Johor Bahru Food Reviews

On Sunday, my spouse and I brought our twins to Johor Bahru (JB). The traffic jam started before Woodlands checkpoint. It took us almost 1½ hours from Woodlands to JB clearance. When we reached Aeon Tebrau City, we headed straight to Old Town Cafe for our lunch.

I had Old Town Asam Laksa (RM6.80). I found that the portion was a bit too little. I like the sour and spicy taste. I've always been a fan of Penang Assam Laksa. I remembered my Penang friend told me decades ago that she rarely know of any Singaporeans who likes Penang Assam Laksa. There was only one small piece of sardine. I finished up the soup as it was really tasty.

My spouse ordered the Hainanese Chickenchop & Rice (RM10.30). The piece of fried chicken was huge, though it was quite oily. Topped with crispy eggs, mixed vegetables and ketchup. Fragrant chicken rice was served. This set was really worth the price.

My youngest son ordered the Western Platter (RM8.50). It consisted of a ham sandwich, two sausages, baked beans, french fries and a fried egg. This was...ordinary.

After our grocery shopping, we had our afternoon snack at Lavender Bistro. Lavender produces very wonderful cakes, pastries and buns. The shop setup looks very elegant too.

My son ordered the Cappuccino (RM6.90). My daughter had the Jelly Bubble Tea (RM5.90), while my spouse and I shared a pot of Camomile Ginger Tea (RM8.90). The tea was really very refreshing. The ginger taste wasn't overpowering, rather, it was more of the camomile fragrant, with a hint of ginger.

I also ordered two cakes. An Earl Grey Chocolate cake and an Uji Macha cake. The Earl Grey Chocolate Slice (RM5.20) was layered with earl grey and chocolate mousse. Although the earl grey was mild, it was very fragrant and you can really feel it's presence in the mousse. The cake was light, not too rich or too intense. The mousse was very smooth and melts easily in the mouth.

The Uji Macha (RM5.20) has a soft chocolate sponge sandwiched with macha mousse and azuki beans. It was light and very pleasant to the palate. The nice feel about the cakes were, they were not tooth-aching sweet. The sweetness is just nice. The macha taste was rather strong, which suited me just fine. The Ondeh Ondeh (RM1.50), seen at the back of the cake, was a bit a too thick. There wasn't enough brown sugar to ooze out, even though it tasted rather good.

We also bought home a 10" Blackforest Cake (RM68.00) to celebrate my spouse's birthday. The sponge cake was really soft even though it wasn't airy. It sort of melted in the mouth with a very light taste. Three layers of chocolate sponge, with one layer of chocolate mousse and cherry, and another layer of cream with cherry syrup. The cake was decorated with big chunks of decorated chocolates, four halve strawberries and half a peach. It looked very presentable. The cake wasn't very sweet, and the cream wasn't extremely generous, which all of like.

As I've never tried a Mochi bread, I bought one Bamboo Charcoal Mochi Bread (RM2.90) to try. I thought it was very special. Since many bloggers are crazy over this mochi bread, and I'm very "mountain tortise", I thought I should at least try one to taste what the raves is about. The mochi bread was very chewy on the outside, and soft in the inside. The bamboo charcoal was a little like charcoal taste and many like black sesame taste. I felt in love with it instantly! I wondered what have I been missing all this while! I should have bought it long long time ago! You bet I'll be buying lots to eat the next time I visit JB again!

Overall, this cafe is value for money. You may consider visiting the bakery and bistro when you are in JB. I believe they have branches all over Malaysia.

Jusco Tebrau City
Old Town Cafe
Lavender Bistro
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Last week, my spouse and I went to Jusco Bukit Indah. We tried a chinese restauarant called Tang Shifu (汤师父). They seemed to use natural ingredients and lots of herbs in their preparation of foods. They served pickled guavas (RM2.00) as an appetiser. It was crunchy and sweet, and a good way to start your meal!

We ordered the Abalone Mee Suah Chicken Soup Set (RM14.90) each. This set comes with the mee suah, topped with some sauce which I thought it tasted like XO sauce sans chilli. The chicken soup was very tasty and the chicken meat was very fresh. The soup didn't even have a layer of oil. The mee suah was very tasty. I'm very much a mee suah person. The condiments were marinated black beans and pork chunks. The pork chunks were a bit hard and dry although it was fragrant from the marination.

We also ordered the Spinach with Wolfberries (RM8.90). The spinach was soaked in a pool of chicken stock, which made it very tasty. The wolfberries added to the sweetness of the spinach. I finished up the chicken stock too!

Finally, we had Herbal Jelly (Gui ling gao). My spouse had the normal jelly (RM6.90) while I had the Pearl Jelly (RM8.90). It wasn't very bitter, and it tasted good without much honey. The honey used wasn't thick, it was watery. I can't really taste the pearl powder though. The texture of the jelly was just soft enough to eat and swallow.

I felt very healthy after a hearty meal, even though I wasn't very filled. It was just enough for me to last through the afternoon. I like this place, and will visit it again if I go to Bukit Indah again.

Jusco Bukit Indah
Tang Shifu