Beef Noodles & Braised Duck @ Ang Kim Chwee, Johor Bahru

Waking up the next morning, I definitely felt much better than the night before. The fever was gone and it was another day, my last day in Johor Bahru. As much as I had enjoyed myself during my trip down south and over to Singapore for the past few days, I looked forward to going home to fully recuperate.

Of course, we definitely had to do brunch in Johor Bahru before making our way back to Kuala Lumpur. This time round, Alicia and Charles brought us to Ang Kim Chwee for beef noodles, which they say is a favourite of the local folks there.

The area was not exactly a hive of activities till we pulled up near to Ang Kim Chwee itself. Right opposite this place, one can see the construction area for the new Custom and Immigration office. Located under a block of walk up apartments, this place had quite a crowd. Oh, there were also lots of birds flying around or resting on the railings around the building.

Seems that the Beef Noodles here are done Hainanese style. That would explain the fact that I've not seen beef cooked this way at stalls before. A chunk of beef is cooked and the stall owner slices the meat as he prepared the orders. Look at that steaming hot pot of beef with all that gravy! The chilli sauce is also quite an essential part of eating beef noodles to me.. It was normal but after adding some calamansi juice, it had a zesty taste to it which I liked.

While waiting for the orders to arrive, my friend ordered braised duck. It arrived before the noodles and I was pleasantly surprised by it. It was delicious...tasted a lot better than it looked. I also like the way they had cut the duck, especially the meaty parts into thin slices. The meat was tender, the tofu (beancurd) and hard boiled eggs were delightful; all dipped in the aromatic gravy.

The deceiving duck - if you're ever here for the beef noodles, you have gotta order this too!

The Beef Noodles (RM5 small bowl/RM6 big bowl) finally arrived and they got my order wrong, I had wanted Lai Fun (thick round rice flour noodles) but what we got was the yellow noodles instead. The meat was quite tender but the tripe needed slightly more chewing than normal :o). As for the noodles, it was normal tasting to me, even with the added char choy (preserved vegetable). It did come with a bowl of soup and beef balls which was of the standard offering. My vote still goes to my usual haunt for beef noodles in Section 17, Petaling Jaya. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if they had given me my Lai Fun :o).

Well, I think I enjoyed the braised duck more than the noodles. Other folks seem to enjoy this version though; different strokes for different folks. Anyway, if you're ever around this area, check these two stalls out at

Kedai Makanan & Minuman Ang Kim Chwee
149 Jalan Lumba Kuda,
Johor Bahru
Daily 7.30 am - 4 pm except Mondays

Click HERE for another review (complete with GPS coordinates!)


To be continued ... Journey Home-When Nature Calls

Old Flavour Kopitiam, Johor Bahru

Okay, no more Korean stuff....for now ;o). Back to my Johor Bahru-Singapore trip, it was another day that I was looking forward to, starting with breakfast in Johor Bahru. However, I got caught in the rain the previous night while walking along Orchard Road and was not prepared for how sick I would get towards the end of the day. Feeling a bit off in the morning itself, Alicia suggested having noodles at a nearby place around her neighbourhood area, Old Flavour Kopitiam.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that they have Sarawak Kolo Mee on the menu however, I felt like having something with a bit of gravy and ended up ordering the Cantonese Fried Kway Teow (Flat noodles) - RM6/USD1.90, which turn out to be quite good, I enjoyed drinking up the gravy!

The rest of them ordered other stuff and of course one of them had to be Sarawak Kolo Mee (RM6/USD1.90). Read more about Vkeong's Sarawak Food experience HERE. I had a bite of it and it was delicious. The homemade egg noodles were cooked al dente and the minced pork and spring onions made it even tastier. The slices of BBQ Pork was average (of course, it had quite a high standard to meet!)

They also had the Seafood Kolo Mee (RM7/USD2.20) which is something we have not come across elsewhere. Generous amount of prawns, slices of fish fillet and sotong (cuttlefish) this time round, definitely a seafood lover must order if you fancy something different from the conventional Kolo Mee.

