Johor Bahru GPS friendly travel and food guide (part 1)

If you are traveling to Johor Bahru for a short vacation by car, you may refer to this simple traveling guide as where to find a hotels, foods, shopping and attractions with GPS coordinates. (if you don't have a GPS device, just key in the coordinates into Google map in the smart phone, it'll navigate you to the destination)

There were many friends of mine visited JB from other state of Malaysia and also from Simgapore during school holiday and long weekend. Most of the time, they would like to try out different hotel and especially foods around Johor Bahru area, my simple guide is to share the popular area in JB where you can stay, shopping and eat.

I divided into few areas, like JB Town, Century Garden (include Pelangi, Sri Tebrau and Sentosa), Skudai area (include Nusa Bestari and Bukit Indah), Nusajaya (include Gelang Patah), Johor Jaya (include Molek, Desa Tebrau, Gaya, Mount Austin and Setia Indah), Permas Jaya and Kulaijaya.

Johor Bahru Town
Which is close to CIQ, Causeway to Singapore, and also Johor Bahru Sentral where all the ground transportation located.

Travel distance to CIQ - approx. 2-4km.
Travel distance to Senai Airport - approx. 30km.
Travel distance to Nusajaya, Legoland and others -  approx. 25km

Recommended Hotels :-
*  Puteri Pan Pacific (4*) (N1.46099 E103.76171)
*  Hotel Aman Sari (N1.46421 E103.76201)
*  Tropical Inn (N1.46545 E103.76068)
*  Double Tree Hotel (4*) (under construction) (N1.46560 E103.75980)
*  Thistle Hotel (5*) which is less than 5km from town. (N1.46169 E103.74320)
*  Grand Blue Wave Hotel (N1.46082 E103.76898)
*  Suria City Hotel (N1.46056 E103.76857)
*  Sentral JB Hotel (N1.46165 E103.76913)
*  Zon Regency Hotel (in duty free zone) (N1.47088 E103.78299)
*  Straits View Hotel (just refurnished recently) (N1.46056 E103.73742)
*  M-Suite Hotel (N1.46479 E103.73046)

Shopping Complex nearby :-
*  City Square (N1.46183 E103.76353)
*  KOMTAR (which is under upgrading now) (N1.46352 E103.76263)
*  The ZON Duty Free Mall (N1.47075 E103.78314)

Attractions :-
*  Jalan Tan Hiok Nee (historical street)
*  Johor Bahru Chinese Heritage Museum (N1.45590 E103.76323)
*  Royal Abu Bakar Museum (N1.45504 E103.75656)
*  Art Gallery Johor (less than 5km out of town area) (N1.46667 E103.74765)
*  Johor Old Chinese Temple  (N1.46069 E103.76304)
*  Danga Bay (N1.47680 E103.72388)

Recommended Foods (based on local's favorite) :-
Breakfast
*  Hwa Mui Kopitiam (which is the first Hainanese kopitiam in JB) (N1.45732 E103.76432)
*  Qin Garden (N1.45700 E103.76434)
*  Yong Mui Beef Noodle (N1.46086 E103.76722)
*  Ah Heng Char Koey Teow - 7am - 3pm (N1.46863 E103.78055)
Lunch
*  Mei Hua Bak Kut Teh (N1.46084 E103.76754)
*  Johor Bahru famous Stulang mee rebus (N1.46309 E103.77426)
*  The Roost Juice Bar (N1.45707 E103.76401)
*  Waterwork Laksa (N1.47157 E103.73658)
Tea break
*  Goreng Pisang Mawar (N1.46176 E103.74192)
Dinner
*  The Teow Chew popular fish noodles (night) (N1.46378 E103.77188) 
*  Yong Yong Ikan Bakar (night) (N1.46090 E103.73847) 
*  Lazio Italian Restaurant and Bar

Century Garden (include Pelangi, Sri Tebrau and Sentosa)
One of the popular and crowded area in JB which contain of 4 residential area - Pelangi, Sri Tebrau, Sentosa and Century, it has lots of good foods within.

