Canton-I @ JB

Canton-I belongs to the same eatery group as i-Dragon had share some similarities in their menu. Perhaps you had heard of Canton-I in Singapore, there is also a similar outlet located in the bustling JB City Square mall. Canton-i occupies a unit at the 3rd level just a few footsteps away from i-Dragon, serving a decent fare of authentic Hong Kong delicacies.

Due to the good exchange rate between Singapore Dollars and Malaysian Ringgit, the mall can be seen packed with mostly Singaporean during the weekends and public holidays.

Shop Front

Interior design was chic and modern with a open concept kitchen where diners get to enjoy a good view of the chefs in the kitchen.

Dining Environment

Dining Set

Especially when Caton-I is specialised in Hong Kong delicacies, it is rather hard for us to go wrong with Dim Sum and Roasted meat.Unfortunately for us, some of the hot selling items like Chee Cheong Fun and Egg Tarts were out of stock during our visit.

The BBQ pork pastries was glossy at the exterior sprinkled with sesame seeds on its top. The layers of its case was delicate and flaky which wrapped up those chopped sweet tasty BBQ bits well.

BBQ Pork Pastries - RM 4.00

The congee was cooked to perfection and was milky in color, tasted like having some paste, silky smooth! Accompanied by shredded dried scallops,it gave some sweetness to the bowl of plain congee.

Braised Peanuts - RM 2.00, Plain Congee - RM - 4.00

The drink was tasted different with the bigger grains of barley (chinese barley) used boiled together with dates. 

Dates with Barley - RM 5.00

Come 3 in a tray,  these Siew Mai were topped with bright orange fish roes.

Siew Mai - RM 6.80

Siew Mai were just one of the common dishes we would order in a Dim Sum Feast. Amount of shrimps were substantial and meat was rather bouncy.

Siew Mai

The purple with white twirls on the custard buns had somehow stole my attention. It was purple as they had incorporated flavours of Taro but for taste wise, it was too mild and had gone unnoticed.  I just cant wait to tear it apart and enjoy the golden flow of the custard oozing out of the bun.

Steamed Custard Buns - RM 6.80

The salted egg yolk custard fillings were good, comparable to the good ones I had in Singapore.

香芋流沙奶黄包

As I was served with the plate of BBQ delicacies, I thought that it was very messy in the presentation. My first taste of the roasted delights had totally wipe off my thought of the first impression from the dish. Truly Hong kong, I would say. The roasted meat was smokey in taste, roasted duck was succulent while BBQ Pork (Char Siew) were thick and clear fatty meats were found from them, just like what we had in Hong Kong. Accompanied by 3 sides, slices of crunchy Japanese cucumber, roasted peanuts as well as Tau Gua. I would prefer more braised sauce, however this is not the usual cantonese style.

Combination Platter (2 Kinds) - BBQ Pork and Roasted Duck - RM 28.00

 For once, let us forget about the calories and stuffs, let's dig and enjoy every part of the BBQ flavours.

Fatty Char Siew

Soft tender chicken feet was good, completed with a little spinciness from the cut chilli with a bit salty tasting from the braised peanuts and black beans.

Steamed Chicken Feed - RM 6.80

My visit to their affilate restaurant, I-Dragon was quite disappointing and I was told to try out their Dim Sum instead. So far after trying out them at Canton-I, I cant agree more that it does really lives up to name sake "Truly Hong Kong". There was no compromise in quality when comes to the food served.

Service wise, I would say that their servers were rather on the ball. Emptied dishes were cleared very soon after we finished the food.

In short, Canton-I is a must go for Dim Sum Lovers if you are shopping near the malls and taking into consideration of the exchange rates.

Rating: 4 / 5

Canton-i

Location: Lot No. J3-05, Level 3 Johor Bahru City Square (Office Tower) 106-108 Jalan Wong Ah Fook 80000 Johor Bahru

 

View Larger Map

Restoran Yong Xin @ JB

Check out this Kway Teow shop if you happen to be in the area near Tun Aminah. They are quite popular with the Abalone Kway Teow Soup (鲍鱼粿条汤). Finally got a table in their shop and was given their hard cover menu. I thought it had been so long since I last came here as the menu was not that "grand" as far I had recalled.

