CLOSED. Char Kway Teow at Restoran Tien Tien Kopitiam in Pelangi

(Update: Ms Goh deceased in Oct 2018.)

When foodie buddy Jeff Tan tipped us off about the char kway teow stall at Restoran Tien Tien kopitiam in Taman Pelangi, I was very excited. Good char kway teow is rare in Johor Bahru, or for that matter, everywhere else nowadays. Good char kway teow is like drinking water in the sea - CKT CKT everywhere but where are the good ones?



For a while when I arrived at Tien Tien kopitiam, I thought I came to the wrong place - the char kway teow stall is tucked inconspicuously at the deep end of the side lane.



The sound of clanging wok and aroma of sizzling garlic helped led me to the stall which Jeff was telling us about.



Ms Goh, and her brother who runs the chicken rice and roasts stall, hailed from Sungai Dua in Penang. They have been hawkers there and came to Johor Bahru just two months ago.



The ingredients for char kway teow are very humble but it is one of the hardest dishes to do well.



Ms Goh's char kway teow has everything I look for in CKT - sizzling oil infused with chopped garlic, lap cheong (Cantonese wax sausage) and shrimp flavour and aroma. Broad flat rice noodles (not those skinny kway teow kia).



Just done spongy seeham (blood cockles) that still have some blood taste left. Just done bean sprouts with a slight sear outside driving away the green taste but inside they still have crunch and sweet juices. Chives with their unique taste. The essential lard and lard croutons, all there. The sauce is a savoury dark soy and sweet caramel blend.



Ms Goh uses good size shrimps for her CKT. The meaty shrimps have a nice soft-firm crunch and good natural crustacean sweetness.

The only thing is, I feel Ms Goh can push the wok hei "spirit of the wok" a bit further. So, I ordered a second plate and requested her to give it more sear.



Ms Goh was about to bundle up my second helping in brown paper when I surprised her that I wanted to eat it right there 😂

The "ugliest tastiest mess" said Anthony Bourdain. Yup.

A post shared by Tony Johor Kaki (@johorkaki) on Jun 22, 2017 at 9:50pm PDT

I like the second take better as it had everything including nice wok hei and a slight smokey char. So, if you are coming, remember to ask Ms Goh for more sear. Still, I feel it can be pushed even a little further 😄

I am overdosed on char kway teow. Right now, I am still burping garlic 😜



Two final notes.

👉 Ms Goh's stall will be moving to Restoran No Signboard kopitiam at Jalan Maju Jaya 報紙街 around Aug or Sep. <<Update 6 Apr 2018: She is not moving. She is still here at Tien Tien.>>

👉 She may not be selling char kway teow there as her health may not permit frying CKT which is very strenuous. I hope her health is better and she is able to continue frying CKT. <<Update 6 Apr 2018: She is still frying char kway teow thanks to customers' encouraging support 😄 >>



Restaurant name: Char Kway Teow stall in Restoran Tien Tien kopitiam
Address: Jalan Perang, Taman Pelangi, Johor Bahru
Map: http://g.co/maps/qsu4r
GPS: 1°28'54.7"N 103°46'23.0"E | 1.481872, 103.773054
Hours: 7:00am to 3:00pm (Closed on Weds)

Non Halal

Date visited: 23 Jun 2017

Return to Johor Kaki homepage.