Travel distance to CIQ - approx. 8km.
Travel distance to Senai Airport - approx. 28km.
Travel distance to Nusajaya, Legoland and others -  approx. 24km

Recommended Hotels :-
*  Crystal Crown Hotel 3* (N1.48674 E103.76593)
*  Grand Paragon Hotel 4* (N1.48112 E103.76166)
*  KSL Resort 5* (N1.48590 E103.76291)
*  Mutiara Hotel 4* (N1.48800 E103.75759)
*  Holiday Villa (under construction) (N1.48706 E103.76190)
*  11 Century Hotel (N1.48652 E103.76147)
*  Grand Sentosa Hotel (N1.49268 E103.76883)
*  Hallmark Regency Hotel (N1.48090 E103.76209)
*  New York Hotel (N1.47879 E103.76104)
*  Hotel Selesa (N1.47777 E103.76297)

Shopping Complex nearby :-
*  Holiday Plaza (N1.48828 E103.75969)
*  Pelangi Plaza (N1.48053 E103.76504)
*  Leisure Mall (N1.48384 E103.77396)
*  KSL Mall (N1.48551 E103.76291)
*  Sentosa Plaza (N1.49281 E103.76855)
*  Danga City Mall (N1.47427 E103.75525)
 
Attraction :-
*  None

Recommended Foods (based on local's favorite) :-
Breakfast
*  Poh Kee mee pok - 宝记Teow Chew Koey Teow  (N1.48076 E103.75686)
    7.30am - 2.30pm, rest on alternate Thursday.
*  Hainanese pork congee 海南猪肉粥 - Multi Mart Kopitiam 7am-2pm. (N1.48506 E103.76010)
*  Ah Hwa Koey Teow 亚华粿条 7.30am - 4.30pm (N1.48562 E103.76102)
*  Ho Seng Kee Wantan mee 何成记云吞麵 8am - 4pm. (N1.48670 E103.76058)
*  Koey Teow Kia (粿条仔) at Ka Hoe Kopitiam (N1.48079 E103.76673)
    6.30am - 12.30pm, rest on alternate Wednesday.
Lunch
*  Nyonya Curry Fish head and curry pork ribs at Mui Sheng stall. 11am - 3pm (N1.49092 E103.76233)
*  Menu Please Bistro 11am - 10pm, rest on Monday. (N1.48083 E103.76612)
*  Soon Chiang Bak Kut Teh  顺江肉骨茶
*  Ah Soon Bak Kut Teh 8am - 3pm, rest on Monday.
*  Ah Seng Steam Fish 8am - 3pm, rest on Monday.
*  Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh 顺发肉骨茶, Jln Sutera (N1.49410 E103.78239)
*  Yew Swee Laksa 友水辣沙 8am - 4pm, rest on Sunday (N1.48294 E103.76486)
Tea break
*  Dong Hong Traditional Chinese kuih 东鸿糕粿 (N1.48701 E103.76803)
    5pm - 10pm Business on Sat, Sun, Mon and Tue. Many different type of traditional Chinese snacks which called 'kuih'.
Dinner
*  Century Curry Fish Head 世纪沙煲咖哩鱼头 at Cedar Point Hawker Center (N1.48126 E103.76296)
    5pm - 11pm, rest  on Monday.
*  New Storey Seafood Restaurant (N1.47833 E103.77514)
*  Tsuki Japanese restaurant (N1.48207 E103.77496)
*  Kim Chi Korean BBQ Restaurant (N1.48170 E103.77479)
*  The City Cafe (N1.49719 E103.76284)
*  Kong Inn Seafood Restaurant 港一海鲜餐馆 (N1.49348 E103.77278)
*  Penang Hokkien prawn noodles hawker 槟城福建虾麵 (N1.49305 E103.77090)
*  Lemon Tree Restaurant 12pm - 11pm, rest on Monday (N1.49135 E103.76201)

There are still many more delicious foods within the area that I cannot list all of them, this is just a simple guide for you if you want to travel to Johor Bahru by car.

I will continue on the next post for other area. Stay tune!

(I will update this blog post from time to time, please feel free to visit back. Thanks.)

Food Trail (Pt 2) of Johor Bahru street food and restaurant food

On one of the sunny day, we started our second food trail in Johor Bahru. This time we only had 3 persons (included me) which was compared with previous 5 persons on the Kulai food trail.

