Restoran / restaurant New Lucky at Tmn Sentosa

This restaurant, Restoran New Lucky, has been around for more 30 years according to the owner. And I believe him since I'd eaten there with my family when I was really young and my dad would do the weekend supermarket/petrol driven-drives into Malaysia - my dad loved the drunken prawns at this restaurant which the waitress would bring in a covered glass bowl to our table and swirl the still alive prawns about in whiskey. My dad did like the roasted pigeons at this place too although he finally agreed that the creatures didn't have much too meat on them.

Anyway, after a 12 year hiatus, I finally returned to this restaurant sometime in November 2008. Locating the place isn't a problem - the restaurant is most prominently located at Tmn Sentosa - there is no missing the restaurant on the left side of the road when one turns in. The pic below is of the dishes we ordered - crabs, toufu and veg. The bill came to almost RM 90 and I remember being most disappointed at the quality of the dishes, in particular the toufu dish - never ever order this toufu dish. As for the steamed crabs, nothing exceptional at all.

So, because I am the queen of second chances, and because my food companion wanted to have drunken (and not herbal) prawns and I distinctly remembered how this restaurant did the covered bowl with prawns swirled in whiskey thingy, I suggested that we go to this restaurant for dinner. It was almost impossible to find parking at 8pm at Tmn Sentosa and we had to walk all the way back down to the restaurant after we did. The restaurant was about 2/3 occupied but the service staff came over after we seated ourselves (they don't show you to the seats here) and we ordered the following 4 dishes per the pics below.

First up - the "drunken" prawns which appeared to be prawns cooked in herbal soup - drunken indeed! No glass bowl materialised with live prawns drenched in whiskey. My friend who, as I'd said in a previous entry has a craving for herbal prawns too, pronounced this dish highly unsatisfying, not just because it wasn't what we were expecting but because the soup's standard was pretty low too. The Slog Reviews: 6/10. The cost of the prawns was RM9/100gm with a min order of 300gm and the dish above cost RM25 which is about SGD 11. While not expensive or nasty-tasting, the prawns did not have the sweetness that truely fresh prawns have and the soup/ingredients of the soup failed to enhance or bring out the flavor of the prawns. Instead, presented this way, the prawns ended up being cooked to the point of being too hard.

As for the clams (la la) which cost RM 15, The Slog Reviews: 6/10. The clams were really small, the meat shrunken and tasteless and there appeared to be more shells than meat. When compared with the clams I've had at other seafood places in JB, like Grand Straits Garden, and Kong Kong, this dish cooked in bland black pepper pales in comparison. Waste of $ ordering this.

The Slog Reviews: 7.5/10. The fried kong kong priced at RM 10 was plentiful and tasty enough. We could not help comparing the quantity for the price against the kong kong we had at Serangoon Gdns a few days earlier for dinner but that's the cost of living for you.

If there was any dish which we agreed was worth ordering, it would be the toufu with minced meat priced at RM 10. The Slog Reviews: 8/10. The sauce and meat on the toufu which was fresh with a crisp outer layer was rather satisfying, being not too salty or too sweet. Do note though that this restaurant does not have menus but one has to order based on the large pics of the food put up on the billboard near the kitchen area.

The total cost of the meal above was RM73.65 inclusive of 5% govt tax and 3% svc charge. Was it worth it? No. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant to anyone at all. The standard has fallen far from what I remembered from my childhood days and I suppose the cooks of yester-years are long gone. In any case, if one wants to try out this place still for whatever reason (I can't think of one given that there are so many better places around), here is the adddress and tel no.

1-5, Jln Keris, Taman Sri Tebrau, 80050 JB, Johor
Tel: 07-3337519

After the meal, because it failed to hit the spot for both of us, we went to good old A&W at the Jusco located at Permas Jaya and had a rootbear float each (and a connie dog for my food companion). Like the restaurant, A&W is a reminder of childhood days (there aren't any more A&Ws in Singapore now) but our experience there that night was definitely more satisfying than eating at Restoran New Lucky.