For snacks, we ordered a plate of Yu Tiao (Chinese dough sticks/crullers) which came drizzled with mayonnaise (RM5/USD1.60)

They were more like mini dough sticks unlike the usual ones but nevertheless, they were absolutely finger licking good. The smaller size meant a more crispy bite and was a real delight. So much so, we ordered a second plate!

I must apologise, I had underestimated Old Flavour Kopitiam thinking it was just another run-of-the-mill kopitiam. I would definitely ask Alicia to take me here again when I'm visiting!

Old Flavour Kopitiam
243 Jalan Simbang
Taman Perling
Johor Bahru


To be continued .... back to Singapore & Unwell

Lavender Cake & Bistro, Johor Bahru

Having first tried Lavender's pastries from the outlet in Pavilion and enjoyed it, I was pleasantly surprised when Alicia took us to Lavender Cake Shop & Bistro for brunch before heading over to Singapore. Seems that Lavender's quite a big hit in Johor with several outlets before they decided to venture into Klang Valley too recently. I was at Aeon Bukit Tinggi Shopping Complex a few days ago and they have an cake and bistro outlet there too (unlike the one in Pavilion which does not serve food).

This outlet is near Pelangi Leisure Mall and has a big seating capacity.

It's a cosy place despite its size. The interior colour is light purple and when I was there during Christmas time, the Christmas decorations were in shades of purple too. You can actually see my reflection from the purple bauble (taking the pic with my usual "hand tripod"...hahaha)

Seeing this cute mocha roll, we just had to order it but it turned out to be lacking in mocha flavour and just tasted sweet.

The fried bee hoon (vermicelli) fared much better. It was extremely tasty and came with generous amount of shredded vegetables, eggs, prawns and topped wtih coriander leaves.

The Foccacia Chicken Sandwich was quite a delight too. With raisins, bits of capsicum and cucumber, this sandwich had an added crunchy bite to it.

Came drizzled with maple syrup, a slab of butter and scattered raisins, the Peanut Butter Toast was a pretty sight. I wished I was greeted by such sight and taste each time I feel like having toast :o).

Well at least I can get to, right here in the Klang Valley but let's just hope that it's just as good as this brunch I had in Johor Bahru.

Lavender Cake Shop & Bistro
64, 66 & 68 Jalan Serampang
Taman Pelangi
80400 Johor Bahru

Tel : 07-335 9966



To be continued ...Singapore, here we come!

Tepian Tebrau, Johor Bahru

Whaddaya know, it's dinner time! During the laksa lunch earlier, discussion about dinner was already going on and planned with Charles taking us to Tepian Tebrau at Jalan Skudai for local favourites. I was told this place opened not too long ago and is best known for serving up tasty grilled fish. Hmmph...I asked, "Anything else???", as I'm not a fan of fish...hehe. Charles amd Alicia assured me that there will be plenty of other food that will fill my tummy up...and I was all smiles :o) :o) :o).

Tepian Tebrau is a hawker centre but one which exudes a cosy ambiance, thanks to it's wooden structure, tables and chairs (though you'll still see extra plastic chairs/tables being used during busy periods). Located along Johor Straits, this stretch is also called Lido Beach. It was rather dark on the opposite side where we parked the car (lots of ample parking spots) and I couldn't really see anything except a black canvas ahead towards the horizon.

We left the ordering to Charles and Munch and the rest of us sat down and waited for the goodies to arrive. When a lady came over to ask us for our drinks and rambled something about an ice desserts with fruits, I decided to order that as I have never tried such a dessert before. Soon, the food order arrived at our table and we tucked in.

Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab - dipped in batter and deep fried, these were somehow different from the usual ones I've tasted elsewhere. Maybe the secret is in the batter? I liked the ones here as they weren't oily!

The sweet & sour La La (shellfish) was yummy. I loved the sauce which came with generous egg swirls. We ordered a plate of fried rice and added the sauce to it!

