a mobile road side stall. Though business was good, whenever it rains, it would wash out the day's business. So, they decided to move indoors into this stall in a kopitiam. It's been nearly four months since they started business here and Fourstorey is gradually getting their old clientele back and building their new customer support. The two pieces of chunky pork ribs came smothered by a layer of smooth, almost creamy curry. The "cream" came from santan and potatoes, so the curry had a pleasant natural sweetness blended with both hot and fragrant spices. The curry was a blend of sweet, mild spiciness, savouriness from the pork and aromas from the ground spices such as star anise. The spiciness of the curry was just right - it did not overpower but instead complement the subtle, natural flavour of the pork. Ah.. that tender and delicious curry pork rib. That piece of cartilage between the flesh gave the tender, perfumed meat an interesting crunchiness. I plopped a couple of dollops of the curry onto the rice. The rice was cooked with pandan leaves, lemon grass and fried shallot oil. The rice had a nice fragrance and subtle oiliness that made it an additive pleasure.
The curry pork rib rice is served with this tangy, sweet and savoury archar (crunchy vegetable pickles). I found that the archar went very well together with the fragrant rice at Fourstorey 四楼小吃 .
This curry pork ribs is definitely a Must Try (curry pork ribs is available only during the weekends).
Restaurant name: Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia 四楼小吃 Address: No 0118, Blok 20, Jalan Pendekar 1, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Johor Bahru Map: http://goo.gl/maps/SDfka GPS: 1.513217,103.651789 Hours: 9:00am to 2:00pm (Mon & Tues off) Non Halal
Date visited: 10 Apr 2013, 12 Apr 2013
I am a fan of curry pork and also of pork ribs, especially that part with the cartilage. So when Mdm Chan, the lady boss of Fourstorey 四楼小吃 told me that their signature curry pork ribs is made with that part with the cartilage on, I didn't wait long to return to the stall. Actually, I was back the next day.
Old Bukit Indah stall.
Fourstorey 四楼小吃 used to be the very popular curry rice stall in Taman Bukit Indah. At the Bukit Indah stall, they used to sell the whole range of curry meat and vegetable dishes to go with their fragrant rice. Old Bukit Indah stall. Recently, the stall moved to the 4 storey flats at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah. The lady boss told me that they decided to move because their previous stall was a mobile road side stall. Though business was good, whenever it rains, it would wash out the day's business. So, they decided to move indoors into this stall in a kopitiam. It's been nearly four months since they started business here and Fourstorey is gradually getting their old clientele back and building their new customer support. The two pieces of chunky pork ribs came smothered by a layer of smooth, almost creamy curry. The "cream" came from santan and potatoes, so the curry had a pleasant natural sweetness blended with both hot and fragrant spices. The curry was a blend of sweet, mild spiciness, savouriness from the pork and aromas from the ground spices such as star anise. The spiciness of the curry was just right - it did not overpower but instead complement the subtle, natural flavour of the pork. Ah.. that tender and delicious curry pork rib. That piece of cartilage between the flesh gave the tender, perfumed meat an interesting crunchiness. I plopped a couple of dollops of the curry onto the rice. The rice was cooked with pandan leaves, lemon grass and fried shallot oil. The rice had a nice fragrance and subtle oiliness that made it an additive pleasure.
The curry pork rib rice is served with this tangy, sweet and savoury archar (crunchy vegetable pickles). I found that the archar went very well together with the fragrant rice at Fourstorey 四楼小吃 .
This curry pork ribs is definitely a Must Try (curry pork ribs is available only during the weekends).
Restaurant name: Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia 四楼小吃 Address: No 0118, Blok 20, Jalan Pendekar 1, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Johor Bahru Map: http://goo.gl/maps/SDfka GPS: 1.513217,103.651789 Hours: 9:00am to 2:00pm (Mon & Tues off) Non Halal
Kway teow kia stalls are in every corner of Johor Bahru. Most are the mildly herbal Teochew style and there are a few stalls selling the more robustly flavoured Hokkien style. This was the first time I tried what the stall owner Mr. Chan called the Cantonese style.
Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia 四楼小吃 is family run, by Mr. Chan, his wife, and Mun, the son. The Chans previously ran the famous curry pork ribs and chicken/pork chop stall in Taman Bukit Indah before reopening here in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah about two months ago. The Chans still sell their famous chicken/pork chops here but the popular curry pork ribs are available only on weekends.
The very friendly Mr. Chan.
Mun slices the kway teow kia and fries Fourstorey's famous chicken chop.
We had a couple of mixed plates of kway teow kia with a bit of everything from braised pork, innards, skin, to chicken feet.
The pig skin, like everything at Fourstorey was very well trimmed and cleaned. There was neither excess fat nor unwanted odours, just the lovely savoury flavour of bouncy braised pork skin.
Lovely slice of braised pork with skin, fat and meat in one tender, savoury piece.
This tender braised pork tongue was crunchy and nicely, lightly flavoured. This is one of the best pork tongues I have tried.
The braised chicken were tender, delicious and smooth as they were not fried before braising.
The braised eggs and braised fried tofu. The tofu has a nice crisp outer layer while the inside was soft and smooth.
I noticed that the different innards here have slightly different tastes - a subtle difference in flavour and not only in texture. Usually the KTK parts taste identical in average KTK stalls. I asked the lady boss about this and she told me that she braised the different parts separately in different pots. This retained the unique flavour of each part, which would be lost in those stalls that throw everything together and braise it all in one big pot. Attention to details like this set Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia apart from the average KTK stall.
