Hiang Kee Seafood Restaurant (Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

Singaporeans always love going across the causeway check point into Johor Bahru (JB) for food and shopping due to the favourable exchange rate. I am no exception. It has been ages since I last stepped into JB for food (due to safety issues and heavy traffic along the causeway). This time round, I made my trip on a weekday (Monday) to check out the food!

Hiang Kee Seafood Restaurant located in Taman Sri Tebrau Hawker Centre is a popular seafood haunt which many Singaporeans patronise. It is fairly easy to come to this place from the Causeway / City Square as it is nearby. The easiest way is to just take a cab down (you just need to say Taman Sri Tebrau). It is a 10 minutes journey and will cost around RM7 (Request for the metre to be activated before boarding cab.)

We arrived at 1110am. Although the restaurant opens at 11am, we were the first customer! It was practically empty except for a few staff. We were told the chef was late (probably Monday Blues haha =P). We walked around for 10 minutes before heading back. Luckily by the time we went back, the Chef came in.

Menu (a)

Menu (b)

Hiang Kee Seafood Restaurant's menu.

Sugar Cane (small) 

I will give the Sugar Cane a skip the next time I am there. It was diluted and tasted weird.

As we were the only one, we were served within 10 minutes upon ordering. 

Hot Plate Beancurd RM10

The Hot Plate Beancurd was served pipping hot with mixture of ingredients such as mushrooms, carrots, minced meat, egg and tofu on top (Be careful not to touch the hot metal plate). The different flavours of the ingredients were well mixed and cook as the different flavours were infused together. Moreover, had fully absorbed the sauce which was so tasty. This dish paired off very well with plain rice. In fact, the combination of the sauce with plain rice was heavenly.

Fried Dou Miao RM10

The Fried Dou Miao was fried with garlic. Such a well fried dish that fully brought out the flavour of the garlic. Simple yet so delicious.  

Bitter Gourd Salted Egg RM10

Bitter Gourd Salted Egg was yummy. Each slice of bitter gourd was well coated with the salted egg. Moreover, it was not oily. 

Sambal Stingray RM16

The Sambal Stingray was disappointing. The stingray was fresh and cooked perfectly such that it was soft, tender and juicy inside. But I felt that the sambal chilli was the main reason for the let down. There are better ones in Singapore. (Maybe I am too use to the type of sambal chilli in Singapore. Hiang Kee's version was too dry, not as fragrant and spicy)

Butter Crayfish RM56

The star of the day meal: 10 (half) pieces of Butter Crayfish. 

Butter Crayfish

The control of the wok and fire was shown here. The Butter Crayfish was well executed! Big, meaty and succulent flesh that was so fresh that it was easily pulled out from it's shell. Despite it being fried, the meat was still juicy inside and the timing was grasped perfectly. In addition, the buttery fritters (crumbs) fried with curry leaves were so fragrant and addictive. Reminds me of the Butter Crab from Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood. The good news is that it was not oily (thanks to the chef's control of the wok and fire).

The Butter Crayfish is a must order. Other recommended dishes will be the Hot Plate Beancurd, Bitter Gourd Salted Egg and Fried Dou Miao (surprised? Well, it was really very well fried in my opinion). Moreover, where else in Singapore can you get such fresh seafood at this price. Overall, a very good experience, if I have more time to spare, I will certainly want to come back again.

The down side is that you are advised to savour your food fast, before the houseflies zoom into on your food. 

After your meal, there are several options you can take.
1) Walk out to the main road to take a cab to City Square or anywhere else.
2) Walk to Taman Sentosa and savour the famous Paper Wrapped Chicken from Teck Sing. And also Plaza Sentosa Shopping Centre for shopping.
3) Walk to KSL Shopping Centre for shopping or catch a movie.

PS: From Singapore to JB, the cheapest and fastest way to get to the checkpoint is to go to Kranji MRT Station and take bus no. 160 or 170. The bus goes directly to the Causeway Checkpoint, a ten minutes bus ride.

Hiang Kee Seafood Restaurant (Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

Jalan Keris, Taman Sri Tebrau (Hawker Centre)

80500 Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Tel: 012 798 9303

Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 3am
Location

Location

A - Location of Hiang Kee Seafood Restaurant (Taman Sri Tebrau Hawker Centre)
B - Location of KSL Shopping Centre
C - Location of Plaza Sentosa Shopping Centre
D - Location of Teck Sing Restaurant

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Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood 万隆华和海鲜菜馆 (Casuarina Road) - 2nd Post

Another visit back to Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood 万隆华和海鲜菜馆. We visited the Zi Char restaurant on a Saturday evening too. The place was packed and all the tables were occupied.

Huge crabs in tanks. This is essential as almost every table has crab dish on it!

Menu (a)

Menu (b)

Part of the menu. As this was our 2nd visit, we had a rough idea on what to order and what not too. The first post can be found here.

