Pelangi City (Tze Char) in Taman Serene Food Centre in Johor Bahru 彩虹城

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Stall name: Pelangi City 彩虹城 (temporary location)

Temporary Address: Johor Bahru, Taman Sri Tebrau, Jalan Keris (carpark between Sri Tebrau Market and New Lucky Restaurant)

Tel: +6016 758 7431

Hours: 5:30pm -10 pm (Tues off)

Taman Serene Food Centre, Jalan Biru, Johor Bahru • 6pm - 10pm, Tues off

✍ 17 Apr 2024. Met up with buddy Malcolm for drinks in JB. Then, we adjourned for dinner. I suggested Pelangi City at Taman Serene (opposite the popular San Lou Seafood Restaurant).

Lau Di Kway Teow Soup 老弟潮州粿条汤 in Taman Sentosa, Johor Bahru

Lau Di Kway Teow Soup 老弟潮州粿条汤 is an old gem in a pretty forgotten corner of JB old town.

MR Er's grandfather, Lau Di, started this Teochew kway teow soup stall before the Japanese Occupation of 1942. 


Today, MR Er carries on the family tradition using the same methods and recipes of his grandfather, Lau Di 老弟. MR Er's uncle Ah Sang runs Sang Heng, the other old style kway teow soup stall just across Jalan Wong Ah Fook.

Lau Di had its heydays when the CIQ was at the old location as the stall was just next to the CIQ then. Since the CIQ shifted, traffic flow to Lau Di was much reduced. 

Most of the customers here are old regulars who know where the best foods are in JB and a new generation who tagged along with their parents. Though just across the Causeway, Lau Di doesn't have much Singapore customers nowadays.

Today, I decided to try mee kia instead of my usual favourites of either kway teow or mee pok. I asked for chili paste to be added to my soy and lard based sauce.

Those pork lard crackles that magically turn plain and simple traditional noodles into tasty delights. 

After a vigorous stir, the fine film of sauce and lard coated mee kia was tasty and tacky yet smooth. The noodles were el dente (QQ). MR Er told me that his wife and daughter make the fresh egg noodles everyday at home.

The same too for these fish balls and most of the ingredients which had been home made all these years.

The most striking thing about Lau Di was their soup. I liked Lau Di's murky, old style soup very much. Lau Di's soup had that distinct prawny aroma.

The cloudy soup has that umami flavour and nice prawny taste. The full bodied soup was not oily yet it felt smooth.

As usual, when making my order, I asked for no minced pork in my noodles as most kway teow soup stalls had much more fat in the minced pork than I would like. Later I noticed that Lau Di's minced pork is made completely with lean meat.

So, for my next visit, I shall ask for this minced pork which I am sure adds texture and flavour to the kway teow soup.

Lau Di is another heritage hawker in JB with that traditional old style taste and flavour worth visiting regularly.

Old location at Jalan Siu Nam

Current location at Taman Sentosa

Restaurant name: Lau Di Teochew Kway Teow Soup 老弟潮州粿条汤
Address: Along Jalan Siu Nam opposite the ESSO petrol station Along Jalan Sutera, at the same row of shop lots with Bierhaus at Taman Sentosa
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/WB09l  http://goo.gl/maps/V5dJI
GPS: 1.459103,103.766126  1.494341,103.783142
Hours: 9:00am to 2:00pm (Closed on Tuesday)
Non Halal

Date visited: 15 Nov 2012

Laksa Johor & More @ Dann's Café in Taman Daya, Johor Bahru, Malaysia Update 2019

Way back in 2012, Encik Kamalluddin the founder of Dann's cafe said I should come back for his nasi briyani (I was at Dann's to taste their Laksa Johor which is one of the best in the country). I finally kept the date, seven years on 😂

LJ Noodle House Kway Teow Thng (Soup) 老江粿条 in Taman Impian Emas, Skudai. Johor, Malaysia

Teochew kway teow thng or soup is everywhere in Johor Bahru, so it is very difficult to stand out in this crowded field. LJ Noodle House has done so well that it has three outlets, in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Taman Pelangi and the mother shop in Taman Impian Emas.

 

We stumbled upon LJ Noodle House while driving around and searching for a good brunch in Taman Impian Emas. We were attracted by the large crowd in LJ Noodle House and decided to check out what the buzz was about on a Monday mid morning.