Pontian Wanton Mee at JB

The first time I had Pontian Wanton Mee was with my mum a couple of years ago. She wanted to share her great find - a place at Orchard Rd selling really cheap and good food - and I remember being really surprised at the cost of the food at the outlet of Pontian Wanton Mee in Orchard. However, the food never really grew on me and it was only recently that I developed an inexplicable urge to wolf down springy but soft noodles and slurp slightly salty soup with pcs of tender minced pork wrapped in a kind of flour skin that slides away from the pork when put in one's mouth - ie wanton mee.

So, when my companion told me that he had found a wanton mee store in JB which would satisfy this urge, I was most surprised when he brought me to the Pontian Wanton Mee outlet located at Taman Sutera (the shophouses near Taman Sutera).

At about 8pm, the shop wasn't too crowded and we were attended to almost immediately. This is how the first page of the menu looks like - apparently there is a difference between wanton noodles and pontian wanton noodles when all along I've thought they were the same thing. When I said I found the price in SG cheap, the price of Pontian Wanton Mee in JB blew me away - the food is ridiculously cheap - get this - RM6 for a large bowl of noodles which works out to SGD 2.50 only and the small bowl is RM4 which is SGD 1.70 (below SGD 2!) .

Below is a pic of the food we ordered - I had the a medium sized Dumpling Noodle (bowl on the left - the dumplings came in a soup) while my companion had a large sized Pontian Wanton Mee. For both bowls of noodles, we chose the chilli plus black sauce combination for the sauce which, as you will see from the menu above, is the recommended option.

The Slog Reviews: 7.5/10. Very decent grub for a ridiculously low price. The noodles were springy and chewy but I felt the meat in the dumplings were too hard - probably the dumplings hadn't been defrosted properly (I don't expect freshly made dumplings for that price!). Still, if one is on a budget and has to fill one's stomach with reasonably satisfying grub or if one shares a similar urge to partake of a non-conservative local asian delight (wanton - get it?), one may visit the following Pontian Wanton Mee outlets in Malaysia per the pic of the addresses of the Malaysian outlets I took below.

Go Karting in JB

If I've never particularly favored Go Karting before, the experience I had at the Go Karting Circuit in JB made sure that this "sport" would never be one of my hobbies. At the suggestion of a friend who was insistent on trying out something new and persuaded by the fact that his and not my car would be used for the trip to the circuit located near Permas Jaya at Plentong, we headed there one morning.

We got lost, but asked for directions at the BHP station in Plentong and managed to find the road and then dirt track leading to the circuit. The dirt trail, which went on for quite a distance, was narrow, rough, bumpy and strewn with stones (I'm so glad it wasn't my car). To my surprise, there were quite a number of Singaporean cars heading to and fro the circuit, most of which were driven by expats.

This is how the counter at the go karting circuit looks like. This is not the place to bring one's loved one unless she/he can accept flies (lots of them), stray dogs, dirt, heat and filth, all away from civilisation. The rates for an ordinary go-kart (you are not allowed on the faster ones unless you have some sort of license/permit) are SGD 35 for 10mins. I am sure that is cheaper than SG rates but it seems pretty pricy to spend that amount of money just to go a few rounds at a limited speed in the blazing sun around a track with a helmet that has been worn many times before on one's head. Of course, one is required to sign an indemnity form and to dorn a cheap sort of shower cap before putting on the helmet. Still, be warned that the sweat-soaked sides of the padded helmet press against one's cheek...talk about major ughhhh.

The picture below is a close up of one of the faster racing carts. Drivers of the karts, per the pics above, are required to don a safety suit (see the guys in blue and red above) before driving off in one of these karts. Note where the jelly can of petrol is. I fail to see why anyone would subject themselves willingly and happily to racing about in one of these "machines" under the blazing hot sun with a can of petrol between their parted legs, especially when one can drive a car at a far higher speed, at greater comfort and without the risk of one's family jewels going up in flames.

