Kluang Rail Coffee, Kluang, Johor

When my brother's GF first visited my hometown in Kluang, one of the thing that she looked forward to was to sample the food at Kluang Station.

But us being the lazy bones decided to drag the visit until the day we were due to return to KL :p.

Not too enthusiastic on our end eh? huhu

Anyways, we were there one late morning...

Some Kluang Station Coffee to wake us up?

Have it hot or iced?

Aromatic, a tad sweet, but a good wake up call. Though I'd still go for Kopi Cap TV if it's coffee from Kluang..hehe

The Roti Bakar

The bread's slightly dry, the kaya and butter was pretty good.

The Toasted Bun (white bread) was much tastier..

Bread was nicely charcoaled, had that slight smoky aroma, and was still soft inside. Though lacked kaya, they served the bread with sliced butter instead of spreading it. I love butter served in toasts in such a manner as you bite into hot bread, melting kaya and then the cooling effect of the chilled butter ,ending with a salty sweet note. Yums.

We also had the Toasted Bun (wholemeal bread)

I actually like this the best as the charcoal brings out the fragrance of the wholemeal bread. Great combination with kaya and butter.

So we asked Shirley on her thoughts after trying the Kluang Rail Coffee in Kluang. It was ok... Guessed she expected more?

I just realised I didnt take down the address. Sorry folks! But here's the picture..This branch is located right in the centre of the town, you wont miss it. And yes, the original branch is located at the Kluang Railway Station (KTM). There's more variety of mains at this branch though.

Restoran Fuzhou, JB

This would be my last food posting for my short trip to JB..
As the title states very clearly, Restoran Fuzhou serves, yes, what else, but Fuzhou (aka Fook Chow) dishes. This was a last minute thing as we were suppose to eat at this shop that serves bittergourd chicken soup but it was not open..hence a quick detour and here we are!
Most of the customers were having steamboat, a few other tables (including us) ordered dishes instead. With my very shallow knowledge of fook chow food ( the only fook chow food i know is the fook chow fishball ), I relied on uncle to order :p.
Uncle ordered fook chow noodles, fried tanghoon, red wine chicken, ribs with yam and veg. The first dish served was the fook chow noodles..

The noodles was piping hot and we quickly tucked in.. Yes, the fook chow noodles does look similar to hokkien noodles. But when you take a bite, you would know the difference..The noodles texture is softer, smoother and slightly chewy. The sauce base is with eggs, which makes it aromatic. And some of the customers (such as uncle) added vinegar to their noodles, so it taste a lil like lam mee too. Interesting...
Next we had the ribs with yam and red wine chicken.
The ribs with yam is fantastic, I really enjoyed it. Heck, I think it's even better than Restaurant Friendship Herbal Soup ! (which I think serves smacking good ribs+yam in Klang Valley). Restoran Fuzhou's version comes in some thick 'porridge looking' gravy. I took a sip and OMG, this is pratically blended, mush up yam paste. Its very very good, they added salted fish and cuttlefish to enhance the yam's flavour. The ribs, tender and well marinated, just melts in the mouth. Perfecto.The red wine chicken did not disappoint either, the gravy was thick and aromatic, the chicken tender and had absord the wine flavour well. This is a rather unique dish, its a tad harder to find this dish in restaurants. The last time I had this was homecooked by an aunt.. Still, the ribs+yam remains my favourite. The vegs were normal, the fried tanghoon was ok, nothing to shout about compared to Restoran Ah Kaw's 'frying' skills..

What Julianne thinks? Authentic and nostalgic.

Restoran Fuzhou is located at No 1&3, Jalan Ros Merah 2/1, Taman Johor Jaya, 81100 Johor Bahru. Tel:07-3555225.

Pork parts noodles, JB

This is a very non halal post.. (obviously from the title ;p)
The above title is actually not the name of the stall, but it dont seem to have any name at all..so..

I was told that this is one special dish that you cant find in other states. Heck, I cant even find it in Kluang! This is a family favourite for SF and SL, they have been eating this for years and after hearing about this for the past few days, I want to try it too :p The concept is simple, all the pork parts are braised in a huge pot. I bet they simmered it for hours, all the parts came out tender and lovely to eat..

Clockwise from top left: Braised eggs and pig's ears(hidden at bottom), pork slices, pork belly and pig's tongue.

Aaahh, I know, you must be thinking, "I've taken this wat. All the pork parts with chilli..".. Yes yes, I thot the same too. Then I got my bowl of kuay teow.. The broth is the braised pork broth. Nope, you dont eat it with rice, this is a noodles dish and all the pork parts are supposed to go with it ;). We ordered pork slices, pig's tongue, pig's ears, pork belly, braised egg and beancurd. I must say that everything is good (but i didnt try the ears though..), all tender and tasty, smothered with loads of lard and oil. The sauce base differs a lil from the norm too, not the usual dark soy sauce mix, but a lighter, salty-sweet version which enhances the pork parts sweetness..Dipped in their homemade chilli, it strikes a perfect balance with the meat.