At first, we started our breakfast at the Wantan Mee Shop 金山楼云吞麵 at Taman Impian Emas, Skudai.

It was a simple traditional type of Chinese kopitiam which only sell variety of different type of noodles with different combinations. Among all, we love the BBQ pork (char siew 叉烧) the most! The owner of the shop - Mr Darksen is a humble and nice person, we had a short chat with him about the noodles and his history.

Wantan Mee Shop 金山楼云吞麵 at Taman Impian Emas

A traditional type of Chinese kopitiam

The Char Siew noodles 叉烧幼麵

Nice dumplings 水饺 from the Wantan Mee shop

We are the regular customer here and been visiting the shop every week, and every time we are fall in love with their Char Siew 叉烧. Most of the time we requested for additional char siew and cost total of RM8 (the photo above). The BBQ pork is one of the good or I can say the only wantan mee which serve this type char siew within Johor Bahru. We prefered the pork with slight charred on the outer skin and mixed with fat, which provided extra juicy compare with those lean meat. It's hard to describe by words how tasty the pork and the noodles are, unless you need to try it yourself. :)
Beside that, don't forget their big and nice dumplings 水饺!

Kedai Makanan Wantan Mee 金山楼云吞麵
Address : Jalan Seri Impian 1, Tmn Impian Emas, Skudai, Johor Bahru.
Contact : Mr Darksen So 016 6605498
GPS Coordinates : N1.54276 E103.68163
Business hour : 8am - 2pm, close on Thursday
More info : The Char Siew is finish mostly on 12pm, visit the shop earlier if you want to try out the magical Char Siew.

2nd stop : Warong Sonto (Fried mushroom)
This warong is famous with their fried mushroom (goreng cendawan) in the area, and claimed to be the first warong selling this type of snacks food since year 90s.
The warong (a small eating shop in Malay) is rather simple and traditional type of village style located along the main road of Jalan Kampung Maju Jaya which in the direction to Seelong. It was shifted from the road side stall since 2 years ago...
They do serve other Malay foods like mee soto, mee rebus, goreng pisang and others.

Warong Sonto which famous with their fried abalone mushroom
 

 

 The fried abalone mushroom aka Goreng Cendawan in Malay

We ordered the plate of fried abalone mushroom which only cost RM2 for 6 pieces. The magic of this snack food is the soy sauce which mixed with bird eye chili (chili padi). It was crispy on the outer skin and tender in the inside, especially when you dipped with the homemade soy sauce, it give you another satisfaction by enjoying the snacks.

The homemade soy sauce with bird eye chili

We will be back for their others food in the warong.

Warong Sonto - Goreng Cendawan
Address : Along Jalan Kampung Maju Jaya which in the direction to Seelong.
GPS Coordinates : N1.59529 E103.71977
Business hour : 11am - 10pm, close on Sunday.

3rd stop : Haji Wahid Mee Rebus at Plaza Angsana
Mee rebus is one of the signature food in Johor Bahru that you cannot miss, it had a long history since Hj Wahid took over the business on the year 1938 from his father. Today, they have many outlet in Johor Bahru town and all run by his son...
The stall we visited at Plaza Angsana is located in the food court and the area has a clean and wide sitting place.

The stall of Hj. Wahid's Mee Rebus in Plaza Angsana, Tampoi

The comfort dining area of the food court

The plate of mee rebus cost RM4 which is unique and different from others state within Malaysia.

Hj. Wahid mee rebus from Plaza Angsana

The noodles served with eggs, scallions, green chili, some crispy fried crackles and dried shrimps. The gravy is the important part of the meal, it was just nice, fragrant and not starchy at all. This is the traditional recipe of their family almost a century ago. Before the noodles serve on table, they added some vinegar and dark soy sauce on it to enhance the tasty noodles.

Hj. Wahid's Mee Rebus at Plaza Angsana
Address : Plaza Angsana, Jalan Tampoi, Johor Bahru.
GPS Coordinates : N1.49598 E103.70691
Business hour : 10am - 9pm daily.