Hot Plate Beancurd $10

 The Hot Plate Beancurd was as deletable as before. The sauce is best paired with plain rice. 

Prawn Paste Chicken Wing $12

Prawn Paste Chicken Wings (Har Cheong Gai) was served pipping hot. The chicken wings were coated and marinated with prawn paste before being deep fried. On the exterior, it was crispy and fragrant. In the interior, the meat was fragrant, tender and full of natural juice.

Birthday Noodles (Mee Sua) $12

The Birthday Noodles which was essentially Mee Sua fried with prawns, squid, beansprouts, quail eggs and fish slices. An interesting dish that suits our palate.

Stirred Fried Baby Kai Lan $12

Their stirred fried vegetables here are surprisingly good.  The Baby Kai Lan was still crunchy. The dish as a whole was tasty and not overly salty. Simple and good.

La La Clams $10

At last, we get to try the La La Clams. This dish was excellent! The la la clams were bigger than what is normally served in the other restaurants and were very fresh and 'meaty'. (Why did we order only $10? We should have ordered more!).

Black Pepper Crab

Huge Black Pepper Crab which did not disappoint. I like the sauce as it was finger licking good as what I described in my last post. The crab was very fresh and meaty!  

Butter Crab

Butter Crab

Leaving the best for the last. The Butter Crab was amazingly delicious! It was not the usual creamy version that most restaurant serves. Instead it was deep fried. Each piece of crab was well-coated with the butter batter and fried till fragrant. Despite being deep fried, the crab was still incredibly tender, juicy and sweet. Adding on, the crab was huge, meaty and fresh. Amazingly, meat did not stuck to the shells (which is not the norm for a fried crab dish). There were lots of buttery fritters at the side. They were crispy and sinfully delicious. The unique buttery fragrant made the buttery fritters so addictive that once you start, you can't stop. A must try! (Bern from The Hungry Bunny mentioned that this is their best dish. Totally spot on! Thanks for the recommendation!) 

The  Butter Crab and Black Pepper Crab cost $86. Well worth the price.

The food here is real value for money. There are two dishes that are a must try over here. They are the Butter Crab and  La La Clams. This time round, the service experienced was not as smooth sailing as before. The lady taking the order was showing an attitude and was impatient. It was also hard to get the attention of the staff. Worth coming down more often for the food here despite the service? The answer is a resounding Yes!

Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood 万隆华和海鲜菜馆 (Casuarina Road)

122 Casuarina Road

Tel: 6452 2824

Opening Hours: Daily 5pm to 130am

Location

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Sembawang White Beehoon (Sembawang 白米粉) 2nd Post

Sembawang White Beehoon 白米粉 will need no introduction among foodies in the north. This eatery is very popular and there will be long queues formed during meal times especially during the weekends. The Sembawang White Beehoon 白米粉 is located at You Huak Restaurant along Jalan Tampang, opposite Sembawang Shopping Centre. Its signature dish is as its name suggest is White Beehoon.

We were quite lucky as we arrived at around 715pm on a Thursday night for our dinner. Why lucky? Well, there was no queue and several empty tables. After we sat down for about 15 minutes, the crowd arrived and a queue started forming outside. 

Menu

For close up of the menu, you can refer to my first post. 

Sambal Chilli

The Sambal Chilli was great! Very spicy, fragrant with belacan flavour. Very addictive and goes well with the White Bee Hoon.

Seafood White Beehoon

Their signature Seafood White Beehoon. Looks plain and boring. But give it a try, you will never know what you are missing! Generous serving of pawns, squid, vegetables, egg and beehoon. The beehoon was simmered till soft and has absorbed the essence of the thick, white gravy (broth). The gravy was lightly flavoured yet tasty. A simple dish, made of simple ingredients but when cooked properly, it is so amazingly delicious! A very heart warming dish which is a must order here. Delicious on its own. But if you want a spicy kick to this dish, add the sambal chilli! Furthermore, looks healthy too! (ignore the squid and prawns, think of the other aspect - not oily!)

Meat and Seafood Roll (Ngoh Hiang)

The Meat and Seafood Roll (Ngoh Hiang) also known as Prawn Roll which was recommended by many online.. was well just average. Taste normal and I am sure you can find this standard of Ngor Hiang at many other eateries. 

Bittergourd Omelette (Wet) 

Another dish which I always order is the Bittergourd Omelette (wet version). The bittergourds were sliced thinly and simmered till soft. The eggs were cooked quickly such that they were still soft. A very simple nice dish that suits me particularly well as I like bittergourd. 

Sambal La La

The Sambal La La sauce was slightly spicy. It was quite well fried, each piece of lala was well coated with the sambal sauce. Nothing special, average dish. 

Baby Kai Lan

Baby Kai Lan fried in oyster sauce with slices of carrot and mushroom. An average dish; tasty and crunchy vegetables.

Lime Juice

Drinks are charged separately as they are different entities.

