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| Pasar Borneo Market | Jalan Bayan 37/1, Taman Megah Ria, 81750 Masai, Johor 🚌 Bus T20 from JB CIQ ☏ +6019 772 9299 ⏰ 9am - 5pm (Weds, Sat & Sun) |
✍14 Aug 2025. Revisited Pasar Borneo market at Taman Megah Ria in Masai. It opens only on Weds, Sat and Sun. Don't go on the wrong days 🎗
It's popular with Sarawakians and Sabahans living in Johor and Singapore who come here to do their weekly marketing and to meet their compatriots. Pasar Borneo market is also visited by enthusiasts of Sarawak and Sabah food, crafts and culture.
Pasar Borneo market is at the exact same spot as when I last visited it in 2013, except that now, there's a roof and shelter over it to keep out the rain and sun.
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| Weds market |
This was the typical situation on Weds - about 15 stalls were open while on Sat and Sun up to 50 stalls are opened. Stallholders come from all over Johor with their goods and produce. So, the best marketing days are Sat and Sun when the market and shops around it are the busiest.
But, if you are here just for basics like chicken, fish and some vegetables like sayur paku and sayur midin, you can get these on Weds as well.
Me? Besides getting my favourite sayur paku and sayur midin, | like to walk around food and wet markets because it gives me insights into the people and place that I am visiting (no matter where I am).
Makam asam paya or literally "sour fruit from the swamp". Used for making sour pickles, sour drinks and as a souring agent in asam pedas.
Sayur genjer or sayur paku rawan. Just boil, then stir fry it with sambal belacan as you would with sayur paku or sayur midin.
Pounding tapioca leaves.
Used in daun ubi tumbuk, a dyak relish / paste made by simmering pounded tapioca leaves with shallot, animal fat, and salt.
Core of palm trunk. Neglected to ask the vendor what palm it was 😔
Of course, there will be gula apong or sugar made from the flower sap of nipah / atap palm.
The sap collected from slicing the stem of the nipah flower bud is boiled till it is caramelised into savoury salty sweet brown sugar. The process of making gula apong is described in detail here.
The nipah palm are wild stands in mangrove swamps. Pure gula apong will have the taste of the sea. If the gula apong you bought tastes wholly sweet, it is likely that other forms of sugar e.g. refined cane sugar may be added.
Other than the zinc roof, not much if anything changed at Johor Bahru's Pasar Borneo market. Please scroll down to the archived article written in 2013. It's not different from what I saw this week in Aug 2025.
Pasar Borneo Market
Address: Jalan Bayan 37/1, Taman Megah Ria, 81750 Masai, Johor
Public Bus: Bus T20 from JB CIQ
Tel: +6019 772 9299
Hours: 9am - 5pm (Weds, Sat & Sun)
Read more 👉
What to eat at Taman Megah Ria
What to eat in Masai
Many people have their breakfast or lunch here when visiting Pasar Borneo market, Restoran Original Sarawak Kolomee
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Written by Tony Boey on 14 Aug 2025
Who is Tony Johor Kaki?
✍ 28 Apr 2013. I didn't know there is a Sarawak market in Johor Bahru until Rajan the owner of Original Sarawak Kolomee showed it to me. Thanks, Rajan! (Sarawak market is also know as Tamu Dayak or Pasar Borneo.)
At first look, there is nothing really spectacular about this little market. It's actually just a small car park ringed by shop houses, many selling Sarawak food, including Rajan's Kolomee shop. But, on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, this car park becomes a street market with many vendors selling Sarawak food.
And so, this unique market is special, especially for Sarawakians. Sarawakians from all over Johor Bahru, and even Singapore come here for Sarawak vegetables and hometown foods.
Here's some pictures I took of the market on a Saturday afternoon.
This lady was doing a brisk business selling dabai (Sarawak Olive) which is a seasonal fruit. Dabai is cooked in warm water and Sarawakians like to eat them either with salt or with black soya sauce mixed with sugar.
Huge bamboo shoots.
Live mangrove crabs.
Sayur paku, a wild jungle fern unique to Sarawak.
I love to eat these crunchy Sarawak vegetables boiled and stir-fried in sambal belacan or simply stir fried with oyster and soya sauce.
I am not a Sarawakian but I will be here once in a while to satisfy my craving for Sarawak specialities such as sayur midin and sayur paku. I also need to come back for the sago worms which I missed during my visit.
Sarawak Market (Pasar Borneo)
Address: Jalan Bayan 37, Taman Megah Ria, Masai, Johor Bahru
GPS: 1.498266,103.856538
Hours: 12:00noon to 7:00pm Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday
Date visited: 6 Dec 2012
For your information, those are not black coloured berries but dabai (Sarawak Olive) which is a seasonal fruit. The fruits are cooked in warm water and Sarawakian like to eat either with salt or with black soya sauce mixed with sugar. 1 kilo cost as much as RM40.00 during the starting season.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the info. I have adjusted the post. Appreciate your help :)
DeleteAlthough it opens at 12 noon, but better go at 3pm. It is unlike those open market you seee in SG or overseas, the people in this market only beginning to setup at around 12 noon. So the market will be fully ready at around 3pm.
ReplyDeleteAnother point to note, 12:00 noon in really really very hot at this place.
Thanks for the great post, and bekool66, thanks for the additional information. My wife and I went to the market today; no sayur midin, but lots of sayur paku. We had a great time!
ReplyDeletePenjual papaon di pasar borneo di johor bahru sila berikan nombor hp anda..
ReplyDelete