The Luxury Traveller

I Eat: Johor Bahru Hainanese Chicken Chop Wars – Hua Mui Coffee Shop and IT Roo Cafe

July 7, 2014

Johor Bahru or JB seems to have a bit of a chicken chop war going on with 2 very popular spots to indulge in chicken chop. I had the chance to try 2 of the popular ones recently and thought I’d do a quick comparison on them 😀

Hua Mui Coffee Shop

Hui Mui Cafe is a very popular Hainanese coffee shop in JB town, that serves traditional fare but is pork free (it could be halal, I’m not sure but it’s very popular among Muslims) It’s star item on the menu is the Fried Chicken Chop (RM12)

Because it’s so popular, it’s hard to get a place to sit and when I was there at about lunch time, we had about 1 hour wait. The question is, was it worth it?

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I Drink: 3D Coffee Art at Coffee Amo @ Jalan Sultan, Kuala Lumpur

June 10, 2014

Coffee art is now quite common at artisan cafes but instead of the flat 2D designs on the surface of the coffee, how about feasting your eyes on 3D coffee art? I saw some pictures of the adorable 3D coffees at Coffee Amo and one day, I sought it out to see if the coffee tasted as good as it looked.

This was a cappucino (RM10) which was smooth and milky without any bitter after taste. The clincher of course, is the adorable kitty that came sitting on top of with it! The meticulous attention to detail, and the artwork that went into drawing on milk foam was something I absolutely had to admire.

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I Eat: Chun Kee Hakka Noodles “Tai Bu Mee” @ Jalan Sayur, Pudu, Kuala Lumpur

June 4, 2014

Pudu is an old part of Kuala Lumpur that retains a lot of its character despite the development going on around it. It is also where a lot of traditional, good hawker fare can be found and this apparently Famous Hakka Mee stall is one such gem.

Known as “Tai Bu Mee”, these Hakka style dry noodles are filling, delicious and still relatively affordable despite the quickly rising prices.

I first stumbled on it almost by mistake one day when passing by and seeing lots of people eating at this stall, without knowing of its fame.

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I Eat: Kuey Teow Kia @ Restoran Woon Kiang, Johor Bahru

May 19, 2014

I must have been living under a rock because I’d never heard of kuey teow kia until very recently! Apparently native only to Johor Bahru, this dish is very popular in this southern-most city of Malaysia and I very recently had my first taste of it!

Trusty Google and a very late arrival into JB led me to Restoran Woon Kiang for their famous kuey teow kia, which is touted as the best in JB. Kuey Teow Kia is so called because the kuey teow noodles served are thinner than normal kuey teow (flat rice noodles). However, I will note that this is because the comparison is to regular southern style kuey teow which is broader. This is in fact a lot like the kuey teow that comes out of places like Ipoh or Penang.

So, what’s so special then and was it good?

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I Eat: Cheng Heng Kway Chap and Braised Duck Rice @ Holland Drive, Singapore

April 1, 2014

Kway Chap is a dish that is either love or hate.

If you love pork innards and “spare parts”, you will love this dish. If the mere idea of it makes you gag then you will hate it. Simple.

No prizes for guessing that this is one of my favourite dishes. It isn’t a popular dish in Kuala Lumpur but in Singapore, it is very easily found at many hawker centres or food courts. I had this one at Cheng Heng Kway Chap and Braised Duck Rice stall at the Holland Drive Hawker Centre.

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