3 Days 2 Nights Johor Bahru Getaway

Zoom zoom! I used to head across the causeway for suppers or vacations about twice a week before I got tied down. By the ring on my ring finger? No! Somehow my life has been so exciting that we could not find time until this trip. To our horror, the last time the man swept me off to Johor Bahru was 1 year ago!

Being so deprived and since there was not much time, instead of a to-do list, I have a to-eat list. I have my mind set on all the must-eats once I get there. Who knows when is the next time I will get to hop over again...

We sleep in until late on the first day before making our way over the causeway and reached in time for brunch. With so much social media coverage on cafes and bakeries sprouting all over Malaysia like mushrooms after a rainy day, there's no way a foodie like me can give it a miss!

Seven Oaks Bakery Café

Address: 134, Jalan Serampang, Taman Tebrau Jaya, 80400 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Hours: Open today · 9AM–11PM

We managed to grab a parking lot right in front of the bakery and the friendly staff informed us that we need to get carking coupon as the chances of getting fined is pretty high. So we walked further down and got some at a stationery shop.

Out from the unforgiving scorching sun, we entered the 4 level building. First level is where the functional bakery and display shelves of breads and pastries for sale are. The second level is very nicely décor-ed, grand and classy. The patrons there at that point of time were pretty well-dressed. Suddenly, I felt a little conscious on my laidback attire and manicured toes exposed in my sloppy flip-flops. I smiled sheepishly while the waiter ushered us to our table next to a window and my hunger took over immediately. 

We ordered Lamb Shank (RM 42.90), Seven Oaks Buger Set (RM 23.00) and our food arrived. Personally, these 2 main courses are mediocre. Maybe I order the wrong items...

The main attraction for me to the café is the highly-raved Salted Egg Yolk Lava Croissant because I  have an immense penchant for anything salted egg. However, they are only available at 2pm. We waited until 2pm, went down to level 1 to order two croissants and waited for them to be warmed up and sent up to us.

The buttery croissant is soft and flaky and I wobbled with joy when I tasted the savoury and sweet salted egg yolk that oozed out. I noticed that the salted egg yolk is different from the ones we always get in many of the overly processed "salted-egg" stuff we get out there. The lava tasted of the real deal, the distinct umami within the rich briny salted egg yolks hits the taste buds immediately. This is super awesome stuff!

We then checked into our hotel and when on with our shopping in KSL City Mall and booked our movies tickets for the next day. Time flew by and it was dinner time and we were just strolling along the shop houses nearby and chanced upon this brightly lit coffee shop at the one end of Jalan Serigala. I can't find the unit number but it's just across the road from the Geylang Lor 9 Fresh Frog Porridge place. 

118 Food House

Address: Jalan Serigala, Taman Abad, 80250 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Everywhere else was either closed or quiet. This place had the most people at around 10pm on a Friday, so we followed our instincts, it can't go too wrong and settled our dinner there if there's human traffic. 

We order a dry version of Bak Kut Teh, something we don't normally find in Singapore. It's full-flavored and I can taste the wok-hei in this dish, again something we don't normally find in most Singapore coffee shops. That was the first time I tried the Dry Bak Kut Teh and I like it! It's a little spicy and the dark sauce goes so well with rice and although it taste a tad bit similar to Kung Pow sauce, I still like it enough to reminisce of it after I got back from the vacation. On a side note, their home-made barley drink was so nice that we each had a second cup before we end our first day on a satisfied note.

Before we retired for the night,  we walked over to a nearby spa for a foot massage.

Sawadee Thai Spa

Address: 193, Jalan Dato Sulaiman, Taman Century, Johor Bahru, Johor 80250

We like this place because the cosy and relaxing ambience. There's ample parking within their compound so we would not be too worried if we drove.

On our second day, we hung out mostly in KSL City Mall as our movie was schedule in the middle of the day. We woke up late in the morning again and rushed to the mall to squeeze in a brunch session. We saw this dim sum restaurant's giant decal advertisement on the auto-doors entering to the mall and since we both love dim sum, we made a bee line straight to the restaurant which happens to be just next to the cinema.

D' Shanghai (大上海点心)

Address: No 33, Jalan Seladang, Taman Abad, Level 2-132 (B), KSL City, 80250 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

I will not say much because just looking at the pictures make me so hungry all over again. Menu is extensive in my personal view, I need more than one visit to try everything that I fancied. All the dishes we order met my expectations (except two, but they were still decent because the rest were really good). Our smiles beamed bright after we saw our final bill... We endured the jam and travelled far for this perk, so it's super worthy.

Our order

We ordered 1 serving of original Xiao Long Bao and another of Rice Wine Xiao Long Bao. The rice wine version brings out the already sweet broth swimming in the thin-skinned pouch. I can't emphasis enough that this is a must try.

Guan Tang Jiao (灌湯餃) is one of the decent one

Scallops in Yam Balls was a little dry

Prawn Rice Noodle Roll

Ting Zai Porridge (艇仔粥)

Rice Noodles with Mushrooms and Fried Fritters

I am so impressed with D' Shanghai that I highly recommended my colleague to drop by when I heard she spending a day over in Johor. She came back raving about their dim sum as well. 

We enjoyed our movie and spent the rest of the day strolling down the isles of Tesco, a place both the man and I love. 

It's dinner time once again and we headed to our old haunt, Arashi Shabu Shabu Restaurant in the mall. Still as good as before, click here for my review.

