Teochew Kuih Stall @ Meldrum Walk in Johor Bahru

I like the traditional Teochew kuih from this street side stall at Meldrum Walk in Johor Bahru. It is also popular with JB locals.

Kway Teow Kia Stall @ Meldrum Walk is One of JB's Best ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Last month, while exploring Meldrum Walk in JB for food, I bumped into Miranda who is a Johor Kaki reader. She was enjoying her kway teow kia at her favourite KTK stall since childhood. On Miranda's recommendation, I came back to try the KTK today and indeed it is one of the best tasting kway teow kia that I've tried in Johor Bahru.

Meldrum Walk near City Square. Johor Bahru's Back Alley of Disappearing Hidden Gems

If you are in City Square Mall in Johor Bahru in the evening and feel a little adventurous to try something other than mall food, you might want to check out some authentic back lane dining in Meldrum Walk. It's a nice way to wrap up a day trip to JB with an authentic local street food experience.

Daud Kambing Soup at Johor Bahru Meldrum Walk ☏ +6014 812 6106

I am a big fan of sup kambing (Indian Muslim style mutton soup) - I like a hot bowl of comforting rich, aromatic mutton soup.

There are several old sup kambing stalls at Meldrum Walk and Johor Kaki readers have often recommended Daud Kambing Soup stall.

JB Fried Oyster Omelette in Johor Bahru @ Meldrum Walk (near City Square Mall) ☏ +6011 5683 6837 Message to Pre-order

新山蚝煎 JB Fried Oyster | Stall #37 in Meldrum Walk in downtown Johor Bahru (behind Jalan Wong Ah Fook and next to City Square Mall) ☏ +6011 5683 6837 (Whatsapp message to pre-order) ⏰ 11am - 6pm (Sun & Mon off)

Last night, I popped by at Meldrum Walk with Pen/Hemingway Prize winning author John Krich. I wanted to show John some of the heritage hawkers who are faithfully plying their trade here.

John later wrote his Johor experience in a National Geographic article and in it he labelled me a "renegade Singaporean" 🤔 I wondered how he saw that in me 🤭

Pecel Lele @ Kak Long Tomyam in Meldrum Walk, Johor Bahru

I needed a quick dinner one evening and as I was in Old Downtown JB, I walked briskly over to Meldrum Walk for a quick bite.

Decided to go for Kak Long’s pecel lele or Indonesian style fried catfish with rice.

I was pleasantly surprised that for a reasonable RM6, the chef actually took a large fresh catfish, gutted and cleaned it on the spot, only after I had made my order.

The catfish was then marinated with sauces and curry powder, and deep fried till golden brown.

What would be “normal”, would be pre-cooked catfish – which was what had I expected. So this fresh fish was beyond my expectations J

This is the set of freshly fried catfish smothered with crispy crackles on a banana leaf, and it comes with a generous heap of steamed white rice, tempeh, tofu, vegetables, sambal and a clear soup.

I enjoyed this catfish, as I always do. The tender flesh was sweet and doesn’t have any of that “muddy” taste normally associated with catfish.

The sambal was mild and unremarkable - personally, I much prefer mine to be more robust and extra spicy hot.

If you like pecel lele, Kak Long’s is definitely a very good choice.

Restaurant name: Kak Long Tomyam

Address: Stall in Meldrum Walk in downtown Johor Bahru

Map: http://g.co/maps/n7qhh

GPS: 1.460045,103.764673

Hours: 5:00pm to midnight

Halal

Date visited: 29 May 2012

Fried Oyster Omelette (Oh Luak) @ Meldrum Walk near City Square in Johor Bahru

Oyster Omelette at Meldrum Walk

This is a popular fried oyster omelette (oh chien in Hokkien) stall at Meldrum Walk near City Square Mall.

A. Jabar Kambing Soup @ Meldrum Walk in Downtown Johor Bahru

✍ 27 Feb 2012. There are perhaps 6 or 7 kambing soup (Indian Muslim mutton soup) stalls in Meldrum Walk. They all looked popular and since I have not eaten at any here, I randomly picked one.

Update 20 Jul 2025: Now there are only two left, this and Daud, but both have changed hands many times during the last decade (I mean I keep seeing different people running the stalls). Nevertheless, this and Daud remained popular.

Tandoori Chicken and Naan @ Meldrum Walk in Downtown Johor Bahru

Authentic tandoori chicken and naan (Indian flat bread) made with the traditional clay oven (tandoor) for RM8? No kidding.

Salaam Tandoori Corner is the only tandoori stall in the popular Meldrum Walk. This stall is run by just one man - he does everything by himself. Besides making the naan and tandoori chicken, he delivers the food, collects and washes the used trays, and receives the money.

Watching the artistry of this man in swift action, is in itself an education in multitasking. Really respect this hardworking and cheerful gentleman.

Here is how he makes the naan.



Each piece of dough is kneaded by hand



Flattening the dough with a rolling pin



Putting the flattened dough into the tandoor (clay oven)



The dough stuck to the inside wall of the tandoor oven



The freshly baked naan just out of the tandoor oven



Quickly sliced with a pizza cutter while it is still hot

And now, time to grill the chicken using the traditional tandoor.

