Looking for a convenient place to meet up, I stumbled upon this food street at Pah Li Ban Village just outside the historic Lee Pineapple cannery in Skudai.
Lee Pineapple was founded in 1931 by Lee Kong Chian who was known as "Rubber King" as well as "Pineapple King".
This was not my first time here. I come to Pah Li Ban Taika Huat occasionally for their Teochew braised duck, duck chin, and signature steamed braised pork trotters since 2012.
I also come here for Pa Li Ban Pah kut teh and curry fish head.
During the durian season, we come here for our trusted durian seller.
But, this was my first time seriously going through the row of coffee shops here while waiting for buddy Eric to arrive from Singapore (across the Causeway).
There are about five coffee shops here, all with their own regulars. This is a breakfast and brunch place. Most shops close after lunch.
This is a hyperlocal type experience which may not be everyone's cup of tea. Most customers are local villagers. Some are born and grew old here. Others are from out of town like Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Penang, etc. They are here because their children work in Singapore or Johor Bahru and they relocated to Pah Li Ban to be near their children.
If you are still with me, let's take a walk down the row of coffee shops starting from the Taika Huat braised duck corner walking towards the Lee Pineapple side (about 500 metres down the stretch of road).
I tried my usual kopi C kosong gao from a couple of the coffee shops. They were all good - rich body, robust flavours of well balanced bitter sweetness. Aroma of roasted beans.
Abacus seeds from the Hakka food stall outside Gao Deng coffeeshop which also serves lei cha rice. The abacus seeds were very well stir fried with flavourful garlic, dried shrimp, minced pork, woodear fungus, etc. The abacus seeds were tender chewy but didn't have any yam fillings.
This is a zhi char type of stall but specialising in noodles with fish.
The noodles have some wok hei, sauce has depth of savoury flavours and the meaty fish slices were fresh and tasty. I want to try more dishes like fried fish head from this popular stall.
Roast pork stall with famous Lee Brothers sio bak from Kluang.
You char kway stall where the dough is freshly kneaded and deep fried at the stall.
Eric knows how to enjoy his you char kway.
The busy carrot cake man was constantly on the phone, taking orders.
It's a simple dish of rice cakes stir fried with savoury sauces and eggs.
Parking at Pah Li Ban is free but slightly challenging. So far, I have been lucky with a bit of patience.
The village barber grew up in this village.
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| Strike may force firm to close The Straits Times, 8 April 1957, Page 4 |
The barber's wife sells lontong and dessert on a table outside the barber shop. Auntie just makes a small pot of vegetable stew with coconut milk. The homemade sambal is added separately according to individual taste.
I tried it and enjoyed myself.
The bread and cakes van on the Jalan Kilang Nenas.
There are wet market type stalls here selling fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and fish.
There will always be kway teow kia (braised pork offal and noodles) whenever there is a collection of food stalls in Johor Bahru.
This chicken in the window look so good. The stall is outside Kedai Runcit Ah Huat.
The aroma from the pot of steamy chicken rice was hard to resist. Earmarked this for trying next time.
The popular fried noodle stall.
Another customer's fried noodle.
The soy bean drink stall was from the old Fifteen Storey flats of JB.
There is a handmade fish ball stall.
I like the handmade fishballs. Soft tender crunchy chewy moist with a slight brininess and a subtle sweet taste.
Well known fried kway teow stall named "Sohai" - a strange name for char kway teow 🤭 I can smell the caramelised sauces whenever I am passing by but have not tried the char kway teow here yet. Auntie fries plate by plate with a lot of focus.
This stall's nasi lemak and fried chicken is popular.
There is Wang Wang Lai Foodcourt across Jalan Kilang Nenas. There's ample car parking here which is free for customers but costs RM10 for others
Wang Wang Lai Foodcourt has more than 10 food stalls.
Wang Wang Lai has regular promotions to draw customers from the traditional street side coffee shops. Now they have 99 sens coffee.
Pah Li Ban village is an interesting breakfast alternative for the curious local food enthusiast. Don't always only go to those chain restaurants for breakfast lah.... .
Never knew the name of this place. Only know it as next to Lee Pineapple or the badminton courts. Yes, love the spread! 😄
ReplyDeleteLee Pineapple juice is the best. the rest don't come close
ReplyDelete从小到老，最爱他们的旺梨❤
ReplyDeleteReally good char keoy teow there, with an interesting stall name. And good toast at the same coffee shop.
ReplyDeleteSigh. Was one of my fav drink all the way up to their closure.
ReplyDeleteI stayed in Sutera hotels just to eat at her stall in the morning. Most expensive there, but worth every $.
ReplyDeleteNext time I must leave some stomach space for dessert. The kaya sold by them is nice too. I love to have bf in this area.
ReplyDelete