Wednesday 27 November 2013

Roslin Beriani House @ Kebun Teh, Johor Bharu

Roslin Beriani House @ Kebun Teh, Johor Bharu

This is one of the famous Nasi Beriani in Johor Bahru. Its strategically located at Taman Kebun Teh, where in the middle of the way to town from Tampoi and Larkin area and also a by-pass from Tebrau Highway. This restaurant was recommended by a Malay friend and allegedly to be crowded during lunch hour. So we deemed ourselves to be "clever" to visit off-lunch-hour. And so, the "clever-us" only left with one choice of nasi beriani--beef beriani. The waiter's facial expression telling us either take it or leave it, ermmm.. to avoid we back with empty hand, we ordered nasi beriani with beef rendang for two.
I never had a proper nasi beriani in a Malay restaurant, so I was quite surprised on how they serve the food.  Before the nasi beriani was served, we actually have the side dishes on table first, which consist of acar buah , cooked pineapple slices, few crispy chips and a bowl of curry gravy (kuah). All the side dishes will be charged accordingly if you want extra.
Acar Buah  RM2
As we thought an acar buah in red colour will be hot and spicy, we were totally wrong!! It is sweet and sour, the Acar Buah is excellent, one little piece is sufficient to open up the appetite for eating a elephant! Definitely ladies' favourite.
Nenas  RM0.50 ~ RM1
For myself, I seldom eat raw pineapple even pineapple juice. This cooked pineapple with their unique spices changed my perception to pineapple. Normally, I can feel my tongue burning after eating fresh pineapple, but cooked pineapple totally get rid of that kind of feel and taste better.
Nasi Beriyani Daging  RM7.50
The main character in the house. The special of the nasi beriyani is a rice-based dish made with spices. The condiments include of nutmeg, ghee,mace, cinnamon,cardamon, bay leaves, coriander, mint leaves, ginger, onions and garlic. Its taste extremely good, if you add extra kuah on top of it just like what I love to do. Besides that, not to forget about the beef which is soft and tender in texture. All the essential of the spices is totally absorbed inside and taste flavourful. 
The family photo of my nasi beriani! Overall, the food taste good to me. But the waiters are really not so friendly, hope they can improve on their service ya.

Address : Roslin Beriani House
14, Jalan Rebana, Kebun Teh,
80250 Johor Bharu
GPS : N01 29.740'  E103 45.610'

Tel: 07-3313310
Mobile: 012-7100708/ 017-7764690/ 010-4105048

Business hours:
Monday - Saturday  7.30 AM to 7.30 PM.
Starting Ramadhan, Monday to Saturday 11.00 AM to 9.00 PM.

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Restoran Ah Piaw 亚標云吞面 @ Taman Sri Tebrau, Johor Bharu

Restoran Ah Piaw 亚標云吞面 @ Taman Sri Tebrau, Johor Bharu

Being a sunny weekend, we hop down to the famous spot of wantan noodles in Johor Bharu. How to determine of its popularity? This can be easily show that where they actually set up quite a lot table at the roadside welcoming all people. This wantan noodles used to be a favourite spot for night-hunter for late-supper, as this is the only place selling wantan noodles until late night, even after you finished the last drop of liquor at pub.
Notwithstanding of its unique business hour, their noodles was also another attraction, which successfully attract most of the people here for their famous wantan noodles. As usual, we ordered two different flavour of noodles, the original and also spicy version to make comparison.
Spicy Wan Tan Noodles 辣味云吞面  RM5.50
For the sake of trying, we order mild level of spicy flavour for this wantan noodles. The spicy-ness can be adjusted according to individual's acceptability. Overly hot and spicy may easily kill the appetite, but this is definitely not the one that will not irritate us to stop, because the spicy-ness is just right. Mix it well before tuck in, yum yum.
This is something about Johor style wanton mee, after I tasted quite a number of wanton mee stall in Johor. Char Siew seems to be not the emphasis of wanton mee if compared to KL style. Hong Kong styled roasted char siew is rarely used here, so the noodles itself play a more important role in determining a good bowl of wanton mee.
Original Wan Tan Noodles 原味云吞面  RM5.50
The original flavour was slightly plain in taste and too dry for me (I am the kind of people who like my rice to be "banjir" with kuah). So,  I found it better after I poured in some soup. One point worth to be complimented is the noodles is well-cooked, I like the springy-ness and the not- too-soft texture.
This is yet to be the best wanton mee in town, but definitely satisfy your craving during late night.

