Traditional Chinese Cakes and Biscuits @ GN 满发 Food and Biscuits in Batu Pahat, Johor

GN 满发 Food and Biscuits was a lucky find. After overeating at the food stalls along Jalan Abu Bakar in Batu Pahat, we looked for a traditional Chinese cake and biscuit shop to get the customary gifts before heading home to Singapore.

GN 满发 Food and Biscuits just happened to be opposite Swee Kee tonic soups. We had never heard about GN 满发 before, so we did not set our expectations too high.

The GN 满发 shop looked ordinary enough. The retail section is at the front of the shop and the production section just behind a glass and board partition.

Applying the egg wash to give the crust that glazy sheen and golden hue.

Puncturing the dough with a pick.

Nevertheless, the finishing touches are done at the retail section, right beside the display shelves.

This large modern oven is also in front at the retail section. So we got our hot cakes and biscuits straight out of the oven J

Stepping behind, the staff were kneading the dough and making the biscuits one at a time by hand, in the old way. Each person quietly focused on their respective part of the production chain.

There was a machine humming and droning away, grinding the aromatic, freshly stir fried sesame seeds.

As we don't know yet what is good at GN 满发, we just bought a random selection to try at home and to present as gifts.

We were pleasantly surprised at the texture and taste of GN 满发 traditional Chinese biscuits. The tasty crust was flaky and among the crispiest we've tasted before. The different types of fillings were thick and generous as well as fresh, smooth and fragrant.

Lotus seed paste. Popular traditional flavour.

Traditional red bean paste. Everybody's favourite.

Kaya and red bean paste. Nice combo.

Sweet yam paste. I like.

Five kennel 五仁 paste. Not my taste but the favourite filling of many others.

The red bean paste and spicy dried shrimp paste 虾米辣 combo.

Not my favourite but others raved about its unique taste.

The next time I am in Batu Pahat, GN 满发 will be the place where I will pick up my customary gifts before heading home.

Restaurant name: GN 满发 Food and Biscuits

Address: 180, Jalan Abu Baker, Batu Pahat
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/FNQJ
GPS: 1.852745,102.927952
Hours: 9:00am to 6:00pm
Halal

Date visited: 25 Jun 2012

CLOSED 葉记云吞面 Flying Wanton Mee 飞面 in Taman Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru (Closed)

CLOSED. Looking at this gold hued, glowing ball of wanton noodles makes my mouth water.

Soon Lai Kway Chap 顺来粿汁 in Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia

Soon Lai 顺来粿汁 serves one of the most loved kway chap in Batu Pahat, and some say, in the whole of Johor.

Soon Lai kway chap started as a street hawker stall more than 70 years ago before moving into its current premises some 10 years ago. MR Lim, the friendly second generation owner has been serving his popular kway chap since he was a child years ago.

MR Lim serves his kway chap with obvious passion and pride. You can literally feel his cheerful glow as he cuts the meat and innards for his steady stream of customers. Many regular customers come with tingkats (traditional tiered food containers) for takeaways.

MR Lim cutting the braised pig intestines, a staple of kway chap.

Look at that big pot of fried shallots on the left of the picture. These fried shallots and shallot oil do wonders to enhance the fragrance of Soon Lai's kway chap.

Look at the big pots of braised tofu skin and chicken feet in the foreground. Soon Lai's tofu soaking in the braising sauce is loaded with delicate herbal flavours while still retaining a slight crunchiness. The chicken feet which are deep fried and then stewed in braising sauce is a hot seller. 

I always indulge in braised chicken feet whenever it is available. Soon Lai's braised chicken feet is among the best that I have tasted.

My favourite is Soon Lai's braised pig lung. The lung felt soft and spongy, and was saturated with fragrant braising sauce. Soon Lai's is the best braised pig lung that I have ever tasted. 

A tender slice of pig's cheek - a nice balance of meat, fat and skin.

For Singaporeans who miss pig's blood, you can get your fix with Soon Lai's braised pig's blood.

Soon Lai's kway (rice sheets) is the broad kind that Singaporeans are familiar with. Soon Lai's kway is soft and smooth, yet it still has the subtle grainly texture and feel of milled rice. The kway is drenched in a bowl of broth flavoured with braising sauce and topped with a generous heap of fried shallots. The braising sauce is pleasantly herbal, and is neither salty nor oily. I drank up two bowls of the tasty herbal broth without feeling any thirstiness at all afterwards.

Soon Lai kway chap 顺来粿汁 is a worthy standard bearer of Batu Pahat food.

