Travel: Johor Bahru 🇲🇾

Did a random quick drink stop at Offee Cafe during a recent JB day trip, and was very pleasantly surprised by their matcha and hojicha lattes! It was smooth and gao, and hopefully it stays this way cause we’ll definitely be back the next time for another cup.

Affordable, but I wouldn’t spend too much time queueing for it as they weren’t exceptionally good. If you’re here, stick to the plain ones for they were pretty crispy and fluffy!

📍Bukit Chagar Roti Canai
Jalan Tengku Azizah, Bukit Chagar, 80300 Johor Bahru
6.30am to 11am Daily

Thought they would make a sauce out of the lao gan ma chilli, but it was the dumplings and lao gan ma on the side for dipping. 🙈 Dumplings were pretty normal.

📍宽窄巷子 成都串串香
39 Jalan Austin Heights 8/3, 81100 Johor Bahru
🕔 5pm to 1am Daily

The Cheese Lab’s probably the spot with the most number of flavours to choose from for their burnt cheese cakes. Aside from the original, they have around 8 others to choose from, like matcha, chocolate, etc. While it came in a more value for money portion than other places we’ve tried in JB, it was much denser and thicker than we would have liked. The burnt flavour was subtle and there was this slight aftertaste around the top and sides that we weren’t really a fan of.

Was so full at this point but had to get one piece of Lavender Bakery’s Hanjuku Cheese to try. It’s pricey, but easy to understand its popularity. It’s creamy, soft, rich in its cheese flavour and not too sweet! I would have been able to go for me if I got a box of them 😂 You can get them in box of 4s at 17.20RM (S$5.70) or 6s at 25.80RM (S$8.60).

Missed out on this dish during our first visit and heard it was taken off the menu, but we got it this time! The soup here is the same as the one in their 缠绵火锅粉 (7.90RM, S$2.60) - spicy, a little numbing and had a touch of sourness. The difference between both are the noodles. This one has potato vermicelli while the other bowl uses wide sweet potato noodles. It’s my first time trying potato vermicelli (texture is less chewy) and although I enjoyed it, the wide sweet potato noodles were better at soaking up all the flavours of the broth!

📍宽窄巷子 成都串串香
39 Jalan Austin Heights 8/3, 81100 Johor Bahru
🕔 5pm to 1am Daily

Crazy surge of the number of bubble tea shops in JB, but we decided on this as it was one of the few that wasn’t mainly selling brown sugar milk! Went with quarter sugar and less ice for our cup. Tea had a refreshing lingering fragrance, but expected a little more flavour from the pearls.

📍不要对我尖叫 Don’t Yell at Me
No. 25, Jalan Austin Heights 8/3, Taman Mount Austin, 81100 Johor Bahru
🕛 12pm to 1am Mondays to Thursdays, 11am to 1am Fridays to Sundays

These are small la las, but they came in quite a big portion sat in a good amount of spicy sauce! Almost every table had one of these and it was a good side to have. The la las were fresh and we liked that in this whole pile, almost none were empty.

📍宽窄巷子 成都串串香
39 Jalan Austin Heights 8/3, 81100 Johor Bahru
🕔 5pm to 1am Daily

Wanted to try the 极品土豆粉 (7.90RM, S$2.60) but apparently they stopped selling that a few months ago! ☹️ Went with the other noodle option that’s one of my favs, the wide sweet potato noodles. It’s not a big bowl though, as it serves more as a side to the skewers. Noodles were soft and chewy, while the broth packed a really good heat with a touch of sourness. Shiok!

📍宽窄巷子 成都串串香
39 Jalan Austin Heights 8/3, 81100 Johor Bahru
🕔 5pm to 1am Daily

MA LAAAA! Was very excited to try this out and happy it didn’t disappoint. Spice levels are much higher than what we usually get in SG that even the small spice (微辣) was shiok and fiery! Their range of skewers is not that big, but sufficient with a good and pretty fresh variety of meats and vegetables.

The base is charged only once, so when you get top ups of skewers, they’ll just bring it over and add them into your existing bowl. Due to the layer of oil in the base, the skewers are kept hot throughout the meal. We enjoyed the mix of heat and “numbness”, and though super unhealthy, we kept scooping away the oil to drink the broth. 😛

PS, they don’t accept reservations, so I’d recommend to come by for an early dinner just when they open at 5pm. We dropped in around 5.20pm and were lucky to get the last table before the queue started forming really quickly. The waiting time after that takes quite a while!

📍宽窄巷子 成都串串香
39 Jalan Austin Heights 8/3, 81100 Johor Bahru
🕔 5pm to 1am Daily

Spotted Restoran Kak Kak after our breakfast at Restoran Ka Hoe that’s just down the same street. Came by the next day around 10am and some stuff were already sold out ☹️ Prices vary, but these 6 in white saucers were 21.60RM (S$7.20). The items were decent with some hits and misses.

📍Restoran Kak Kak 佳佳点心茶楼
9 Jalan Maju, Taman Maju Jaya, 80400 Johor Bahru
🕡 5.30am to 11.30am Daily, Closed on Tuesdays

This was my saviour after our very shiok fiery ma la meal at 宽窄巷子 成都串串香, that’s about a 5 minutes walk away. Was craving for something refreshing and sour, and got this by recommendation from the server! They squeezed fresh limes into this and we really liked it that it wasn’t too sweet and was pretty fragrant. Will sure be back for more next time!

📍Regiustea 皇茶天下
71 Jalan Austin Heights 8/5, Austin Heights, 81100 Johor Bahru