Putting the chopped chicken thigh marinated with yogurt, masala and spices into the oven



Chicken baking inside the oven with a ring of fire at the base



Sizzling hot tandoori chicken fresh out of the oven

 

The finishing touches - a dab of spice and squeeze of lime - before the tandoori chicken and naan is served

 

The complete set with tandoori chicken thigh, naan, dhal and mutton curry, all for RM8 

The chicken with some charred bits on the outside is fragrant, tender and moist inside, but not too spicy.

The thick naan is slightly crispy with browned bubbles on the outside and tenderly soft inside.

I love this humble stall. The tandoori chicken and naan are made in the traditional, authentic way and taste as good as any much more expensive Indian restaurant that I have tried before.

Restaurant name: Salaam Tandoori Corner

Address: Stall in Meldrum Walk in downtown Johor Bahru

Map: http://g.co/maps/n7qhh

GPS: 1.460045,103.764673
Hours: 5:00pm to midnight

Halal

Date visited: 18 Feb 2012

Bakar Stingray @ Kak Long Tomyam in Meldrum Walk

There are several ikan bakar (BBQ fish) stalls in Meldrum walk. With so many choices, I had a hard time deciding on which stall I should bet my precious calories.

So I used the well tried and tested method of seeing where the crowds are congregating.

Then I took a look at the seafood on display to make sure that it is the freshest.

Finally, I observed the chef in action and the cooking process.

After due diligence, I settled for Kak Long. The stall is made up of two stalls - it looked popular and promising.

I picked a small stingray for RM18. It was big enough by itself to stuff two people.

The sambal sauce is spicy. While my fish was being cooked, the bubbling sambal aroma engulfed the alley and people nearest to it had their noses stung by the pungent smell. I love it but some  people may prefer a milder sauce.

The fish is skilfully and lovingly grilled by makcik (Malay for auntie). It made me feel like its mum's home cooking. The way she went about the process, it was obvious that makcik sincerely wanted us to enjoy her cooking which she did with much pride and loving care.

The end result was a perfectly done stingray. The entire fish turned out steaming hot, tender, oozing with naturally sweet juices, and spiced with hot chili sambal.

I thoroughly enjoyed this stingray. Nothing was left of the fish, not even a single bone. I forgot to take a picture of the bed of banana leaves, the only thing that was left after we were done.

Just recalling it to write this post makes my heart sing. Terima kasi makcik :-D

Restaurant name: Kak Long Tomyam

Address: Stall in Meldrum Walk in downtown Johor Bahru

Map: http://g.co/maps/n7qhh

Hours: 5:00pm to midnight

Halal

Date visited: 13 Feb 2012

Meldrum Walk in Downtown Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Meldrum Walk in Downtown Johor Bahru

Just a short 5 minutes stroll away from modern City Square Shopping Centre in the direction of Singapore, you slip into a completely different realm of street foods, colours, movement, sizzles, clanking, chopping, banter, pressing bodies, pungent spices, and aromatic cooking smoke.

This semi chaotic cacophony assaulting all your senses at once on all fronts is Meldrum Walk - a kind of paradise for foodies who dare. 



The BBQ chicken stall

The fried kway teow stall

The clay oven at the tandoori chicken stall



Satay stall

The air here feels warmer from the heat of so many bodies and the cooking fires.

Fried carrot cake

Fried kway teow

Another fried kway teow stall. There are 3 such stalls here, each with their own following

Cooking sizzles and smells aloft. The aromas rush up through your nose straight to those primeval centres in our brain, creating that heady pleasure.

Very popular Indian curry stall

Your are eyes busy trying to take in all the colours and movements and your mind goes racing unconsciously, "What shall I eat?" This is a more fascinating spread than any hotel buffet.

Kambing (mutton) soup

The popiah (spring roll) stall

Freshly pressed sugar cane juice



BBQ stingray

Fried oyster omelette

Foodie Alice in gastronomic Wonderland asks, "Where should I start?" Cheshire cat says, "In this culinary haven, any stall takes you to foodie's paradise." 

Meldrum Walk by day before it awakes into a gastronomic carnival at night fall.

If you get there early enough, you get to see the interesting sights of how the hawkers set up their food carts. Like cars in a factory, each food cart has the same basic design; however, each hawker displays their stall front and food in their own special way. These carts remind me of flower buds that bloom in full glory at night fall.

Hungry customers start to trickle into the lively alleyway around 5pm and by 6pm the flow increases to a flood. Every food stall is packed and you have to be quick, if you want a chair and table to eat at! Fortunately, in this convivial, friendly place, sharing a table with perfect strangers is perfectly normal and fun J

The tandoori chicken stall

The hawkers are busy but they still manage to keep their graciousness and sense of humour, and are very friendly. If a passer-by stops to snap a photo of the hawkers, they would often time pose for the camera and flash a cheerful smile. This makes the dining experience fun and comfortable, which I believe many diners and tourists would appreciate a lot.

Words and pictures can hardly do Meldrum Walk justice. Go and experience it for yourself. 

But be warned, this is a place for intrepid foodies only. Is this the place that separates those who "live to eat" from those who "eat to live"?

(Special thanks to fellow blogger Yvonne Lew whose blog post led me to this food paradise and inspired me to blog about it.)

Address: Meldrum Walk in downtown Johor Bahru

Map: http://g.co/maps/9m437

GPS: 1.460045,103.764673
Hours: 5:00pm to midnight

Non Halal and Halal sections available

Date visited: 12 Feb 2012, 13 Feb 2012, 18 Feb 2012