Johor Food Trail by FoodieFC - A Guest Post

Whenever I look for Singapore food, FoodieFC is one of the blogs I refer to. As FoodieFC occasionally visits Johor Bahru for food, I invited him to share his JB favourites with us, which he graciously accepted. Here is FoodieFC's guest post in Johor Kaki. Thank you, FoodieFC for sharing. Tony.

When I received Tony’s invitation to write a guest post on Johor Kaki blog, I agreed immediately! As a Singaporean, I am one of the many who would love to travel across the Causeway for food. As such opportunities do not come often, I always plan in advance what I want to eat in Johor Bahru (JB). Each time, I will make full use of the trip by eating 3 meals; Lunch, Tea and Dinner.

Through this post, I would share the "must order" dishes at two of my favourite eating places in JB. Both eateries are located less than 15 minutes drive away from the Causeway.



Teck Sing Restaurant 德星茶餐室 is located at Taman Sentosa along Jalan Sutera Satu, behind Plaza Sentosa shopping mall. The restaurant serves Chinese cuisine and is well-known for their Paper Wrapped Chicken.



Teck Sing's signature Paper Wrapped Chicken (RM18) consists of kampong chicken baked for several hours with herbs. The whiff of herbal aroma as the paper was being tore apart enticed us and heightened our eagerness to dig into it. The chicken was cooked till the meat was incredibly flavourful, succulent and tender.



The Drunken Prawn in Claypot (RM20) served in herbal broth is another must try at Teck Sing.



The drunken prawns were fresh and big. It was well worth the cholesterol, indulging in its delectable meat. The herbal broth deserves a mention too as it was packed with herbal flavor. Yummy!



During our visit, the Soup of the Day was Peanuts with Chicken Feet Soup (RM5). The execution of this soup was perfect. The peanuts were soft and its flavours were well extracted into the soup. The chicken feet were soft and tender too. We did not regret ordering this as the soup was robust and nourishing. Full of collagen!



Another of my favourite eatery is San Low Seafood Restaurant 三楼海鲜园. Their San Low Fried Bee Hoon and Chilli Crabs are top notch. You would need to take a cab or drive over as San Low restaurant is located in a private residential estate in Taman Pelangi.


Look at that charred and caramelised outside!

The signature San Low Fried Bee Hoon (RM9) which looked ordinary, tasted extraordinary. The unique frying technique (i.e. press fry the bee hoon under high heat just before serving) resulted in a crispy exterior and moist interior. Although it was fried, it was not oily. Simple ingredients with excellent technique resulted in such a delicious bee hoon.
 


The two Chilli Crabs (1kg) cost RM98. The crabs though not big, were meaty and fresh. The meat easily separated from the shells and the chilli gravy was surprisingly good with the right balance of thickness, sweetness and spiciness. I personally thought that this was one of the best chilli crab gravy that I've had. We also ordered the Man Tou (buns) to polish off the gravy.

It was great savouring all these great food from JB! Can’t wait to explore more food in JB!

Restaurant name: Restaurant Teck Sing 德星
Address: 3 & 5, Jalan Sutera Satu, Taman Sentosa, Johor Bahru
Map: http://g.co/maps/hhhkw
GPS: 1.490356,103.767789
Hours: 11:00am to 10:00pm daily
Non Halal

Restaurant name: San Low Seafood 三楼海鲜
Address: Jalan Biru, Taman Pelangi, 80400 Johor Bahru
Map: http://g.co/maps/tzfjp
GPS: 1.472252,103.774795
Hours: Daily 4:30pm to 1:00am
Non Halal

Whenever I look for Singapore food, FoodieFC is one of the blogs I refer to. As FoodieFC occasionally visits Johor Bahru for food, I invited him to share his JB favourites with us, which he graciously accepted. Here is FoodieFC's guest post in Johor Kaki. Thank you, FoodieFC for sharing. Tony.

When I received Tony’s invitation to write a guest post on Johor Kaki blog, I agreed immediately! As a Singaporean, I am one of the many who would love to travel across the Causeway for food. As such opportunities do not come often, I always plan in advance what I want to eat in Johor Bahru (JB). Each time, I will make full use of the trip by eating 3 meals; Lunch, Tea and Dinner.

Through this post, I would share the "must order" dishes at two of my favourite eating places in JB. Both eateries are located less than 15 minutes drive away from the Causeway.



Teck Sing Restaurant 德星茶餐室 is located at Taman Sentosa along Jalan Sutera Satu, behind Plaza Sentosa shopping mall. The restaurant serves Chinese cuisine and is well-known for their Paper Wrapped Chicken.



Teck Sing's signature Paper Wrapped Chicken (RM18) consists of kampong chicken baked for several hours with herbs. The whiff of herbal aroma as the paper was being tore apart enticed us and heightened our eagerness to dig into it. The chicken was cooked till the meat was incredibly flavourful, succulent and tender.



