Steamboat restaurants are everywhere in Johor Bahru and more are sprouting up regularly. So, it is quite hard for any steamboat place to stand out from the crowd. After dinner at Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝, this relatively young steamboat restaurant is among our favourites in Johor Bahru now.
For centuries, Chinese families bond over soup and steamboat, so the family themed Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝 is very popular with families.
Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝 is a relatively large restaurant covering two storeys. The main dining hall is at the ground level. On the upper level, there are private rooms and an al fresco dining area overlooking Jalan Serampang.
The furnishings are basic but well spaced out (so the restaurant feels cosy and spacious). Each table is equipped with easy to operate induction cookers. The decor is simple, the place is clean and comfortable.
About 10 parking lots are available in front of Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝. They provide valet service for spillover traffic.
When I visit a steamboat restaurant, the three main things I look out for are the soup base, ingredients and the dipping sauces. Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝 is strong in all three.
When you enter Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝, straight ahead at the entrance, you will see this mural "Blessings start from this pot of soup" 幸福从这一锅汤开始. There is a photo of one of Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝's partner's mother with the phrase "A bowl of soup for mum" 给妈妈的一碗汤.
Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝 has eight soup bases which are all made by long boiling of natural ingredients without any MSG, just like mum's soup. Hence, when you enter Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝, the staff will greet you "Welcome home" 歡迎回家.
There's chicken soup (RM13.80++), Japanese Miso Kimchi (RM13.80++), Japanese Shoyu (RM18.80++), Tomato soup (RM8.80), Hokkaido Herbal Pork (RM13.80++), Spicy soup (RM13.80++), Bak Kut Teh soup (RM32.90++), Collagen soup (RM39.90++) etc. Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝 is experimenting and coming out with more soup base from time to time.
We went for the bak kut teh and collagen soup because I have never heard of BKT soup as soup base for steamboat. I have also not had collagen soup before.
Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝's BKT soup can give any bak kut teh specialist shop a run for their money. The soup is made with Iberico pork ribs in a herbal broth with quality soy sauce. The tasty broth tasted mildly savoury herbal with underlying sweetness from the pork ribs.
The Iberico pork ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender, juicy and had a soft chew to the bite. The moist meat tasted naturally sweet. There were 6 pieces of pork ribs in our serving of BKT soup.
The collagen soup was made by boiling chicken and chicken feet till they dissolved into gelatine. The gelatine was then chilled and reboiled when served. It is 100% natural collagen (no chemical jelly is used).
The gelatine was melted into a thick, heavy, full body soup which tasted mildly savoury with subtle sweetness. In the mouth, the collagen soup felt like a syrup with a bit of slick tackiness on the lips.
There are a couple of hundred ingredients on the menu. We put many through the buk kut teh and collagen soup. All the meat - pork, beef, fish, prawns and clams - were fresh. The prawns, clams and fish were live.
Hand chopped prawn paste (price RM18.90++).
老虎虾 Sea Tiger Prawn (price RM31.90++).
Prawn lovers can indulge in these live sea Tiger prawns which were crunchy, sweet with very subtle sea brininess.
These live clams were quite addictive. When cooked, the meat was smooth like half boiled eggs. When we bite into it, the meat was just slightly firmer than half boiled egg with a bit of crunchy tissue in the mostly soft juicy body. The meat was sweet with a bit of ocean brininess. My favourite 😋
龙虎斑 Live Grouper (seasonal price). This fish cost RM110++ today.
澳洲雪花牛肉 Premium Australia Beef (price RM38.90++).
三层肉 Pork Belly (price RM14.90++).
羊腿肉 Lamb Shank (price RM31.90++).
黑毛猪五花肉 Iberico Pork Collar (price RM33.90++).
We had a few cuts of beef - they were all soft, beefy and sweet. We also had New Zealand lamb which was rather gamey - I like it.
Seafood noodles made with a blend of hand chopped fish, prawn and squid. The flavour leaned slightly more on the squid, so squid lovers will like this.
Dumpling lovers have a choice of fish, prawn and pork dumplings.
I enjoyed this ultra crispy fried tofu skin.
Our bak kut teh soup was topped up regularly free of charge. (There is no top up for the collagen soup.)
The dip and sauce bar has about 30 different types of sauces. All are house blended. Customers are free to help themselves to the dips and sauces without additional charges.
Besides steamboat, Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝's yakitori department is quite impressive too.
Japanese grade A5 Wagyu beef (price RM20 per 10 gram). Lightly grilled and flamed to medium rare doneness. The thin slice of Wagyu was soft and juicy with rich yet gentle beefy sweetness.
Besides steamboat there is seafood, chicken, beef, pork, sausage, vegetable yakitori. Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝 blend their own yakitori sauces from scratch.
I love this Enoki mushroom bundle wrapped in a strip of fatty bacon. The sweet mushrooms were spongy, juicy and crunchy complemented by the smoky savoury sweet grilled bacon.
Grilled pork belly (price RM16.90++).
Fried chicken wings with house blended marination (price RM5.90++).
Grilled squid made with grade A squid from Mersing town (price RM24.90++ each).
👉 We enjoyed ourselves at Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝 steamboat / yakitori as we like the lovingly made MSG free soup base, live / fresh ingredients and interesting dips. Pricing is competitive. The family oriented ambiance is simple but comfortable. The service was attentive and friendly too (but not gimmicky, over the top).
More steamboat places in Johor Bahru for you to choose 👈 click
Disclosure: Please note that this was an invited tasting.
Restaurant name: Kofuku-Tei 幸福窝
Address: 33, Jalan Serampang, Taman Sri Tebrau, Johor Bahru
GPS: 1°29'03.9"N 103°46'07.3"E 🌐 1.484425, 103.768700
Waze: Kofuku-Tei Restoran
Tel: 014-611 1668
Hours: 5:00pm - 2:00am (opens at 12:00 noon on Sat and Sun)
Non Halal
Date visited: 24 Sep 2018
Return to Johor Kaki homepage.
I believe the restaurant has closed
ReplyDeleteoh that's sad to hear. this is of the better steam boat places in JB.
Deleteno, it is not closed, i just had meal there 2 weeks ago:)
ReplyDelete