Restoran Todak (Orang Asli) (Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

 Prawns cooked in Indonesian Curry

Restoran Todak (Orang Asli) is a well known kelong seafood restaurant located in Johor Bahru. Although this restaurant is located around 30 minutes drive away from the checkpoint, it is popular among Singaporeans. At the car park which is unmarked, you are likely to see more Singapore registered cars compared to Malaysia vehicles.

Restoran Todak is unique as the whole restaurant located along the coast on kelong stilts.

The restaurant is located directly opposite Singapore's Sembawang Coast and provides a picturesque view. As you can see from the photo above, those cranes in the background are from Sembanwang shipyard.

Although the restaurant has indoor seats, most of the tables and chairs are located outside (without a roof) - alfresco style dining with the sea breeze. We arrived early for dinner as we were aware that the restaurant would be packed and some of the seafood would be sold out if we arrive late.

The live seafood are displayed with the prices indicated. For their crabs, they have different pricing depending on the prices. The cheaper ones typically get sold out before 730 pm. The you will need to wait and see if new stock comes in in the next couple of hours or order a more expensive crab.

We used the big menu (above) and ordered our food based on the recommendation of the type of cooking style for the food.

 Prawns cooked in Indonesian Curry

The Prawns cooked in Indonesian Curry were delicious! The prawns of different sizes were relatively big and very fresh; succulent and sweet tasting meat!

Fried Buns (Man Tou)

We ordered fried buns (man tous) which complemented perfectly with the Indonesian Curry gravy.

 Salted Egg Crab

The Salted Egg Crab was unique. I was expecting this to come with sauce and was surprised when it was a 'dry' dish. Taste wise, there was just a slight hint of salted egg flavour. Initially, we thought that the wrong order was delivered to us as this tasted more like fried garlic crab! I was not too impressed with the taste. But the saving grace was that the crab was so fresh! The meat could be easily extracted from the shell and was so tender.

Japanese Snail (Japanese Escargot 日本螺) Gong Bao 宫保Style

The Japanese Snail (Japanese Escargot 日本螺) was cooked Gong Bao 宫保style. This dish was very well executed. The Japanese snail had a smooth texture and was springy! The Gong Bao style complement the Japanese Snail quite well. If the sauce was slightly more spicy, it would be more ideal!

Egg Omelette (Fu Rong Egg 芙蓉蛋)

Egg Omelette was fluffy and addictive - very well executed.

Butter Crayfish

Had great expectations for the Butter Crayfish. But it disappointed in terms of presentation and taste. I was expecting a more buttery flaovour that would make this addictive.

Lala

The Lala too was just 'meh' disappointing. The Lala were not meaty and plump enough. This is definitely not the best lala; is average.

Sweet Potato Leaves with Belacan

The Sweet Potato Leaves with Belacan was well fried. Cooked and tasted just right. It complemented the plain rice extremely well.

Complimentary Fruits

After each meal, every table would be served with a plate of Complimentary Fruits.

Receipt

The total cost of our meal. Relatively cheap after converting to Singapore dollars considering this meal fed five persons.

This restaurant is definitely worth coming back to. I saw several tables ordering their fish and oysters. The oysters were huge! The downside is the distance from the causeway; you would probably need a vehicle. 

Restoran Todak (Orang Asli) (Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

No 1 Kampung Orang Asli, 
Telok Jawa, Masai 
81750 Johor Bahru
Tel: 07 386 3696

Opening Hours: Daily 1130am to 1130pm

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Chomp Chomp Hai Wei Yuan Seafood BBQ 忠忠海味园BBQ海鲜烧烤 (Chomp Chomp Food Centre)

There are at least three stalls that sells barbecue (BBQ) seafood in Chomp Chomp Food Centre. Of these, I have tried two of the BBQ seafood stalls. And out of these two stalls, there's one which I always prefer to order from. The stall is Chomp Chomp Hai Wei Yuan Seafood BBQ 忠忠海味园BBQ海鲜烧烤 (what a mouthful). I shall call it Hai Wei Yuan to keep it short.

Hai Wei Yuan is easy to spot as its at the entrance of Chomp Chomp. In fact, it is located at the left most corner at the entrance and has a unit number #01-01. This stall is fairly popular and you can expect a waiting time of at least 30 minutes (even on a weekday evening). There are tables directly in front of this stall. However, my advice would be to sit elsewhere. This is because the BBQing of the sambal chilli can cause the air around this stall to be very uncomfortable.

The seafood such as stingray, crayfish, lala clams, gong gong and cockles were displayed on a bed of ice. We ordered three dishes and two bowls of rice from Hai Wei Yuan . The three dishes were Sambal Kang Kong $8, Sambal Lala $8 and BBQ (Sambal) Stingray $12. The two bowls of rice cost $1. Payment is made only after the food is served. We waited  for around 40 minutes before our food was served (Food for thought: it was a Thursday night. Can't imagine what the waiting time would be if it was a weekend or Friday night).

Sambal Kang Kong $8

Although the Sambal Kang Kong $8 served on a piece of banana leaf had been highly raved about, I thought that it was average. I had eaten better ones elsewhere. The Kang Kong was well cooked and retained a nice crunchines. However, the dish as a whole was too spicy and was not tasty enough.

Sambal Lala Clams $8

The Sambal Lala $8 was served on a piece of banana leaf.

