Hainanese Mutton Soup & Chicken Rice in Restoran Kg Baru Pandan, Johor Bahru

Celine Chong's post in 吃的平台 Facebook group brought us to this cheap and good Hainanese mutton soup shop in Kampung Baru Pandan in JB. Two weeks later, we came back for their Hainanese chicken rice. It was good too 😋

Review Kari Kambing 40 Hari. Air Hitam Yong Peng Johor

I first heard about Restoran Kari Kambing 40 Hari from my friend Puan Chong. Located on the old trunk road between Air Hitam and Yong Peng, Kari Kambing 40 Hari is a good stopover for the drive from JB to KL. We pulled over for breakfast today, arriving shortly after their opening time at 7:30am.

Pandan Mutton Soup in Johor Bahru 班蘭羊肉湯

Pandan Mutton Soup 班蘭羊肉湯 is one of those famous Johor food that I missed because the legendary shop stopped operations before Johor Kaki blog started. I have only heard of, but never tried Pandan Mutton Soup, till today :-D [Update 2019: This shop has changed owners in 2019.]

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.

CLOSED Menu Please Bistro at Taman Maju Jaya near Plaza Pelangi in Johor Bahru

CLOSED. Jayson, the chef owner of Menu Please Bistro invited me to try their "Signature Dishes Sharing Set Meal". The idea is for two persons to share a set consisting of a pair of Menu Please's signature dishes. Jayson let me try "Set D" with the Oriental Duck Pizza and Braised Lamb Shank as the main courses. The Set D costs RM65.80 nett.



That's Jayson the boss, on the right taking orders. Co-incidentally, that's my friend Jason and his family :D



Jayson is a SHATEC graduate and he had worked in Singapore's Four Seasons Hotel and Marina Bay Sands Hotel before returning to JB to set up Menu Please Bistro.

Let's start our dinner.



The opening course is a choice of either the Soup of the Day or a salad. As I had tried Menu Please's tomato soup during my previous visit, Jayson let me try the salad.

Jayson's willingness to experiment is reflected in this salad. The jumble of shredded carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, fried tofu and beansprouts is stuffed in a glass jar. At the bottom of the jar is a tangy, spicy, drippy Thai sauce and on top is a paste-like peanutty, sweet and savoury satay sauce. The idea is to screw on the jar cover, and then mix and blend everything by shaking the jar vigorously. Pour out and serve on a plate after mixing.

It's an interesting mix of textures, tastes and flavours. Try it and see for yourself.



Next up is Menu Please's signature Oriental Duck pizza.



Taste wise this innovative pizza has everything - the sweetness of the tangerine with a tinge of tanginess, and different sorts of savouriness from the smoked duck, melted cheese and char siew gravy. There was also a herbal fragrance from the basil leaf garnishing.



Texture wise, it was also interesting. Juicy spongy tangerine, tender duck with some fat, gooey gummy melted cheese on a thin crusty handmade pizza base.

I enjoyed this interesting pizza even though I am not a pizza fan.



The second main course was Menu Please's top selling braised lamb shank. This was my second time having the lamb shank at Menu Please, and I am still looking forward to it.



The meat was braised so tender that it fell off the bone like a coat dropping off a stiff hanger. The tender meat was rich. The gaminess and aroma of lamb which mutton fans love was only subtly present.



Finally, the Cake of the Day was this durian cake. It's a sponge cake with creamy real durian between the soft spongy layers.

To go with the cake, the Set Meal comes with two hot or cold drinks.

I think this set is ideal for couples - the dishes are tasty and interesting, and the amount of food is just nice for two people.



Restaurant name: Menu Please Bistro
Address: 25, Jalan Maju, Taman Maju Jaya, Johor Bahru (near Plaza Pelangi)
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/1vLa8
GPS: 1.480859,103.766314
Hours: Tues to Fri 12:00 noon to 3:00pm and 5:30pm to 12:00 midnight. Sat and Sun 12:00 noon to 12:00 mid night (Closed on Mondays)
No pork, no lard, no alcohol, no Halal cert

Date visited: 3 Apr 2013, 1 Nov 2013

Return to Johor Kaki home page.