The Drunken Prawn in Claypot (RM20) served in herbal broth is another must try at Teck Sing.



The drunken prawns were fresh and big. It was well worth the cholesterol, indulging in its delectable meat. The herbal broth deserves a mention too as it was packed with herbal flavor. Yummy!



During our visit, the Soup of the Day was Peanuts with Chicken Feet Soup (RM5). The execution of this soup was perfect. The peanuts were soft and its flavours were well extracted into the soup. The chicken feet were soft and tender too. We did not regret ordering this as the soup was robust and nourishing. Full of collagen!



Another of my favourite eatery is San Low Seafood Restaurant 三楼海鲜园. Their San Low Fried Bee Hoon and Chilli Crabs are top notch. You would need to take a cab or drive over as San Low restaurant is located in a private residential estate in Taman Pelangi.


Look at that charred and caramelised outside!

The signature San Low Fried Bee Hoon (RM9) which looked ordinary, tasted extraordinary. The unique frying technique (i.e. press fry the bee hoon under high heat just before serving) resulted in a crispy exterior and moist interior. Although it was fried, it was not oily. Simple ingredients with excellent technique resulted in such a delicious bee hoon.
 


The two Chilli Crabs (1kg) cost RM98. The crabs though not big, were meaty and fresh. The meat easily separated from the shells and the chilli gravy was surprisingly good with the right balance of thickness, sweetness and spiciness. I personally thought that this was one of the best chilli crab gravy that I've had. We also ordered the Man Tou (buns) to polish off the gravy.

It was great savouring all these great food from JB! Can’t wait to explore more food in JB!

Restaurant name: Restaurant Teck Sing 德星
Address: 3 & 5, Jalan Sutera Satu, Taman Sentosa, Johor Bahru
Map: http://g.co/maps/hhhkw
GPS: 1.490356,103.767789
Hours: 11:00am to 10:00pm daily
Non Halal

Restaurant name: San Low Seafood 三楼海鲜
Address: Jalan Biru, Taman Pelangi, 80400 Johor Bahru
Map: http://g.co/maps/tzfjp
GPS: 1.472252,103.774795
Hours: Daily 4:30pm to 1:00am
Non Halal

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Goh Zha Lang Restoran Taiwan 古早人台湾粥餐馆 in Taman Sentosa, Johor Bahru (Guest Post)

I have been following Samantha's Bonding Tool blog because I like her sincere, understated style of writing. She is also very funny and takes beautiful photos. As I feel that Johor Kaki readers will also enjoy Samantha's delicious food reviews, I invited her to be my guest blogger. I am honoured that she graciously accepted my invitation and I feel very privileged to have her post on Johor Kaki. Thank you, Samantha. Tony



Hello world! My name is Samantha Han and my friends call me Sam  Life is a box of chocolates, you never now what you are going to get… When Tony invited me to do a guest post on JohorKaki, I was like “Yes! Yes! Yes… I so wanna do this!” THANK YOU, Tony! I could not be more honoured and motivated (started digging up all my photos on JB food). I hope you will enjoy them as much as I have, blogging for you ~ Sam Han.


From Singapore into Johor, Malaysia

Meng and I wanted a guide in Johor Bahru mainly to know where to eat. Pang offered to give us a tour that night as he goes into JB weekly and knew places that might tickle our tastebuds. As he was scheduled for medical check-up the next morning, Pang said he would not be eating but I should have known his intentions differed. He suggested eating porridge, something easy for us (excluding him) to partake. Meng and I rolled our eyes


The street leading to Goh Zha Lang

As we were approaching the restaurant, we saw a line up of tables on the street, all filled with enthusiastic diners. When I saw that sign posting “lala”, I wanted to open the car door and jump into the street. My tongue was wet with the imaginary sambal or kum hiong lala but I digressed. Back to bubur!


Goh Zha Lang Restoran Taiwan 古早人台湾粥餐馆

This place looked familiar… Ah yes, I’ve been here before, that was at least 5 years ago! I’m glad we came. Time to review the taste and quality of this place that reeked nostalgia.


The restaurant's decor

The first thing that triggered my memory lane were the sampans hanging on the wall. The decor was the same. Nothing much has changed, no major renovation taken place since I last visited which meant bill should be reasonable since owner would not be recovering remodelling costs.


Making Chinese tea

We ordered Chinese tea. Although the tea leaves were not the finest grade, they did have nice aroma and good overtones without being complex.


Braised Peanuts

Braised peanuts were served as tidbits while our meal was being prepared. The peanuts were tender and infused with the fragrance of star anise and a hint of 5 spice.


Sweet Potato Porridge – bottomless refill

For MYR1.30 per person, you can keep refilling your bowl of plain or sweet potato porridge. Oliver Twist would have loved it here! More please, Pang who said he wouldn’t eat had 2 bowls that night. Hmmm… I wonder how many bowls he would consume had he brought his stomach!