Hard Cover Menu

Just like any typical Malaysia's coffeeshop, they were installed with wrought iron grills for the shop house and some chinese paintings hanging on the wall.

No. 143, the shop house.

The drinks we ordered to half fill our stomach while waiting for our breakfast. The longan drink was special to me as it was sweet tasting (but of course not diabetic sweet) with winter melon stripes as well as red dates while Teh O Ice Limau was rather standard.

Logan Barley & Teh O Ice Limau

Having ordered the combo set for 2 (两人套餐) which comes with a bowl of soup consisting Abalone, Asparagus, Pacific Clams, fish maw, oyster, sliced pork, minced pork, pork liver, parang fishball and fishball with 2 bowls of noodles at our choice.

Combo for 2 - RM 20

Ingredients were fresh, especially the unscaled prawns, see the freshness from its orange red color? A good mix of ingredients had each contributed the sweetness to the soup.

Ingredients was that much such that every spoon dig into the soup would at least have some of them scooped out. The pork bone soup was naturally sweet and clear in color,just like the way a Teochew Kway Teow soup should be.

Ingredients, Ingredients!

If you ever wonder where is the abalone for the noodles, ta-da! It's here! There are 4 big slices in the bowl. Just stir through the ingredients and I'm sure you can find them. Chewy and sweet from the canned food, quite popular among the Malaysians.

Abalone Pieces from the Combo

 

What I like about Malaysia's Yellow Mee is that they do not have the stinky "ki" smell. These noodles were in faint yellow and tasted great with the sweet black sauce coated.

Yellow Mee

Kway Teow Kia, the slim semi translucent noodle that was doused with sweet black sauce. 

Kway Teow Dry

Besides their "Si Dao" fish (西刀鱼), this is a good alternative to go for. The alluring white cripsy outlook with Otah encased was a perfect choice.

Cripsy Otah 脆皮乌打- RM 3.80

As you sink your teeth in, you can hear the cracking bites produced by these flaky and thin crust. The Otah which was wrapped within was in bright orange. What a great combination. Simply love the crunch with the tasty Otah!

The Otah Fillings

Restoran Yong Xin, well-known among the eateries of JB served a warming and comfort food us, especially if you are a Teochew, their bowls of savoury soup will definitely hit you at the right spot.

Rating: 4 / 5

Restoran Yong Xin

Location: No. 143, Jalan Pahlawan 1, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, 81300 Johor Bahru, Johor
GPS: 1.521556, 103.663141
Open Timing: 7 am to 6pm ( MON, Tues, Thurs, Friday) 7 am to 7pm ( Wed, SAT, SUN)

View Larger Map

Joe's Kitchen Thai Cuisine

The idea of dining at Joe's Kitchen had been in my mind for a long time ever since I spotted them while driving along the stretch of road into the AYE (Ayer Rajah Expressway). This thought had recently grew stronger when I saw our local Television Programme advertising its cuisine.

Joe's Kitchen Thai Cuisine

One of the recommended dishes, Thai Fish Cake. Most of their "finger food" items were charged based on per piece which was quite different from other thai restaurants. Fish cake was abit oily, however the fish meat was rather fresh and one can feel the bounciness as we sank our teeth in. The salad and sweet sour chilli had complimented the dish well.

Thai Fish Cake - $2.50 (Each)

Luminous yellow pineapple rice with rasins, cashew nuts, pork floss and prawns sum up the plate of  pineapple rice. Taste wise, I felt that it's pretty average, nothing to rave about.

Pineapple Fried Rice - $9.90 (Medium)

The stuff chicken wing was the main highlight among all dishes. Do not worry about eating them with your bare hands and removing the bones. In fact, only the bottom part of the chicken has bone, the rest was stuffed with  goodies.

Stuff Chicken Wing - 2.50 (Each)

Let's check out their secret recipe in their stuffed chicken wings.The exterior of the wing was fried to crisp golden brown perfection with fillings made up of minced chicken meat mixed together with bits of chestnuts and sweet corn kernels. Uniquely Joe's Kitchen!



