I stayed two nights at the newly opened Ramada Meridin @ Medini Hotel in Nusajaya, Johor Bahru. Opened on 1st July 2018, Ramada Meridin is JB's newest hotel but the family oriented hotel has already caught the eye of savvy tourists who know a good deal.
You know, when I visit Bangkok (or just about anywhere), I hit the streets for food, shopping and the fascinating sights. So, I spend very little time in the hotel except to freshen/ wash up and to sleep.
Restaurant name: Oasis Restaurant at Thistle Hotel
Address: Jalan Sungai Chat, 80100 Johor, Malaysia
GPS: 1.462046, 103.743922
Hours: Italian buffet on Fridays 6:30pm to 10:30pm. RM88 nett for adults. Children 7 - 12 years old 50% discount (i.e. RM44). Free for children 6 years old and below.
Tel: +607 222 9234
No pork, no lard, no Halal cert
Aerial day time view of Oasis Restaurant by the pool
I was invited to taste the Friday night Italian buffet at Oasis Restaurant in Thistle Hotel Johor Bahru.
We can enjoy poolside dinning on cool breezy nights.
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Or, we can opt for the Oasis' well appointed interior.
The appetisers, mains and desserts are presented buffet style. In addition, we can also have make-to-order pasta and pizza a la carte style.
Appetisers and sides include cheese platters, grilled zucchini, smoked salmon and more. Condiments include various pickles, dressings, comfit and oils.
Chef at the roasted lamb station.
The juicy, aromatic roasted lamb shoulder looking seductive under the warm glow of the orangey lamp ;-D
The tender, juicy and richly flavoursome slice of lamb shoulder was served with a choice of Rosemary, garlic and mint sauce. I like this delicious lamb.
Herbs Crust Salmon with Hollandaise Sauce.
Roasted Tenderloin Beef with Shallot Reduction.
I like this Chicken Picata with Tomato Salsa. The meaty chunks of tender flavoursome chicken thigh were wrapped in eggy batter and mildly savoury Parmesan cheese. Pan seared and baked. Yums!
Aglio Olio pasta which I ate with Arabiatta Prawn Sauce.
Chef Adnan making my pizza order with the wood fired oven.
The freshly baked Hawaiian pizza.
The meat lovers' pizza.
The fruit and dessert station.
There's a lot to choose from but my tummy only had space left for a few sweet nibbles. I am jealous of those petite ladies who have dessert stomachs.
Lim kopi (drink coffee) in my room at Thistle Hotel in Johor Bahru and enjoying the view of Dataran Merdeka JB and Straits of Johor.
Acknowledgement: My thanks to Thistle Hotel Johor Bahru for your hospitality. As this is an invited tasting, the food is not reviewed.
Date visited: 5 Jun 2015
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Where to stay in Johor Bahru JB?
Besides the wide range of all classes of hotels in Johor Bahru, JB now has the bed & breakfast option at Eco B&B in Taman Setia Tropika. Setia Tropika is about 15 minutes leisurely drive from the JB CIQ (via the EDL or Eastern Dispersal Link).
Eco B&B is the first and the only bed and breakfast in Johor Bahru, at the moment.
Eco B&B is located in a 2-storey corner terrace house in Setia Tropika estate. Setia Tropika is a sprawling landed residential estate with several precincts, all with their gated and guarded communities. Eco B&B is 5 minutes slow drive from the entrance of the estate (at the eastern corner).
Eco B&B is in a relatively new section of Setia Tropika, so some of the neighbouring units are unoccupied and some are undergoing renovation (during our visit in Mar 2015).
The private car park and entrance to the unit.
I could park my car within the compound and inside the gates. There is space for at least 2 cars, or 3 cars in a squeeze.
The simple reception/ front office.
Keith and Jewel are the owners of Eco B&B.
Keith and Jewel are friendly hosts, and Keith in particular is a great resource about where to eat, play, shop and relax in Johor Bahru.
The reception is manned by a live-in staff when Keith and Jewel are not at Eco B&B.
The lounge area at the ground level is bright and cheery. I enjoyed spending time here. The entire unit is air conditioned and clean.
The decor is white themed and eco friendly, hence the name Eco B&B. Natural and recycled materials are used in most of the simple furnishings. For example, most of the furniture here are handmade using discarded wooden planks.
The four bedrooms are on the 2nd storey, up the stairs. Two of the bedrooms come with attached bathrooms.
Each bedroom features it's own unique rocking bed.
This is the King size rocking bed in the master bedroom.
This queen size bed had a very slight, slow rocking motion while I slept soundly on it. (We can lock the bed, if we are uncomfortable with the rocking motion.)