Fried Beansprouts with Salted Fish

The beansprouts was done very nicely. The quick stir-fried method successfully retained the crunch of this humble dish yet adequately removed the offensive raw smell of the beans. The salted fish was crispy and not overly salty. A good choice we have made ordering this.

Prawn Omelet

 

Prawn Omelet

The prawn omelet was fluffy and the prawns succulent and juicy. The sweetness from the prawns assured me that they were fresh. Even though I could not taste the sea, I was assured of fast turnover of ingredients. Business is definitely brisk here.

Hotplate Tofu

The hotplate tofu offered silky smooth egg beancurd, coarsely diced green peppers and minced meat. The colour was a little too dark, too much dark soy for my liking. Taste wise there’s nothing to shout about nor anything to loathe too. It was quite ordinary.


Sliced Fish with Ginger and Spring Onions

Stir-fried fish slices with ginger and scallions was good. The cut was not overly thick since they were stir-fried and needed to infuse the seasonings as fast as possible. I like the smooth texture of the fish used. The fillets did properly rid of bones so this makes a good dish for children and older folks.

Steamed Minced Pork with Salted Egg Yolk.

Pork is my all time favourite so I’m always biased when it comes to swine so long as there’s no porky smell, I love any cooking style with pork. The salted egg yolk is a bonus to my meal so I shan’t complain too much about the overly minced pork patty which I would prefer coarse ground to provide more texture and mouthfeel. I could not decide if this was slightly over steamed. In any case, it is good to overcook pork for mysophobia reasons.

Szechuan Vegetable Soup

The Szechuan vegetable soup was a refreshing change from the rich Cantonese soups I’ve had recently. The light clear broth with minimal tang from the tomato wedges stimulated our appetite. That’s how Pang succumbed to his second bowl of porridge. I found the vegetables a little too well washed so that they’d lost some spiciness and saltiness. That said, health conscious people on low sodium diet may like it.

If you do not like porridge, the dishes go well with rice, too. This restaurant provides meals suitable for families with young children and elderly folks.

Meng and I agreed that this is a restaurant we would visit again should we be in JB and has a pang (pun intended) for Taiwanese porridge.

Free dessert of Green Bean Soup that came with the meal.

The bill totalled MYR64.35.

Restaurant name: Goh Zha Lang Restoran Taiwan 古早人台湾粥餐馆
Address: 125 & 125A, Jalan Sutera, Taman Sentosa, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/e1U3P
GPS: 1.493456,103.771893 (rough)
Hours: 12:00 noon to 12:00 midnight (needs verification)
Non Halal

Date visited: 28 Apr 2013

I have been following Samantha's Bonding Tool blog because I like her sincere, understated style of writing. She is also very funny and takes beautiful photos. As I feel that Johor Kaki readers will also enjoy Samantha's delicious food reviews, I invited her to be my guest blogger. I am honoured that she graciously accepted my invitation and I feel very privileged to have her post on Johor Kaki. Thank you, Samantha. Tony



Hello world! My name is Samantha Han and my friends call me Sam  Life is a box of chocolates, you never now what you are going to get… When Tony invited me to do a guest post on JohorKaki, I was like “Yes! Yes! Yes… I so wanna do this!” THANK YOU, Tony! I could not be more honoured and motivated (started digging up all my photos on JB food). I hope you will enjoy them as much as I have, blogging for you ~ Sam Han.


From Singapore into Johor, Malaysia

Meng and I wanted a guide in Johor Bahru mainly to know where to eat. Pang offered to give us a tour that night as he goes into JB weekly and knew places that might tickle our tastebuds. As he was scheduled for medical check-up the next morning, Pang said he would not be eating but I should have known his intentions differed. He suggested eating porridge, something easy for us (excluding him) to partake. Meng and I rolled our eyes


The street leading to Goh Zha Lang

As we were approaching the restaurant, we saw a line up of tables on the street, all filled with enthusiastic diners. When I saw that sign posting “lala”, I wanted to open the car door and jump into the street. My tongue was wet with the imaginary sambal or kum hiong lala but I digressed. Back to bubur!


Goh Zha Lang Restoran Taiwan 古早人台湾粥餐馆

This place looked familiar… Ah yes, I’ve been here before, that was at least 5 years ago! I’m glad we came. Time to review the taste and quality of this place that reeked nostalgia.


The restaurant's decor

The first thing that triggered my memory lane were the sampans hanging on the wall. The decor was the same. Nothing much has changed, no major renovation taken place since I last visited which meant bill should be reasonable since owner would not be recovering remodelling costs.


Making Chinese tea

We ordered Chinese tea. Although the tea leaves were not the finest grade, they did have nice aroma and good overtones without being complex.


Braised Peanuts

Braised peanuts were served as tidbits while our meal was being prepared. The peanuts were tender and infused with the fragrance of star anise and a hint of 5 spice.