Sambal Lala Clams $8

We thought that the Sambal Lala Clams was unique. The lala clams were normal, but what stood out was the sauce. It had the right balance of spiciness, sweetness and saltiness (due to the lala clams). What made the sauce so unique was that it had this slight peanutish flavour that made it aromatic and addictive. Shiok! We were scrapping whatever sauce there was and adding it onto our rice.

BBQ Stingray $12

The BBQ Stingray $12 was also served on a piece of banana leaf.

BBQ Stingray $12

Needless to say, we always squeeze the lime to up the flavour by a notch or two. The BBQ Stingray was not bad. The sambal chilli spread was spicy and fragrant while the Stingray was tender, soft and more importantly fresh. However, a grouse which I had was that the stingray was too thin - not meaty considering the price. Having said that, credit must be given to the stall owner as he bothered to add slices of onions on top of the BBQ Stingray to enhance the flavour. I polished off the whole stingray (literally) including its skeleton (soft bone) which contains cartilage which is good for the joints.

Overall, the food from Hai Wei Yuan was delish. Even though we had to wait so long for the food and the price seems to be on the higher end for a hawker centre, I would still be back. Reason being the prices at the other stalls are the same. In addition, I am a foodie, I am definitely coming back to Chomp Chomp for all the other yummy and sinful food.

Chomp Chomp Hai Wei Yuan Seafood BBQ 忠忠海味园BBQ海鲜烧烤 (Chomp Chomp Food Centre)

#01-01 Chomp Chomp Food Centre

20 Kensington Park Road, Serangoon

Singapore 557269
Opening Hours: Daily 5pm to 12 midnight 

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Osaka Town (Raffles City Shopping Centre)

Osaka Town located in Raffles City Shopping Centre specialises in serving Japanese Cuisine. In fact, Osaka Town is a mixed-concept restaurant so that customers can savour different varieties at one restaurant. Hence,  Osaka Town offers two Japanese brands; namely Botejyu and Sen No Chanpon. Botejyu serves Okonomiyaki while Sen No Chanpon serves ramen from Kyushu.

Menu - Okos 

What is Okos? Well Okos are also known as Okonomiyaki; a Japanese savoury pancake that is grilled.

Menu - Premium Set (a)

Menu - Premium Set (b)

There are many choices for the Premium Set which offers a combination of Okos (Pork / Seafood) and any rice set (Tofu Hamburger Steak / Salmon Steak / Chicken Cutlet / Shio Asri / Mix Mushroom / Spicy Pork).

Menu - Teppanyaki

Premium Set: Half Seafood Okos with Egg + Shio Asari Set $14.80

Seafood Okos with an egg on top along with Shio Asari, Rice and Miso soup.

Premium Set: Half Seafood Okos with Egg + Shio Asari Set $14.80

Premium Set: Half Seafood Okos with Egg + Shio Asari Set $14.80

Shio Asari; clams with bean sprouts, carrots, onions.

Premium Set: Half Seafood Okos with Egg + Salmon Steak Set $14.80

Seafood Okos with an egg on top along with Salmon Steak, Rice and Miso soup.

Premium Set: Half Seafood Okos with Egg + Salmon Steak Set $14.80

For this set, we requested for the egg to be fully cooked. 

Premium Set: Half Seafood Okos with Egg + Salmon Steak Set $14.80

The Salmon Steak with greens.

If you are wondering, why the lack of description, well... the dishes were just average. Nothing to shout about. Anyway, for $14.80, one can get quite a generous portion of food. Service wise, it can be hard to get the attention of the staff. 

Osaka Town (Raffles City Shopping Centre)
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-75 Raffles City Shopping Centre
Tel: 6338 5584
Opening Hours: Daily 1130am to 10pm
Location

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San Low Seafood Restaurant 三楼海鲜园 (Malaysia, Johor Bahru) 2nd Post

My 2nd visit to San Low Seafood Restaurant 三楼海鲜园 in a space of a week. As this is a 2nd post, I will not re-introduce the restaurant here. The first post can be found here. 

photo from previous visit

Not too crowded as it was a Monday evening. Again, there were several Singapore plated cars parked at the side of the restaurant. 

Menu Cover

Menu (a)

Menu (b)

Menu (c)

Selected portion of the menu.

San Low Fried Bee Hoon RM9

A visit to San Low Restaurant 三楼海鲜园 is not completed without its signature San Low Fried Bee Hoon (rice vermicelli). Delish!

Fu Yong Egg (Omelette) RM6 (S)

The Fu Yong Egg (Omelette) was disappointing. It was hard, rough, tough and oily.

La La RM12 (S)

The La La dish was just well average.

Salted Egg Crab RM56

The Salted Egg Crab was delicious. It was well executed. It does not have creamy gravy unlike how what other restaurants serve this dish. The salted egg coating the crab was just nice. Not overly salty and very addictive. The crabs were fresh and meaty. The meat easily pulled out from its shell was sweet, juicy and tender. Enjoyed the dish. 

This time round, some hits and misses. The items to go for will still be the Chilli / Salted Egg Crabs and the San Low Fried Bee Hoon.

There this marks the end of my JB posts for now. My main objective for this series of posts is to answer the question I have always been pondering about 'What to eat in JB (Johor Bahru)'? Part of the consideration is the distance from the Woodlands Check Point and (of course) Cheap and Good!

San Low Seafood Restaurant 三楼海鲜园 (Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

Jalan Biru off Jalan Merah, Taman Pelangi

80400 Johor Bahru

Tel: 07 332 3869 / 07 334 3623

Opening Hours: Daily 430pm to 1am

Website

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Location

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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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