Nonetheless, I do find the soup base too overpowering, a tad strong on the 'porky' smell (i call it "jum pan sou" in canton) which may put some people off...

What Julianne thinks?

Sinful, yummy but freaking unhealthy.

For pork and pork parts lovers, this is a must (and if you are in JB la..). The stall is located opposite Sekolah Taman Tun Aminah 2. Is in some makeshift zinc/ open food court joined with a row of shops. If you see Restoran Hai Lu, the stall is in front of it. Along Jalan Hulubalang 10 (Honda/Suzuki shop at junction).

Restoran Ah Kaw (aka Sam Lau), JB

This is one of SF and SL's recommended food joint as it serves tasty fried bee hoon...

We were there early as the early bird catches the worm! Well, in our case, getting a seat..:p

Uncle ordered the dishes, ie, the famed fried beehoon, deep fried sa zhim fish, curry fish head and veg. The wait was not too long, we got the sa zhim fish soon after..

Eating the sa zhim fish sure makes me nostalgic as my mum use to cook this fish when I was a lil tot. The sa zhim fish is delicious and great for lazy people ;p and those who dont eat fish because of fish bones.. Why? Coz the fish is fried to such a crunchy texture that you can eat the whole fish, head, bones and all! Dipped with chilli sauce, this is sure appetizing. Next served were the veg and fried bee hoon.

Yes, the fried beehoon does taste good, dry in texture, non oily and fragrant. It does taste different though, I cant pinpoint the 'secret' ingredient.. but I believed they added black bean paste to fry the bee hoon. Restoran Ah Kaw serves this with their special homemade chilli sauce and it does complement the beehoon well. In fact, we ordered a second plate of fried beehoon as we swipe clean the first plate in a blink of an eye. The last dish was the curry fish head and it sure does look appetising :). Glad that Restoran Ah Kaw serves the whole fish head instead of chopping it up as I feel this version retains the sweetness of the flesh much better compared to chopping it to chunks.. True enough, the fish was sweet and tender. The curry was ok, thick gravy, loads of veg..Not too impressive, but ok. The beehoon is still the star :)

What Julianne thinks?

Scrumptious, no frills but delightful.

Restoran Ah Kaw (aka Sam Lau) is located at 33, Jalan Perang, Taman Pelangi, JB. Tel: 07-3340589

Restoran Khong Kee, JB

More on yummies in JB :)

Restoran Khong Kee is famed for its fook chow fishballs and many varieties of other meatballs and yong tau foo to feed hungry patrons. We reached there around brunch time and it was already packed with customers, all busy slurping up the noodles or choosing the ingredients to go with their noodles at the entrance.

And the noodles.. man, Khong Kee definitely have a good range of noodles for you to choose from.. wantan noodles, mee pok, yellow noodles, sang mee, koay teow.. I think there's at least 10 types to choose from :). You can also choose different flavours to go with the noodles, ie, dry, clear soup, curry(suppose to be famous for this) and tomyam.

After quite a long wait, we finally got our food and it sure looks appetising ;p

Uncle, SF and SL chose some of the more popular choices and I happily tucked in... The first I tried was the fook chow fishball. I have tried a couple in Klang Valley (some famous one, cant remember the shop name), but I must say that Khong Kee's version is by far, the best.

The hall of fame: Frm L-R, fried fishball, "siew mai", fook chow fishball and "karipap"

The fishball was springy and fresh and the filling was superb. Rather than just pure pork filling, Khong Kee added extra ingredients (which I cant fully figure out what's in there.. onions, ma tai?) which were minced finely and added into the meat. The result? Extremely sweet filling, tender to the bite and fragrant. Pure yums man...

The other stuff to try would be the "karipap"..uuhmm, well, at least that's what the girls called it as it's shaped like a currypuff. This 'karipap" is mince pork ( i suspect its the same one used for the fook chow fishball) wrapped in beancurd skin and fried. Dipped in dry shrimp chilli, it's good...

Another favourite is the siew mai lookalike. Again with pork filling, the skin is doughy, something like siew mai, but instead of steamed, this one gets boiled. I thot its ok only though...

What Julianne thinks?

Tasty, simple and fulfilling

Restoran Khong Kee is located at 70, Jalan Badik, Tmn Sri Tebrau, Johor Bahru. Tel: 07-3318867. I noted that they have a branch in KL, at No. 30, Jalan Yew. But the name of the shop is different though. Maybe can check it out too...

