If there is a "Malaysian cafe", to me it's those contemporary kopitiam (coffee shop) of sorts that serve Nanyang coffee with an extensive multicultural menu from kaya butter toasts to nasi lemak, mee siam, roti canai, laksa, Hainanese chicken rice, char kway teow to spaghetti, chicken chops as well as burgers and more. Familiar brands are Old Town White Coffee, Secret Recipe, and Papparich etc. Johor Bahru homegrown brands include Moonlight, Tea Garden, One Two Eat, The Toast etc. There are also many up and coming Johor brands. Today, makan buddy Keng Chong introduced me to Sunflower Bakery & Restaurant in Johor Jaya. We love it.
Typical of "Malaysian cafe", Sunflower sports a simple interior which is bright with comfortable furnishings and cool with air conditioning.
First things first, the kopi (coffee). I like it that Sunflower's Nanyang coffee tasted different in a good way from those bitter ashy hot water served in most kopitiam nowadays. Sunflower's coffee come from Rengit, Johor - the Liberica beans have a characteristic taste I like which is somewhere between the bitterness of Robusta and sourness of Arabica.
The obligatory butter & kaya toast. House made kaya, Aussie butter and nicely browned toast.
I pinched Keng Chong's peanut butter toast. Browned toast with commercial peanut butter from a bottle - why do we like it? Perhaps, it still pleases the child in me who hooked out scoops of peanut butter with my finger when mum wasn't looking 😜
Simple basic nasi lemak with fried egg, toasted peanut, fried ikan bilis (anchovies), cucumber and sambal chili (price RM4.50+). Aromatic, flavourful rice well greased with fresh coconut milk. The house made sambal chili has quite sharp spiciness balanced with sweetness from onions - nice.
This nasi lemak has a few pieces of fried chicken added (price RM8.50). The fried chicken made with well marinated pieces of fresh chicken tasted good - mild spiciness with prominent presence of spices and aromatics like lemongrass.
Mee siam with fried drumstick (price RM10.50). In Johor, mee siam is by default "dry". The rice vermicelli were stir fried with chicken stock, spices and dried shrimp. We like Sunflower's mee siam a lot as the bee hoon was rich with savoury sweet and crustacean umami flavour. There was also a slight spiciness. The thin rice noodles had a nice delicate subtle crunch to the bite which we enjoyed.
Oh... we love this meaty fried chicken. The crispy batter and marination only had a slight savoury flavour, so we can taste the natural sweetness of the tenderly juicy fresh chicken thigh. I didn't check if they have fried chicken thigh separately on the menu - if they do, do order a few. They are well worth the calories and cholesterol.
Hainanese chicken rice - we had the lower quarter cut which costs RM18+. Made with free range kampung chicken, the poached bird was tenderly juicy with nice natural chicky sweetness. The dish came splashed with a quite robust savoury blended sauce which I felt shifted the natural taste profile of the chicken by a bit. You know me lah, I prefer to taste my food neat.
Must try Sunshine's banana cake. Made with generous amounts of local bananas with no synthetic sweeteners or preservatives. We love the pronounced natural banana fragrance and sweetness in the light, spongy, fluffy cake. Ate one at the shop and took away another 2 (RM5.90 per box). Love it 😋
Recommended for you 👍 JB has a lot, a lot of Malaysian style cafes (modernised kopitiam). Everyone of us have our own favourites and regular go-to cafes. Sunflower at Johor Jaya is an alternative worth checking out besides your old favourite.
Restaurant name: Sunflower Bakery & Restaurant
Address: 9, Jalan Dedap 21, Johor Jaya, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor
GPS: 1°32'25.9"N 103°48'10.2"E 🌐 1.540521, 103.802830
Tel: 07-361 2209
Hours: 8:00am - 10:00pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 16 Nov 2019
Thank you for sharing another local food place!
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