Cendol House in Kampung Malayu, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

I first came to Cendol House in Kampung Malayu with my foodie friend Joe who knows a lot about Johor food. Joe who used to live in nearby Taman Suria, wanted to show me Cendol House's cendol and nasi ambang. Cendol House left a favourable impression and I had been back a few more times.
At lunchtime, Cendol House is usually packed with office workers and local residents.



The dining area in Cendol House felt rustic, breezy and cool as it is shielded from the hot afternoon sun by being slightly below street level and under an attap roof. Cendol House's owner Encik Mafiz also kept his eatery, which is attached to his own house (at the back), very clean and cosy.

We've tried Cendol House's cendol, nasi ambang and mee siam, and liked them all.

We can taste the delightful difference of Cendol House's cendol with that first smooth (coconut) milky scoop. It had just the right balance of sweetness and savouriness.

Everything in Cendol House's cendol was made from fresh ingredients from the pandan "worms" to the sweet corn and read beans. No wonder Cendol House's cendol tasted different from average stalls that often use work saving canned sweetened corn and beans.

When we unwrapped Cendol House's nasi ambang from its brown paper cone, the colours and aroma were enough to make us drool.

Taste wise, the interesting combination of plain steamed rice with spicy fried noodles was a very clever innovation by whoever invented nasi ambang (in Indonesia). The steamed rice and spicy noodles brought their own textures and tastes.

Packed with a generous assortment of accompanying sides such chicken, beef, salted fish and vegetables, and we have nasi ambang, a tasty wholesome staple. If this nasi ambang was a little less greasy, it would have been just perfect for me :)

We also tried Cendol House's (dry) mee siam which was good too.

Cendol House is definitely worth a visit for the above and its wide range of local snacks including tapai and pisang goreng.



->> An excellent one stop to enjoy many delicious Malay dishes, snacks and desserts. I like the street side yet homely ambiance here. The nasi ambang here is one of JB's best.

Restaurant name: Cendol House
Address: Along Jalan Rahmat near the junction of Jalan Merdeka and Jalan Berlian, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/cKPPp
GPS: 1.510579,103.753273 / 1°30'38.1"N 103°45'11.8"E
Hours: 11:00am to 7:00pm (Closed on Monday)

Halal





Dates visited: 2 Oct 2012, 19 Nov 2012


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