Fourth stop : E Pin Bak Kut Teh 一品滋补肉骨茶 at Taman Bukit Indah

This Bak Kut Teh is rather special compare with most the Teow Chew Bak Kut Teh within Johor Bahru area. It rather has the Klang taste but cooked in clay pot. The shop was shifted from the location behind AM Bank previously and now the new outlet is behind the Hong Leong Bank of Taman Bukit Indah. You can read from my previous post here.

The restaurant has a modern decoration with the limited tables, the history of Bak Kut Teh is clearly display from the wall in the restaurant. (apologies that I couldn't show you the photos due to some technical problem which cannot retrieve the photos from the memory card)

We had the dried pork knuckles and soup based pork ribs clay pot bak kut teh, and the friendly owner - Mr Kenny introduced us their special signature dish - stir fried clams 上汤啦啦, beside that we also tasted their homemade fish cake.

Homemade fish cake

Dried type pork knuckle in clay pot

Pork ribs and others intestine Bak Kut Teh in clay pot

Stir fried clams with scallions

The taste of all the foods were above average with the reasonable prices, worth trying if you happen in the area or after shopping from the Aeon Bukit Indah.

E Pin Bak Kut Teh 一品滋补肉骨茶
Address : 26，jalan indah 15/1，Taman bukit indah 81200 (behind Bkt Indah Hong Leong Bank), Johor Bahru.
GPS Coordinates : N1.48196 E103.66057
Contact : Mr Kenny Wang - 013 778 9998
Business hour : Mon - Sat 11am - 11pm, Sun 9am - 11pm.
Website : https://www.facebook.com/yipin9998

Fifth stop : Goreng pisang - Mawar warong.

This stall serve the most famous goreng pisang in Johor Bahru since more than 30 years ago. They operated in the simple road side stall until they have a proper dining area today. The warong located just next to the popular Thistle Hotel in JB and behind the JB Clock Tower.
Despite the negative rumour around JB area, the area is pack with peoples during their operation hour.

Warong Mawar

Beside the goreng pisang (deep fried banana), they do sell nasi lemak, nasi ambang and others. When the place is too crowded, you need to have good patient for the food you order.
We had a plate of goreng pisang cost RM2 (below), the crispy outer part was the magic of the snacks. Compare with other popular goreng pisang stall within JB area, this was really gave us the most satisfaction! Deep fried by the fresh banana, dip into the dark soy sauce which mixed with the bird eye chili...it made our best tea break of the day!

Goreng pisang (deep fried banana) from Warong Mawar

I will be back for the pack of nasi ambang soon!

Warong Mawar Goreng Pisang

Address : Jalan Sungai Chat of Jalan Kolam Air, Johor Bahru

GPS Coordinates : N1.46176 E103.74192

Business hour : 11am - 5pm, close on Friday.

Sixth stop : Dong Hong Traditional Chinese Kueh 东鸿糕粿 at Tmn Sri Tebaru Hawker Centre.

The stall located in the historical hawker centre called Taman Sri Tebrau Hawker Centre. They sell full of variety of Chinese traditional kueh which hardly can find it else where in JB. This type of stalls are getting less and less nowadays...

Dong Hong Chinese Kueh stall - 东鸿糕粿

Mr Low, who is the owner of the stall told us that the 'kuehs' sell in the stall are all homemade with the original ingredients, that will really make the kueh taste perfect! His customers are 40% from Singapore and everyday across the causeway to buy the kueh and another 60% are from the locals.

We tried some of their 'Ang Ku Kueh' and 'Bang-kuang kueh'.

Traditional 'Ang-Ku kueh' from Dong Hong stall

Bang-kuang kueh from Dong Hong stall

They have different type of kueh with the above shape...bang-kuang (turnip), Ku-cai (Chinese chives) and others.

Beside retail, they do supply to other shop and restaurants within Johor Bahru area.

Do drop by if you are the fan of these Chinese traditional kueh.

Dong Hong Trading 东鸿糕粿

Address : 62, Taman Sri Tebrau Hawker Centre, Tmn Sri Tebrau.