At first sight, LJ Noodle House was like any other popular Teochew kway teow thng shop. Same arrangements, same clientele profile and the same menu.

At the kitchen out in front, an Indonesian lady was doing the cooking whereas in other top kway teow thng shops, it was invariably the boss personally handling this critical station. The boss Lau Ciang was at the shop, making sure that everything was running smoothly and well.

 

 

 

We made our orders anyway, each of us in a party of four ordering a different combination of soup and noodles.

 

 

The ingredients looked ordinary, little different from what we would find in similar famous kway teow thng shops. Fresh prawns, canned abalone, fish balls, fish cake, slices of pork, fish and bits of pork innards. 

 

But, the first sip of that cloudy soup woke up our sleeping taste buds from the Monday doldrums! Wow, it's a delightful difference.

Whereas in other famous kway teow thng soups, where the fresh fish is usually the dominant flavour, here in LJ Noodle House, it was a good balance of fresh fish and pork flavours.

The tasty soup had good body, smooth yet not oily and addictively lovely.

How good?

 

Well, it was good to the very last drop.

After we were done with the impressive kway teow soup, I observed the Indonesian kak kak at work to spot the difference that made the difference at LJ Noodle House.

 

Kak kak was really efficient and skillful, and had command of the kitchen in a calm and cheerful style despite the capacity crowd. Amazing grace.

 

Then I realised that, here in LJ Noodle House, kak kak cooked each bowl of soup separately. It's not the usual way like in other stalls where the fresh ingredients were merely blanched in soup.

 

 

 

In LJ Noodle House, kak kak actually made the soup, one by one. It's amazing that despite this, none of the customers in the full house shop had to wait very long for their delicious kway teow soup.

The meal for 4 of us with drinks came to RM37.

I asked my kakis whether they would recommend LC Noodle House to their friends, and they all gave a strong affirmative.

LJ Noodle House is definitely a Must Try.

 

Restaurant name: LJ Noodle House 老江粿条
Address: 31, Jalan Impian Emas 2, Taman Impian Emas, Skudai, Johor
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/chb6c
GPS: 1.542625,103.683267
Hours: 7:00am to 5:30pm (Closed on Tuesday)
Non Halal

Date visited: 12 Nov 2012

Ah Kaw 亚九 Teochew Porridge in Kluang, Johor, Malaysia

I have Singapore readers in mind when I wrote this post as it is about a traditional Teochew dish very hard to find in Singapore nowadays and another dish that is no longer sold in Singapore.

These dishes are traditional suah heer kiam chye curry and pork blood curd which are available in Teochew porridge stalls in Malaysia.

Claypot Catfish at Restoran Top Chance 聚品鲜 in Taman Daya, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

I was food spotting around Taman Daya at about 2:00pm when a full house at Top Chance 聚品鲜 restaurant caught my attention. Top Chance looked like any other run of the mill family run seafood and zhe char restaurant ubiquitous in Johor and Malaysia.

Cendol and Coconut Juice Stall in Taman Daya, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Most residents of Taman Daya would know about these mobile cendol and fresh coconut juice stalls at the junction of Jalan Sagu 9 and Sagu 10. Suppiah had been running the stalls for 19 years at this street corner and his son Mani joined him.

The two stalls open at 9:00am and close at 7:00pm everyday. I was there on a Friday afternoon and there was a constant stream of customers of all races and ages. Most were regulars as they chatted with Suppiah and Mani like old friends.

Some ate the cendol and drank their fresh coconut on plastic stools along the five foot way. Many took away to enjoy the cendol and coconut juice at home.

 

Suppiah now runs the coconut juice stall.

 



Suppiah is very swift with that chopper. Three or four quick slashes, and the coconut is ready to serve!

 

This refreshing fresh young coconut for RM3.

Gentle scraping with the spoon shaved the tender coconut flesh off the inside of the green coconut. Delicious natural flavours, nothing more, nothing less, nothing added. Perfect.

 

A Chinese regular customer drove by and passed Suppiah a baby milk bottle which the latter promptly filled up with fresh coconut juice. When the customer was paying Suppiah, the latter responded "Free for your baby." It was such a everyday, matter of fact, pure and simple heartwarming gesture.

