Grill Bar Steak House in Johor Bahru, Taman Pelangi

I am a regular here at Grill Bar SteakHouse in Taman Pelangi. I like the ambiance, service, and of course, the delicious food here. Pricing is at a slight premium but it is worth it for the quality ingredients, and Chef Gary and his team's masterful cooking. 

Here are my earlier first, second and third posts from my previous visits to Grill Bar SteakHouse.

Our party of 6 had another gorgeous evening of food and fun during our latest round at Grill Bar :D  We all left Grill Bar very full and happy from all the great food and fun company.



We had Grill Bar's famous milkshakes while waiting for everyone to arrive. Audrey is a big fan of Grill Bar's Oreo milkshake and was recommending it strongly to everyone :D  I had the lesser evil of banana milkshake to save my calories for Grill Bar's big steaks :D



Our dinner started with a boom with Grill Bar's signature Onion Blossom. Savoury crispy golden brown batter outside, sweet juicy, crunchy onion inside.

Sort of a novelty but customers never got tired of it because the pretty Onion Blossom tastes so good.



My Mini Lamb Bagel (beef also available). Served with Lobster Bisque Soup (RM16 per serving), Wild Truffle Mushroom Soup (RM14), or Bacon and Basil Tomato Chowder. Paired with large slices of Organic Pumpkin Chips (RM15).

My favourite is Gill Bar's Lobster Bisque Soup. The soup has a deep, rich and robust crustacean flavour and aroma. I also like the Wild Truffle Mushroom Soup for it's spongy, creamy, grainy mushroomy goodness. The mushroom soup is made with 100% mushroom cooked in it's own juices (no water added). 

(My pictures ain't doing justice to Gary's food due to dim lighting inside Grill Bar. The ambiance is perfect for diners but the warm mood lighting is a food photographer's challenge nightmare :P  )



Grill Bar's grilled tenderloin. RM125+ (10oz slab). 



Made with a thick slab of Aussie Black Angus tenderloin. Done medium rare.



Aiyoh...., Chef Gary is such a real master at grilling steak. 

I don't know what to say about this. It brought out the carnivore in me :D  Six of us at the group dinner, I devoured ate 7 out of 10oz, thanks to polite company :P

I love also the heap of spinach that came with the steak. The clump of leafy greens sponged up loads of sauce and also beefy juices from the steak. Savoury, delicious and crunchy.



Roasted Silver Codfish RM96+ (at RM12 per oz).

Gary uses only the choice tail portion of premium Norwegian Codfish to make this baked and grilled chunk of creamy, sweet and savoury fish.

Fish lovers must try this.



Country Pesto Chicken (RM45+).



The tender roasted free-range chicken roll was filled with herbal pesto sauce and savoury duck bacon.

The sweet and tender local "kampung" chicken flesh was well complemented by the more robustly savoury and grainy duck.

A favourite with the ladies in our group.



Lamb Tenderloin (RM78+). Done medium.



New Zealand lamb, marinated with herbs and grilled. New Zealand lamb is favoured as it is less gamey and more tender than lamb from Australia.

Love the grilled lamb from Grill Bar.

We rounded up our scrumptious dinner with a round of sweet desserts.



Belgium Waffle (RM12+). The squares were filled with dark and white chocolate lava.



Chocolate brownie with caramelised banana (RM12+).



Hot Chocolate Lava (RM16+) is one of Grill Bar's hot favourites. It made the calorie conscious ladies in our group dumped their diets without persuasion .....



Creme Brulee (RM9+).



At the end of our wonderful dinner, I asked Chef Gary to share what is behind the consistently excellent dishes that Grill Bar serves.

Gary humbly and graciously gave the credit to his team, from the kitchen crew to the serving staff, many of whom had been with Grill Bar for 3 to 5 years.

Gary did not mention but I feel his careful selection of good ingredients is also a key to Grill Bar's delicious food. Not to mention Gary's passion, infectious energy, creativity and his warm friendliness which is imparted to his service staff. 

All these came together to give Grill Bar's customers a great experience.



Part of Gary's team - sister Willow and brother Anyang.

Grill Bar is definitely one of my favourite restaurants in Johor.

->> JB people's favourite steak house. The food is always good at Grill Bar.



Restaurant name: Grill Bar Steakhouse 
Address: 202, Jalan Sri Pelangi, Taman Pelangi, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/WUYzl 
GPS: 1.480602,103.773548 
Hours: Mon: 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm, 5:00 pm - 10:30 pm | Wed - Fri: 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm, 5:00 pm - 10:30 pm | Sat - Sun: 12:00 noon - 10:30 pm (Closed on Tues.)
No pork, no lard, alcohol (beer only) served

Dates visited: 7 Aug 2014

Return to Johor Kaki homepage.

