I was in Singapore, watching Johor Bahru social media buzzed with excitement about Restoran Kota Zheng Zong which opened less than a month ago, reputedly by family of the famous Kiang Kee bak kut teh near Kota Tinggi. As I don't like that 1.5 hour drive from JB to Kota Tinggi, I was eager to find out if I could really get Kota Tinggi style bak kut teh, right here in JB. So, checking out Kota Zheng Zong was top of my to-do list for this JB trip.
At ten o'clock on a Tuesday morning, the spacious, airy restaurant along Jalan Sutera (directly opposite SK Sri Tebrau) was already packing in the crowd. JB foodie social media is really quite powerful.
The ordering protocol is simple - secure a table, and then proceed to the counter to order your food. Ah Piaw, brother-in-law of Kiang Kee's lady boss was manning the pots of cooked pork. Restoran Kota Zheng Zong is owned by Kiang Kee's lady boss' younger brother.
The claypots with pork and signature brown colour broth are finished in high heat over charcoal stoves before serving.
I just have a one person serving which came to RM15.
I requested for pig tail and "soft bone" which are my favourite cuts for bak kut teh. They were hidden in the brown broth and covered under the pieces of fried bean curd skin on top.
The crispy fried bean curd skin softened a little after soaking in the brown broth. The wet skin still had a bit of nice soft crunch and tasted delicious as it was soaked with the savoury brown broth. It's nice and worth ordering more.
The brown colour broth had quite a full body. It had a quite strong layered savouriness with subtle herbal notes that come slowly at the end of the mouthful. This is the almost same broth, I remember having at Kiang Kee near Kota Tinggi.
There were three or four pieces of this "soft bone" 豬軟骨.
The meat was cooked till it was tender and juicy, yet there was a bit of chew to the bite left. To me, it was at the sweet spot between mushy and fibrous. The flavourless soft bone itself was, of course, fun to chew.
The meat infused some of the broth's savouriness but I could still taste the pork's natural sweetness. One of the things I like about JB bak kut teh is they use very fresh pork, often never chilled 溫體肉, straight from the abattoir.
I like pig tails (and ox tail) because it has the best combination of springy skin, juicy fat and tender meat, in my opinion. Same savoury sweetness in the meat, and a bit sweeter and more juicy due to the fat and skin.
👌 A nice, new bak kut teh shop bringing a different style of BKT from Kota Tinggi into JB. I shall be back with more people as there are many more dishes I want to try.
Kota Zheng Zhong Bak Kut Teh has a popular version with Iberico pork 👈 click
Restaurant name: Restoran Kota Zheng Zong 哥打正宗肉骨茶
Address: 177, Jalan Sutera, Taman Sentosa, Johor Bahru (directly opposite SK Sri Tebrau school)
GPS: 1°29'37.2"N 103°46'30.0"E
Waze: SK Sri Tebrau (directly opposite)
Hours: 8:00am to 3:00pm (Monday off)
Non Halal
Date visited: 20 Mar 2018
Return to Johor Kaki homepage.
Yvonne Loh said on Johor Kaki Blog FB Page: "For BKT sudden craving, yes it is convenient. But if you still like to drive for your BKT, then Kota Tinggi it should be. After all, it is a pleasant drive. My 2 sens worth."
ReplyDeleteJesus-Anthony Liang said on Johor Kaki Blog FB Page: "I asked many locals and many of them told me that to them 强记 is just average Bak Ku Teh, the reason why they dive long distance to 强记 is for the scenery, not really for BKT. 😁 lol"
ReplyDeletemany locals also say they love Kiang Kee but hate the drive :-D taste is subjective
DeleteNice food ! Loving the Mei Cai as well
ReplyDeleteNice Food ! I’m loving the meicai
ReplyDeleteSaw many ppl posted online abt this and already asked Kiang Kee. Knowing that Zheng Zong is using the family relationship without consent of Kiang Kee, stop related Kiang Kee with Zheng Zong please
ReplyDeleteNonsense. Writing post without any proof. Really misleading.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous, please let me know which part are you referring to, so that I can clarify if necessary. Thank you.
DeleteThere is nothing misleading about the information presented here, as the post clearly states only the family relationship, without insinuating that this shop is the branch outlet or sub-brand of the original Kiang Kee whatsoever.
DeleteThe rib & soft bones are tender. Soup is salty and less herbal flavour though. Personally, we don't think the taste & flavour are similar to the Kota Tinggi Kiang Kee. When asked if they are related, they did not claim so.
ReplyDeleteWent for lunch last Saturday. Full house. Very friendly boss. Broth flavourful but a notch below kiang kiang kee. Good size portion. However the spare ribs were too tough. Probably over cooked.
ReplyDeleteI have just visited it today, so my comments were as follows
ReplyDelete1) Convenience. I stay in Desa Tebrau. I used to drive up 40min to KT for the BKT and drive back home 40min. All and all 1.30hrs of road trip and you are likely to be exhausted after that. With this located in jb town, there is likely you can do a lot more with1.5 hours which you would otherwise spent on the road trip.
2) its new so its a lot cleaner, and hygiene. But for some weird reasons they allowed people to smoke indoor. I don’t quite comprehend this.
3) Taste wise, i would say it does taste identical but unfortunately it is not the same. Those who frequent kiang ki often would know the broth is thick and full bodied with herbs (whatever you called it). This one from picture it looks the same but in actual fact it is more watery and less full bodied.
In conclusion, it does look similar and almost identical. I wouldn’t say not nice. But I just don’t get the same satisfaction. Overall its a B.
Thank you for your detailed feedback. Appreciate it.
DeleteI just went to try. Its indeed not as good as the kota tinggi one. Meat is so tough.. Soup is water down. Though still can taste near to the original. I believe usually small fine details like this are either done becos of efficiency n shortcuts or the chef just didn't put in the full effort to replicate or improve.
ReplyDelete