Ever since Covid restrictions eased up and all 4 of our kids started attending school, my hubby and I have been crossing the borders almost every week to enjoy some couple time, indulging in massages and searching for great food in JB. I’ve been sharing my experiences on my Instagram stories, and I’ve decided to blog them down for easy reference.

Since I’ve visited numerous eateries, I’ll be dividing this post. Consider this part 1 of my recommendations for food places in JB for your future visit, as I share my experience at my favorite dining spot in JB.

10 JB Food Places

牛魔王牛肉麺 Niu Mo Wang Beef Noodles

Address: 67, Jalan Sutera, Taman Sentosa, 80150 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Opening hours: 730am – 9pm

It’s a small shop in Taman Sentosa which you may even miss if you walk past. Their soup is very nice, and the beef meat smell is not strong. The tendon is really very good, and the portion is good! I heard the noodle is nice, but I didn’t try it before. So maybe you guys can try!

锦成茶楼 Restoran Gim Cheng

Address: 2, 2, 1, Jalan Sagu 36, Taman Daya, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Opening hours: 7am – 1pm, closed on Wednesday

Another popular place for old school dim sum – Restoran Gim Cheng, and it’s a good choice if you check into JB early as they open at 7 am. They have a really wide variety of dim sum for you to choose from, and pricing is very affordable.

You just need to go around with a piece of paper, and whatever dim sum you take, the staff will just put a tick on the piece of paper.

In general, i feel the food is okay, the salted bun is good and a lot of unique dim sum. I would say it’s good to try if you want decent and wide variety of dim sum with very affordable price.

榕树下粿条仔 Restoran Rong Shu Xia

Address: 24, Jalan Maju, Taman Maju Jaya, 80400 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Opening hours: 7am to 2pm, closed on Wednesday

This stall has been around for more than 40 years. Last time, their stall was open under a big tree, hence it got its name. They basically sell kway chap and braised meat. Unlike most kway chap, their soup broth has a nice and strong herbal taste.

They are popular for their home-cooked fried shallots and pork lard, super fragrant and make everything so nice.

We ordered pork belly, pig blood, braised egg, braised pork intestine and pig ear. All taste good and I like that their pork intestine is cleaned very well, without any foul smell and chemical taste. The noodles is the thin type with nice herbal broth.

*Bonus, walked down a few stalls, you will see one stall selling otah. The otah is very nice and you can buy to eat at the stall.

3合1华仔炸年糕 Wah Cai 3-in-1 Chinese Cake

Address: 86, Jalan Pahlawan 2, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, 81300 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
Opening hours: 930am to 430pm, closed on Wednesday.

If you like fried nian gao or fried snacks, then you shouldn’t miss this place. As the name suggests, they are popular for their 3-in-1 fried nian gao (with yam and sweet potato). But I also tried their fried durian, which is equally good as well.

We tabao some back home for the kids. It is still quite crispy, but if you air fry it again, you can make the texture like it was just fried.

You can see that the outer crispy batter is a thin layer and the fillings are thick and full! For the durian, I can totally taste the durian flesh and fiber. According to the owner, they use 100% durian flesh.

荣荣甜品 Yong Yong Dessert

Address: 46, Jalan Layang 16, Taman Perling, 81200 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Opening hours: 1130am to 6pm, closed on Monday

I was looking for a dessert shop near us after shopping at Bestari Bestmart, and Yong Yong is about a 10-minute drive away from the mart. The shop looks like an old coffee shop with a nostalgic look and feel.

On our first visit, we ordered ice coffee, and on the second visit, we ordered chendol and rojak. Their chendol and rojak are nice, but not their ice coffee.

海脚人 Hai Kah Lang JB Sentosa

Address: 173, Jalan Sutera, Taman Sentosa, 80150 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Opening hours: 8am to 930pm

This should be familiar to most Singaporean as Hai Kah Lang is Michelin-recommended restaurant, popular for their fish soup noodle. The first time we went, hubby had the normal fish soup and I had the seafood soup, we both ordered the soup without the noodle. Personally we both preferred seafood soup. We find it to be more tasty, nicer to the normal fish soup and value for money. Their soup comes with hua tiao jiu (yellow cooking wine), and I love the strong wine taste.

