Ho Seng Kee Wantan Noodles.

Ho Seng Kee Wantan Mee (Lot J6-07, Level 6, Johor Bahru City Square, No. 108, Jalan Wong Ah Fook), undoubtedly the best wantan mee in my books. Mee is what Malaysians and Singaporeans in general call our noodles, and wantan, to the best of my understanding is derived from yun tun in Mandarin Chinese, which when translated roughly carries the meaning of 'swallowing clouds', possibly referring to the texture of the wantan, likened to clouds. That's the beauty of the Chinese language, especially with the euphemisms we use to describe what we love the most, FOOD!

When anyone asks me for food recommendations in Johor Bahru, the first thing that comes to mind: Ho Seng Kee wantan mee, definitely one of the top three in my must-try list. Having grown up with this unique wantan mee, it's practically what I regard as the Holy Grail of wantan mee! Although there are many other stalls offering their signature wantan mee (and trust me, I've tried so many wantan mee stalls in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru that I can't really keep track of the numbers anymore), this is still the taste I've never gotten sick of since I took my first bite till now. From that iconic stall in one of Jalan Meldrum's kopitiam to their own premise in Century Garden, I've been an avid supporter, and I've continued to have my weekly fix (or more!) of Ho Seng Kee even after they shifted their operations to City Square Johor Bahru, which frankly is not as accessible as when compared to where they were operating at before the shift.

XXL Noodle Original

XXL Noodle Spicy

Medium Noodle Spicy

The broth that comes with your bowl of noodles, flavourful!

Some have said their noodles are exactly like the infamous SabX2 Pratunam Wantan Noodles in Thailand, but there's still a flavour in Ho Seng Kee's version that cannot be reproduced elsewhere. Although the texture of the noodles at Ho Seng Kee today pales in comparison to what was served by their pioneers, you can still be assured it's one of the best tasting bowl of wantan noodles you can find in Johor Bahru. The current owner did tell me that he is grateful for his customers' support throughout these years, but he too hopes customers can give the new generation of cooks a chance to accumulate experience towards serving up that perfect bowl of wantan mee in the near future.

By the way, for bargain hunters: they are now running a promotion where you only pay RM 9.00 nett for a bowl of medium-sized wantan mee and a glass of barley water, running from Monday to Friday, 10am-3pm. Fret not if you miss that timing, from 3pm-9pm daily, you could also have the option to simply add another RM 1.00 in exchange for a glass of barley water, coffee, tea or soft drinks, applicable to an order of wantan mee in any of the two sizes offered in their menu. I am not sure to when would this promotion end, so my advice would be to go as often as you can to make the best out of it!

Flaming King Crab Platter.

I've been seeing numerous posts on my Facebook feed in regards to the Flaming King Crab Platter offered by The Manhattan FISH MARKET (that's exactly how they spelt it, like you have to scream out the FISH MARKET part of it!).

Hyped up about it, I been mentioning it for the past week, trying to convince my mom to be my dinner buddy for this. Back when I was in KL, Manhattan Fish Market had been my absolute favourite restaurant, I recall it being the first name that comes to mind whenever I get to decide on what's for dinner! Anyway, she's not a fan of non-local dishes, especially burgers and steaks, so I was both surprised yet elated when she reluctantly suggested this for dinner!

Headed to Jusco Tebrau City, as it's the nearest Manhattan Fish Market outlet from where we were. I was so looking forward to it! Sat ourselves down and pointed to the item once we were handed the menu, just like a little boy pointing at a Happy Meal at Macs hahaha.

Flaming artist at work

The Flaming King Crab Platter

How was it?

To be honest, we were very disappointed with it. And mummy had a victory smirk on her face all the while, saying, "I told you so!" It was far from what I expected, although its not a fair comparison if you put it up against the legendary Alaskan King Crab, this being the mini version of it.

However, one thing I could absolutely agree on with mummy this time; for the price we paid for this platter, which is RM 99.90, with the total bill coming up to nearly RM 150, we would be better off visiting our favourite Chinese restaurant. At the very least, it would have been a fulfilling dinner, and the crab dish would have been a few notches better than this in terms of freshness and taste, albeit being a different species of crab, and not the King Crab.

It's alright, at least with this item ticked off my list, my dinner spot selections just got simpler now!

Assam Laksa.

Personally, I'm not a great fan of Penang-styled Assam Laksa. No, let me reiterate, I was never a fan of Assam Laksa to begin with.

However, according to people who have tasted it, my mother cooks a pretty kickass pot of Assam Laksa! But then, she has since retired from the kitchen, & if my memory serves me right, it should have been at least 10 years since I've smelt the distinctive scent of Assam Laksa wafting through the house.

So, we were on a hunt yet again that stemmed from this question, "What to eat ah?"

Thus we ended right here, at 'The Little Island' (No.25, Jalan Molek 1/5C, Taman Molek, Johor Bahru) which is located behind Taman Molek's Public Bank. I've actually been here a few times with my la-kopi buddies, when the cafe-styled restaurant just started up, as their F&B line-up were pretty decent.

So, no prizes for guessing it right, my mother swiftly decided on the Assam Laksa as soon as she spotted it on the menu! Although it took them quite some time to serve it up, as soon as the bowl of Assam Laksa hit the table, I took a glance, and boy did it look extremely promising to my untrained eye!

The picture doesn't do it justice

So why is this worth a special mention? Mummy gave not one, but two thumbs up for their version of this famous delicacy which is a die-die must try in Penang! Apparently, this is the best bowl of Assam Laksa she's had in Johor Bahru, although it's still short of rivalling the famous roadside one in Penang.

Give it a try if you're around the vicinity, Assam Laksa lovers might just fall in love with it if they are able to churn out the exact same quality consistently!