Wanton Mee @ Soon Lee Coffee Shop in Taman Pelangi Johor Bahru 顺利茶餐室.☏+607 332 6890

Restoran Soon Lee 顺利茶餐室 | 148 Jalan Sri Pelangi, Taman Pelangi, 80400 Johor Bahru ☏ +6073326890 ⏰ 6:30 am - 4:30 pm | 6:30 pm - 1 am

Came to Taman Pelangi's pasar pagi or morning market which is held on Monday mornings. Opted for my usual kopi C kosong and wanton mee at Soon Lee coffee shop as the hyperlocal vibes of the market seemed to flow into the kopitiam.

I came here by bus T20 and from Plaza Pelangi walked another 30 minutes. Don't follow Tony - this is not an efficient way to come to Taman Pelangi but I like walking and stumbling upon things that delight me. The "~~normal~~ smart people" way to come to Taman Pelangi is by Grab (private hire cab) - fares are usually less than RM10 for the 10 minute ride from JB CIQ.

This is my guide to exploring JB by bus 👈

Don't expect Taman Pelangi pasar pagi to be any sort of trendy festival market worthy of a star attraction on tourist itineraries.

It's just a convenient place with about 50 mobile stalls for homemakers to get their weekly home supplies, utilitarian everyday things and necessities. But markets, especially hyperlocal ones attract me because the things they sell at the market tell me so much about the people, the place and their lifestyle, how they live.

Of course, Taman Pelangi has many dining options from push cart stalls, coffee shop stalls to restaurants and cafes.

Restoran Soon Lee kopitiam is one of the locals' favourite hangouts.

An oasis of calm, laid back, rustic space just a step back from the hustle and bustle of the morning market.

My breakfast like a trusted old friend who provides comfort and reassurance that the day ahead will be fine.

Price for everything here RM10.50 altogether.

It's a simple wanton mee in that there was nothing added to ~~elevate~~ upsell the traditional staple. Just a mound of blanched noodles, set in sauce, topped with char siew slices and some obligatory greens. That's all.

The noodles could be blanched for a few seconds less and dried a bit more. But, nevertheless, the noodles still held up well, so there was a softness with a subtle bit of crunch to the bite. Personally, I perfer more chewiness in my noodles.

Savoury, lardy flavours and aromas enveloped the wet slurpy slippery strands. Residual water from less than thorough draining diluted the sauce somewhat.

The char siew slices were alright, tender with a savoury sweet toasty taste. The obligatory greens were fresh, crunchy, juicy.

Soon Lee's wanton mee reminds me of HW wanton mee (fans swear by HW). As HW opens only at night (6pm - 3am), if you are a HW fan, I think you can get your daytime HW fix at Soon Lee. Let me know, if you think so too👌

I requested a separate dish of sambal to mix into the noodles (my bad habit to get the best of white and red worlds 🤭 ). The sambal was umami savoury with mild spicy heat, nice and different from the sharp type, at for example, Ah B wanton mee.

Five meaty wanton in savoury pork bone soup. Tasty and substantial in my opinion.

I recalled buddy Ellone mentioned that Soon Lee's fishballs are good too, so I ordered a minimum serving of 6 for RM6 to try.

The fishballs were indeed nice. Handmade with yellowtail fish, the balls were light weight, not dense, spongy, springy to the bite, and released a mild savoury briny fresh fish sweetness when it bursted between our teeth.