Full from our early dinner, we requested for hotel masseuses to drop by our hotel room and the both of us had full body massage. We also bought some durian for our supper and that wrapped up our second day of our vacation.

We woke up on the third day, skipped breakfast, packed up and checked out the hotel. Off we go to our lunch location.

Nam Moon Korean BBQ

Address: 31, Jalan Perang, Taman Pelangi, 80400 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Hours: Open today · 11AM–10PM 

This restaurant is always filled with some Korean patrons indicating authenticity of the traditional cuisine they serve. They offer both sets and ala carte options in the menu and you can choose to have the well-marinated meat grilled in their kitchen or at the table grill right in front of you. 

We always go for the set for 2-3 which does not seem much until all is served, with the banchan. The meal is super scrumptious and filling that I could not eat much of dinner at the end of the day. 

I will not be doing justice if I don't mention the heavenly Korean Seafood Pancake (Haemul Pajeon). It is so well seared that it's crispy on the outside, slightly chewy on the inside. Stuffed full of seafood and scallions, we can't get enough of this pancake although the serving is really big. 

Best of all, they serve my favourite Korean Ginger Cinnamon Tea (Sujeonggwa) after the meal. This sweet & spicy drink warms up the body and aids digestion. The bill came and we beamed ever so brilliantly again.

Banchan galore!

Very authentic Kimchi Soup

My dearest Korean Seafood Pancake, I miss you so~

Feeling contented that I have polished of all the must-eats that I had listed, we made our way just across the road for our final massage.

Foot Mark Therapy Reflexology Sdn. Bhd.

Address: No.10, Jalan Perang, Taman Pelangi, Johor Bahru, 80400, Johor Bahru, Johor, 80400, Malaysia

Service is good, the guys did an extremely good job exfoliation all the dead skin from the man feet and I tried the Ba Guan treatment for my soles.

Completely refreshed and rejuvenated, we wrapped up the trip with a car wash and headed home. I just realised have, once again, expanded my to-eat list. 

So much food, so little time...

Red Date Maltose Biscuit

This is yet another entry brought about for having excessive stuff in the pantry, but this time I feel it’s not due to an impulsive buy.

Let me explain, but you can skip directly to the recipe if you are not interested to read my long story.

I have long heard about the health benefits of incorporating Chinese red dates into ones daily diet, especially for the ladies. I heard a story from my maternal grandparent about a coolie who worked for a towkay who imported sundries and dried goods. He was a weak man who had no choice but to trade sweat and labour for basic shelter and food during those hard times. However, he felt that it was a waste to throw away the soiled red dates that fell out of the gunny sacks. Hence he saved them and took one precious red date each day. After come time, the towkay noticed that the coolie had rosy cheeks and started to get healthier by the day and asked him why. Of course, the coolie told the truth and all ends well.  

My grandparent was trying to teach us about honesty, yes yes, but what caught my attention was the possibility of having rosy cheeks.

This little scarlet fruit is known as a superfood which is capable of;

- helping to stimulate the production of white blood cells, improving immunity.

- reducing cholesterol in the bloodstream and protects the liver.

- strengthening the spleen and stomach Qi (energy) which in turns helps to digest food, tonify blood and tranquilize the mind.

- preventing osteoporosis and anemia, both common in women.

Red dates tonic is often consumed by ladies after their monthly period and mothers after giving birth. No wonder having a regular intake may bring one rosy and lustrous complexion.

I believe in what I read and went out to buy 2 bags of red date and intend to stick to popping a few religiously on a daily basis. I always had them in my herbal soups and some wholesome beverages, however, having them raw is completely not my cup of tea. Great. That’s how I ended up with 2 bags of red dates sitting aimlessly in my pantry and I almost forgot about them until I accidentally saw them while reaching for some nuts.

My mind started to whizz and rattle “Must get rid of them…. Recipe, gimme a good recipe to polish them off…”

Red Dates Maltose Biscuit



Ingredients:

Chinese red dates (Pitted, finely chopped and diced)



Maltose

 

Butter
Caster sugar
Salt
Plain flour
Cornstarch
Full cream milk powder

Instruction

1. Melt the butter, maltose, sugar and salt over hot water bath. Stir constantly and once sugar has completed dissolved, add in diced red dates and mix well. Put aside and cool.

Note: I left the final wet mixture on the hot water bath for another 5 minutes before removing to cool.

2. Place the plain flour. cornstarch an full cream milk powder into a mixing bowl and mix the dry mixture well.

3. Add in the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix well with a spatula to form a dough.

4. Place the dough in a plastic bag, flatten it and refrigerate for approximately 15 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to and line the baking tray with baking paper.

6. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and roll out the dough, to a thickness of approximately 3mm, on a lightly floured surface. Cut out using cookie cutters.

7. Transfer carefully onto the prepared tray and give them a quick milk wash on top. Pop them into the already preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Note: Do not panic if the cookie dough tore went you are transferring it to the tray. Mine did, just put it back to the remaining dough and roll it out for the next cutting.

8. Keep a close eye on this batch. As this recipe contains maltose which is susceptible to more browning compared to granulated sugar. Remove from the oven if the biscuits start darkening a tad too much, They should a tantalising rich toasty brown colour.

This recipe yields really crunchy biscuits and the morsels of red dates adds a chewy bite every now and then. My tasters did not stop at one, I beamed and angels sang... Quick make a cup of coffee and enjoy this fragrant, bittersweet treat.