GPS Coordinates : N1.48684 E103.76804

Contact : 019 753 9830

Business hour : Sat - Tue 4pm - 11pm

Website : https://www.facebook.com/pages/%E4%B8%9C%E9%B8%BF%E7%B3%95%E7%B2%BF/487895931281137?id=487895931281137&sk=info

Seventh and also the last stop of the day - Mama Nyonya Food Restaurant 祖母娘惹餐馆 at Taman Molek.

The restaurant located in Tmn Molek which is just behind the Alliance Bank of Tmn Molek. This restaurant is one of the three famous Nyonya restaurant within Johor Bahru. I had been visiting many times and still continue visit it till today...

Mama Nyonya Food Restaurant at Taman Molek

It has a simple and cozy setting of the environment and with air-conditioning. The restaurant can be very crowded during weekend evening. That's one of the reason we usually visiting on the weekday...

The interior deco of the restaurant

We ordered few types of fish, one Nyonya curry chicken, steam lady finger and Baba cendol for dessert.

Nyonya style deep fried fish tail with dried onions and garlic

Same cooking method with different part of the fish

Nyonya style steamed fish

Nyonya curry chicken

Steamed lady finger with homemade spicy sambal

Baba Cendol with palm sugar

We have no doubt for the Nyonya foods in this restaurant, the lovely couple Mr Andy and Ms Grace provide their original ingredients and their best effort to serve their every customers. This is one of the worth visit Nyonya restaurant with the delicious foods and reasonable prices. You cannot miss it if you are the Nyonya food lover wihtin Johor Bahru.

Mama Nyonya Food Restaurant 祖母娘惹餐馆
Address : 8, Jalan Molek 1/28, Taman Molek, Johor Bahru.
Contact : Ms Grace Lim 016-7167190
GPS Coordinates : N1.52416 E103.78535
Business hour : 11am - 8pm Mon - Fri. Saturday base on reservation and Sunday off.
Website : https://www.facebook.com/pages/MaMa-Nyonya-FOOD/110292562374357

*  You can find all these nice food by downloading the HungryGoWhere mobile app for both IOS and Android.

Mission accomplished!
We had total of 7 different places with 7 different dishes and snacks around Johor Bahru area. Will start to plan for the next food trail again!

*  Some of the photos above were taken by mobile phone, apologies for the poor quality.

Sumptuous 4 course dinner at SkyBar and buffet breakfast at Traders Hotel Puteri Harbour, Johor.

Having dinner at SkyBar Traders Hotel Puteri Harbour - Johor was one of the most enjoyable and unforgettable dinner for our family! We had our dinner on one of the Saturday evening sometime November 2013 during our 2 days 1 night city escape holiday. I appreciated that Ms Aidah and the Executive Chef of SkyBar for the dinner arrangement.

We specifically chose the table situated next to the baby pool and had a breathtaking view for the Puteri Harbour night view. While waiting for the dinner to serve, the Chef presented a nice bread with 3 different sauce on our table.

There were 2 types of bread and we like the 3 different sauce very much! Garlic, Rosemary and butter. Before we can finish the bread, the starter served...The Caesar Check-mate! Salad.

Caesar Check-mate! Salad

The appetizer was unique and creative! Nice presentation on the piece of tile and this was the most creative salad I ever have!

Next appetizer was the 'SHE Lobster Bisque'.

SHE Lobster Bisque

"Bisque is a smooth, creamy, highly seasoned soup of French origin, classically based on a strained broth of crustaceans. It can be made from lobster, crab, shrimp or crayfish." Souce from Wiki.

The rich flavored soup was yummy with the fresh female lobster meat. The highly seasoned savory appetizer made our conversation pause awhile, everyone just enjoyed very much. The empty plates tell it all...

The next dish was the main course of the night. The Herb-Crusted Roasted Rack of Lamb.

The Herb-Crusted Roasted Rack of Lamb

I was looking at the Rack of Lamb for at least 5-10 minutes just to admired the presentation by the Chef. Well done!

The portion was big and the lamb served on the medium doneness. Every bite of the juicy and tender lamb provided the satisfaction of the meal, it was sometime back I haven't have a chance to taste the rack of lamb with the mint sauce, excellent! Well, I took the longest time to enjoyed this delicious Roasted Rack of Lamb among all of us...