Sotong (cuttlefish) Kangkung (water morning glory). It was just okay, I would have prefer a stronger taste to the sauce (no prawn paste?).

Stuffed Grilled Tofu (beancurd puff) was really good. The sauce and crushed peanuts were adequate and the tofu, with a crispy exterior was a delight to bite into.

Then came the spicy grilled stingray. This was different from the ones I've tasted in Klang Valley. It didn't have the usual crisp on the surface and was moist (too moist!) as it was served with a topping of sambal and diced onions on it. I prefer the crispier dry version with the sambal on the side but the rest of them said that this was good. Well, we do all have different taste buds...different strokes for different folks.

This is the fruit ice dessert I ordered. It had soursop, mango, nata de coco, sea coconut, watermelon and jelly. Squeeze the lime over it and it was absolutely lovely and thirst quenching.

Later on, Charles' sisters came over to join us and brought us two boxes of desserts made by their mom. They told us that their mom has a knack for concocting strange mixture of ingredients and coming up with all sorts of extraordinary desserts. True enough, the home made desserts made specially for us was something that we haven't eaten before.

Here you have the dragon fruit mixed with orange juice agar-agar (jelly). The taste of the two surprisingly complemented each other well and this was one refreshing dessert! Such an interesting mix!

This is an eye opener! Though simple, I had not come across anyone doing it till now. Carving out the centre, Charles' mom filled it up with fresh milk mix agar-agar and threw back in cut pieces of papaya. Once chilled, slice them up and you'll have these beauties! Such a delight!

Since the night was still young, we decided to head on the Zon. We walked around a bit and had drinks in one of the establishments. The drinks were quite cheap (due to the fact it's a duty free zone, I suppose) and after sitting around for awhile, it suddenly dawned on us that it had actually been quite a long day for us. We headed on back; prepared for our journey into Singapore the next day.


To be continued....

W.W Laksa House, Jalan Kolam Air, Johor Bahru

We arrived in Johor Bahru (JB) at around 2 plus pm and were quickly whisked away for a late lunch. Alicia & Charles brought us to W.W. Laksa House as they told us that we should try the laksa here (W.W. stands for Water Works). Speaking of abbreviations, do most of you know that my blogspot name UGWUG, is actually one for You Get What You Give? :o)

Mmm....look at all those pipes running along this place. I wonder why they call this place Water Works. Hahaha....

The friendly lady who prepared our laksa.

Here is the price board. They also served other varieties of noodles; soup or dry but when visiting a place called W.W. Laksa House, the best bet would be to order the Laksa!

The laksa curry gravy wasn't that thick but was fragrant. I passed the cockles along to my friend and guarded the crispy stuff and other goodies that were in my bowl :o). Fried wantan, taupok (bean curd puff), fish cake and fried vegeball made this an enjoyable meal for me.

Another lady put a container of these onto our table without us asking. They operate on "pay for what you eat" system. Since Johor is well known for their otak-otak delicacy, we tried some of these at RM0.50/USD0.15 a piece. They were still warm when they were served to us.

The otak-otak was lovely. I don't think one can really have a "bad tasting" otak-otak here in JB/Johor. The ones in Klang Valley are more processed, darker and flatter. The ones in JB were the contrary and even though they were sold as snacks, they tasted good enough for me to eat containers of it (if I wanted to...but I didn't, hahaha) and make it a meal on its own! Well, some of you know how I don't really like eating fish as I don't like the "fishy" smell but this was fragrant and charred just right to my liking. Wonder if anyone wants to try making otak-otak at home, here's the recipe!

W.W. Laksa House
36A& 36A1, Jalan Kolam Air,
Taman Water Works
80100 Johor Bahru
Tel : 012-7990979, 012-7273755
Opens Daily except alternate Tuesdays (7 a.m. - 3.30p.m.)

For location map, click HERE


Dinner time in JB, to be continued...