Summer Kitchen 夏.厨房 in Johor Jaya was opened in 2015 but I had not heard of it until buddy Krystal shared her joy in stumbling upon the hidden gem. Piqued by Krystal's enthusiasm and because I like mom and pop eateries, we checked in at Summer Kitchen this morning - making it our first stop for today's food trail.
Summer Kitchen is located at the fringe of Johor Jaya's commercial centre where there are many popular eateries. But, Jalan Dedap 24 is a "drive past" without stopping stretch of Johor Jaya, so Summer Kitchen has so far only been the neighbourhood's well kept secret.
Summer Kitchen is run by founder Summer Chan and her husband Kee. Summer's home style dishes 家常菜 are based on the recipes of her mum who used to run a food stall in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah. Summer's mum now works as a confinement nanny.
Summer Kitchen is a small family oriented eatery, quite well furnished with big tables and sturdy chairs. It is air conditioned for cool comfort. Summer Chan keeps the place fastidiously clean like it is her home - which in a way, it is.
Summer keeps her three children at the restaurant while she works. When there are breaks, Summer reads to Yang Yang 洋洋 at the little library at Summer Kitchen. Customers' children are encouraged to use the little library too 👏👏👏
We started with a Raisin Wine Chicken 招牌黃酒雞.
(We didn't try many dishes as this was just the first of many food stops we were going to make today.)
The most memorable part of this dish was the thick stock which was pungent with ginger aroma. The robust ginger spiciness was balanced by strong sweetness from the home made raisin wine. The stock's strong flavours masked any flavour from the tender moist chicken drumstick. I enjoyed this dish, especially the spicy sweet stock.
家香猪脚醋 Black Vinegar Stewed Pork Trotter, another confinement dish 😄
Again, it was the stock that won me over. The black vinegar stock sweetened with caramelised brown sugar was thick with collagen and the smoothest that I have ever tasted. The sourish black vinegar was balanced with caramelised brown sugar and complemented by spicy ginger (lots of it). The smell of ginger and vinegar was also strong in this dish.
The fat and skin were tender and juicy though the lean meat was slightly on the dryer side. But, the thick and slippery smooth, tasty aromatic stock is enough to hook me on this one.
Spicy Oyster Sauce Pork Slices 香辣蠔油燴豬肉片.
Fresh lean pork slices braised in a mildly savoury spicy sauce made by spiking oyster sauce with ginger and chili pepper. Nice too.
Krystal highly recommended this lor mee 卤伊面, so we got to try it too.
The lor was mildly savoury sweet and I was able to taste the savoury sweet yee noodles (fried egg noodles), so it was a nice blend of complementary flavours. The crispy freshly fried shallots also added aroma and taste to the dish. I enjoyed it.
👉 Summer Kitchen is a nice little homely, family style eatery in Taman Johor Jaya. The dishes are home cooked style, uses fresh ingredients, and no MSG. Prices are reasonable and there is no GST or service tax. It's a good place to get mum's cooking when your mum's not cooking. Also, a good place to give your mum a treat which she will approve 😄 Can come anytime you like, to enjoy nice simple food lovingly prepared, served with warm hospitality.
Thank you Krystal for the recommendation 👍
Restaurant name: Summer Kitchen 夏.厨房
Address: 14, Jalan Dedap 24, Taman Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru
GPS: 1°32'22.3"N 103°48'06.4"E | 1.539513, 103.801790
Waze: Restoran Summer Kitchen
Tel: 016 781 2010
Hours: 10:00am - 9:00pm (close at 3pm on Tues | close at 5pm on Sat)
Non Halal
Date visited: 23 Apr 2018
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