I had been away from Johor Bahru for 2 months on travels. During this time, JB foodie circles were abuzz about the newly opened Kim Cafe, a Malaysian kopitiam in Taman Johor Jaya (which is a foodie haven).
Kim Cafe is a large, spacious, air conditioned kopitiam. Opened just 2 months ago, the kopitiam is already popular among locals.
Typical of Malaysian kopitiams, Kim Cafe's extensive menu has something for everyone. The essential kopi, kaya toasts and half boiled eggs, local favourites like nasi lemak, mee siam, mee rebus, and Western delights like chicken chops, fish & chips, and spaghetti.
First things first. Visit any kopitiam must, of course, check out their kopi first. My kopi o siu tai (i.e. black coffee with less sugar) has nice medium body, taste was robust with slight ashy note and a bit bitter which needed to be moderated with sugar. Plenty of caffeine kick in this one but flavour just ok ok for me, lah.
As I am a wanton mee lover, I opted for wanton mee on this first visit to Kim Cafe.
As the wise Warren Buffett said, "Never test water with both feet."
So, I just ordered the original with spicy flavour (原味, 辣) which comes with a small bowl of soup and wantons.
The thing is, Johor Bahru also known as "Little Swatow" is famous for Teochew staples like kway teow kia and Teochew kway teow thng but it is also a stronghold for wanton mee (a quintessentially Cantonese dish). Hmm... something for me to find out why.
One of the strengths of JB wanton mee is their house made egg noodles, with each shop offering noodles with their own characteristic bite or personality.
Kim Cafe's egg noodles has a nice al dente tender springy crunchy bite, putting it straight into my list of favourite wanton mee in JB.
One of the things I don't appreciate so much in JB wanton mee is they tend to be rather sparse in tossing sauce and flavours tend to be a little mild (for my palate, lah).
Not so at Kim Cafe. The tossing sauce was drippy, completely wetting every strand of egg noodles. The flavour was robust with the taste of lard and chili rather prominent. I love it.
What's missing were pieces of crispy lard cracklings which would have made the noodles perfect.
One of my pet peeves about JB wanton mee is most of their char siew are lean and sliced thin, coloured red and electric grilled instead of charcoal roasted. Kim Cafe's is also like that.
The clear soup had a nice savoury sweet stock bone taste. The wanton, though, were just average - the minced meat filling was tender but the wanton skin was a bit thick. Sesame seed oil flavour was missing.
With one feet finding solid ground under the water, I was ready to put in the other feet.
For the second round, I asked for the dark sauce version, the way most Johoreans like their wanton mee. I asked for hot spicy as I am Singaporean mah.
See see see, look at that drippy sauce pooling at the bottom of the plate 😄
Same lovely tender springy, crunchy egg noodles. The sauce tastes savoury, lardy, spicy.
Personally, I still prefer the original spicy (原味, 辣) sauce as the savoury dark sauce masked the more subtle layers of flavour from the lard and chili sauce.
To each his/her own, lah.
Recommended for you 👍 I left satiated and happy. Everything here for RM20.70. I recommend Kim Cafe's wanton mee. I will be updating this post as I slowly work my way through the kopitiam's extensive menu. If you have been to Kim Cafe, what should I try next?
Johor Kaki's Johor Jaya food list 👈 click
Restaurant name: Kim Cafe
Address: 105, Jalan Dedap 4, Taman Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru (diagonally across the street from The Toast kopitiam)
GPS: 1°32'33.4"N 103°48'08.9"E 🌐 1.542599, 103.802464
Tel: 017-317 3317 / 012-798 8668 / 07-361 2592
Hours: 8:30am - 10:30pm (closes at 5pm on Tues)
Non Halal
Date visited: 6 Aug 2019
Thanks Johor Kaki for this find. I grew up eating wanton mee for breakfast, lunch & dinner.Yes, that's how hawkers serve the char siew - thin, lean & clean tasting vs the HK style of chunky, partially fatty & slightly charred.I reckon it's because hawkers want the spotlight on their noodles which is nearly always home-made. In short, the mee is the hero. As a result, we've grown accustomed to char siew served as it is.
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