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.
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| Menu (a) |
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| Menu (b) |
Hiang Kee Seafood Restaurant's menu.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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)
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| Butter Crayfish RM56 |
The star of the day meal: 10 (half) pieces of Butter Crayfish.
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| 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
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| 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
.JPG)
