Hainanese Beef Noodles @ Yean Kee in Kluang

Yean Kee beef noodles is a household name in Kluang and its reputation has spread throughout Johor and beyond.

Place of Interest in Johor Bahru: Hutan Bandar

Hutan Bandar (in Malay literally means Jungle in the City) is a scenic nature park with lush greenery.

Suitable for all ages – there are paved walking and jogging paths, children's playground, and many benches to sit on and relax.

This is a great place to chill, slow down and let the pulse and blood pressure go down.

It is clean, quiet and park users are generally considerate. The air is fresh. You can listen to birds chirp, watch squirrels play, and also hear the rumble of the traffic in the background as this is a sanctuary at the fringe of hectic downtown Johor Bahru.

There is a large pond with a fountain, ringed by mature shady trees.

There are many beautiful flowers inviting us to stop to admire them and to smell their fragrance.

There is also a small charming koi pond.

After enjoying the nature park, we can walk over to the popular food centre next to the park to have teh tarik and delicious meals.

Place of Interest: Hutan Bandar (Jungle in the City)

Address: Jalan Tasek Utara, Taman Rekreasi (opposite SMK Sultan Ismail)
Map: http://g.co/maps/7znqd

GPS: 1.479856,103.742710

Hours: 7:00am to 7:00pm daily

Admission: Free of Charge

Parking: Free of Charge

Date visited: 12 Mar 2012

Teochew Porridge @ Come & Eat 吃又来潮州粥 off Jalan Stulang Darat, Johor Bahru

“Find dining” is a hit or miss pursuit that risks our meagre daily cholesterol and calorie quota. Once in a while, I stumble upon an outstanding eatery in an unlikely place that cancels all the misses of “find dining”.

Fish Head Soup @ Restoran Onn Kee Jaya in Tampoi

Onn Kee Jaya is an eatery tucked in that enclave sprinkled with food shops across the road from Angsana Plaza off Jalan Skudai.

Onn Kee Jaya is famous for its steamed fish as well as their popular claypot fish head soup which is their signature dish. They also serve bak kut teh and a variety of staple Chinese dishes

When the claypot of fish head soup arrived, the surface of the soup was bubbling furiously and the poping hot bubbles were throwing up puffs of steam.

Inside the soup were big chunks of fish meat and head, and generous amounts of tomatoes, yam, preserved cabbages, ginger, spring onion and celery. 

I just love those big chunks of meat on bone. The fresh fish was naturally sweet and the pleasure of picking the tender flesh from between the bones gave it extra flavour. I always enjoy flesh on bone whether it is fish, beef, pork, or mutton.

The cloudy soup was loaded with flavour from the ingredients. The tasty soup was not salty nor oily.

The fish soup and fish went very well with the fluffy steamed long grain rice.

The service here is very friendly too. I was alone and it was a busy period with many customers streaming in in groups. I mentioned to the lady taking orders that I was alone and asked for a smaller table. She cheerfully replied that they have only large tables and that it is no problem at all. Fortunately, I was done pretty quick and didn't affect their business at all. Of course, I would be happy to share the table with others as this is the norm in JB during peak hours.

Restaurant name: Restoran Onn Kee Jaya

Address: 78, Jalan Dato Toh Ah Boon, Tampoi, Johor Bahru

Map: http://g.co/maps/9w3he

GPS: 1.497854,103.701839

Hours: 11:00am to 3:00pm and 6:00pm to 9:00pm

Non Halal

Date visited: 31 Jan 2012

Lontong Kering @ Fatimah Nasi Campur in Hutan Bandar, Johor Bahru

Reader GKS, commenting on my post on the lontong kering at Warung Saga suggested that I also try the lontong kering at the food centre just next to Hutan Bandar and opposite SMK Sultan Ismail.

I drove pass Hutan Bandar several times before, without realising that there is a very good food centre nestled among the trees in the beautiful park. Thank you, GKS for the tip☻

The clientele at Hutan Bandar consists mainly of office workers as well as civil servants from the offices nearby. There are also chatty and cheerful groups of park users gathering after their morning exercise at Hutan Bandar. Another group are students from the SMK Sultan Ismail across the road.

As lontong kering is a popular dish in Johor, it is not surprising that a few of the stalls are serving it here at Hutan Bandar - each stall with their own loyal following.

Today, I tried Fatimah's - stall number 13 - after confirming its popularity with the customers here.



This is the RM4 plate. It comes with snowy white cubes of lontong, stir fried vegetables, fried tofu, tempeh, fried coconut shreds, a peanutty satay type gravy, a dollop of sambal chili and a choice of curry chicken or mutton. I chose mutton, my favourite meat.

If you like more ingredients, you have the choice of additionals like the popular fried beef lung from the nasi campur spread at extra cost. Everything is prepared by Puan Fatimah and it's like home cooked food.



The kambing (mutton) was fragrant with robust coconut milk flavour and spices - plenty of oomph. Despite its fiery look, it was not too spicy hot. The meat was moist, felt firm and chewy though not hard. Personally, I prefer my mutton more tender.

The bland tasting lontong complement all the spicy accompaniments well. The lontong itself was dense and firm - tightly packed with compressed rice. My preference is for the softer version.