Muar Soup House near Classic Hotel, Muar, Johor ☏ +6019 727 4786

Muar Soup House | 47, Jalan Sisi, Muar, Johor (near Classic Hotel) ⏰ 12 noon - 1am ☏ +6019 727 4786

It was the night after the "Big Haze" in Muar. The night before, Muar recorded a whopping PSI (Air Pollutant Index) of 741.

Nan Bei Restoran 南北 in Taman Gaya, Johor Bahru

Allan from Nan Bei 南北 restaurant messaged me inviting me to drop by his parents' shop to try their Hainanese mutton soup which they had just added to their menu. I was excited to try Nan Bei's Chinese style mutton soup as I love this dish that is rarely found in restaurants in Johor. I was also keen to enjoy Nan Bei's Tung Po Rou which I blogged about earlier this year.

I dropped by with blogging kaki Semi Han, creator of Bonding Tool, one of my favourite food blogs. Semi's good friend Tyng also joined us.

Allan and his parents whom I have met earlier this year received us warmly. We had an impromptu party and got a chance to try most of the food served at Nan Bei 南北 restaurant.



Semi is a very serious food blogger and Tyng a very supportive friend.



Semi is very meticulous and I learnt a lot about food photography from her today. We even roped in Allan to help in the food photography.


Hainanese Mutton Soup RM15

This is Nan Bei's Hainanese mutton soup. The soup is mildly herbal and it did well to balance the characteristic gaminess of mutton. Following the Hainanese tradition, black woodear fungus and fried beancurd sheets are used in the soup. The chunks of white radish added sweetness to the broth while soaking up the flavours. The crunchy chunks of radish are coveted pieces in the pot as they are loaded with flavours. 



The mutton was tender with smokey fatty streaks and only had mild hints of that distinct mutton flavour. We all liked Nan Bei's Hainanese mutton soup. For me, I liked it that the tastes and flavours of Nan Bei's mutton soup are mild with nothing overpowering.


Cabbage with Roast Pork in Claypot RM10



The Nappa Cabbage with Roast Pork in Claypot is another new dish at Nan Bei restoran. The soup is a tasty blend of savouriness from the roast pork and the refreshing sweetness from the fresh cabbage. I love the juicy cabbage as it sponged up the delicious soup and had a tender yet crunchy mouth feel. The Cabbage with Roast Pork won the hearts of the ladies through their stomachs.



We like the Tung Po Rou 东坡肉 or braised belly pork. Those layers of fat are to be enjoyed either fearlessly or recklessly. Today, the fatty layers weren't as thick as that during my previous visit, which would make this dish appealing to more health conscious people.



For me, I prefer my Tung Po Rou to have a thicker layer of savoury, sweet giggly fat since I indulge in this treat only once in a while.


Pig Trotters with Ginger and Vinegar RM7

The braised pig trotters with ginger and vinegar 猪脚姜醋 was quite mild in taste and flavour, so it would appeal to more people. I haven't eaten this dish for a long time and I always had the home made version which is more robust and more herbal.

All of Nan Bei's dishes are eaten with boiled rice. Semi and Tyng both finished their bowls of rice, which is pretty unusual these days especially for calorie counting ladies. When I commented about them finishing the rice, they mumbled something intelligible through their food but their expressions said that Nan Bei's dishes hit all the right notes with them.

Nan Bei restoran is a simple, basic shop serving delicious food at reasonable prices - definitely worth a visit.



Restaurant name: Nan Bei Restoran 南北
Address: 68, Jalan Gaya 1, Taman Gaya
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/sfGrT
GPS: 1.563158,103.800834
Hours: 10:00am to 6:00pm (Closed on Sunday)
Non Halal

Date visited: 16 Jan 2013, 21 May 2013

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.

Curry Mutton @ Kerala Restaurant in Johor Bahru

Kerala Restaurant is a well established name in Johor Bahru well loved for its fish, chicken and mutton curries. Each time I was there, I saw heart warming scenes of three generation families - grandparents, parents and children - enjoying their curries together.