The cabbage stir fried with chopped shallots and dried shrimps was crunchy, fragrant and savoury.
I strongly recommend this fried sayur manis which is seldom seen in kway teow kia stalls. Indeed, I have not seen this anywhere else. The fresh sweet sayur manis blends well with the savoury sauce with hints of spicy hot from the chilis.
The kway teow kia in the savoury, subtly herbal brew.
Unlike the Teochew style, in the Cantonese style, the kway teow is not served with the same braising sauce used in cooking the innards.
Instead, it is served in a tasty broth made specially for the kway teow. The broth is made with stock bones and flavoured with pork lard crackles and fried shallot crackles.
The perky, stinging spicy and fragrant chili sauce for the kway teow kia.
Besides the kway teow kia we also had Fourstorey's famous fried chicken chop. The crispy batter encased the tender juicy chicken meat inside its crackly crust.
The chicken chop is served with not one, not two but three(!) types of sauces (as they say in those afternoon tacky Hollywood Sellavision commercials).
This is the tangy, sweet and spicy hot chili sauce.
The savoury sweet sauce is made with honey and apple jam.
The creamy mayonnaise dip.
The chicken chop is a hot seller for take away customers.
Fourstorey kway teow kia is at the right hand corner of this four storey flat at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah.
Fourstorey stall and its surroundings might look humble but the quality of their kway teow kia and fried chicken chop which I tried today are among the best in Johor Bahru.
If you want to impress your friends that you know the unlikely nooks and crannies where the good food of Johor are, Fourstorey should be on your food trail.
Restaurant name: Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia 四楼小吃 Address: No 0118, Blok 20, Jalan Pendekar 1, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Johor Bahru Map: http://goo.gl/maps/SDfka GPS: 1.513217,103.651789 Hours: 9:00am to 2:00pm (Mon & Tues off) Non Halal
Date visited: 10 Apr 2013
Kway teow kia stalls are in every corner of Johor Bahru. Most are the mildly herbal Teochew style and there are a few stalls selling the more robustly flavoured Hokkien style. This was the first time I tried what the stall owner Mr. Chan called the Cantonese style.
Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia 四楼小吃 is family run, by Mr. Chan, his wife, and Mun, the son. The Chans previously ran the famous curry pork ribs and chicken/pork chop stall in Taman Bukit Indah before reopening here in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah about two months ago. The Chans still sell their famous chicken/pork chops here but the popular curry pork ribs are available only on weekends.
The very friendly Mr. Chan.
Mun slices the kway teow kia and fries Fourstorey's famous chicken chop.
We had a couple of mixed plates of kway teow kia with a bit of everything from braised pork, innards, skin, to chicken feet.
The pig skin, like everything at Fourstorey was very well trimmed and cleaned. There was neither excess fat nor unwanted odours, just the lovely savoury flavour of bouncy braised pork skin.
Lovely slice of braised pork with skin, fat and meat in one tender, savoury piece.
This tender braised pork tongue was crunchy and nicely, lightly flavoured. This is one of the best pork tongues I have tried.
The braised chicken were tender, delicious and smooth as they were not fried before braising.
The braised eggs and braised fried tofu. The tofu has a nice crisp outer layer while the inside was soft and smooth.
I noticed that the different innards here have slightly different tastes - a subtle difference in flavour and not only in texture. Usually the KTK parts taste identical in average KTK stalls. I asked the lady boss about this and she told me that she braised the different parts separately in different pots. This retained the unique flavour of each part, which would be lost in those stalls that throw everything together and braise it all in one big pot. Attention to details like this set Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia apart from the average KTK stall.
The cabbage stir fried with chopped shallots and dried shrimps was crunchy, fragrant and savoury.
I strongly recommend this fried sayur manis which is seldom seen in kway teow kia stalls. Indeed, I have not seen this anywhere else. The fresh sweet sayur manis blends well with the savoury sauce with hints of spicy hot from the chilis.
The kway teow kia in the savoury, subtly herbal brew.
Unlike the Teochew style, in the Cantonese style, the kway teow is not served with the same braising sauce used in cooking the innards.
Instead, it is served in a tasty broth made specially for the kway teow. The broth is made with stock bones and flavoured with pork lard crackles and fried shallot crackles.
The perky, stinging spicy and fragrant chili sauce for the kway teow kia.
Besides the kway teow kia we also had Fourstorey's famous fried chicken chop. The crispy batter encased the tender juicy chicken meat inside its crackly crust.
The chicken chop is served with not one, not two but three(!) types of sauces (as they say in those afternoon tacky Hollywood Sellavision commercials).
This is the tangy, sweet and spicy hot chili sauce.
The savoury sweet sauce is made with honey and apple jam.
The creamy mayonnaise dip.
The chicken chop is a hot seller for take away customers.
Fourstorey kway teow kia is at the right hand corner of this four storey flat at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah.
Fourstorey stall and its surroundings might look humble but the quality of their kway teow kia and fried chicken chop which I tried today are among the best in Johor Bahru.
If you want to impress your friends that you know the unlikely nooks and crannies where the good food of Johor are, Fourstorey should be on your food trail.
Restaurant name: Fourstorey Kway Teow Kia 四楼小吃 Address: No 0118, Blok 20, Jalan Pendekar 1, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Johor Bahru Map: http://goo.gl/maps/SDfka GPS: 1.513217,103.651789 Hours: 9:00am to 2:00pm (Mon & Tues off) Non Halal
