Delicious Cuisine Penang Hokkien (Prawn) Mee @ Mutiara Emas, Johor Bahru 新龙茶餐室

I am very happy today as we stumbled upon an excellent Penang style Hokkien prawn mee at 新龙茶餐室 Sin Long coffee shop in Taman Mount Austin in JB.

Molek Prawn Noodle in Johor Bahru JB 百合蝦麵 ⭐⭐⭐✱✱

Went to Taman Molek today to visit Molek Prawn Noodle shop after reading about it online. We started with one bowl of basic classic prawn noodle soup with small pork intestines add-on.

Tze Char at Pelangi City 彩虹城 in Taman Serene Food Centre in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

I've heard a lot about this tiny tze char (literally "cook and fry" in Hokkien) stall called Pelangi City 彩虹城 in Taman Serene food centre. Pelangi City may be a tiny tze char stall in a small food centre in a quieter part of JB, but it has a huge reputation. My Johor foodie friends raved about Pelangi City tze char and KF Seetoh of Makansutra featured it in his popular "Food Surprise" television series.

KL Hokkien Mee @ Eng Kee 淡杯老荣记 in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Skudai, Johor

Eng Kee 淡杯老荣记 started in Tampoi 淡杯 more than 40 years ago in 1970 and became famous for its KL Hokkien mee 福建面 and signature braised pork trotters 招牌猪手.

KL Hokkien Mee 福建炒麵 @ Ban Kee 万记 in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Skudai, Johor

KL style black Hokkien mee 福建炒麵 in JB? No kidding.

Ban Kee 万记 has been frying KL style Hokkien mee for many years and operating in different parts of JB before finally settling down here in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah (TUTA).

Ban Kee has a faithful following who trail them around JB to this shop in TUTA. Word of mouth and in these days of the internet, social media, brings in new fans to Ban Kee. Early birds mill around the shop before it opens for dinner at 6:00pm and more stream in to fill the seats quickly once the shop opens.

Ban Kee has always been a family business and now a new generation is taking charge of the wok.

This medium size plate for two persons costs RM8

So how authentic is Ban Kee's black Hokkien noodles compared to the KL version? Having lived in KL for several years and eaten at several Hokkien mee eateries in and around KL, I feel Ban Kee's version is less heavy on the lard and less salty than their KL counterparts. Ban Kee's also has more of that natural sweetness which Johoreans seemed to prefer. In other crucial aspects like the trademark fat, pale yellow noodles, Ban Kee's is very similar to their KL cousins.

Personally, I like Ban Kee's version with its lighter and fresher feel on the taste buds. I know die hard KL black Hokkien mee connoisseurs will disagree with me.

This is the place where I'll bring friends who crave the KL black Hokkien mee to get their fix without having to travel all the way to KL.

When you are at Ban Kee's, try also their delicious fried bee hoon with braised pork belly.

Restaurant name: Restoran Ban Kee 万记

Address: 108, Jalan Pahlawan 2, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Skudai

Map: http://g.co/maps/q7gs7

GPS: 1.522098,103.664171

Hours: Noon to 3:00pm and 6:00pm to 9:00pm

Non Halal

Date visited: 10 Feb 2012