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| Soon Chiang Bak Kut Teh | 41, Jalan Maju, Taman Maju Jaya, 80400 Johor Bahru ☎ +60 7-332 6757 🕗 8am - 2pm (Mon off) |
✍7 Oct 2024. Soon Chiang Bak Kut Teh has been around at Jalan Maju in Johor Bahru since 1982. It has a loyal local following, but low social media profile and not much visited by Singapore day trippers.
Soon Chiang is located at the eastern end of Jalan Maju, what locals call Newspaper Street because of the number of newspaper offices here.
The corner shop is clean, spacious, bright and airy with large old style lourves windows at the side which let the sun and air in. The same 1960s vintage mosaic flooring from my childhood. Very laid back feel with the hyperlocal atmospherics which I look for when travelling.
The menu on the wall. 100% fresh local pork is emphasised.
We didn't order a lot as we were on a dawn till dusk food trail.
The meat from the bak kut (meat bone) was fall-off-the-bone tender. Well infused with flavours from the savoury lightly spiced broth with subtle underlying fresh porcine sweetness.
Tender goodness from the braised pork belly.
Besides the fresh pork, the draw of Soon Chiang lies in their dark broth. It is based in a good dark soy sauce, finely but lightly tuned with spices and sweetened by the pork cooked in it. (It is not herbal in the Chinese medicinal herbs sense. For example, there is no dangui, wolf berries or licorice, etc.)
Spongy fried tofu or tau pok soaked up the broth and its savoury light spice and porcine sweet flavours.
Salted vegetable was savoury sweet tangy lardy, so delicious and a great traditional appetiser.
All finished. Not mind blowing but a comforting well balanced profile that Soon Chiang's fans keep coming back for. That includes me 🤭 It's all in the dark broth.
Restaurant name: Soon Chiang Bak Kut Teh
Address: 41, Jalan Maju, Taman Maju Jaya, 80400 Johor Bahru
Tel: +60 7-332 6757
Hours: 8am - 2pm (Mon off)
Written by Tony Boey on 7 Oct 2024
✍ 25 Nov 2015. Soon Chiang bak kut teh is the place in Johor Bahru to get the Klang style of pork bone in a savoury dark herbal broth. It's a stone's throw from Plaza Pelangi along Jalan Maju, usually referred to as 報紙街 or newspaper street by locals (due to the several newspaper offices here).
Soon Chiang has been around for decades and well known among JB locals. The interior of the restaurant still has a 1960s feel. Furnishings are typically bare bones but very clean and neat. The original 1960s style mosaic tile flooring is still there.
The entire menu and price list is clearly displayed on the wall.
The friendly boss Mr Wong will pick out your order piece by piece with a pair of long chopsticks from the pot.
Our pork ribs served in a small old school ceramic bowl, affectionately called cockerel bowls 公雞碗 because of the customary motifs on the outside.
The short ribs were cooked till tender but not mushy soft, so there is still some bite in the meat which was sweet, savoury and herbal.
The medium bodied broth made mainly with soy sauce and spices was mildly savoury and only lightly spiced. It was delicious. As it was not overly greasy, I happily drank it all up.
Braised pork knuckles.
Quite a lot of naturally sweet, porcine flavoured tender juicy skin, fat and meat in this little bowl.
Yummy.
Hahaha.... I don't care... I love this :-D
Pork stomach soup.
Pork stomach, cleaned, cut into ribbons, boiled till tender in a gently peppery broth. Nice well balanced savoury sweet peppery broth that is easy and light on the palate.
The obligatory salted vegetables.
->> Nice little, rustic bak kut teh shop tucked in a quiet corner of JB which locals go to.
Restaurant name: Restoran Soon Chiang 顺江肉骨茶
Address: 41, Jalan Maju, Taman Tebrau Jaya, Johor Bahru
GPS: 1.480879, 103.766903
Hours: 11:00am to 5:00pm (closed on Monday)
Non Halal
Date visited:
Which is your favourite bak kut teh shop in Johor and Singapore?
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As a native Johor Bahru person, i wouldn't recommend this place...... the price and portion is just not good. The taste is so-so.
ReplyDeleteI was brought to Soon Chiang by a true blue JB native. Where would you recommend?
DeleteThe taste actually is so-so, service wise also so-so, but the price is exorbitant.
ReplyDeletethey're related to bak cheng too (bak cheng's dad had a few wives)
ReplyDeleteOh I see. I have not tasted the original Bak Cheng bak kut teh before. I was too late :-( Which shop today do you think is closest to the original Bak Cheng in taste?
DeleteSo so ? I have been there since I start to crawl. This is the ancestor of all Ba Ku shop in Johor
ReplyDelete