Grill Bar Steakhouse - Johor Bahru's Brunch Place

Grill Bar Steakhouse recently launched their brunch menu which is served from 12:00 noon to 3:00pm (except for Tuesday, the rest day).

(Grill Bar Steakhouse is already well known in JB for their dinner menu.)



Gary, the Chef owner of Grill Bar takes great pains to come up with this brunch menu. This was actually my second invited tasting to give Gary feedback on the brunch menu. For this round, I joined Gary's biker buddies for the taste test. Steven, Mimi, and Ah Yong are a fun bunch :D



Gary is an avid Harley Davidson fan and his passion for these mean machines is seen in every corner of Grill Bar. This is a totem pole of Gary's collection of vintage helmets.



Let's check out Grill Bar's brunch menu.



I love Grill Bar's Ultimate Nachos. It was the hardest dish to photograph as it was a jumble of beef tenderloin and chicken strips, olives, baked beans, tomatoes, caramelised onions, and melted cheese piled on top of a heap of crispy nachos. 

But, these were the best nachos that I have eaten for a long while. Crackly, nice corn flavour and not a bit too salty or greasy. 



Grill Bar imports these American nachos and fries them in house, so it's minus most of those salt, grease and preservatives.

The ultimate starter and beer food.



The Big Boss (RM25) is savoury tender tenderloin with gravy served with scrambled eggs, baked beans and house made bagel. Those dark "dust" on the bagel are actually poppy seeds. The nutty seeds pop in our mouth and release a unique lovely flavour. That leafy green is Ulam Raja which means "salad for kings". The market fresh royal green has a nice fragrance and I was eating stalks of it from everyone's plates :D



I love this Signature Beef Stew with Waffle (RM30). Made with Wagyu beef cheeks braised till tender. The soft savoury cheeks are served with house made waffles, sous vide egg, baked beans, and house made brown sauce.

At Grill Bar, the sauces are thickened by natural gelatin from the meat dissolved by hours of stewing. No short cuts or compromises by using starch here at Grill Bar.



Oh.... that brown sauce on the marshmallow soft Wagyu cheeks was really, really delicious. Must try.



There is nothing sloppy at all about this Sloppy Joe's (RM23). I was delighted by this corn beef hash with sous vide egg served with bagels.

The French fries cubed and fried had a surprisingly crunchy, bouncy, slightly spongy mouth feel. The fries soaked up the grease and beefiness from the corn beef, making them hard for beef lovers to resist.

We all love this indulgent dish.



The Rambo Lamb (RM26) is a thick juicy home made Australian lamb patty with mint and rosemary topped with cheese and served with Grill Bar's house made bagels. Comes with sides of scrambled eggs, baked beans and Ulam Raja.



Scramble Grumble (RM23) is scrambled eggs, cheese, Spanish sausage slices with turkey ham served with Grill Bar's house made bagel.



Grand Mama L.C. (RM23). Forgot to ask Chef Gary what L.C. means but this dish is tomatoes, mushrooms, Spanish sausage, and egg baked and served in a bowl along with grilled buttered toast and baked beans.



Flapjack's Long John (RM23) is made with Spanish sausage, scrambled egg and caramelised banana served with pancakes. The others liked it but I didn't try as there was just no more room in my stomach :P  Shall keep this for next time :D

->> JB people's favourite steak house. The food is always good at Grill Bar.



Restaurant name: Grill Bar Steakhouse
Address: 202, Jalan Sri Pelangi, Taman Pelangi, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/WUYzl
GPS: 1.480602,103.773548
Hours: Mon: 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm, 5:00 pm - 10:30 pm | Wed - Fri: 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm, 5:00 pm - 10:30 pm | Sat - Sun: 12:00 noon - 10:30 pm (Closed on Tuesday)

No pork, no lard, alcohol (beer only) served




Date visited: 2 May 2013




Return to Johor Kaki home page.

Grill Bar Steakhouse in Taman Pelangi, Johor Bahru

This is my second visit to Grill Bar Steakhouse in Taman Pelangi. Gary, the boss, has a gathering for family and friends to celebrate his sister-in-law's birthday and I am honoured that he invited me to join in. I am also glad to visit Grill Bar Steakhouse again because during my last visit, I missed the chance to chat with Gary and to photograph him in action.



Grill Bar Steakhouse was full house during our visit (it was a Sunday lunch). Grill Bar Steakhouse is so popular and is the favourite of so many that I was surprised to learn that it will only be its third anniversary this coming July :)


Gary was going to present this surprise dessert to a regular customer who has become a friend.

