Tiong Bahru Ngoh Hiang Prawn Cracker (中峇鲁五香蝦餅), Kukoh 21 Food Centre

Tiong Bahru Ngoh Hiang Prawn Cracker (#01-09 Kukoh 21 Food Centre, 1 Jalan Kukoh, tel : +65 9857 2732) came by way of recommendation. Thanks Vicky! What's mention worthy about their 五香 was that the ingredients did not taste generic/similar to most. Special mention goes to their outstanding prawn fritters (虾饼) which were slimmer, crispy and topped with bean sprouts and shelled prawns. Egg slices and ngoh hiong were home made and there's even pickled cucumber on the side to cut through all the fried stuff.

The only restriction to abide by was that we weren't able to choose specific items.

What's also impressive was their bee hoon. It's the best tasting one we've had from any wu xiang stall, flavoured with lard and garlic.

 

Chilli sauce was also nothing like the typical from wu xiang sellers. This one was spicy and tangy, spiked with some sharpness from chopped onions

One day later...

We came back the day after with pre-orders for portions for three from the day before. That kinda guarantees the portion but doesn't reduce the waiting time by very much because each order is freshly prepared. Stall's open only 2 hours a day (12-2pm).

Revisiting Oriental Kopi

Back at Oriental Kopi because we enjoyed it the last time and couldn't believe the shit talking that can be found online about the quality of their food. While we admit that they might not the best at everything they serve, the standards of the food here was far from mediocrity. We're here to convince ourselves that those negative reviews were lies. 😅 At least for this branch. 😏

Mocha's coffee and Milo. Sea salt kopi tasted like it had butterscotch in it.

Thought their kampung mee hoon was enjoyable. The stir fried noodles was savoury and adequately salted with an old school-ish flavour. Ayam berempah thigh was tender, clad in a crispy skin that was deeply infused with turmeric. 

Chicken rice was pretty darn good too. Poached bird was tender, chicken-y and meaty while the rice had a respectable infusion of chicken rice flavour that had a hint of ginger which I did not even mind. 👍🏼 On the side was a bowl of pandan flavoured chicken broth. Nice lime-y chilli too. Wouldn't mind eating this again.

Curry chee cheong fun not bad. What's unusual was the creamy spiciness from the curry that was paired with sweetness from the drizzle of rojak sauce. There're also fishballs and fish paste in beancurd skin hidden amongst the curry and rice rolls.

A couple of egg tarts to end because we were told that people wait in line for them. Not bad tasting and we liked that the custard was not excessively sweet. Pastry was more buttery than the pain suise from Doña Bakehouse.

Restoran Kin Hua, Jalan Trus, Johor Bahru

We walked across the road after Doña Bakehouse to Restoran Kin Hua (8 Jalan Trus, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru) where we've seen a crowd and hence were looking for a little something more to fill the gaps of the soul left by the pastry/bagel breakfast.

Chwee kueh was not bad tasting. Kinda greasy with dark sweet sauce like kecap manis and a garlicky chilli. Rice cakes were a little denser than those back home.

Bee hoon had very little flavour. Explains a lot on why there was one mostly left unfinished near our table. We also couldn't bring ourselves to finish our order. Even the cheap sausages tasted weird....like fish sausages. Chilli sauce and gravy's not memorable. Note to self : Never get bee hoon from this place again.

Doña Bakehouse, Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, Johor Bahru

Doña Bakehouse (14 Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru, tel : +60 10-667 8625) is next door to that popular Hiap Joo Bakery known for their banana cake. Have tried the banana cake and did not think much of them. But I digress...

I admit to being lured in by the bakes on display. These guys I heard are apparently popular.

Dirty matcha's decent with a bitter thickness from the green tea.

Rose latte was pretty drinkable with an extra shot. Kinda like the creme de la rose from Lady M.

Bakes were...decent. Pastry has nice lamination but needed more butter. A lot more. So I'm classifying them as just passable.  Love the nuttiness from the pistachio rose croissant but where's the rose? Pretty impressed by the poppyseed crust of the poppyseed bagel but the texture felt more bread-y then bagel-y. 

What cemented my opinion of them was that I had explicitly requested for our pastries/bagel to be heated and they weren't. Having the bakes warmed up was the least we had expected of them, even if we had not request for it. We're of the opinion that they understood what they were serving to taste better at least warm. Apparently we had thought too highly of them.

Now we know they're just a pretty cafe with a bit of baking skills and a premium price tag. Just like countless others.

Meng Meng Roasted Duck (阿明帝皇鸭), City Square, Johor Bahru

We've tried Meng Meng Roasted Duck previously from their outpost at Ang Mo Kio. While it wasn't bad at all, it also wasn't as impressive as we've imagined after hearing the good things about their roasts. This meal (Lot MF21A-22, Level 3, Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru) changed thing. It was kinda better than we imagined.

Chilled ginseng chrysanthemum tea was nice.

Because we wanted to try all of their roasts, we went 三拼. Duck's tender, deboned and had enough fat with the skin for flavour. Great crunchy crackling on the siew yoke and lovely bittersweet caramelization enveloped the fatty char siew. Meats were moist and rounded up with their sweet dang gui/Chinese Angelica/当归 sauce. 👍🏼

We asked for an extra portion of the dang gui sauce just for the rice.

These truffle char siew baos were outstanding. The buns were light and fluffy, barely holding themselves together to contain the sweet smoky char siew with sauce in its core.

Revisiting Ho Seng Kee (何成記)

Have been wanting to come back to Ho Seng Kee because we remember liking their noodles. The menu appears to have evolved since the last time.

Note to self : Yummy cincau fresh milk. Milk was lightly sweet and just delicious with the shreds of fairy grass. 

Got a serving of their Good Old Days Mee which was just noodles with fried lard and a couple of fried eggs. It was available in ghost pepper flavour.

I don't know if ghost pepper was used for their sauce but it was pretty spicy. Not anywhere on the Scoville near an actual ghost pepper I'm sure. What's bugged me just a little was the underlying sweetness that was in all that heat. Which I offset with pickled green chilli.

Muah otah here doesn't taste like how I remember them. These don't appear to be as tasty. They were dry. Will not get them again.