After the stuff chicken, this is another specialty of Joe's Kitchen that one cannot left the place without. Given a choice of crispy tofu, hotplate and claypot toufu, the server highly recommended the first option. Well, we bought her words and it was great. Just like the stuffed chicken wings, the toufu was specially made, blended with seafood bits and fried over the hot oil. The exterior was very crispy, not too oily and to my liking.

Crispy Seafood Toufu - $6.00

How can a Thai Cuisine be without their so called Fresh Thai Coconut and Lemon Grass drink? Ha! These were the beverages for the night.

Fresh Coconut - $3.80

Minced Pork Omelette was nothing special, quite a standard dish.

Omelette with Minced Pork - $10

Prawns with cashew nuts was tad spicy as it was cooked with dried chilli and capsicums. Although the portion was medium, the number of prawns given wasn't that much.

Prawns with Cashew Nuts - $15

After the night's dinner, I find that what most interest me was their appetizer or finger food items. They were special and not many Thai Cuisine offers such items on their menu.

Rating: 3 / 5
Joe's Kitchen
Location: Blk 125 Bukit Merah Lane 1 #01-182, Singapore 150125

INDOBOX

Enjoy a true Indonesia hospitality and the authentic Indonesian cuisine from INDOBOX which is located at 3rd Level of JEM (Jurong East Mall). Ambience is cosy and relaxing with wooden box shaped structures hanging from the ceiling.

Shop Front

Besides having the comfortable "woody" environment, the interior design had brought up a modern  Indonesian culture with some false rock walls and decors.

Interior Design

Not only that, the menu background was also printed in woody texture.

Menu

Gado Gado, the indonesian salad consisting of boiled vegetables  and keropok (crackers) was served with savoury peanuts dressing.  Ingredients were warm and fresh, a perfect starter for the night and this dish had bench-marked the scores of other dishes for the night.

Gado Gado - $8

Tahu Telor literally means Beancurd Egg and is an Indonesian specialty. The silken Toufu which was hidden under the cripsy egg white crust was tasty. The egg was deep fried, giving it a rich golden brown color. The dish was served with some carrot and radish shreds and dipped into a sweet black sauce, sprinkled with generous amounts of grated peanut.

Tahu Telor - $8.50

Lychee Mint Freeze was nothing special and was quite a standard drink which you can get anywhere with canned lychee, shaved ice and some coloring. Personally i felt that the taste was rather artificial. The Ice Lime Tea cooler was rather standard too, close to our neighbourhood 'Teh O Limau Ice'.

Lychee Mint Freeze - $4.50
Iced Lime Tea Cooler - $3.80

We were quite particular about the freshness of squids and many times we had eaten squids that tasted mushy. Fortunately,Cumi Bakar, the BBQ sotongs (Squids) was packed of smokey flavours. They were grilled just nice such that bites from the sotong rings was rather chewy and not too hard like rubberband. Doused some of the rings onto the chilli and enjoy the sweet and sour taste.

Cumi Bakar - $10.80

While Ayam Penyet is deep fried and smashed chicken, this is BBQ smashed chicken. The chicken was well marinated and was coated with a tasty sweet sauce while BBQ-ing.

Ayam Pangang - $7.50

If you ever eaten Lontong, its quite similar to Sayur Lodeh but without the rice cake.This dish is perfect to go with plain rice. I will give it a double thumbs up for its richness in taste and not-so-creamy taste! It's a total reminiscence of my childhood taste.

Sayur Lodeh

We believed that by ordering these 3 dishes, Gado Gado, Tahu Telor & BBQ chicken would more or less sum up the authenticity of an Indonesian restaurant. Thus far, these 3 dishes had not disappoint us.

Rating: 4 / 5
INDOBOX
Location: JEM, 50 Jurong Gateway Road #03-22 Singapore 608549

MAD JACK

Mad Jack Cafes serve an Aussie styled fare and fusion food giving customers a promisable meal with quality adopting its stringent food philisophy - No MSG, No Preservatives, No Tenderlizer and their money-back guaranteed policy.

Mad Jack Clementi

MAD JACK in clementi had been opened a few months back and was rather new in the vicinity as they had shifted from Adams Road. Ambience was simple with about few groups tables spread out in the cafe. Service was prompt, the lady hurried out of the shop to wanting to explain the menu when she saw a group of us hanging out at her corridors. During our visit, there was only a table of 4 enjoying their lunch, dined-in. 