Address :  Restoran Ah Piaw 亚標云吞面
Jalan Keris, Taman Sri Tebrau,
81100 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
GPS : N01 29.211 E103 46.156

Bussiness Hour : 24 hours

Wednesday 13 November 2013

Baked Coconut Juice & Fried Noodles with Pork @ Hatyai, Thailand

Baked Coconut Juice & Fried Noodles with Pork @ Hatyai, Thailand

The very last morning we stay in Hatyai, we took the opportunity to visit their "Tua Pasar" (Big market") to grab some cheap local stuff, is definitely a paradise of shopping, from dried seafood to clothing. The visit is indeed fruitful. While ladies were enjoying their shopping, what should men do? Apart from the typical Tom Yam and Som Tam, Thailand is also famous with its coconut. There are few coconut stalls set up at the roadside, so if you're looking for a place to sit down and have a sip of refreshing coconut juice, you have plenty choices.
The green and young coconut is the usual beverage we opt for. How about baked coconut? The coconut was send into fire and burn for few hours to let the coconut juice to be boiled inside, just like oven. After that, they will immerse it into cold water and ready to serve. The taste is slightly different, the pandan's fragrance is stronger. And according to the traditional said, cooked coconut is not so "cold". 
Before we going back to Malaysia, we visited a Chinese stall located at the street side of Hatyai town. It is famous and popular with the Wok fried noodles with pork. This is the shop stall hidden in front of BP grand suite hotel which is the landmark for you to look for it. The restaurant is extremely busy during lunch hour, as the restaurant provides delivery service. It is not easy to handle both walk in customer and delivery service, so bear with long waiting during lunch hour.
The fried mee is similar to Mee Hailam in Malaysia. The Mee and Mee hoon are slightly deep-fried, and pour on the top with thick and flavourful gravy. They mix yellow noodles and beehun normally, is the typical combination for local. Even now, I still can recall the good taste and smooth and tender texture of the pork. It just simply nice and juicy ever ate it. 
The kitchen and the "master chef" are in front of the restaurant, where you can know how busy they are. To maintain the standard of the food, only one chef is handling the cooking job, this is the reason the foods are served slow, but chef's grey hair and good skill is definitely a guarantee to the good taste of food. 


Address : Sanaehanusorn Road, Hat Yai Central, 
Hat Yai, Thailand 90110
(right in front of BP Grand Suite)

Wednesday 6 November 2013

Saun Sam Rarn Restaurant 梨珍园饭店 @ Haadyai, Thailand

Saun Sam Rarn Restaurant 梨珍园饭店 @ Haadyai, Thailand

This was our last night at Hatyai. So we decided to have the best one in Thailand before we go back. The grand dinner happen in middle of Hatyai, with walking distance from Lee Garden Residences or you may take a Tuk-Tuk ride to reach the restaurant with the map provided below.  
Before we started with the main course, we were provided their signature sauce, comprising chili padi, garlic, lime juice and honey, typical thai flavour and super appetizing. Without further delay, the all time local favourite, Som Tam (Thai Style Salad) kick starts the dinner.
The first dish served : Som Tam (Thai Style Salad). With cashew nut and dry shrimp added, it taste extremely crunchy and crispy. Shredded pineapple is spread evenly in the salad, provides some refreshing and fruit aroma to the dish.
The second dish served : Petai with big fresh prawn. Petai is really an ingredient which hard to please everyone, but definitely one of my favourite dish. I like petai cook in this way with sambal belacan and big fresh prawn. The moderate spicyness to compensate the bitter taste from petai itself and still retain its freshness. 
The third dish on table : Deep Fried Kailan with salted fish. I notice that salted fish was quite common and well recommend among all restaurant. Preserved food is not good for health, but definitely a good seasoning to the green.
The fourth dish served : Deep Fried Seabass with Thai Spicy Sauce. A big fish with almost 2kg was deep-fried until crispy. The spicy Thai sauce matched perfectly with the fish, sufficiently for me to swallow one big bowl of rice. Despite it was deep-fried and covered with big portion of chili sauce, I still able to taste the freshness of the fish. Its taste will be better if it was steamed, but the steam style definitely not the favourite of Thai.
The fifth dish served : Braised Pork Trotter. Anyhow, this is our second pork trotter during the whole trip. But it just simply too delicious that we wipe clean of the plate. The pork trotter was deep fried before put to braise. So the texture is slightly better and the skin will not easily smashed even with long time cooking. The braising gravy is thick and flavourful and the meat is off-bone soft and tender. 
The sixth dish served : Hot Plate Fried Oyster. The oyster was simply huge and even bigger than our old 50 cents coin. The food presentation not very good, but the taste was really good to satisfy oyster lover. The huge oyster is juicy and tasty with egg. The Thai version is slightly different from the local O-chien we had, as it was not dry and crispy but with certain moisture remained.
The seventh dishes served : Fish head soup in charcoal bowl. The soup was double-boiled with yam and fish bone which boost up the flavour and provide extreme sweetness to the soup. Fish head was cut into pieces and deep-fried before putting into the soup, so the fish remained in chunk and easy for us to take. 
The last dish served : Deep fried meat ball. Basically, it is a minced pork wrapped in beancurb skin and send for deep fried after all. To accommodate the local flavour, it taste slightly spicy, but it still acceptable to my level. For me, I still prefer it to go together with Chang Beer, the local favourite beer. Good finger food!
This is the name of the restaurant. For those who may not communicate well with local Tuk-Tuk driver, can show the restaurant name or the location map (see below) to them, perhaps they will know where this restaurant located. Say Cheer to big feast!

Address : Saun Sam Rarn Restaurant 梨珍园饭店
143, Niphat Uthit 2 Road,
Haadyai, South Thailand
Bussiness Hour : 11am - 9pm (local time)
Tel : (074) 243660 / 244415 / 081-9597355