As the petrol tanks for the ordinary smaller go karts are located near one's elbow and we had driven all the way there, I was minded to have just one round on the go kart despite the horror of having to put on the smelly sweat-soaked helmet. The pic below shows the smaller ordinary go karts and a glimpse of the circuit. I should mention at this point that the seats of the go-kart are meant for the ordinary-slightly larger person- there was a lady of considerable girth who had to sit out the ride because her butt could not fit in the seat despite her best efforts. Instructions are given one to one in English by the many foreign workers consisting of instructions on how to get in the kart, sit down, stop and accelerate. Very simple all of it. One foot goes on the brake, one on the accelerator.

The Slog Reviews: 6.5/10. Unless one doesn't drive or one drives very carefully usually, one may probably find the thrill in racing around the karts under the blazing hot sun. And one needs to be less particular about hygiene too given the state of the circuit and the helmets. Going around the track 5 rounds in 10 mins got pretty boring although I would say some of the bends are rather sharp. I trod on the accelerator and brake at the same time which resulted in my kart spinning 360 degrees at least 3 separate occasions on the track. An employee (a foreign worker) followed me in another go kart throughout so I guess this circuit is pretty mindful of safety.

Grand Straits Garden Restaurant / Restoran (yet again)

As mentioned in my earlier post on this Grand Straits Garden Restaurant (click here), 1 of my food companions has developed an incurable and insatiable desire for the herbal prawns served by this restaurant so despite my suggestion to try other restaurants in JB, he bargained hard to satisfy his desire at this restaurant yet again...This is the third time that we've been there in 2 months and we are getting quite familiar with the staff there.

Now, this food companion is a creature of habit and he would have ordered the exact same items as the previous 2 times except that I put my foot down and as a minor concession, we ordered a different vegetable dish instead of the sambal kangkong which I still highly recommend. Since I've already reviewed the other 2 dishes in the pic, The Slog Reviews: 6.5/10 for the Poached Kow Kee with Century Egg & Salted Egg which cost RM21 for a small portion. Almost tasteless gravy with dark green spinach and eggs which isn;t worth the price or the calories. Do not order.

We waited 30mins for the dessert which we only after ordered the meal because the veg dish failed to, in my boss's parlance, "hit the spot". To be fair, the staff did warn us that the dessert would take that long to prepare because they had to do what we ordered - black sesame with ice cream- from scratch. Below is a pic of the dessert which cost RM8 each (SGD 3.50). The Slog Reviews: 8/10 - the dessert was well-presented with the hot sesame at the bottom and the cold ice cream melting on top and I would recommend this dessert to those looking to end a meal at the restaurant on a sweet note.

The cost of the meal (with 2 bowls of rice and 1 can of coke) came to RM90 (SGD 36) which I thought was a bit pricy for JB standards given that we had only ordered clams as live seafood. But I suppose that's the price to pay for the ambiance and service which is exceptionally better than other restaurants in JB.

The worst bak kut teh (in Johor at least) - Restoran Hong Tat Bak Kut Teh

I've been having an insatiable craving since last week for some really good bak kut teh (pork ribs in soup and spices), the kind where the meat slides off the bones and the boiling hebal soup leaves a pleasant aftermath on the tongue and in the belly. The kind found at the bak kut teh stall on the first floor of Hong Lim Complex hawker centre nearest Chinatown Pt or the kind found at the bak kut teh stalls at Beach Road for eg. Blissful Cafe (at No 29-31 Sultan Gate Tel No: 62988538) where I managed to satisfy my craving finally during lunch hour today with a small bowl of bak kut teh soup for SGD 5 only.

I have heard that there are quite a few famous bak kut teh stalls in JB and so, after work on a cold rainy day, I was insistent on having bak kut teh soup and having it without having to wait a long time because I was starving. The price to pay for my impatience and greed was an unpleasant experience eating at Restoran Hong Tat Bak Kut Teh located at No 93 Jln Sutera Tanjung 8/2, Tmn Sutera Utama 81300 Skudai.