The dish that is a must order at Sembawang White Beehoon is of course the Seafood White Beehoon. The other dish worth ordering is the Bittergourd Omelette and Stir Fry Fish Head. I can't help but emphasis that the Seafood White Beehoon is similar to a home-cook dish; simple and heart warming. In terms of prices, its not expensive too. Worth coming down for a try as it is hard to find such quality food at such prices now. Now, I find it harder to patronise the eatery. Main reason is because of the ridiculously long queues. 

Sembawang Shuttle Bus Schedule

There is free shuttle bus service to Sembawang Shopping Centre extending into the Sembawang, Yishun and Woodlands residential areas.  The bus frequency is quite fast and operating hours are stated in the flyer above.

Sembawang White Beehoon (Sembawang 白米粉) 2nd Post
You Huak Restaurant
22 Jalan Tampang (opposite Sembawang Shopping Centre)
Tel: 9843 4699
Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 11pm (Closed on Wednesday)
Facebook
Location

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Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood 万隆华和海鲜菜馆 (Casuarina Road)

We (a group of six) wanted to visit Melben Seafood at Ang Mo Kio for dinner on a Saturday. Knowing that Uncle Leong Seafood has moved out and anticipating a long queue, we decided to set off early. We reached Melben at 545pm, yet there was a long queue and it will be at least a 2 hour wait! We decided to try go else where to satisfy our craving for crabs as we did not want to wait for 2 hours.

We decided to visit Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood a Zi Char restaurant located at Casuarina Road along Upper Thomson Road. Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood has been around for close to two decades, specialises in serving local cuisine. As it was our first visit, we had no idea on what to order. Well, the best way is to walk around look at the dishes on the surround tables and also asking the staff for recommendation.

Look at how big the crabs are! 

Menu (a)

Menu (b)

Snap shot of part of the menu which includes Chef Recommendations, Crabs, Hot Plates, Claypot, Chicken and Vegetables.

Towel

Appetiser and chilli 

The chilli at the right has the right amount of spiciness. Although I like the chilli, I seldom dip my food into it as I prefer to savour the food in its original taste.

Now for the food! Presented in the same order it was served!

Prawn Paste Chicken Wings $12

 Twelve pieces of Prawn Paste Chicken Wings also known as Har Cheong Gai. Two for each of us. This was the first dish that arrived and it arrived pipping hot! Seasoned and coated with prawn paste, the chicken wings deep fried. The batter outside was crispy and inside, the meat was tender and moist!

Hot Plate Beancurd $10

The Hot Plate Beancurd totally different from the others I have tried before, was highly delectable. It came with prawns, beancurd and egg, topped with a slightly spicy sauce.

Stirred Fried Spinach $10

We ordered the Stirred Fried Spinach. The leaves and stems were well cooked. Leaves were not too soft and stems were not too hard. In addition, in terms of taste, it was not over salty. Taste just like a home-cook dish.

Birthday Noodles (Mee Sua ) $12

Birthday Noodles (Mee Sua), was a plate of Mee Sua fried with prawns, squids, eggs, bean sprouts, fish slices and quail eggs (interesting). Another unique dish that reminds me of Sembawang White Bee Hoon.

Man Tou / Buns $3.60

The fried Man Tou / Buns are big! Bigger than elsewhere. In fact, I felt that they were too big. Despite the size, it was good! Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Moreover, it was not oily. Sadly, the Chilli Crab gravy was not up to par (more on the gravy in the text below).

Chilli Crab 

The Chilli Crab is something that Singaporeans are familiar with. The chilli crab gravy was way below par. It was too sweet, too starchy and not spicy. Too much Ketchup was added and the egg used was too little. Luckily, the crab was huge, fresh and succulent! It was an easy task pulling out the chunks of crab meat from the shells! This is a big plus.

Black Pepper Crab

The Black Pepper Crab was huge too. Crab wise, it was similar as above! Black pepper sauce wise, it fared much better. Peppery and not overly salty, it was finger linking good! Had a delectable time savouring the black pepper sauce on the shells. 

The Chilli Crab and Black Pepper Crab cost $85.50

We ordered the La La Clams. However, the staff missed out that order. The staff was quite nice, apologising and telling us they will cooked it for us immediately. As we were already full, we decided to cancel the order.

I have seen many reviews stating the bad service this place has. Well, I beg to differ. The service here was good. The only glitch was that one of our order was missed out, they apologised and offer to cook it immediately. Understandable as the place was packed! Moreover, the food was good and it was certainly value for money. The total bill amount to $148.41 inclusive of the rice, drinks and towels. For 6 person...this is cheap! I am certain that I will come back here again. This time I will want to try the Butter Crab and also La La Clams !

Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood 万隆华和海鲜菜馆 (Casuarina Road)
122 Casuarina Road
Tel: 6452 2824
Opening Hours: Daily 5pm to 130am
Location

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