Restoran Bidor, JB

This was my first meal when I reached JB :)... Was there for brunch where the crowd has not build up yet.. Uncle introduced this place to all of us, even SF and SL never tried it before. Was told that Restoran Bidor had a 'special' fish head dish, so we promptly order that, along with yellow wine chicken, tau foo and veg. 2 hot claypots were placed on our table not long after, we got the fish head and yellow wine chicken. The fish head was steaming hot with loads of vegs. I took a sip of the soup and wow, I must say its definitely different. Tasty no doubt, the soup was slightly murky, sweet and had this aroma that I could not describe... it had slightly charred taste. Good though. I cant really say whats in this dish.. the obvious would be fish head, fish meat, veg, chopped yam, ginger and sour plums..yup, you read rite.. sour plums.. maybe theres more things, i just cant figure out.. :(

The yellow wine chicken was delicious too, thick gravy, sweet wine, ginger to balance the wine flavour, loads of garlic and black ear fungus..:). But this version is dark brown... which SF pointed out, is not very yellow wine-ish.. Guess the cook prefers a darker shade for the dish eh? Hence adding some dark soy sauce for colouring...

Veg and taufoo were ok, nothing spectacular..I saw another interesting dish being served, something like smoke fish, wrapped in foil. Looks plain, but suppose to go really well with porridge. Too bad I was too full to try that :p.

What Julianne thinks?

Unusual, tasty and pleasing to the palate

Restoran Bidor is located at 73, Jalan Ros Merah 2/2, Taman Johor Jaya, JB. Tel: 07- 357 3878.

Restoran Kim Long, Senai

What did you do over the long deeparaya break?

I had a gastronomic experience in JB (and areas nearby) when SF and SL graciously invited me to JB with them ;).Guess you'll be reading on quite a few postings on JB food before I revert back to K Valley since I got to try quite a few yum places there.

Decided to write about Kim Long as I have heard about this restaurant that serves fantastic pei pa ngap for a long time but did not manage to try it.. I was there at a very weird hour, around 4pm, but to my surprise, it was very pack. The sisters told me that lots of Singaporeans stop by for a meal before they return, hence Kim Long is open from lunch to dinner. We ordered the famous pei pa ngap, spring roll, sea cucumber with mushrooms, special taufoo and veg. After some wait, we got the springroll. Kim Long's version is fried in square chunks rather than the usual long roll. The spring rolls were tasty, the filling of fish paste and veg were warm and moist, tender to the bite. A good start :p. The veg come soon after, which was good too. Next, we had the fried taufoo (something new that none of them have tried before). The filling was rather similar to the spring roll, but I did not like the exterior.. Coated with breadcrumbs and butterfly brand flour (i think), it had some sweet, vanilla-ish smell and flavour which I didnt particularly fancy.

Throughout the meal, I saw plates and plates of duck being served and the anticipation was killing me!! And finally, we got ours.. Kim Long's pei pa ngap is certainly one of a kind..The duck is crispy on the outside and tender, juicy on the inside. Very succulent indeed. And the speciality lays at the base of the duck...ie, the sauce. Rather than the usual plum sauce, Kim Long concocted their own sauce to go with the pei pa ngap and the outcome was superb. Their's was a mix of dark, thick sauce (yes, plum sauce being one of the ingredients) with a hint of spiciness, sweet and sour. Goes very well with the duck :)

The last dish that was served was the seacucumber and mushroom. Another delicious dish as the mushrooms were braised till plump and thick, the seacucumber, springy. The sauce was good to go with rice.

What Julianne thinks?

Affordable, satisfying and filling

Restoran Kim Long is located at 130, Jalan Senai Utama 5/17, Taman Senai Utama, Johor. On the way to Senai Airport. Dishes are cheap but quality not compromised. Our bill came out to be RM57. The half duck only cost RM13.

Restoran Yuan Kee, Kluang

I have been eating this since I was a kid....
If you ever do pop over to Kluang town one day and decided to have dinner here (there's more than just roti bakar in Kluang u know :p), you can try this famed beef noodles in Yuan Kee. The recipe has been passed on for decades, the main draw of Yuan Kee are the noodles. The noodles are made by them and can't be found anywhere else. I dont really know how to describe the texture, it's springy, smooth, slightly thicker than laksa, but not translucent...

Yuan Kee serves ngau lam fun, directly translated as beef tripe noodles. What you get is a generous bowl of noodles (be it dry or soup) filled with beef, beef tripe and tendons. All their beef (and 'spareparts' aka ngau chap) are cooked for hours, so it's real tender and succulent..I always loved their dry version though....thick sticky gravy, served with peanuts, fried shallots, finely diced turnip and choy poh (i think). Squeeze in the lime, give a good toss and have it with their chilli sauce. Simply delicious!

As I grew up eating this version of beef noodles, I am still very biase whenever I eat any beef noodles in KV. I still think they are not up to mark compared to Yuan Kee's ;p

What Julianne thinks?

Authentic, fulfilling and delightful

I dont have Yuan Kee's address, but here's the directions (if u do pop over to Kluang):

Drive to Kluang town and towards Lian Seng Garden (just ask the locals wheres Lian Seng). Drive pass the new Kluang Wet Market and drive about 2 km heading towards Niyor. See a signboard on your right stating " Taman Melodi". Dont turn, drive down the slope. You will see a row of shop on your right, thats where Yuan Kee is. Its a new shop, they moved over a few years back. Price between RM3-4. Only for dinners. Be early coz it gets rather pack.