Batu Pahat is one of my favourite towns as has a lot of good heritage food to offer 👈 click



Restaurant name: Kedai Makan Soon Lai 顺来粿汁
Address: 6-C, Jalan Fatimah, Batu Pahat, Johor
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/JeEE
GPS: 1.849104,102.927711
Hours: 11:00am to 6:00pm (Thurs off)

Non Halal




Date visited: 25 Jun 2012

Ramly Burger in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

The Ramly burger is a uniquely Malaysian version of the American hamburger. Created by Enche Ramly Moknin in the 1970s, today Ramly burger stands are found in every corner of Malaysia and Singapore. Unlike American burgers which are standardised, each Ramly burger stand offers its own variation according to the flair of the individual owners. Each stand has its own signature and following of fans.

This Ramly burger stand along Jalan Wong Ah Fook (directly across the road from the McDonald's in City Square) is the favourite of my blogger friend Yvonne Lew.

Ramly burgers are made with chicken or beef patties. This was the pinkish hued Ramly beef patty together with the soft buns on the greasy griddle laced with Planta margarine.

The patty was flattened, flipped on the griddle, and given a dash of curry powder.

One of the distinctive marks of the Ramly burger is the egg wrap, often referred to as "special". After the patty was done, the chef proceeded to fry an egg.

The patty was placed on top of the fried egg and then wrapped with the egg. At this stand, only the patty was egg wrapped. In other versions, the patty as well as condiments like lettuce and tomatoes are also wrapped in the egg.

The daging (beef) burger "special" - egg wrapped beef patty sandwiched between soft margarine toasted buns dressed with tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise and ketchup.

The burger was messily dripping mayonnaise, chili sauce, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. The beef patty was tender and moist with its natural juices, and oozing with flavour from spices and seasonings.

Little wonder that the humble Ramly burger is the sinful "junk" food that even food connoisseurs are unable to resist indulging in, sometimes.

Restaurant name: Ramly burger stand

Address: Along Jalan Wong Ah Fook directly across the road from the McDonald in City Square Shopping Centre in Johor Bahru (numerous Ramly stands are found throughout Malaysia)

Map: http://goo.gl/maps/rLh2

GPS: 1.461559,103.763406

Hours: 6:00pm to midnight

Halal

Date visited: 18 Jun 2012

Conveyor Belt Sushi @ DON Sushi in Carrefour, Johor Bahru

After our meet up with blogger friends in Kuala Lumpur, we had ambitious plans for a big dinner in Johor Bahru before crossing back to Singapore. But we couldn't resist overeating during our Batu Pahat stopover and had very little room left for any big feasting ;P

So we had a change of plan and had to settle for something less daunting.

We stumbled upon DON sushi in the Carrefour along Jalan Kota Tinggi which was offering 30% discount on their conveyor belt sushi (sushi train) between 3:00pm to 6:00pm on Mondays to Fridays.

We took a quick peek before making up our minds. DON sushi looked spacious and well laid out inside. Though it was relatively quiet at 5:00pm on a Monday, a quick glance showed that there was a decent range of sushi on offer on the conveyor belt. Since we never had conveyor belt sushi in Johor before, we decided to give DON sushi a try.

We were impressed with the attentive service. Once we sat down, more varieties of sushi started appearing on the belt to tempt us. Also, our cups of hot green tea were never empty - a pleasant waiter was regularly making his rounds with a tea pot and topped up our cups whenever it was about quarter full J

Here are the sushi we picked for our already overfilled stomachs. I don't have the names of some of the sushi - readers who know, please help me J. I have included the prices which were before the 30% discount.

RM3.50.

RM4.50.

RM5.50.

RM2.50.

Shrimp roe and tuna sushi RM2.50.

Tuna salad maki RM2.50.

Shrimp roe in tofu skin (inari ebiko sushi) RM5.50.

Salmon sushi RM4.50.

Crab (imitation) stick sushi RM4.50.

Crab (imitation) salad (kani salad sushi) RM4.50.

Shrimp (ebi sushi) RM4.50.

I enjoyed Don Sushi's servings but as I have not eaten belt sushi for a long time, I have no benchmark. My companions who frequented conveyor belt sushi outlets regularly felt that Don Sushi's offerings are very similar in taste and quality to those sushi chains commonly found in Malaysia and Singapore shopping malls.

Restaurant name: DON Sushi

Address: Inside Carrefour Shopping Centre, Batu 7½, Jalan Kota Tinggi, Pandan, Johor Bahru

Map: http://goo.gl/maps/IFCc

GPS: 1.536378,103.785143

Hours: 11:00am to 9:00pm

Non Halal

Date visited: 25 Jun 2012