Hutan Bandar food centre is a cosy place to relax with good food and teh tarik while enjoying lush nature just at the fringe of hectic downtown Johor Bahru.

I will definitely be back to try out the other stalls and also to enjoy the Hutan Bandar park.



Restaurant name: Fatimah Nasi Campur (stall number 13)
Address: Off Jalan Abdul Samad (next to Hutan Bandar and opposite SMK Sultan Ismail)
Map: http://g.co/maps/g6ssk
GPS: 1.480152,103.742974
Hours: 7:30am to 2:00pm
Halal

Date visited: 12 Feb 2012

Return to Johor Kaki home page.

Nasi Baryani @ Mohd Shah in Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia

The famous Mohd Shah Nasi Baryani is one of the most written about nasi baryani shops in Malaysia’s nasi baryani Capital, Batu Pahat. (The other famed shop is Nasi Bariani Power.)

Fortunately, locating Mohd Shah Nasi Baryani is not hard. Mohd Shah is stall M14 in the Kompleks Niaga Benteng Peserai food centre directly opposite Putra Specialist Hospital. The popular food centre is along Jalan Bakau Condong near the bridge over Sungei Batu Pahat (river). Batu Pahat town has two bridges over Batu Pahat river – this is the one in the north.

The very reasonable RM6 plate comes with a big piece of mutton rendang with bone on and a large heap of good quality Basmati rice. No frills, no distracting extras and add ons. Each long grain of Basmati rice is coated with fragrant spices and ghee. The moist slightly nutty rice is not overly oily.

The biggest kick of eating nasi baryani at Mohd Shah comes from the kambing (mutton) rendang.

The entire piece of mutton is saturated with fragrance and flavour. The mutton is cooked many hours in coconut milk and hot spices until every fibre is infused with the perfume of coconut and spices. The delicious mutton rendang is tender and moist inside.



Nasi Baryani Mohd Shah is definitely a Must Try for nasi baryani fans.

There are two popular nasi briyani shops in Johor Bahru with family links with the Mohd Shah Nasi Baryani of Batu Pahat. One of them is at Roslin Beriani House in Taman Kebun Teh. Must try 👈 click

The second one with the Mohd Shah DNA is MS Beryani. I just realised what MS stood for while writing this 😅 If you are shopping at Angsana Plaza in JB, this is the Must Try nasi briyani to go for. It's just 3 minutes drive away 👈 click

Restaurant name: Nasi Baryani Mohd Shah

Address: Kompleks Niaga Peserai, Gerai No. 14, Benteng Peserai, Batu Pahat, Johor

Map: http://g.co/maps/us69b

GPS: 1.858509,102.922218
Hours: 8:00am to 10:00pm (closed on Friday)

Halal

Date visited: 10 Mar 2012

Asam Pedas Ikan Pari @ Ali Asam Pedas in Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia

 

It could be because it was my first time tasting asam pedas and I was fortunate enough to taste it in Batu Pahat, the asam pedas Capital of Malaysia.

I was simply wowed and bowled over by the amazing taste and flavour of the ikan pari (stingray) at Ali Asam Pedas along Jalan Shahbandar in Batu Pahat.

Siak Hong Back Alley Stalls @ Taman Century in Johor Bahru 世纪后巷小吃

After stumbling upon blogger Michelle's funnily wacky and informative post on the back alley stalls in Taman Century, I was thrilled to check out the place for myself. (Sadly Michelle deleted her blog.)

This place is behind the Standard Chartered Bank branch opposite Pelangi Shopping Centre.

By day, it is a quiet back alley.

At about 6pm, the stalls slowly emerge, the alley stirs to life and the hungry alley cats start streaming in. There are 10 push cart stalls here altogether.

My first stop was the laksa stall since Michelle rated it higher than the oft recommended Water Works Laksa.

This laksa is comparable to those in the well known shops. The curry is made with lots of ground spices and not too much coconut milk, which is also the style I prefer.

The tau puey (fried tofu skin) is my favourite part of any laksa. Here it is still crispy even after soaking up the laksa curry.

I then tried the fried kway teow as this dish is something I cannot easily resist.

The fried kway teow was the dry style. Tasty and not too oily or salty - which is the way I like my fried kawy teow. The tau geh (bean sprouts) were nicely done, fresh and crunchy.

By now, my stomach has no more room for anything else. So I just strolled along the alley to survey the place and plan for my return visit 😄

The chwee kueh (steamed rice cake) stall.

The yong tau foo stall. Looks like this stall has been upgraded from a push cart stall to a hole in the wall shop. Look, its wheels have been replaced by bricks and it has lost its canvas top 😄

The you char kueh (fried fritter) stall which also serves tau suan (boiled mung beans) ands pulut hitam (boiled black rice).

The mee hoon kueh stall.

The chicken noodle stall.

There are two different dessert drinks stalls here.

I was there just as the stalls were waking from their slumber and I was done before the place bloomed to its full glory. This means I need to come back and stay longer next time to appreciate the true spirit of this place 😄

Restaurant name: No name. Back alley stalls 世纪后巷小吃

Address: Back alley behind shoplots along Jalan Harimau Tarom

Map: http://g.co/maps/6p2ch
GPS: 1.479637,103.763718
Hours: 6:00pm to midnight
Non Halal

Date visited: 14 Feb 2012