The restaurant had quite a no. of people, was well-lit and clean so we decided to try out the place, figuring that it would be decent. Well, it wasn't. We ordered bak kut teh for 2 pp (RM16), 2 bowls of rice, and beancurd with minced pork (RM8). Here's a pic of the dishes.

The Slog Reviews: 0/10. Absolutely do not waste a penny eating at this shop. The bak kut teh soup was watery (without a strong herbal taste) and the meat was tough and tasteless. The portion meant for 2 was hardly sufficient for 1 person, with less than 6 small pcs of meat. There was barely enough soup and when we asked for a refill, the first refill came promptly enough but for our second request, we were ignored twice. Or rather, the server agreed to bring more soup but never did despite our reminders (She went about serving the other tables). Apparently this shop has been opened for 8 months and that should be long enough time for the food and service standards to be of far superior quality than what we had experienced. I would as such, recommend giving this restaurant a miss - a meal at the many other restaurants in the same area would no doubt yield a more pleasant and satisfying experience.

Frog Porridge at Tmn Century JB

It wasn't in our grand plan that evening to have frog porridge but it was a cold stormy wet day and we didn't know where to get really good bak kut teh which I had been craving for. So we decided to check out the durian stall along Tmn Century instead and behind it was a frog porridge stall - the first that I've seen and eaten at in Johor Bahru. It had a huge signboard "Geylang Lor 9" which presumably is the name of the stall and from my research on the net, a branch of our own Singapore famous frog porridge stall at Geylang Lor 9.

Now, I haven't eaten at our local stall before, not being a die-hard fan of eating frogs (although I do admit that I like frog legs fried) but as I was hungry, irritated (the durian stall was closed) and cold (it was cold as I said), we decided to have dinner at this stall/restoran on a whim. The menu looks like this - nothing more is printed on the back. The prices are clearly stated and I believe, due to the exchange rate difference, 20% cheaper than our local stall's.

The restaurant has indoor (airconditioning with 2 washrooms) seating and outdoor seating. Even though it was a weekday evening (Thurs?), the restaurant filled up rather quickly with both locals and our own fellow countrymen which leads one to the reasonable assumption that this branch is doing very well across the causeway. There are quite a number of employees, predominantly young local chinese-speaking males clad in red (see pic below) who while not the most generous with smiles, do a decent enough job of taking orders and bringing the food to you.
This is the frog porridge with 2 frogs (RM20) which we shared along with another bowl of plain porridge. It arrived steaming hot with the tender white chopped parts of two frogs mixed in near the bottom. The Slog Reviews: 8/10. Frog meat is 1 of the most tender meat around, softer than chicken even and without the fishy taste of fish. The frog meat in this bowl was no exception to the rule and the porridge was a thick gruel which proved to be filling and warm but rather bland.

We also ordered another dish per the pic below which consist of fried seaweed and chopped vegetable. I'm not sure what the name of the dish is (it was in Chi) but as you might have noticed, this dish is not on the menu. Because of the limited selection, we had asked our server if there were other vegetable dishes and after much hesitation, he suggested this dish. The cost was RM 8 but it really was quite tasty and the seaweed went well with the porridge.

The Slog Reviews: Total cost of a bowl of 2-frog porridge, plain porridge, barley drink and the seaweed dish above was RM33 which is about SGD 13 only for a filling dinner for 2 on a cold day.

Grand Straits Garden Restaurant / Restoran

My boss has suggested going to JB for seafood one Fri evening and if there is any one restaurant which I would take the department to, it would be Grand Straits View Garden Restaurant located about the Danga Bay area. The restaurant which has huge (and I mean, really huge) convention halls for co events/weddings, as well as ample parking with security, boasts a really comprehensive menu with one of the widest selection of seafood I've come across in JB such as French Turbot Fish and the Alaska King Crab. Take note though that not ALL the seafood listed in the menu is available all the time. Hence, one would do well to make reservations/call beforehand if one is minded to try the more unusual items on the menu.

