Johor Bahru now have many rustic hip traditional Nanyang kopi (coffee) shops. Many of them serve good coffee with a wide range of breads, pastries and Malaysian local delights. Buddy Carol recommended Hanyuan, so I popped over for a try. She is right, Hanyuan serve one of my favourite coffee, the white type without add on like corn and margarine during roasting.
Stepping inside Hanyuan, it reminded me of hipster cafes across Asia during its heyday like this in Kaohsiung in Taiwan.
The interior was bright with full length windows, supplemented by warm lights that gave the kopitiam a relaxing, slightly upscale feel. The Mando and Canto pop playing softly in the background was pleasant and added to my enjoyment.
They even sport fancy leather couches. I want these when the gang comes here to chill between food stops next time.
My first time here, I asked for kopi guyu (coffee with a thick slice of butter and no sugar added).
I love it as it was white coffee i.e. pure coffee with no fillers (e.g. corn) or flavours (e.g. margarine) added during roasting.
The coffee looked light and tea coloured but it had nice bitter acidic taste and packed a caffeine punch. With the savoury butter, the concoction was smooth, aromatic and flavourful.
I also had my usual kopi C kosong kaw (coffee with evaporated milk, no added sugar and less water). It's the same bitter acidic taste and caffeine kick but the body was thickened by milk which also added a sweetish balance to its bitter acidic taste. It was nice.
Between toast and steamed bread, I always go for the latter whenever it is available 😬
The kaya was light bodied (i.e.) not thick like a paste, but it was rich in caramel and coconut type fragrance and sweetness (neither sugary nor too sweet). The butter added savoury balance to the sweet kaya and bread. Oh... the white bread was thick, soft and fluffy bouncy like a feather pillow (yeah... some places right...., their toast and steamed bread same thinness one... 🙄 ). Yet, at its core there was a gentle chewiness which I enjoyed.
Carol said she like Hanyuan's fish sauce fried bee hoon. I like fish sauce and such traditional, humble, simple, comforting staples, so I ordered it the first time I was here.
They don't skim on ingredients here at Hanyuan. There were three good size prawns, and they were shelled and not the tasteless frozen ones (which I dislike). There's also eggs, bean sprouts, and fishcake slices. It's a nice alternative to the ubiquitous dry mee Siam (in such JB establishments). Anyway, Carol said Hanyuan makes a mean dry mee Siam too, so I shall try that next time.
Eat the fish sauce bee hoon with a sharp tasting savoury spicy sambal.
Nasi lemak with curry chicken - it's good. The warm rice had slight coconut flavours which was well complemented by the anchovy savoury spicy sweet sambal, as well as well fried peanut and crisp dried anchovies. The fried egg was just alright as I prefer runny egg yolks.
The accompanying curry chicken was a winner. Cooked to just the right tenderly juicy doneness, with its fresh chicken flavours complemented by flavoursome but mild curry 👍
Hanyuan's egg tart is another winner. Neither big or the thickest, the egg custard sitting inside a layered puff pastry cup was under a well browned caramelised cap.
Oh I love that soft moist eggy sweet creamy custard. I put this ahead of any of the egg tarts that I have tasted recently in Singapore and Malaysia.
Hanyuan Daily is in my list of nice places to cool my heels and chill out over good coffee, tasty food, pleasant ambiance and service in Johor Bahru.
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