This Johor Bahru Food Blog is to introduce my northern trips.
All photos are taken with my trusty Iphone.
I am doing this as a hobby, nothing more. I simply love Johor Bahru for her food and down-to-earth people. A break from the competition of my crowded island.
Click on the address of the eateries/places for directions on Google Map.
Use Google Chrome or Firefox for maximum viewing without popup ads
For my dear friends who tune in to MY FM, I finally found the MY FM App! Ok ok, I know many of you knew of its existence but I really had a hard time finding it some time back. As a Cantonese, I really appreciate the availability of a radio station that caters to both my Chinese and Cantonese taste for music. The best part I can receive it clearly in Singapore.
From today onwards, in addition to food exploration, my exploration of Iskandar Malaysia area and housing will begin. I have always wanted to explore Johor Bahru's housing and I am going to explore the Iskandar personally before making the decision of getting my retirement home in Johor Bahru in the future.
Many of my peers thinks I am crazy and mentioned that Johor Bahru is crime infested, blah, blah blah..... To me, I think theythink too much! Johor Bahru is like any other states I have visited, not as dangerous as you really think or made it out to be unless you are in Iraqi Warzone. Besides, if you really think Johor Bahru will not catch up in economic growth, you are exactly having the same mentally when people feel that Singapore has no future back in the 1960s. This, of course, is my personal take from my frequent travels to Johor Bahru, you do not have to agree with me.
Why the decision to retire in Iskandar in the future?
a) My prediction is that Singapore will continue to move up the ranks as an expensive city to live in (8th in the world recently). I really need to find an alternate place to retire for my old age at a more affordable price and yet be near my birth place unless I strike TOTO. :)
b) With my regular trips down north, I can personally see the landscape of Johor Bahru improving tremendously. The first step that the Malaysian government did correctly is to create a "wired" highway connecting all the flagship developments. This is an important step. No roads, no people, no development. The positive sentiments about Iskandar among the local people are very strong and this is a positive sign for a developing state.
c) A number of attractive developments like Factory Outlet (Joint venture between Genting and Chelsea), Legoland,Afiat Healthpark (Medical Centre) and Educity (Newcastle University of Medicine (NUMed) and the Netherlands Maritime Institute of Technology (NMIT) campuses) are opening in Iskandar. Just imagine the huge potential that area will bring with their financial district(Medini Iskandar Malaysia) being in full fledged operation too.
I have personally went to Setia Tropika and Senibong Cove and was I impressed! The only issue, they are not at the desired area like the above mentioned.
More about the housing areas in future entries which mark my exploration of my future retirement home! Watch out for my blog on the housing soon!
As stated in the post of Restoran Tapai Tang, I mentioned about Restoran Sing Kee. Although Sing Kee is not as good as Tapai Tang in terms of taste and value, it is still worth a mention as it is pretty famous among the local community for nearly 20 years. It's signature dish is the curry fish head, however Teck Sing and Tapai Tang definitely beat them hands down in taste. It also serves fish dishes, prawn dishes, squid dishes, meat dishes, vegetable dishes, spring rolls, otak-otak etc. In my opinion, you can try it if you become tired of Teck Sing and Tapai Tang.
I finally ventured into Taman Molek, near Taman Johor Jaya. Taman Molek houses a golf resort Ponderosa, a famous steamboat buffet, Indonesian food gems and many other foodies to their local community. I personally named Taman Molek and Johor Jaya, the "Twin sisters of undiscovered chinese food gems" as Singaporeans are often too attracted towards Taman Sentosa and forgotten the goodness of other town centres nearby.To me, Taman Sentosa has become too commercialised with Singaporeans for my liking.
The restaurant I want to recommend today is Restoran Abalone Master Yong. To be frank, Master Yong is very much similar in taste and price to Restoran 59 (the famous supper place where Singaporeans flock to for supper and nearby outlets for car wash). The main difference is that Master Yong offers other innovative abalone dishes, in addition to their abalone noodles and the ambience is also more present. Restoran 59's advantage is that it is open from 7 pm till late night and it is near to a car wash. Taste wise, both outlets are really too similar.
I just realised that more people are subscribing to North Explorer. Thank you very much for the support. I must apologise for not updating as regularly as before because of my busy work schedule. However, the following post will not disappoint you all.
I was recommended to Restoran Sing Kee by my friend. However, the food at Sing Kee never really impressed me (more about Sing Kee in another post). Instead, the restaurant beside Sing Kee was triple the goodness in terms of taste, value and service. This restaurant that I want to highly recommend is Restoran Tapai Tang, neighbour of Restoran Sing Kee.
Apparently, Restoran Tapai Tang is ranked second in Johor Bahru forcooked food (煮炒) by Yummy King. The speciality of Restoran Tapai Tang lies in its seafood, curry fish head and salted kampong chicken. In fact, their food menu is similar to the famous Teck Seng in terms of taste and price. However, I prefer Restoran Tapai Tang now because of its ample parking space right in front of the restaurant (You can watch out for your car while you tuck in the food). The service by the staff is also excellent. For the soccer and music fans, they have a giant screen at its open air spacing for matches and singing (starts from evening).