I asked the customer curiously "Can babies drink this?" as I thought that coconut juice is "too cooling". The gentleman replied that all his three children drank coconut juice since they were a year old. Coconut juice is good for digestion and strengthens the immune system, he added, before quickly getting back into his car with his children inside.

Mani runs the cendol stall. Mani hand shaves the ice block with a traditional ice shaving machine, something very few cendol stalls do nowadays.

 

Mani ladles in a cupful of syrupy gula Melaka.

 

Then a scoopful of coconut milk and pandan jelly "worms".

The green pandan jelly "worms" that cendol lovers love.

The take away version has a mix of shaved ice and ice cubes to keep the cup of cendol cold for a longer time. The usual "dine in" version served in a small bowl was similar to those in other cendol stalls.

Ice cold cendol and fresh coconut juice, the perfect combination to chase away the tropical afternoon heat.

Restaurant name: No name mobile street corner cendol and coconut juice stalls
Address: At the junction of Jalan Sagu 9 and Jalan Sagu 10 in Taman Daya, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/K5vEN
GPS: 1.544180,103.764139
Hours: 9:00am to 7:00pm daily
Halal

Date visited: 9 Nov 2012

59 Restoran Fifty Nine Kway Teow Kia and Braised Duck at Kee Kim Huat Kopitiam in Taman Sri Tebrau, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

The kway teow kia and braised duck at 59 Restoran Fifty Nine stall in Kee Kim Huat kopitiam in Taman Sri Tebrau is one of JB's old favourites :) 

 

 

Ah Hua and his wife have been selling their popular kway teow kia and Teochew braised duck for over forty years.

This hardworking couple still makes one of the best and most popular kway teow kia and braised duck in Johor Bahru.

 

 

My plate last night of mixed braised pork offal and braised duck with a bowl of kway teow kia noodles. A little bit of everything. 

The dominant flavour of the braised pork offal and braised duck was their natural sweetness brought out and enhanced by the subtly herbal braising sauce. The pork offal were very well cleaned and there were no other smells or tastes other than the fragrant braising sauce and the natural sweet taste of pork and duck.

 

Ah Hua's braised pork skin was perfectly done - soft yet springy and tasted delicious.

 

Ah Hua's wife told me that they have a regular customer who would come with his family of four and orders 5 portions of braised pork skin every time. I enjoyed Ah Hua's pork skin myself and found the customer's obsession for it perfectly understandable :P

I especially liked Ah Hua's braised belly pork.

 

 

When I chew all the three layers of lean meat, fat and skin together, it created a chewy, smokey yet smooth blend of textures that was at the same time sweet and savoury. The skin in particular had a nice candy like gummy texture which I liked.

 

 

Ah Hua and his wife are justifiably proud of their braised duck. The tender duck meat had very little fat and when chewed with that thin sliver of skin became a mushy sweet treat in the mouth.

 

This little bowl of preserved cabbages was tangy and savoury with subtle spicy hints from the dried chili peppers.

 

It was neither overly salty nor too soft (which are the common faults with average preserved cabbages).

 

The crunchy yet spongy tau pok was a nice way to enjoy the tasty braising sauce.

 

 

We added a plate of tofu and large intestines. The large intestines were naturally sweet, tender and felt like braised tofu skin.

 

The soft and porous tofu sponged up the savoury braising sauce making it a delightful treat.

The kway teow kia noodles soaking in piping hot braising sauce. The tasty braising sauce was neither salty nor oily, and was thus highly drinkable.

Everything sold at the stall is home made by Ah Hua and his wife, including this chili sauce. The chili sauce was not overly spicy and it had a smooth, highly agreeable texture.

 

Crunchy and soft pork ears

 

Braised skin from pig's head

 

Other customers' delicious looking orders.

59 Kia Teow Kia stall is a Must Try heritage stall.

 

 

 

 

Restaurant name: 59 Kway Teow Kia inside Kee Kim Huat coffee shop 纪金发茶餐室
Address: 80, Jalan Badik, Taman Sri Tebrau, Johor Bahru
Map: http://g.co/maps/dcp4p
GPS: 1.487037,103.768782
Hours: 3:00pm to midnight (closed on Thursdays)
Non Halal

Dates visited: 8 Aug 2012, 5 Sep 2012, 7 Nov 2012