Sweet Potato Porridge – bottomless refill

For MYR1.30 per person, you can keep refilling your bowl of plain or sweet potato porridge. Oliver Twist would have loved it here! More please, Pang who said he wouldn’t eat had 2 bowls that night. Hmmm… I wonder how many bowls he would consume had he brought his stomach!


Fried Beansprouts with Salted Fish

The beansprouts was done very nicely. The quick stir-fried method successfully retained the crunch of this humble dish yet adequately removed the offensive raw smell of the beans. The salted fish was crispy and not overly salty. A good choice we have made ordering this.

Prawn Omelet

 

Prawn Omelet

The prawn omelet was fluffy and the prawns succulent and juicy. The sweetness from the prawns assured me that they were fresh. Even though I could not taste the sea, I was assured of fast turnover of ingredients. Business is definitely brisk here.

Hotplate Tofu

The hotplate tofu offered silky smooth egg beancurd, coarsely diced green peppers and minced meat. The colour was a little too dark, too much dark soy for my liking. Taste wise there’s nothing to shout about nor anything to loathe too. It was quite ordinary.


Sliced Fish with Ginger and Spring Onions

Stir-fried fish slices with ginger and scallions was good. The cut was not overly thick since they were stir-fried and needed to infuse the seasonings as fast as possible. I like the smooth texture of the fish used. The fillets did properly rid of bones so this makes a good dish for children and older folks.

Steamed Minced Pork with Salted Egg Yolk.

Pork is my all time favourite so I’m always biased when it comes to swine so long as there’s no porky smell, I love any cooking style with pork. The salted egg yolk is a bonus to my meal so I shan’t complain too much about the overly minced pork patty which I would prefer coarse ground to provide more texture and mouthfeel. I could not decide if this was slightly over steamed. In any case, it is good to overcook pork for mysophobia reasons.

Szechuan Vegetable Soup

The Szechuan vegetable soup was a refreshing change from the rich Cantonese soups I’ve had recently. The light clear broth with minimal tang from the tomato wedges stimulated our appetite. That’s how Pang succumbed to his second bowl of porridge. I found the vegetables a little too well washed so that they’d lost some spiciness and saltiness. That said, health conscious people on low sodium diet may like it.

If you do not like porridge, the dishes go well with rice, too. This restaurant provides meals suitable for families with young children and elderly folks.

Meng and I agreed that this is a restaurant we would visit again should we be in JB and has a pang (pun intended) for Taiwanese porridge.

Free dessert of Green Bean Soup that came with the meal.

The bill totalled MYR64.35.

Restaurant name: Goh Zha Lang Restoran Taiwan 古早人台湾粥餐馆
Address: 125 & 125A, Jalan Sutera, Taman Sentosa, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/e1U3P
GPS: 1.493456,103.771893 (rough)
Hours: 12:00 noon to 12:00 midnight (needs verification)
Non Halal

Date visited: 28 Apr 2013

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

No Name Laksa and Yong Tau Foo Stall along Jalan Stulang Darat (near Hotel Zon), Johor Bahru, Malaysia (Guest Post)

I thoroughly enjoyed this informative and hilarious guest post on Johor Kaki blog by my friend and makan kaki, Kumes. I am sure you will too. My thanks to Kumes for being Johor Kaki's first guest blogger!

Johore Bahru - Nov 21^st, 2012: It was a rainy Wednesday night, and I had promised my family a warming dinner of delicious Yong Tau Foo from my favourite stall in Pelangi.

“What did I do to anger the Yong Tau Foo gods so much?......Was it my brief flirtation with wantan soup?” I wearily wondered to myself. “But that happened when I was a much younger and more foolish boy,” subconsciously gripping the steering wheel harder in protest. “….it was two weeks ago….I repent, I swear!” slumping back into the drivers’ seat. After 45 minutes of driving around, not only was my favourite stall closed, but so were two others that came highly recommended by my friend, Joe.

 

 

Yong Tau Foo-less, I headed home in disappointment. Speeding down the road that led to my house, a glimmer of hope appeared. I noticed a shack out the left corner of my windscreen off Jalan Stulang Darat. I vaguely recalled the sagely Johor Kaki mentioning it contained good eats. Desperate and out of options, I pulled over to investigate.

Bingo! The offerings laid out in colourful baskets looked decidedly average, but hey, average Yong Tau Foo is definitely better than no Yong Tau Foo when you’re craving it on a cold rainy night.

Based on looks alone - the aubergine was very thinly stuffed, the bitter gourd looked generic, and the tofu looked bland…. I was truly expecting a forgettable meal. I truly expected to think “Well, it’s not horrible; maybe if everywhere else is closed, or my mum steals the car I stole from her, I might buy this again since it’s so close to the house.”

Boy was I Wrong. Wrong with a capital W. This then, is a culinary version of the shabbily dressed geeky girl in the corner no one notices - except at night, she just happens to turn into Catwoman.

