Today, we lunched with friends at Kitchen Stories 美乐厨坊 at the Rosmerah section of Taman Johor Jaya. It's one of Frankie's favourites and his regular lunch place. I also bumped into another Johor Kaki reader Alex who reminded me that he had recommended Kitchen Stories to me over two years ago. Yeah lor 😛 Glad that I am here, finally 😄
Kitchen Stories is a large shoplot restaurant spanning two shoplots along Jalan Rosmerah 2/2. Decor is
There are over 40 dishes in Kitchen Stories' menu - mostly familiar homestyle dishes and several Teochew classics. Eight of us ate through a third of Kitchen Stories' menu 😋 I'll highlight a few from today's meal and will be back to try out more of Kitchen Stories' dishes.
I am most curious about 黑鱼 or Black Fish - a classical old Teochew dish which I am tasting for the first time. It's a mullet fish boiled in water and eaten with a fermented soya bean dip. The tender juicy white flesh has a slight bitter sweetness and earthly taste. The fish is enjoyed with the fermented soya bean dip which has a robust savoury flavour balancing the fish's bitterness and earthiness. It's an acquired taste and I like this 😋
Classic Teochew White Pomfret Porridge 鲳鱼粥 of rice boiled in savoury sweet stock till the grains are done soft al dente and slices of fresh white pomfret fish thrown into the bubbling hot gruel just before serving. Mild savouriness from the stock and layers of natural sweetness from the rice and white pomfret fish. It's a good rendition of this iconic Teochew dish.
砂锅鱼头芋 Grouper fish head cut into chunks, battered and deep fried, then cooked in stock with thick strips of yam.
Yellow Rice Wine Chicken 黄酒雞 is kampung chicken cooked in a broth of rice wine, black fungus and ginger. Deep savoury flavours with spicy notes and taste of Chinese cooking wine. The kampung chicken wasn't as tender or smooth as farm raised broiler chicken but Kitchen Stories' yellow rice wine chicken stock has quite addictive deep flavours.
Our progress at half time - we were still full of enthusiasm.
家乡猪脚 Homestyle pork trotters stewed in a soy sauce blend. The savoury soy sauce flavour is mild so we can still taste the pork's natural sweetness. I love the springy feel of the skin.
干炒黑酱油鸡 Stir fried black soy sauce chicken. This dish has more intense savoury flavours and is popular with younger customers. For me, I prefer to be able to taste the chicken's natural flavours.
肉碎炒蛋 scrambled eggs stir fried with minced chicken and simmered in stock for extra savoury sweet flavour. One of Frankie's favourite dishes. Gently savoury sweet with additional mild sweet flavours from the pool of stock.
炸虾枣 Shrimp roll. Tender minced pork and shrimp with a slight crisp from the browned outside. Tasty and not overly greasy, so it is easy to forget how many pieces I ate 😂
清炒苋菜江鱼仔 Stir fried Chinese spinach. Fresh and well executed - win already lor.
鱼肉炒面 fried Hokkien mee with cubes of fried battered grouper fish. No "wok hei" but the flavoursome mildly savoury sweet sauce which floods the plate makes this noodle dish quite enjoyable. The grouper fish cubes were fresh too. (No pork used in this dish.)
👍Kitchen Stories is a nice, no frills place for many tasty homestyle dishes and some Teochew classics at reasonable prices.
We came back to Kitchen Stories for dinner. It was just as good. We tried some other dishes and there was nothing we didn't like. I still remember the tomato eggs - that is a Must 👈 click
Taman Johor Jaya is a mini foodies' paradise with crazy plenty of good food choices 👈 click
Restaurant name: Kitchen Stories 美乐厨坊
Address: 71 & 73, Jalan Ros Merah 2/2, Johor Bahru
GPS: 1.533039, 103.793650 / 1°31'58.9"N 103°47'37.1"E
Hours: 8:00am to 3:00pm (Monday off)
Non Halal
Date visited: 13 Aug 2016
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Went for lunch over the weekend. Packed. Friendly and attentive staff. The fried egg was superb. Fish with yaw was more watery than your favorite in tampoi.
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