The restaurant has outdoor and indoor sitting area. During dinner about 7pm, there is some sort of a live band performing outdoors while those who prefer the airconditioned comfort can enjoy the Singaporean channels playing on the LCD TVs indoors. The live seafood is kept in these tanks and one can pick out one's meal from the tank.

I brought a seafood-loving friend to the restaurant one of the weeknights when petrol was low and we decided to each take out RM100 to indulge. We chose the largest crab with the largest claws in the tanks which was priced at RM 9 per kg. They did not weigh the crab in front of us which on hindsight, we should have asked them to. It was rather hard for me to believe that the crab below weighed more than 1kg (they charged us RM 108 for the critter below)!

The pic below is of the hapless critter chopped and cooked in black pepper sauce. The Slog Reviews: 8/10. The problem with doing reviews more than 1 month after eating is that the memory if blurred somewhat...I don't remember having any complaints at all with this dish. The crab was fresh (at SGD 40 it should be!) and the black pepper sauce satisfactory. However, we thought that for JB standards, this dish was...expensive!

Mouth-watering kangkong! I love kang kong and have ordered this dish at almost every Chinese restaurant I go to . And if anything, the kangkong at Grand Straits View Garden Restaurant scores 10/10 in The Slog Reviews. The veg is cooked to the right degree so that it isn't a soggy mash and has the right degree of crunchiness (stems) and wetness (the leaves). Even the belachan chilli is fresh and unqiue in the sense that it isn't a paste smeared (as with some other kang kong stores) but actually pretty crunchy too. Strongly recommended.

My food companion has, as a result of us ordering the herbal prawns (see pic below), developed a woman-like craving (haha) for herbal prawns ever since. He also finished most of the herbal soup which he claims is..."very good". The Slog Reviews: 10/10. Order at least the Medium-sized dish! It seems considerably larger than the Small version and the prawns are fresh and cooked to the right degree of firm sweetness. We did not see any live prawns in the tank so either these weren't live or they were kept in a tank elsewhere.

The last dish we put away was the large white clams priced at RM4 per 100gm with a min order of RM 300gm. One of the cheapest dishes on the menu. Fresh and good but the chilli isn't spicy though.

The Slog Reviews: 8.5/10. This is probably one of the more/most expensive seafood restaurants in JB but the price may be said to be justifiable given the quality of the food, the service standards, the ambiance and security of the restaurant. Not a place to go if one wants cheap good seafood, but a place to be if the aforementioned are of concern/importance and if one wants a wider (and more unique) range of seafood to choose from.

Restoran / Restaurant Onn Kee Jaya

The result of 2 hungry individuals unable to decide on where to have lunch even after clearing the Msia customs = trouble. I knew what I didn't want, and yet what I wanted to have for lunch would mean a long waiting time so in the end, so I left it to the other to settle the issue of lunch, trusting in his familiarity with both my food taste and the city of JB.

Just after Plaza Angsana, he made a turn and we drove past the plaza's carpark to a rather rundown area of JB with narrow crammed streets and cars parked haphazardly along both sides of those streets. My impression of the place was rather unfavourable but the other assured me that the bak kut teh here was v good according to his colleague. This is the same colleague that intro-ed the other to Qiu Bo Curry House so I should have guessed, given how far apart our tastes are, that I would most likely be disappointed.

After parking the car along the road, we walked past a dingy coffeeshop which seemed immensely popular in the direction of the bak kut teh store when the strong smell of curry coming from this restaurant (?!!?) opposite the said coffeeshop stopped me in my tracks. Noting the air-conditioned dining area inside, I refused to walk any further in the blazing sun to the recommended bkt stall and insisted of having lunch here instead.

