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Meldrum Walk in Downtown Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Meldrum Walk in Downtown Johor Bahru



Just a short 5 minutes stroll away from modern City Square Shopping Centre in the direction of Singapore, you slip into a completely different realm of street foods, colours, movement, sizzles, clanking, chopping, banter, pressing bodies, pungent spices, and aromatic cooking smoke.

This semi chaotic cacophony assaulting all your senses at once on all fronts is Meldrum Walk - a kind of paradise for foodies who dare. 


The fried kway teow stall

The clay oven at the tandoori chicken stall



Satay stall

The air here feels warmer from the heat of so many bodies and the cooking fires.

Fried carrot cake


Fried kway teow


Another fried kway teow stall. There are 3 such stalls here, each with their own following







Cooking sizzles and smells aloft. The aromas rush up through your nose straight to those primeval centres in our brain, creating that heady pleasure.



Very popular Indian curry stall






Your are eyes busy trying to take in all the colours and movements and your mind goes racing unconsciously, "What shall I eat?" This is a more fascinating spread than any hotel buffet.



The popiah (spring roll) stall


Freshly pressed sugar cane juice



BBQ stingray


Foodie Alice in gastronomic Wonderland asks, "Where should I start?" Cheshire cat says, "In this culinary haven, any stall takes you to foodie's paradise." 

Meldrum Walk by day before it awakes into a gastronomic carnival at night fall.

If you get there early enough, you get to see the interesting sights of how the hawkers set up their food carts. Like cars in a factory, each food cart has the same basic design; however, each hawker displays their stall front and food in their own special way. These carts remind me of flower buds that bloom in full glory at night fall.




Hungry customers start to trickle into the lively alleyway around and by



The tandoori chicken stall




The hawkers are busy but they still manage to keep their graciousness and sense of humour, and are very friendly. If a passer-by stops to snap a photo of the hawkers, they would often time pose for the camera and flash a cheerful smile. This makes the dining experience fun and comfortable, which I believe many diners and tourists would appreciate a lot.

Words and pictures can hardly do Meldrum Walk justice. Go and experience it for yourself. 

But be warned, this is a place for intrepid foodies only. Is this the place that separates those who "live to eat" from those who "eat to live"?

(Special thanks to fellow blogger Yvonne Lew whose blog post led me to this food paradise and inspired me to blog about it.)


Address: Meldrum Walk in downtown Johor Bahru
GPS: 1.460045,103.764673
Hours: to
Non Halal and Halal sections available

Date visited: 12 Feb 2012, 13 Feb 2012, 18 Feb 2012

19 comments:

  1. Your post looks awesome!~ I love all your picture and you manage to bring out the ambiance of meldrum walk~ glad i inspired you to go there..the place is definitely a food heaven and a must go when i bring my friends from outstation =)

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  2. You can also try this burger stall. I love this burger which is near meldrum walk. It is right opposite of City Square mcdonald. The burger seller told me that even those who work in mcd singapore would tapao from him before going home. Open around night time 7pm till midnight the last time i went. http://ez2cook.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-favourite-food-in-johor-bahrujohor.html

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  3. Thanks Yyonne. I passed by Jalan Wong Ah Fook countless times and didn't know what treasures lay just behind it until I saw your blog. Thanks for the lead ;D

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  4. OK I shall try the burger stall and also tapao back to Singapore ;D

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  5. This is what i missed most, food glorious food, any mee rebus there? I remembered that i was told that Muar has good or the best mee rebus.

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  6. Hi Lily, LOL I didn't notice any mee rebus but there is a large Halal section, so I believe there would be mee rebus available. Next time I am there, I will check out if there is one. I am also planning a makan venture to Muar in the near future. I'll look for mee rebus there as well and let you know. Mee rebus is one of my favourite comfort foods from my growing up years in old Singapore.

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  7. goodness! didn't know such place exist as I go to City Square often. Is this place in operation every night?

    TIA

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  8. Me too, until I chanced upon this post on Meldrum Walk by blogger Yvonnelew
    http://ez2cook.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-favourite-food-in-johor-bahrujohor.html

    Meldrum Walk opens everyday but many stalls close on Monday as the hawkers rest after the hectic weekend. If you are ok with crowds, weekends are the best times to visit ;D

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  9. hey great blog, got 1 qn on this place. where to park huh? we went down few nights ago dono park where leh. roadside like v dangerous

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    1. You can park at City Square basement carpark. I sometimes use public transport when coming here.

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  10. tt's what i suspected, but if go in ard 10plus dono ct sq still open anot. thanks for the great blog!

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    1. Where are you coming from? If from Singapore, try using SMRT bus 950, 160 or 170. It's really convenient and saves the hassle of parking. If going to Meldrum Walk or JB downtown, SMRT bus is a good option.

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  11. I like the Place a lot. Remind me the good old days. Went there on 26 Jan about 6pm. Unfortunately some of the food they put too much MSG? Cos Feel very very thirsty the whole night, even I drink a lot of water. Had a sleepless night. Unethical hawker, not like the good old days.
    Will go there again but will not patronize the same stall.

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  12. Is this place still there or have shifted? Thanks in advance!

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  13. As far as I remember Meldrum Walk was there since 1982, that was when I was working in Merlin Tower back in 1981 back then it was only a few stall (mamak stall) on trolley where we use to have teh tarik after work and nasi lemak , karipap , Yusof Sop Kambing Stall was there ,Malay food back then was at the present City Square after they demolished the old Bus stand and Wet market. I always remember the ais kacang and rojak at the round table after school.
    Back then the JB Town Council allocated the the parking space next to the Indian temple (only after 6pm) as the earlier makan place before the present stall owner was shifted to Bus Stand in Jalan Trus . some of the stall owner who wish not to lost their customers jointly started open their stall at the present jalan meldrum back lane . That is where Meldrum Walk started. Note the Roti John Stall was at the KOMTAR parking night stall in 1981 also the famous Mee Rebus Haji Wahid which now operate in PLaza Angsana and Larkin Central & SMart Food Court which also spread their wing in Seremban 2 (Nilai) and Kuala Lumpur

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    Replies
    1. Thank you very much for your insights. Hope I am able to have more to piece together a history of this interesting makan place.

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