The camera shy Madam Lua has been a Yong Tau Foo hawker for over 20 years, since her son who now mans the furiously boiling soup pot was just knee high. Before this she was located in the car park of the nearby old 3 storey flats, where her husband used to man their stall. Her personal favourites are their very own handmade fishballs, which come in both the boiled and fried varieties. Some of the other items such as the fish roe balls and Foochow fishballs are supplied by a friend of hers.

This is where all those hidden gems are tucked away - I strongly recommend the items shown in this general picture.

This is really the most deceiving piece of the lot. Biting into what appears to be a mild mannered tofu skin wrapped fried fishball reveals a jewel like filling of flavourful caviar. Biting into this is like pressing the call button for a lift, but instead of a lift, the Space Shuttle appears. Unexpected, Interesting, Surprising. Joyful even.

The flavourful roe and associated flavours that just spurt into your mouth when you take a bite is utterly delightful, almost like how a perfectly steamed onde-ondereleases its payload of gula Melaka like a sensory nuclear bomb when you bite in. The firm microbubbles of caviar pop against your tongue as you chew, the texture and flavours released are just lovely. I have a strong feeling even those who don’t usually like fish roe will love this as the flavours are well balanced. No strong fishy taste to be found here.

This delightful morsel is a minced pork dumpling with salted egg yolk wrapped in wantan skin. Delicious. The salty richness of the egg goes so well with the pork mixture that has hints of dried cuttlefish and the silky slurpy wantan skin wraps up the whole package.

This Foochow fishball was also delightful. The flavour of quality sesame oil and what I suspect is prawn or fish paste made it taste almost like a siew mai stuffed fishball. Bouncy with a succulent filling. The juice spurting out from this when you bite in is very addictive.

 

This stall is just full of surprises. Nothing is as it seems. The rich sambal looks like your average home made dried prawn sambal, but she adds ground curry spices to it. This may be an acquired taste as I personally felt normal sambal would have gone better with some of the pieces I chose. I have a faint suspicion if I were to boil a dollop of that sambal with coconut milk I’d end up with a bowl of curry laksa. It has all the elements of a curry laksa base, the lemongrass and galangal flavour, along with the dried prawns and curry spices. My mum loved it so much she mixed a whole packet of that sambal into her soup before dunking more bee hoon in. As I also discovered after trying her soup, this was a rather good way of enjoying the sambal, almost like getting two different soup bases in one meal. It tasted like the curry mee you get in some places up north, where the soup is clear, with either none or very little coconut milk, but all the flavour of curry. The umami laden soup helped give it that "full" mouthfeel, without coconut milk as a thickener.

 

Speaking of the soup, notice how Ah Huiwas proudly showing me the generous amounts of pig skin he added to the soup? I happen to know from my own soup making efforts that boiling pig skin takes a lot of time and patience, having to skim off loads of oil from the melting subcutaneous fat that is impossible to remove completely before cooking. At this point in time, some readers might have noticed food writers sometimes use the word “umami” rather a lot in their scribbles, but what is it exactly, and what does it have to do with pig skin?

Let’s start with the basics - Umami is a term coined up by some Japanese dude called Kikunae Ikeda, a Professor at Tokyo Imperial University to describe the taste when L-glutamate receptors on your tongue are activated by foods that well….contain L-glutamate and members of its happy family known as 5’ribonucleotides such as inosine monophosphate and guanosine monophosphate.

In plain English, this means our good friend MSG and foods such as seaweed, tomato, mushrooms, dried oysters, and shrimp among other natural ingredients contain chemicals similar to MSG that will have a similar effect on your taste as MSG.

 

But another thing that can give you that umami mouthfeel, albeit without triggering these specific tastebuds are skin, bones, and tendon. Boil them long enough and the complex three dimensional protein strains within called collagen that women love to see on the ingredient list of their cosmetics, unwind into a less tight form known as gelatin. Yes gelatin, the same thing you use to make gummy bears and mentos. Why does this make soup taste more umami? It’s because it tricks your tongue into thinking you’re eating fat, and back when we were cavemen who had to hunt for our food, fat was good. Now you know. Also, just in case you were wondering, boiling your girlfriend’s makeup will not result in better soup. Rather it would probably result in her unwinding into an entity known as ‘the ex-girlfriend’.

I honestly think some of these items might have come from a dim sum menu. They are just so delectable you could eat them on their own, or with a dab of Kampung Koh style chili sauce - but when matched with that umami laden soup it just takes things to a whole new level. I have never come across another Yong Tau Foo stall which made me go “Wow” at every bite. Not just because it was delicious, but because it’s so different and unexpected. Every first bite was a process of discovery. I thank the Yong Tau Foo gods for this blessing in disguise. To borrow some words from Optimus Prime; there is certainly more than meets the eye at this humble stall.

