I joined the Tan family and friends at one of their favourite restaurants, the Molek outlet of Moons Cafe.
Moons is a simple family oriented cafe or elevated coffee shop (which is the rage now in Johor Bahru e.g. Hanyuan, Oriental Kopi, The Toast, Roast & Coffee, and many more).
Moons Cafe is relatively simply furnished and decor is minimal. But it is clean, air conditioned and spacious, so tables are relatively far apart. It was full house this Friday lunchtime.
Moons has a certain edge as it is still a family run place. Though now run by the third generation, the matriarch Mdm Teo who founded Moons is still personally attending to customers.
My idol grandma, always joyful, full of cheerful energy.
Moons' menu still has a very strong imprint from grandma. That is why the Tans and I are such fans of Moons Cafe since visiting their original outlet in Taman Impian Emas.
Moons' menu runs a few pages. I just took a photo of one page to give you a feel of the range and type of dishes at Moons'.
Sharing fries with Cheryl while waiting for all to arrive.
Moons' signature Mee Mamak is full of spice flavours and chili heat. Moons' dishes created by grandma generally have rich, robust and well balanced flavours.
Moons' top rated lontong curry is rich with coconut milk, spice flavours and pronounced dried shrimp umami. Add sambal for more savoury spiciness to personal taste.
Moons' dishes are always hearty and full flavoured like their Rendang Chicken with Rice 🐔 The rendang chicken smothered in rich spices and curry was tender and moist inside.
Kampung fried rice with toasty wok hei, robust savoury flavours but was not overly greasy at all. Personally, I prefer the fried egg to have runny yolk but that's just me 😬 (Here, the yolk was fried till firm.)
A Malaysian interpretation of the Italian icon aglio olio. Spicy, garlicky, savoury, cheesy, greasy but not the drippy olive oil type. The spaghetti was done like al dente. Though it might make an Italian roll eyes 🙄, going by texture and flavours, it is a tasty, likeable dish actually.
I was not the only one who couldn't resist the cucur udang or fried prawn cake.
The prawn cake was thick with bits of chives embedded inside. The inside was spongy while the outside was slightly crisp. The soft shelled prawns were sweet savoury - altogether making a flavourful snack that wasn't oily. But, if you are looking for crackly crisp type of cucur udang, this is not that type.
Moons' still serves that type of steak that many of us had during our teens - our first steak.
Of course, we have moved on to appreciate better, more premium cuts but no beef will have that taste of nostalgia, that first taste that brought us into the world of steaks.
Grateful that Moons still have that old school sizzling sirloin steak on the menu (price RM29.90) for us to relive those wonder years memories.
Moons has a good selection of Teochew and Nyonya kueh. Grandma who is Teochew lived with a Peranakan family when she was a child, hence she is a master of both Teochew and Nyonya dishes and snacks.
What should I drink? I never have any problem thinking what to drink in a coffee shop 😬
Moons' frothy kopi peng. Smooth full body, balanced bitter and sweet with a subtle roast coffee bean aroma.
Still had to have my kopi C kosong gao. Moons' is a nice flavoursome and aromatic blend.
A no frills Malaysian style cafe with a good range of local delights and localised Western dishes. Flavours are robust and well balanced. Portions are big while prices are competitive with similar type of restaurants. The coffees are nice here too. Can try it. Moons have a good loyal following at both their Molek and Impian Emas outlets.
The first Moons Cafe in Impian Emas 👈 click
Cleaning and refurbishing now, and re-opening in Nov 2022.
Written by Tony Boey on 15 Oct 2022
Completely agree with you, Johor Kaki. Recommended cafe!
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