My room came with attached bathroom and toilet. Basic toiletries like shampoo/ body wash and towels were provided except for toothbrush and toothpaste.
The water pressure of the shower was a little low.
There is no TV in the room. Which is fine for me as long as I have good wifi ;-D
Each bedroom is provided a water flask but no kettle. We can fill up our flask here at the pantry on the ground level. Complimentary coffee, tea and Milo are also available.
The house rule is to keep our room unlocked when we leave our room. We can keep our valuables in these metal lockers at the reception. You may want to consider bringing you own padlock.
As Keith and Jewel are cat lovers, there are a couple of cats in the house.
Breakfast is at the adjacent lawn which is great in the cool of the morning.
Keith is trying his hand in a little bit of organic gardening in the small green space.
These are some of the fruits from Keith's little organic garden.
Our freshly made organic vegetarian breakfast prepared by Jewel and Keith. The Belgian style waffle was made from scratch. Topped with a mushroom omelette, caramelised apple, raisins, almonds and a drizzle of chocolate, the waffle was delicious and filling.
Overall, we enjoyed the Eco B&B homestay experience. The night stay was comfortable and refreshing, and we started the morning with a great breakfast.
Places of interest and good JB food are a short drive away, so Eco B&B is ideal for a short driving holiday. Keith is very accommodating, so transport and other needs can be arranged.
Disclosure: My stay was hosted by Eco B&B.
Eco B & B
Address: No. 42 Jalan Setia Tropika 9/6, Taman Setia Tropika, Kempas 81200, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.
Map: http://bit.ly/EcoBnB
GPS: 1.540075, 103.729058
Phone: +60 7-2446499
Free wifi available.
Date visited: 6 Mar 2015
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I was invited to the media launch of Tosca Trattoria Italiana, the Italian Restaurant at DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Bahru.
The rustic, earthly yet contemporary interior at Tosca was simple yet classy. Located on the 13th floor, the windows overlook the Straits of Johor.
I like this private room - we can gawk at watch the chefs busy at work while we dine in style and comfort :D
The well stocked bar at Tosca.
There is also poolside alfresco dining which I think will be great for a romantic evening :D
Executive Chef Jaffery at DoubleTree has over 25 years of experience, that took him around the world before coming here to Johor Bahru. Chef Jaffery's philosophy is quality ingredients prepared to perfection with simple techniques. It's an approach to food that I subscribe to as well :D
At Tosca, all pizza dough and pasta are made from scratch in the kitchen. Chef Yuzry demonstrated pasta making for us and showed us the squid ink fettuccine he made.
Tosca is equipped with this special Zesti wood fired pizza oven capable of extremely high temperatures (700°C). This is the only such oven in Southeast Asia, at the moment.
We tried our hands at making pizza under the tutelage of Executive Chef Jaffery and Chef Yuzry. Xiang Yun from The Star newspaper on my left.
To round up the media event, we were hosted to lunch at Tosca.
There was a wide range of antipasti (Italian style starters) to whet our appetite.
The hearty mushroom soup was a grainy blend of a few types of mushrooms dressed with whipped cream, olive oil and sprinkles of finely chopped parsley leaves. Deliciously earthly, savoury and mushroomy.
After seeing Chef Yuzry's demonstration of pasta making, I ordered this Fettuccine Alfredo to try.
Fettuccine Alfredo is the most basic of pasta dishes, made with (flat and broad) fettuccine tossed in melted Parmesan cheese and butter. The melted cheese and butter smothered the eggy pasta with a smooth and rich coating.
Personally, the most elemental, basic way is the best way to enjoy pasta and noodles (including wanton mee 云吞面 and mee pok 面薄 :P ).
Tosca's al dente and richly flavoursome Fettuccine Alfredo was excellent.
Chicken breast stuffed with spinach and mozzarella cheese, and served with grilled vegetables and baked potato.
The tender clean tasting subtly sweet chicken breast was complemented by savoury gravy enveloping it's surface and savoury melted mozzarella cheese stuffed in it's inside. The gravy soaked spinach added to the layers of savouriness in this flavoursome dish.
I liked this too.
We rounded up our lunch with a sweet and cold Pistachio Semifreddo dessert. The frozen mousse and ice cream blend was another winner.
I enjoyed the small sampling of Tosca's food today and look forward to trying the pizzas made with that mighty Zesti wood fired pizza oven :D
Entrance driveway at DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Bahru
My thanks to Grace, Karen and Lena for the invite and hospitality.
Restaurant name: Tosca Trattoria Italiana
Address: 12 Jalan Ngee Heng, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/KIaRs
GPS: 1.465216,103.760182
Hours: Lunch | Dinner
Tel: +607 268 6868
No pork, no lard, no Halal cert
Date visited: 26 Aug 2014
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