 

 

Restaurant name: No name makeshift stall in a shack

Address: Along Jalan Stulang Darat (near Hotel Zon)

Map: http://g.co/maps/km32z
GPS: 1.472092,103.777295

Hours: 6:00pm to sold out

Non Halal

 

Date visited: 21 Nov 2012

About the Guest Blogger

Kumes is an ardent foodie born a Johorian, but spent most of his teenage and young adult life as a Londoner. He is currently located in Singapore, however, the whereabouts of his mind are unknown and probably couldn’t be found on any map.

I thoroughly enjoyed this informative and hilarious guest post on Johor Kaki blog by my friend and makan kaki, Kumes. I am sure you will too. My thanks to Kumes for being Johor Kaki's first guest blogger!

Johore Bahru - Nov 21^st, 2012: It was a rainy Wednesday night, and I had promised my family a warming dinner of delicious Yong Tau Foo from my favourite stall in Pelangi.

“What did I do to anger the Yong Tau Foo gods so much?......Was it my brief flirtation with wantan soup?” I wearily wondered to myself. “But that happened when I was a much younger and more foolish boy,” subconsciously gripping the steering wheel harder in protest. “….it was two weeks ago….I repent, I swear!” slumping back into the drivers’ seat. After 45 minutes of driving around, not only was my favourite stall closed, but so were two others that came highly recommended by my friend, Joe.

 

 

Yong Tau Foo-less, I headed home in disappointment. Speeding down the road that led to my house, a glimmer of hope appeared. I noticed a shack out the left corner of my windscreen off Jalan Stulang Darat. I vaguely recalled the sagely Johor Kaki mentioning it contained good eats. Desperate and out of options, I pulled over to investigate.

Bingo! The offerings laid out in colourful baskets looked decidedly average, but hey, average Yong Tau Foo is definitely better than no Yong Tau Foo when you’re craving it on a cold rainy night.

Based on looks alone - the aubergine was very thinly stuffed, the bitter gourd looked generic, and the tofu looked bland…. I was truly expecting a forgettable meal. I truly expected to think “Well, it’s not horrible; maybe if everywhere else is closed, or my mum steals the car I stole from her, I might buy this again since it’s so close to the house.”

Boy was I Wrong. Wrong with a capital W. This then, is a culinary version of the shabbily dressed geeky girl in the corner no one notices - except at night, she just happens to turn into Catwoman.

The camera shy Madam Lua has been a Yong Tau Foo hawker for over 20 years, since her son who now mans the furiously boiling soup pot was just knee high. Before this she was located in the car park of the nearby old 3 storey flats, where her husband used to man their stall. Her personal favourites are their very own handmade fishballs, which come in both the boiled and fried varieties. Some of the other items such as the fish roe balls and Foochow fishballs are supplied by a friend of hers.

This is where all those hidden gems are tucked away - I strongly recommend the items shown in this general picture.

This is really the most deceiving piece of the lot. Biting into what appears to be a mild mannered tofu skin wrapped fried fishball reveals a jewel like filling of flavourful caviar. Biting into this is like pressing the call button for a lift, but instead of a lift, the Space Shuttle appears. Unexpected, Interesting, Surprising. Joyful even.

The flavourful roe and associated flavours that just spurt into your mouth when you take a bite is utterly delightful, almost like how a perfectly steamed onde-ondereleases its payload of gula Melaka like a sensory nuclear bomb when you bite in. The firm microbubbles of caviar pop against your tongue as you chew, the texture and flavours released are just lovely. I have a strong feeling even those who don’t usually like fish roe will love this as the flavours are well balanced. No strong fishy taste to be found here.

This delightful morsel is a minced pork dumpling with salted egg yolk wrapped in wantan skin. Delicious. The salty richness of the egg goes so well with the pork mixture that has hints of dried cuttlefish and the silky slurpy wantan skin wraps up the whole package.

This Foochow fishball was also delightful. The flavour of quality sesame oil and what I suspect is prawn or fish paste made it taste almost like a siew mai stuffed fishball. Bouncy with a succulent filling. The juice spurting out from this when you bite in is very addictive.

 

This stall is just full of surprises. Nothing is as it seems. The rich sambal looks like your average home made dried prawn sambal, but she adds ground curry spices to it. This may be an acquired taste as I personally felt normal sambal would have gone better with some of the pieces I chose. I have a faint suspicion if I were to boil a dollop of that sambal with coconut milk I’d end up with a bowl of curry laksa. It has all the elements of a curry laksa base, the lemongrass and galangal flavour, along with the dried prawns and curry spices. My mum loved it so much she mixed a whole packet of that sambal into her soup before dunking more bee hoon in. As I also discovered after trying her soup, this was a rather good way of enjoying the sambal, almost like getting two different soup bases in one meal. It tasted like the curry mee you get in some places up north, where the soup is clear, with either none or very little coconut milk, but all the flavour of curry. The umami laden soup helped give it that "full" mouthfeel, without coconut milk as a thickener.

