Wei Wei Hakka Lei Cha in Johor Bahru 威威咸茶美食店

When local born and raised Hakka boy, KK declared that Wei Wei in Taman Daya has dethroned his long time favourite lei cha shop in JB, it's time to stop mugging around. I quickly invited KK to meet for lunch at Wei Wei as authentic Hakka lei cha and yong tou foo are among my favourite dishes.



Wei Wei is a typical Malaysian style shop lot eatery. Spartan furnishings and no decor. They rely solely on serving good food to attract and retain their clientele. This they did successfully for over 10 years at a coffee shop stall nearby and here at this shop lot at Jalan Sagu 36 for nearly 20 years.

Johor Kaki list of Best Lei Cha in Johor 👈 click



Wei Wei uses fresh vegetables which they prepare and cook right there at the shop, so we get everything fresh. (Yes, I am repeating myself, fresh, fresh, fresh.)



They take our lei cha orders at the table and we go to the glass cabinet at the counter to pick the yong tau foo pieces we fancy.



KK and I had lei cha and yong tau foo 酿豆腐 while Shirley had mee hoon kueh. (The mee hoon kueh looked good and I shall try that next time.)



Greens, long beans, pickled vegetable, diced fried tofu, stir fried cabbage, and toasted peanuts were carefully laid on top of white rice like a pastel watercolour palate.



The "green tea" which is the signature of lei cha. By the way, lei cha is Hakka for ground tea as the "tea" is made by grinding vegetables and herbs into a paste. The green paste is then boiled to make tea.

As lei tea 擂茶 sounds like "thunder tea" 雷茶 in Mandarin, it is often referred to as such in English. But the fact is, lei cha has nothing to do with thunder and lightning, but it is a good healthful, delicious tonic, if you feel under the weather 😄

Wei Wei's lei cha has a light body with lots of grainy green sediment at the bottom of the bowl. The green tea has a quite robust natural savoury sweetness which I like.

Johor Kaki list of Best Lei Cha in Johor 👈 click



Most people spoon in the green tea into the rice. I like to tip the whole bowl of tea, sediment and everything into the rice and vegetables.



I like the crunch of vegetables and peanuts in the lei cha mixed with the softness of rice and stir fried greens. There were many layers of savoury sweetness in the healthful jumble. Each mouthful was filling, fulfilling. It's guilt free delicious eating for me.



I like it that Wei Wei provides diced pickled turnip for people who like a bit more saltiness in their lei cha rice - it's nicer than adding salt or cheap soy sauce. Pickled turnip delivers savouriness along with some crunch. But, I didn't need this as I like the original taste profile of Wei Wei's lei cha.



KK picked one each of the yong tau foo in the glass cabinet.



Wei Wei's yong tau foo are stuffed with fish, pork, and probably salted fish to give the tender moist filling a savoury sweet taste.

The yong tau foo pieces were fried and slathered with a savoury sweet sauce which took out some of the YTF's crispness.



Wei Wei serves this signature drink called "Special". It's chin chow (grass jelly) in soya bean milk with gula Malaka. Nice, though a bit on the sweet side.



👉 Wei Wei Food Enterprise in Taman Daya is a good place for excellent authentic lei cha fun and yong tau foo in Johor Bahru.



Restaurant name: Wei Wei Food Enterprise 威威咸茶美食店
Address: 24, Jalan Sagu 36, Taman Daya, 81100 Johor Bahru (same row of shops as Gim Cheng dim sum)
GPS: 1°32'58.6"N 103°45'52.6"E | 1.549619, 103.764610
Tel: 016 717 1029
Hours: 7:30am - 4:00pm (Mon off)




Date visited: 20 Apr 2018

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