I also ordered blood clams, octopus wasabi salad, and cuttlefish rojak. For the two times we went, even though the blood clam sizes weren’t consistent, they were fresh and nice. The first time I requested it well-cooked, it came a bit raw, but the second time, it was cooked well after I emphasized my requirements with the taking order auntie. As for the octopus wasabi salad and cuttlefish rojak, I prefer the cuttlefish rojak. The crushed peanut portion is very generous, and the rojak sauce is just right, not too sweet but with a strong prawn paste taste.

品茗轩 Pin Ming Xuan @ KSL

Address: 10, Jalan Serigala, Taman Century Garden, 80250 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Opening hours: Tue – Thur 8am – 4pm, Friday – Monday 730am – 4pm.

I was a bit wary of this popular dim sum – Pin Ming Xuan, located near KSL Mall, worried that the stall just wanted to target Singaporeans with not-so-nice and expensive dim sum. Well, they proved me wrong.

Because that day, we were planning to have a buffet for lunch, so we didn’t order a lot of food. We ordered XLB, salted egg prawn dumplings, har kaw, and fried vegetable dumplings. All the food that we ordered didn’t disappoint me. Even the coffee was good too. The prawns were crunchy and in good portion. The salted egg yolk was also tasty, and you could really taste the salted egg yolk.

I didn’t expect the XLB to have a lot of soup, so I spilled some when I poured it into the small holder. The meat taste isn’t very strong, but the soup is nice. I’m glad that I ordered one basket of XLB each for my hubby and myself. Best to eat it immediately when they serve it!

We were the first two to reach the shop before opening, so I was kind of shocked when I saw the long queue outside the store when we left. So, I advise you to go early if you don’t really like to queue.

炭咖啡屋 Charcoal Cafe

Address: No.73, Jalan Sutera Tanjung 8/2, Taman Sutera Utama, 81300 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
Opening hours: 730am to 515pm

This kind of Nanyang-style cafe is quite popular in JB (or Malaysia). All have their unique selling points. Personally, I prefer Charcoal Cafe because it’s not as crowded as the popular ones, and their roasted coffee, that comes with a few pieces of old school biscuits, also tastes good and strong .

Most importantly, I like their Nasi Lemak more, especially with the big fried chicken thigh and their special curry sauce. I would say it’s a very unique combination and pricing is very good for such a generous portion. I also tried their hainanese bee hoon (like nasi lemak but change to noodle), it looks dry but not really. It tastes really good with a bit of garlic fragrance.

Sisters BBQ Korean Family Restaurant

Address: 37, Jalan Indah 15/2, Taman Bukit Indah, 81200 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Opening hours: 11am to 10pm

Located in Bukit Indah, the restaurant is owned and operated by Koreans, ensuring you can definitely enjoy authentic Korean dishes. When we stepped into the cozy restaurant, we noticed some Korean customers also enjoying their meals.

We ordered a 2-pax BBQ set and 1 cold noodles. The BBQ meat is grilled inside the kitchen, which is okay with us, so we don’t smell. When the side dishes came, we were shocked that there were a total of 12 side dishes. We’re glad that we didn’t order a lot of food because we felt so full at the end of the meal.

The set also comes with kimchi soup and korean steam egg. Both are equally good and tasty! Our meal is about RM140.

溏豐燒包 Tang Feng Siew Bao

Address: 21, Jalan Sutera 1, Taman Sentosa, 80150 Johor Bahru, Johor
Opening Hours: 9am – 6pm, closed on Wednesday.

Although I’m not a sweet tooth lover, I love Heong Peah, maybe because of the maltose fillings. After trying a few brands in JB, I realized that this store still serves the best Heong Peah. I have been visiting their store for many years, from the only stall till now, a lot of stalls have popped up selling similar products. Their char siew also not bad!