 

Speaking of the soup, notice how Ah Huiwas proudly showing me the generous amounts of pig skin he added to the soup? I happen to know from my own soup making efforts that boiling pig skin takes a lot of time and patience, having to skim off loads of oil from the melting subcutaneous fat that is impossible to remove completely before cooking. At this point in time, some readers might have noticed food writers sometimes use the word “umami” rather a lot in their scribbles, but what is it exactly, and what does it have to do with pig skin?

Let’s start with the basics - Umami is a term coined up by some Japanese dude called Kikunae Ikeda, a Professor at Tokyo Imperial University to describe the taste when L-glutamate receptors on your tongue are activated by foods that well….contain L-glutamate and members of its happy family known as 5’ribonucleotides such as inosine monophosphate and guanosine monophosphate.

In plain English, this means our good friend MSG and foods such as seaweed, tomato, mushrooms, dried oysters, and shrimp among other natural ingredients contain chemicals similar to MSG that will have a similar effect on your taste as MSG.

 

But another thing that can give you that umami mouthfeel, albeit without triggering these specific tastebuds are skin, bones, and tendon. Boil them long enough and the complex three dimensional protein strains within called collagen that women love to see on the ingredient list of their cosmetics, unwind into a less tight form known as gelatin. Yes gelatin, the same thing you use to make gummy bears and mentos. Why does this make soup taste more umami? It’s because it tricks your tongue into thinking you’re eating fat, and back when we were cavemen who had to hunt for our food, fat was good. Now you know. Also, just in case you were wondering, boiling your girlfriend’s makeup will not result in better soup. Rather it would probably result in her unwinding into an entity known as ‘the ex-girlfriend’.

I honestly think some of these items might have come from a dim sum menu. They are just so delectable you could eat them on their own, or with a dab of Kampung Koh style chili sauce - but when matched with that umami laden soup it just takes things to a whole new level. I have never come across another Yong Tau Foo stall which made me go “Wow” at every bite. Not just because it was delicious, but because it’s so different and unexpected. Every first bite was a process of discovery. I thank the Yong Tau Foo gods for this blessing in disguise. To borrow some words from Optimus Prime; there is certainly more than meets the eye at this humble stall.

 

 

Restaurant name: No name makeshift stall in a shack

Address: Along Jalan Stulang Darat (near Hotel Zon)

Map: http://g.co/maps/km32z
GPS: 1.472092,103.777295

Hours: 6:00pm to sold out

Non Halal

 

Date visited: 21 Nov 2012

About the Guest Blogger

Kumes is an ardent foodie born a Johorian, but spent most of his teenage and young adult life as a Londoner. He is currently located in Singapore, however, the whereabouts of his mind are unknown and probably couldn’t be found on any map.

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JOHOR KAKI Guest Post on SG FOOD ON FOOT

Photo Credit

I have been following Derrick's blog SG FOOD ON FOOT for his recommendations on where are the good eats in Singapore. Besides his food reviews, Derrick gives detailed directions on how to get to these places by public transport i.e. by bus and MRT (subway).

Recently, Derrick invited me to guest post on his blog about my Top 5 favourite eating places in JB. In line with Derrick's theme of going food hunting using public transport and on foot, I wrote a post about my favourite 5 eating places which are within 10 minutes walking distance from the Malaysian Immigration checkpoint in Johor Bahru.

Here's JOHOR KAKI's guest post on SG FOOD ON FOOT for your reading pleasure.

Photo Credit

I have been following Derrick's blog SG FOOD ON FOOT for his recommendations on where are the good eats in Singapore. Besides his food reviews, Derrick gives detailed directions on how to get to these places by public transport i.e. by bus and MRT (subway).

Recently, Derrick invited me to guest post on his blog about my Top 5 favourite eating places in JB. In line with Derrick's theme of going food hunting using public transport and on foot, I wrote a post about my favourite 5 eating places which are within 10 minutes walking distance from the Malaysian Immigration checkpoint in Johor Bahru.

Here's JOHOR KAKI's guest post on SG FOOD ON FOOT for your reading pleasure.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Dine with Hello Kitty @ Sweety House Café in Muar, Johor, Malaysia (Guest Post)

White fluffy cat, small black eyes with a huge pink bow or flower…are you a Hello Kitty fan?!!

 

Even if you are not, you will be drawn into the magic of this Hello Kitty themed café in Muar!

Trust me, I went to check out this cute café and I was amazed by the interior decor of the café. Just a cute-ness warning: YOU WILL BE SURROUNDED BY PINK AND CUTE-NESS! ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK of being Hello Kitty-fied!

I walked into the café with confidence that I will not be affected by the teeny, girlish Hello Kitty themed café, but I walked out very impressed J I actually liked the kawaii ambiance of the Hello Kitty café! There is something special about the decor of the café that makes you feel very relaxed and at ease.

The people who designed this set up were obviously ardent Hello Kitty fans, and it showed.