The young lady assistant was very helpful and friendly, and the air-conditioned area was a blessed respite from the merciless sun. We enquired about the origin of the delicious smell which turned out to be a huge pot of curry chicken that the uncle-chef was whipping up in the cooking area near the main road - what a way to attract customers! :D Although the restaurant had only 1 other table which was occupied when we came in, within 1/2 an hr, 3 other tables were filled, and not just with Chinese customers but Indians too!

The pic above is the chicken curry which enticed us to the shop. The Slog Reviews: 7.5/10. This curry is the dry sort so there is quite a bit more oil and quite a lot less gravy. The meat was alright - not too hard but sadly, not too tender either. However, the meat didn't appear to have absorbed much of the curry flavor so this dish would be at best, passable. We also ordered the shop's speciality which would be the klang-style of bak kut teh.

The Slog Reviews: 7/10 for the bak kut teh which came with innards and extremely chewy pieces of meat which gave our teeth quite a work-out. I prefer the soft melt-of-the-bone type of bak kut teh so I didn't enjoy the tough chewy meat in this pot at all. The tau kee, butter mushrooms and overall taste of the soup itself was, like the dish above, passable and nothing that one would be likely to develop a craving for. However, the service is good - the uncle noticed that we had finished most of the soup and on his own accord, added more soup.

The total cost of the 2 dishes above as well as 2 cans of drink and 2 bowls of rice was about RM25 (SGD 11).

Name: Restoran Onn Kee Jaya
Address: 78 Jalan Dato Toh Ah Boon, 81000 Tampoi Johor
Tel: 012-7560795, 016-7426978

Restoran / Restaurant Pekin at Taman Sentosa

Wiser from the last experience when we lost our way looking for the place, getting to Restoran Pekin at Taman Sentosa this time was a breeze even without a GPS. Once out of the customs, we kept right and turned towards Stulang Laut. At the end of the road, we turned left, went pass a temple and and then took the costal road past the gated compound all the way in the direction of Permas Jaya. The restaurant is located on that side of the road (in the direction of Permas Jaya) so turning off the main road to the restaurant was relatively simple.

As was the case with its sister outlet at Sutera Mall where we had dinner before, the service was impeccable, the menu was impressive-looking and the food was priced much higher than if one had eaten at any other restaurant in JB. The variety of live seafood was rather limited on a weekday night - tilapias, groupers, oysters, ordinary mud crabs, crayfish and clams. There are three eating sections - the airconditioned area, the outdoor and without shelter area and the open-air non-airconditioned but sheltered area (for smokers probably). The second option should not be considered during dinner time because of the numerous large winged creatures buzzing about (attracted to light).

So, the dishes. The first dish we ordered and was served was lala (white shell clams) cooked in sambal chilli. There are other cooking options for this dish stated in the menu like chinese wine. Take note though that one has to order a min of 800gms for lala and given the price of RM 3/100gm, the dish below cost RM 24 (SGD 10). The Slog Reviews: 9/10. The chilli was mouth-wateringly delicious (mixed with rice) and the clams were cooked just right that one could taste how juicy and fresh each pc of meat was. As said, the staff service is impeccable and they cleared the plates very promptly. I would give this dish 10/10 cept that from the portion below, we were quite doubtful that this was 800gm worth of lala...maybe the shells which were indeed considerably large, weighed quite a bit.

We were temporarily torn between ordering kangkong and hotplate beancurd but after looking at the price of the veg which was 40-50% more expensive than elsewhere, and given my food companion's craving for beancurd, we had the hotplate beancurd with shrimps below. The Slog Reviews: 7/10. Would not recommend ordering this dish at the restaurant. Nothing exceptional in terms of taste or presentation and each toufu wasn't "melt-in-the-mouth" quality.

Now, a word of advice on the next dish below - priced at RM10/100gm (which was more expensive than crabs which were priced at RM5.80 - 7.80/100gm), we had expected the three crayfish we selected live from the tank to be of outstanding quality. The Slog Reviews: 5/10. We had asked for the crayfish to be cooked in butter and indeed it was but ah, what a disappointment the dish turned out to be for the price (total RM 30 = SGD 12). Talk about way-overpriced for the tiny little strips of meat in the shells which while fresh and sweet-tasting, was absolutely unremarkable in taste and badly presented. Give this dish a miss.