Cover of its menu had illustrated the food origins with its national symbols like boomerang , kangaroo and koala bear.

Menu of Mad Jack

Mad Jack had their crazy lunch deal at an attractive pricing with soup of the day and a drink to complete a meal.

Cream of Mushroom (Soup of the day) with Drink

Remember this is what MAD JACK had told us, "You dont have to be MAD to dine here, but it helps." Cranky but i like it. So let's grub!

Plate

MAD Cow Burger was served with big cuts fries. Clear cut with just 2 items, fries and burger.

#151 MAD Cow & Chips Set - $9.90

Burger looked appetizing with its sesame buns and beef patty sandwiched. The beef patty was make up of minced beef meat and tasted rather mushy its centre. Not forgetting its bun, its underneath was toasted with butter, leaving light yellow stains. With Mayonise, tomato and shredded cabbages added complimenting the burger, it had summed a typical looking burger.

MAD Cow Burger

Spaghetti on the other hand was overcooked and was rather soft. The Bolognaise sauce was standard, a good mixture of sauce with minced meat as well as mushrooms, nothing to rave about.

#152 Spaghetti Bolognaise Set - $10.90

2 Pieces of thin grilled dory covered with great amount of butter sauce with mashed potatoes and fruits salad as sides. Decent but not to die for.

#155 Grilled Fish in Cream Sauce Set - $12.90

Oreo cheese cake was abit of the dry side on its cheese layer, a far cry from our ideal taste of Oreo cake. In the end, we left more than half of the cake untouch even though we were sharing this in a group of 5.

#235 Oreo Cheese Cake - $5

TiraMADsu was a letdown. No doubt that the layers of cakes sandwich between the cream were spongy, the richness of a standard Tiramisu and their mascarpone cheese was lacking.

#231 TiraMADsu (Slice) - $4.90

If you are health conscious diner, MAD JACK may just fit your choice if you are craving for some western cuisine. Moreover, MAD JACK  is halal-certified and provides delivery service to certain areas in Singapore. Vegetarians, do not disappoint, MAD JACK had reserved a page on their menu for you.

Rating: 3 / 5

Mad Jack
Location:  Blk 352 Clementi Avenue 2 #01-129  Singapore 120352
Tel: 64624300 / 6846 8231
Open: 11.00am – 10:00pm daily

Website
Menu

Kko Kko Nara

Kko Kko Nara is located along the stretch of shop houses in Tras Street and is within 5 minutes walking distance from the Tanjong Pagar MRT Exit A. With its cute signboard showing a happy chicken and protruding out from the building, finding them was as easy as ABC.

Signage

A number of newspaper articles of its award wining Korean Fried Chicken was sticked to the walls outside its shop. I already feel the stress as I'm waiting for my friend to come. Although it was a weekday night, I could see the crowd. Anyway, the restaurant was well prepared and had laid a few chairs just outside its shop for customers to wait. And a menu stand was placed somewhere near for passer-bys to take a look at.

Facade

The Small combo was recommended by the restaurant and was also what the restaurant famous for, Korean fried chicken. There were 3 types of flavours and each comes with 3 pieces:  Original Flavour, Sweet and spicy, garlic soy sauce. Chicken was well marinated and tastes great. The salad in the middle compliment well with the dish.

Signature Korean Fried Chicken - $25

Beef Bone Soup Ra Myun tasted more of a bowl of Home Cook instant noodle with egg added, perhaps its the way how korean noodles were often related to them. Broth was light but flavorful.

Beef Bone Soup Ra Myun - $9

 While Spicy Korean Ramen standard was closed to having Kimchi noodles, the presentation of the korean noodles were more or less the same, nothing to rave about.

Spicy Korean Ramen - $8

Total amount for the above dishes with 2 cans of drinks, Grape and Pear Juice cost $67 (taxes included) in total.

I will always link korean cuisine to BBQ whenever anyone brings that out. Just tonight, I had changed the thought. So dont limit your korean gastronomic adventures to just BBQ only. Head down to Kko Kko Nara to enjoy these tantalizing authentic Korean Fried Chickens!


Rating: 3.5 / 5

Kko Kko Nara
Location: 57 Tras St, Singapore 078996