Lai Kee Fish Ball 来记西刀鱼丸 was one of the first posts on Johor Kaki, way back in 2012. Over the years, I wrote 4 separate blog posts about Lai Kee as every time I visit them, I like them more. My last visit 3 days ago was no different. In fact, I felt that they are better now than ever.
Lai Kee Fish Ball now spans two shop lots. The old sun bleached signboard still hangs over the original shop lot.
We ordered a dry mee and a dry kway teow plus Lai Kee's signature fish cake. But, the fish cakes were sold out, so we settled for fish cake wrapped in tofu skin. Tasting it for the first time, I realised that the fish cake tofu skin 腐竹 was actually very tasty - perhaps more interesting than the fish cake.
The well browned tofu skin was very crispy and tasted savoury/ salty. The thin slice of fish cake inside was firm and springy, and had subtle fresh fish sweetness.
(oops... looking back at my old posts, I had actually eaten the tofu skin with fish cake before 😝 )
The noodles come topped with fish cake and fresh lean pork slices.
The noodles were well coated with sauce after vigorous tossing. The sauce was robustly spicy, savoury, lardy (because we told the order taker we like our noodles spicy). With generic noodles, I like them with robust sauce that carry a strong kick. So, Lai Kee's noodles are spot on for me.
Lai Kee serves an old style fish ball noodle which is heavy on lard with no holds barred.
The soup was savoury from the fish balls, fish bone and preserved vegetables (tong chai 冬菜).
The fish balls were made with fresh ikan parang (wolf herring fish) meat. They were firm with a slight bouncy spring. The fried version have chewy savoury skin. The fish balls tasted savoury salty with fresh fish sweetness in the aftertaste. I can also smell fresh fish aroma when I chewed on the fish balls.
Recommended for you 👍 Old school fish ball noodles with fresh ingredients and robust flavours.
Restaurant name: Restoran Lai Kee 来记西刀鱼丸
Address: 90, Jalan Pahlawan 2, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah (TUTA), Skudai, Johor Baru
GPS: 1.522671,103.664653 🌐 1°31'21.6"N 103°39'52.8"E
Tel: 019 715 9866
Hours: 7:30am to 4:00pm (Closed on Weds)
(oops... looking back at my old posts, I had actually eaten the tofu skin with fish cake before 😝 )
The noodles come topped with fish cake and fresh lean pork slices.
The noodles were well coated with sauce after vigorous tossing. The sauce was robustly spicy, savoury, lardy (because we told the order taker we like our noodles spicy). With generic noodles, I like them with robust sauce that carry a strong kick. So, Lai Kee's noodles are spot on for me.
Lai Kee serves an old style fish ball noodle which is heavy on lard with no holds barred.
The soup was savoury from the fish balls, fish bone and preserved vegetables (tong chai 冬菜).
The fish balls were made with fresh ikan parang (wolf herring fish) meat. They were firm with a slight bouncy spring. The fried version have chewy savoury skin. The fish balls tasted savoury salty with fresh fish sweetness in the aftertaste. I can also smell fresh fish aroma when I chewed on the fish balls.
Recommended for you 👍 Old school fish ball noodles with fresh ingredients and robust flavours.
Restaurant name: Restoran Lai Kee 来记西刀鱼丸
Address: 90, Jalan Pahlawan 2, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah (TUTA), Skudai, Johor Baru
GPS: 1.522671,103.664653 🌐 1°31'21.6"N 103°39'52.8"E
Tel: 019 715 9866
Hours: 7:30am to 4:00pm (Closed on Weds)
Came to Lai Kee at Tun Aminah in JB, one of my favourite fish ball noodle shops, after a long break. It was another good experience at Lai Kee, a well established name known to most JB folk.
As usual on Sunday mornings, the shop was full with customers spilling onto the corridors and even the adjacent kopitiam. Waiting time can be long from 30 minutes to nearly an hour during peak hours. Personally, I feel it is worth it 😄
Boss, Ah Lai still leading from the front at the steamy stove. The pace on this Sunday morning was frenetic as usual.
Everyone is here for Lai Kee's signature hand made fish balls.
Lai Kee's fish balls are made at the shop with 100% fresh ikan parang (wolf herring) meat. (This picture was taken at the Pontian fish market.)
We ordered the "dry" noodles, so the fish balls came separately in a soup. We also had a separate large bowl of fish ball soup.
Love Lai Kee's fish balls. Never perfectly round as they are hand made. They are dense, and with every bite through the tightly packed bouncy meat, a gush of gentle fish flavour lands pleasingly on our taste buds.
There was also the deep fried version of fish balls. It's the same flavour with added savouriness, same chewiness with soft leathery feel on the outside.
Lai Kee's soup tasted less salty than I remembered it. I actually like this milder savoury sweet soup better. I also like it that the clear soup is not greasy.
We can have our noodles in soup or "dry". I always have mine "dry" 😄
The bowl of noodles which we tossed in a blend of soy sauce, generous dose of lard and chili sauce which we asked for.
Ah Lai cooked the yellow noodles slurpy smooth and soft. The delicious noodles were wet with the flavoursome savoury spicy sauce.
Fish cake wrapped in bean curd skin which is fried to a crisp outside.
Crispy enough? 😄
Lai Kee's fish cake which is a popular takeaway item.
That sauce was just generic ketchup chilli blend which I didn't use 😄
👉 One of my top favourite fish ball shops in Johor. The hand made pure fish balls have just the right texture and flavour. The noodles feel and taste great. The fish cakes and bean curd crisps make good sides. No gimmicks - just a great old school food experience in JB.
Disclosure: Boss, Ah Lai declined our payment for our food.
Restaurant name: Restoran Lai Kee 来记西刀鱼丸
Address: 90, Jalan Pahlawan 2, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah (TUTA), Skudai, Johor Baru, Malaysia
GPS: 1.522671,103.664653 / 1°31'21.6"N 103°39'52.8"E
Hours: Daily 7:30am to 3:00pm (Closed on Weds)
Non Halal
Dates visited: Numerous times since 10 Jan 2012 | Reviewed 9 May 2023
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