As the name of the restaurant implies, the place to have pekin/ Beijing duck in JB would be pekin restaurant of course. They also serve duck dishes like pipa duck on the menu. Anyhow, we ordered half a pekin duck (RM 23 which is SGD 10). The duck came with the thin beancurd sheets. I couldn't take a better photo as both dishes were placed on the opposite end of the menu and I didn't want to get up just to take a pic since most of the tables at the air-conditioned area were filled with working pp (middle-aged and elderly uncles) and familes.

We realised the reason for the dishes being placed so far away from us was so that the waitor could prepare the dish in front of us. He started by putting on a facemask and one side of the glove. Here is a pic of him placing the meat on each thin layer of beancurd skin along with some veg and sweet dark sauce.

The Slog Reviews: 7.5/10. The duck was cooked well enough but the meat was not tender or tasty enough and in fact slightly too dry. We asked for more beancurd sheets for the rest of the meat but were told that we had to pay for those so we declined. Still, this dish is very reasonably priced (could you have pekin duck at a nice restaurant in SG for just SGD 10?) and is worth having as a meat dish if one goes to this restaurant.

The total cost of the meal was RM 98+ (about SGD 42) inclusive of tax, 2 bowls of rice, 1 coke and 2 wet towels. While reasonable by SG standards (for live seafood and pekin duck!), this is expensive by JB individual-living standards indeed.

Kong Kong Taison Seafood Resort Restaurant

On a Sat almost 2 months ago, we were done shopping about 4pm at JB and decided to check out the restaurant that had been recommended as one of the cheapest/best places for seafood in JB. Amazingly and luckily, my GPS actually had the location of the restaurant and I would say that unless one has a GPS which can take you to the restaurant below, it would not be a wise idea to go looking for the place on your own but here are some directions which I hope will prove useful.

Firstly, get on Pasir Gudang highway in the direction of Plentong and Masai. Look out for the blue signboard on the left that says Kong Kong and turn left. Follow all signboards that say Kong Kong. When there are no signboards to direct you to Kong Kong, then take those that direct you to Tmn Scientex. After that, go straight till you come to a roundabout. Take the 3 o clock which means that the show village will be on your left hand side. At the end of the road, there is no sign board but you have to turn left. Go all the way straight then right to the very end of the road which is quite a long drive past some plantations on both sides of the road. There will be a sign that says Neleyan Fishing something at the end of this long 2 way 1 lane each way road. Turn right and drive a short distance keeping to the left side and you will come to kong kong seafood which is on the left hand side of the dirt road.

If one has never seen an arapaima ((dragon fish) or toman fish, this would be the place to go. Near the entrance, as one walks into the restaurant, one would have to bypass this:

And if one is minded or mildly interested in seeing the freshwater fishes, one should pause to take in the beauty of the two giant arapaimas in the fenced-in area. The rather large tomans are in the same pond but I didn't take a picture of them because of their unattractive color (black with strips) and that they can be easily found (and fished!) in Singapore. I took the pic of the arapaimas below by sticking my camera's lens through a hole in the fencing - truely beautiful and magnificent creatures these are! I had spent quite a bit of money in Nov 09 trying to fish for these creatures in Krabi but alas, luck was not with me so this below was my first close-up encounter with the arapaimas. I'm hopeful there will be another encounter - of me holding the arapaima that I caught successfully on line!

Now, Kong Kong Seafood Restaurant sells live seafood at a price cheaper than the prices quoted by restaurants in town. No surprise given how way out the restaurant is but what distinguishes this restaurant from other "way-out" live seafood restaurants is the variety/choices available to customers.
The pic below illustrates what I'm talking about. This is the only other restaurant in JB that I know of which sells stone crabs / crabs flown in from Canada as well as Geoducks. The price of RM 168 per kg for the Geoduck is way cheaper than the RM 270 per kg at the other restaurant and the stone crabs are about RM 30 per kg cheaper. Kong Kong seafood restaurant also sells Boston Sphiny Lobster which makes this restaurant a place to go to only with friends who love seafood and are willing to fork out the extra money.