The café is big on Hello Kitty’s famous pink bow. This signature bow is everywhere - on the café’s wall paper, main entrance door, cushions, sofa and even toilet mirrors!

There are several settings in which you can choose to dine in; there’s the usual dining table and chairs, there’s the super cute Hello Kitty bow couches, and there’s the Japanese style dining cubicles. The clever use of white curtains and chandeliers added to the coziness and feel of the café.

This café is family and fun friendly as there are baby chairs and board games available for the kids and free wifi too!

While we were dining at the café, groups of girls came in and out of the café, ranging from young teens to young women, all coming in hope of rubbing off some happiness of the famous Hello Kitty! Every customer came equipped with their cameras, you cannot help it but to snap a few happy photos while in this café! 
 

Food served at the café were also Hello Kitty-fied! The menu here is similar to other contemporary cafés serving cakes, desserts, noodles and rice - quite ordinary - but the utensils, plates and bowls were all Hello Kitty themed. Every dining table have at least one Hello Kitty toy, like a Hello Kitty figurine, a Hello Kitty telephone or a Hello Kitty plush toy. There’s definitely more than enough Hello Kitty in here that would satisfy any Hello Kitty fan J!

So bring along your cameras and enjoy this Hello Kitty wonder café! Oh, this is the only Hello Kitty themed café in the whole of Johor – Hello Kitty fans, don’t miss it when you are in Muar J

Here is a collection of what some other bloggers say about this Hello Kitty theme Café. Click on the pictures to read their lovely posts J

 

This guest post by my daughter Anita, who has been an ardent Hello Kitty fan soon after her birth :P Anita is a foodie like me - this is her blog.

 

Restaurant name: Sweety House Café

Address: 9, Jalan Perniagaan 2, Pusat Perniagaan Kenanga, Muar, Johor (near Bank of China Building)

Map: http://g.co/maps/gx27c

GPS: 2.042380,102.577146

Hours: 11:00am to 10:00pm (Sun to Thurs); 11:00am to 11:00pm (Fri and Sat) – Closed on Tues.

Non Halal

Date visited: 10 May 2012

White fluffy cat, small black eyes with a huge pink bow or flower…are you a Hello Kitty fan?!!

 

Even if you are not, you will be drawn into the magic of this Hello Kitty themed café in Muar!

Trust me, I went to check out this cute café and I was amazed by the interior decor of the café. Just a cute-ness warning: YOU WILL BE SURROUNDED BY PINK AND CUTE-NESS! ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK of being Hello Kitty-fied!

I walked into the café with confidence that I will not be affected by the teeny, girlish Hello Kitty themed café, but I walked out very impressed J I actually liked the kawaii ambiance of the Hello Kitty café! There is something special about the decor of the café that makes you feel very relaxed and at ease.

The people who designed this set up were obviously ardent Hello Kitty fans, and it showed.

The café is big on Hello Kitty’s famous pink bow. This signature bow is everywhere - on the café’s wall paper, main entrance door, cushions, sofa and even toilet mirrors!

There are several settings in which you can choose to dine in; there’s the usual dining table and chairs, there’s the super cute Hello Kitty bow couches, and there’s the Japanese style dining cubicles. The clever use of white curtains and chandeliers added to the coziness and feel of the café.

This café is family and fun friendly as there are baby chairs and board games available for the kids and free wifi too!

While we were dining at the café, groups of girls came in and out of the café, ranging from young teens to young women, all coming in hope of rubbing off some happiness of the famous Hello Kitty! Every customer came equipped with their cameras, you cannot help it but to snap a few happy photos while in this café! 
 

Food served at the café were also Hello Kitty-fied! The menu here is similar to other contemporary cafés serving cakes, desserts, noodles and rice - quite ordinary - but the utensils, plates and bowls were all Hello Kitty themed. Every dining table have at least one Hello Kitty toy, like a Hello Kitty figurine, a Hello Kitty telephone or a Hello Kitty plush toy. There’s definitely more than enough Hello Kitty in here that would satisfy any Hello Kitty fan J!

So bring along your cameras and enjoy this Hello Kitty wonder café! Oh, this is the only Hello Kitty themed café in the whole of Johor – Hello Kitty fans, don’t miss it when you are in Muar J

Here is a collection of what some other bloggers say about this Hello Kitty theme Café. Click on the pictures to read their lovely posts J

 

This guest post by my daughter Anita, who has been an ardent Hello Kitty fan soon after her birth :P Anita is a foodie like me - this is her blog.

 

Restaurant name: Sweety House Café

Address: 9, Jalan Perniagaan 2, Pusat Perniagaan Kenanga, Muar, Johor (near Bank of China Building)

Map: http://g.co/maps/gx27c

GPS: 2.042380,102.577146

Hours: 11:00am to 10:00pm (Sun to Thurs); 11:00am to 11:00pm (Fri and Sat) – Closed on Tues.

Non Halal

Date visited: 10 May 2012

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