But after meeting Gary and his wife Eva, it is not hard to understand the success of Grill Bar Steakhouse. Grill Bar Steakhouse is brimming with energy and passion for good American style food. Customers also enjoy the warm service of the attentive Grill Bar Steakhouse folks.  



I noticed that Gary is very customer and service focused. Gary enjoys mingling and interacting with customers. Whenever he has the time, he will "sneak out" from his kitchen and chat with customers. Here Gary was helping to cut our steak.


Where did that passion for good food come from? Well, making and serving good food is literally in Gary's blood. You see, Gary's father and grandfather were the owners of the legendary Ah Yong Nasi Padang in old town Johor Bahru. To their fans, Ah Yong Nasi Padang defines good food in Johor Bahru during it's days.

How did Gary jump from nasi padang warung to American grill and steakhouse? Gary's first job about 15 years ago was with the restaurant at the American Club in Singapore and then he moved on to Morton's Steakhouse Singapore, and other grill houses. Over 2 years ago, Gary suddenly decided to start his own grill bar, and since then, it was no turning back :) 

Here's all the good stuff we had during our visit :)



Our first dish was an appetiser which Gary calls his "Well Dressed Sloppy Joe". Well, this appetiser is certainly no sloth in taste. The crispy, crunchy oven dried toast is eaten with Ozzy's rich beefy chili dip. (Ozzy is Gary's nickname. I forgot to ask him how that came about :P )


Wild Mushroom Soup RM14

The "Sloppy Joe" was followed by another appetiser, the "Wild Mushroom Soup". Made with fresh chopped mushrooms with a touch of truffle oil luxury, this mushroom soup is creamy, wholesome goodness.


Manhattan Seafood Soup RM14 per serving

There were 9 of us in the party, so we had room to try another appetiser. This time the Manhattan Seafood Soup. Slipper lobsters and calamari cooked in tomato soup - full bodied, savoury and sweet with a touch of tangy.


USA Sea Scallop with Spaghetti RM22

My share of the USA Sea Scallop wrapped with turkey bacon served with a mouthful of spaghetti. I love this spaghetti cooked with lobster bisque gravy - that umami (savoury) flavour from the lobster is especially addictive.


Hardcore Solo Jerk Cheese Burger RM39

Gary calls this his "Hardcore Solo Jerk Cheese Burger". I took only a small bite of the patty to taste as I am not a big burger fan. The patty was chunky, beefy, juicy and wholesome. That deep fried chicken sausage perched on top looked like the crowning glory of this burger. I enjoyed the small bite that I took of this bouncy meaty sausage. The younger folks at the party were raving about this burger but I didn't pay enough attention to recall their exact words (sorry :P ). I was busy composing my photos :P This happens also to be my first outing with my new camera and the dim lighting was a challenge :)


Leather Jacket Short Ribs RM55

I am crazy about any kind of braised meats, so this huge "Leather Jacket Short Ribs" really got me excited. Gary slow braised this chunky short beef rib in low heat for over 10 hours before serving. Pardon the overused cliche "melt in your mouth" but this short rib was super tender and the fatty and gelatinous parts literally melted into savoury jelly. Good braised meat melts my heart, again.


Prime Filet Mignon RM50 (5 Oz)

Another tender steak, this Prime Filet Mignon had a slight savoury crust and the inside was thick and moist with that nice beefy flavour.  

After all that scrumptious meal, it was time for dessert.



We were all really stuffed and Gary wanted us to try this Danish Waffle.



Stuffed as we were, some dainty ladies in the party asked for this Chocolate Lava Cake - "Must Have"  they say. I was a little hesitant but have to admit that they were right :P Sweet and slightly bitter, warm and cold, soft and crusty - Grill Bar Steakhouse's chocolate lava cake is an interesting blend of flavours, mouth feel and temperatures. No wonder it is so irresistible.



Grill Bar Steakhouse serves many different interesting hot and cold drinks as well as beer. For today, I just have ice water to cut back on cream and sugar. This was one of the pretty drinks ordered by one of ladies :)

I am always happy to be back at Grill Bar Steakhouse. Great passionate folks, delicious food, lovely ambiance. 





Restaurant name: Grill Bar Steakhouse
Address: 202, Jalan Sri Pelangi, Taman Pelangi, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/WUYzl
GPS: 1.480602,103.773548
Hours: Mon: 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm, 5:00 pm - 10:30 pm | Wed - Fri: 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm, 5:00 pm - 10:30 pm | Sat - Sun: 12:00 noon - 10:30 pm

No pork, no lard, alcohol (beer only) served




Date visited: 2 May 2013

Return to Johor Kaki home page.