The restaurant has indoor and outdoor dining. There are some rooms in the restaurant which appear to have karaoke and are air-conditioned but these appear reserved for bigger groups of guests. We had our dinner at the outdoor dining area which was on a platform on stilts above the water. If the tide is high enough, one can drop a fishing line from the railings around.

As my companion is allergic to most shell-seafood, and we were stuffed from a 9 course lunch at one of the most expensive seafood restaurants in JB that day (could not take pics because it was a company lunch), we decided to have a simple meal for dinner. The Slog Reviews: 8/10 for the kangkong and lala. The lala was ridiculously cheap at RM4 per 100gm while the kangkong cost less than RM10. However, the lala (clams) was very fresh because they had been kept alive until we ordered the dish and I have to say that at least 98% of the clams had meat in them. Even though the lala was fried in sambal, the freshness of the lala could not be masked.

We also ordered 300gms of prawns (min order) at RM 9/100gm. The Slog Reviews: 7/10 . I'd ordered butter prawns but somehow, they served me the prawns steamed in egg instead. Freshness was a given since I'd watched them scoop the prawns out of the tank and one can't go wrong steaming prawns. The lower score I'd given this dish wasn't because it wasn't tasty or good but that the dish lacked imagination (it is a most simple dish afterall) or the extra oomph to make it exceptional.

So, if one is a seafood lover, take note that the address of the restaurant is Lot 33, KG Kong Kong Laut 81760 Masai Johor and the telephone number is 607- 252-3366 or 607-254 3381. However, I cannot emphasize enough the need for a GPS to get there or to search for clear directions (eg on Google Maps) before going. I think I'll be going back to this place really soon if I can find more seafood loving friends willing to shell out the $ for higher-end seafood!

There are some really basic lodgings (without TV) with the price ranging from RM 48 to 88 located on the same premises as the restaurant if one is minded to try a bit of fishing from the kelong.

Qiu Bo Curry House in JB

Because of the Good Fri weekend, there wasn't the customary jam and getting to JB before 10am on Sat morning was a breeze. And because I had been having a craving for the Muar-kind of otah (click here) and I wasn't starving (which meant that we could drive a longer distance for brunch), we decided to have brunch at a place which sold both curry fishhead and otah.

We ordered the curry fishhead for two. This is a close up of the pic. The Slog Reviews: 8/10. This curry fishhead dish is for those who like curry fishhead with a strong coconut flavor - I could smell and taste the strong coconut milk in the gravy. Although it was rather pleasant smelling still, I dread to think of how many calories there are in this dish! As for the fishhead, it was fresh enough and had as much meat as a fishhead could possibly have.

We also ordered vegetables (choice between spinach and kailan) and were pleasantly surprised that it came with 4 large juicy fresh prawns. As for the otah, although it wasn't spicy, it was thick, wet, quivery and chockful of fish meat. I would give both dishes 9/10. The cost of the three dishes below (sufficient for 2pp) was RM 44. Rice for 1 pax is RM 1 while a cup of tasty home-made lime juice is RM1.50.



Qiu Bo Curry House is located some distance after Jusco Tebrau City and up a small slope. Although there is no air-con and the restaurant is reminiscent of the 1970s Singapore coffeeshops, the restaurant is airy and clean. There are 13 tables altogether and during lunch hours, the place can get very crowded. I have to comment that the toilets here are extraordinarily clean for JB restaurant toilets but maybe that is because we were the first customers of the day.

Here is the add and tel no of the restaurant:
No 2 Jalan Mutiara, Tmn Mutiara
81800 Ulu Tiram Johor
Tel 016-7819 566 / 019-7789 845