The dessert served after the main course, it was the 'Combination of Screw pine Creme Brulee and Tiramisu with home-made Vanilla ice cream'. Again! Another well presentation of the dessert from the Chef of SkyBar - Traders Hotel.
*  Apologies from me that my memory card having some problem that I can't retrieve the photos.

Thanks for the humble Chef who came to explained on the dishes, and very much appreciated on the surprised chocolate birthday cake from the management of Traders Hotel. Ms Aidah and the team, thanks you very much on the arrangements and warm hospitality.

That was a wonderful dinner for us especially company by the breathtaking view from the surrounding of SkyBar and Puteri Harbour, the dining experience was totally cannot describe by words! You have to try it yourself to feel the different!

Our buffet breakfast on the next day was prepared at the Harbour Cafe of Traders Hotel. It was full house during we stepped in, nice and polite cafe's staff arrange our table in about 10 minutes...

Harbour Cafe during the morning session

The Cafe provided more than 50 types of breakfast for their guests to choose from. It was a nice breakfast with full of varieties, appetizers, main course and dessert from local and international. Photos below...

The salad corner

The local food session

The noodles area...

The American breakfast counter

I like the sausages, hash brown and baked beans very much!

And also the bread, donuts and croissant corner...

And last not the least...the dessert island.

The dessert island of Harbour Cafe

And you can find even the local Nyonya kueh at the dessert island...

The local kuehs...

It was a very enjoyable moment for our family having the buffet breakfast in the Harbour Cafe. The full varieties of foods really wake up my morning appetite and I like the sausages very much!

It can be very crowded during the weekend morning session at the Harbour Cafe, so please make a reservation from the hotel management if you wish to having the breakfast during the weekend to avoid any disappointment.

We will be back again on our next city escape!

Related post :-
*  The Traders Hotel at Puteri Harbour Nusajaya, Johor.
*  Deluxe Harbour View Room in Traders Hotel Puteru Harbour, Johor.

Traders Hotel, Puteri Harbour, Johor.

Persiaran Puteri Selatan, Puteri Harbour.

Nusajaya, Johor.

Tel : +607-560 8888    Fax : +607-560 8999

Email : thph@tradershotels.com

Website : www.tradershotels.com

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/tradersputeriharbour

Location map of Traders Hotel at Puteri Harbour Nusajaya, Johor.

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The Famous Coconut Shake at Klebang, Malacca (Melaka).

Under the hot sunny day, after the 'A Date With The Bloggers' event at Malacca...we (with Robin) decided to look for some drinks that can really ease the thirst! Robin suggested the Famous Coconut Shake at Klebang and without a second words, we drove directly to the destination.

The Klebang Original Coconut Shake (N2.21583 E102.20688) is located next to the Caltex Petrol Station along the main road. You will not miss it if you take note on the petrol station.

Once we arrived at the stall, the queue was Long! My goodness! It was under the hot sun....

The Long queue under the sun at The Coconut Shake's stall...

The Klebang Coconut Shake's stall along the roadside...

We realized later, the long queue at the stall was for those customers who want to 'ta-pao' (take away), there's a dining area is loacted further in at the end of the alley...

The area was packed with customers! It took about 5-10 minutes to get a table and waited for 15 minutes for the Coconut Shake....while waiting for the drinks, we tried the nasi lemak pack (RM1.20) which was not bad!

The nasi lemak available at the Klebang Coconut Shake.

Here is the Coconut Shake Special! With additional scoop of Vanilla Ice-cream on top of it.

I like the concoction of the Ice with ice-cream, coconut drink and the flesh. Refreshing! The taste was not over sweet with the nice fragrance of the coconut drink and some flesh. It's special and a 'life saver' under the humid hot day!

The process looks simple, they blended the drink with the a lot of ice cream and pour into the mixer. The magic is within the mixer!

The cost of the drink was RM2.00 and RM1.50 for without the scoop of Vanilla ice cream.

It's really reasonable price for the unique Coconut Shake!

The business hour : 12.30pm-6.30pm daily (Friday: 2pm-6.30pm)

Tel: +6 013-399 4061

Location map of Famous Coconut Shake at Klebang, Malacca.

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