Kluangite's Hometown Favourite Curry Mee @ Gerai Makan Botak in Kluang, Johor

Overseas Malaysians returning home, after mom and pop's cooking, would head out for their favourite hawkers to relive the taste of their comfort foods. Botak's curry mee, an over 60 year old institution in Kluang, is a magnet for locals and Kluangites returning from overseas. Fans from beyond Kluang are also growing steadily in strength.

Botak's curry mee comes overloaded with fresh tofu, fried tofu, fried fish stick, cockles and so on, but the real star is his curry made from a family secret recipe.

The next generation to grow up with Botak's curry mee

Botak's curry is made mostly with  ground spices. The tasty and mildly spicy smooth curry has a pleasant slight grainy feel from the ground spices. It is not oily. Not much coconut milk is used, unlike those found elsewhere which are heavily reliant on santan for flavour. To make this old school curry, the stall holders come to the stall at 3am to be ready to serve at 7am.


Botak's daughter's stall @ Mengkibol River Hawker Centre

 

Botak's son's stall in Kampung Paya

I like Botak's curry so much that after eating the full works RM6 bowl at his daughter's stall, I tracked down his son's shop in Kampung Paya to have a second round :-D. Botak himself opened a third branch in Setia Indah, Johor Bahru (which have closed, so he is often at his son's shop now.)

Botak's Kampung Paya shop showcases his quirky wall-to-wall collection of colourful tea pots and liquor. There is also this funny looking table with colourful, fancy cement boots :) This curry mee shop is quaint like an old curio shop, adding flavours to the experience here 😄 For me, this is enough reason to swing by Botak's, whatever one may think of his curry mee (which is really not bad, lah) 😄

I must mention the sambal chili provided with the curry mee. Made from fresh chili and fried in oil, it is spicy and adds much oomph to the curry for those who prefer their curry extra hot. This sambal chili is so good, I ate a couple of tea spoons on its own - don't try this at home :-P

To raise her family, Mr Loh Chin Seng's mother started the curry mee stall after her husband died during the Japanese Occupation of British Malaya (1942-1945). The stall quickly became popular with Kluangites. Mr Loh started working at his mother's stall since he was 12. Mr Loh's mother ordered him to get his botak hairstyle to look neat and clean at the stall. The stall became known as Botak Curry Mee and Mr Loh kept his signature bald hairstyle since then. Mr. Loh, now over 80, has retired. His son Loh Pak Choy runs the Kampung Paya shop while daughter runs the Mengkibol Hawker Centre stall. (Source: The Star)

Read more about Botak's daughter's stall 👈 click

More good food to eat in Kluang 👈 click

Restaurant name: Gerai Makan Botak JB Branch (closed)
Father's address: 46/48, Jalan Setia 3/6, Taman Setia Indah, Johor Baru
Map: http://g.co/maps/djpht
GPS: 1.573036,103.759046



Son's address: Jalan Paya 1/3, Kampung Paya, Kluang
Map: http://g.co/maps/xvazw
GPS: 2.040879,103.334977



Daughter's address: Jalan Panggung, Kampung Masjid Lama, Kluang (Mengkibol River Hawker Centre) 
Map: http://g.co/maps/a7nc7
GPS: 2.029777,103.320971

Hours: 7:00am to 5:00pm

Non Halal

Date visited: 15 Feb 2012


👌 Reminder to Self

Photo credit: Wikipedia