Tan Kee Cathay Laska (inside Shang Ji Coffee Shop along Jalan Lumba Kuda) near JB CIQ, Johor Bahru 陈记国泰辣沙

✍️ 5 May 2024. Cathay Laksa at Shang Li coffee shop at Jalan Lumba Kuda has been one of my favourites since I began Johor Kaki blog back in 2011.

I still drop by regularly with friends and we are always happy to meet. The Tan couple is always so cheerful and friendly. Sixty years in the business, the Tan couple is still going strong - has a good loyal following despite their out of the way location, and their food is as good as ever. 

They have the usual yellow noodle and rice vermicelli (bee hoon) but this is Johor Bahru, so they also have kway teow (rice noodle). 

Mdm Tan had the noodles done to just the right soft tender texture. 

I like their curry. Full rich body of coconut milk with underlying umami and sweetness from dried anchovy and soy bean stock base. The spices were many but well balanced without any sharp edges. 

Always appreciated the thick soft inside and soft leathery outside fried tofu cubes. The juicy nearly custard-like tofu inside has the subtle flavour of soy bean. 

They also have fried tofu skin though I didn't take a picture of it.

Tan Kee's laksa comes with fried fishballs which the Tan couple handmade and fried themselves. Tender chewy and a bit soft leathery on the outside. Mainly mild savoury salty flavour.

Plump, succulent, spongy, fresh cockles that give off a umami briny flavour. The Tan couple still shell the live cockles themselves instead of just getting them shelled and dead in sloshy watery bags. 

No laksa leaves. Considered a definitive ingredient for laksa in Singapore, laksa in Johor generally do not have laksa leaves. Quite interesting when you consider that daun kasum is much easier to obtain in Johor than in Singapore 🤔

Comes with a nice savoury spicy sauce but I didn't need to use it.

One of my favourite laksa places and the best laksa in Johor within walking distance from the CIQ. 

Stall name: 陈记国泰辣沙Tan Kee Cathay Laksa

Address: 149, Jalan Lumba Kuda, Bukit Chagar, 80300 Johor

Tel: +6017 790 6910

Hours: 8am - 2pm (Mon & Tues off)

Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/7tkyWjN7rjgGTBEv9

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Written by Tony Boey on 5 May 2024

✍ 12 Jan 2012. This unassuming, unpretentious looking laksa stall inside Shang Ji Coffee Shop is the 50 year old legend, Tan Kee Cathay Laksa 国泰. Cathay Laksa is named after the popular cinema which used to be here at Jalan Lumba Kuda before it was demolished to make way for the CIQ (immigration and customs) building.

The cinema is long gone but Cathay Laksa is still going strong, with its growing number of loyal fans from both sides of the Causeway.

At first glance, the laksa which costs RM5 (in 2012) looks ordinary, but taste wise it ranks with the best in JB.

The curry is nicely fragrant with just the right dose of spices and coconut milk - not over weight with lemak (coconut milk) nor chokingly spicy. The yellow noodles, bee hoon, kway teow or bean sprouts were cooked just right to soak in the flavour of the curry.

The homemade fried fish balls made from fresh ikan parang, are springy and so flavourful. The Tans make the fried fish balls themselves everyday.

The cockles which I asked to be well cooked were fresh and clean. The Tans buy live cockles and shell them themselves everyday, so we are assured that they are fresh.

 

Popular bean curd sheets, the favourite of many people.

But, to me, the thing that really sets Cathay 国泰 Laksa apart from others is the fried tofu (bean curd). The tofu was so fresh I could taste and smell the fragrance of the soy beans – something that I did not have much opportunity to experience with tofu, in these days of mass factory production. The texture of this tofu was smooth, yet it was a little gently grainy as it was pitted with tiny "craters". This tofu had many holes in its core just like there were holes in fermented cottage cheese.

Look at this picture. The curry penetrated into the holes throughout the tofu. The tofu soaked up the curry like the way a sponge soaked up water. When I bite into the soft and smooth tofu, the curry and tofu juices oozed out just like water being squeezed out of a sponge. The blend of flavourful fresh juicy tofu and curry delighted the taste buds.

In other lasksa stalls, tau pok (deep fried tofu) is used to soak up the curry. Compared to tofu, tau pok is dry like gauze so its texture and the resulting taste sensation is far different. 

They don't put duan kasum (laksa leaves) in the curry laksa here.

I will be back for the fresh tofu and curry at Tan Kee Cathay 国泰 Laksa :-D

👉 Long time favourite of JB people by a lovely couple.

Tan Kee Cathay Laksa is part of the story of Johor curry laksa.

Restaurant name: Tan Kee Cathay Laksa 陈记国泰辣沙

Address: 149, Jalan Lumba Kuda, 80300 Johor Bahru (inside Restoran Shang Ji)

GPS: 1.461162, 103.767403

Tel: +60177906910

Hours: 8:00am to 3:00pm (Closed on Mon & Weds)

No pork, no lard, no Halal cert

Dates visited: 12 Jan 2012, 12 Sep 2012, 15 Apr 2013, 4 Sep 2013

Written by Tony Boey | Updated on 29 Apr 2023