Down & Dirty :Hiap Joo Bakery, Johor Bahru- Malaysia

Across from the famous Kin Hua Coffee shop is Hiap Joo another must visit place in Johor Bahru. There is always a queue so chill have your breakfast or a cup of coffee at Kin Hua first.  The good news is the queue moves fairly quick, it really only slows down because of tourists like me who like to take photos of silly stuff- like a stack of wood.  But its well worth the wait, the banana bread and coconut bread are a winners. They still use wood to fire the ovens like a good old school bakery should. Good to see they are burning recycled wood. 




The queue that never seems to go away..

Stacked wood looks recycled? No one would cut it like this for burning?

The oven complete with soot and smoke!

Coconut bread.

Banana bread- this is well worth the wait banana bread is light yet the cake remains moist and you can smell the bananas(not kidding!)

Hiap Joo Bakery & Biscuit Factory
Address: 13, Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, 80000 Johor Bahru
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hiapjoobakery

Down & Dirty:Salahuddin Bakery, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Down & Dirty Bakery on Jalan Dhoby 

If I were not currently on a quest to find down & dirty eateries in JB, I would have skipped this place.

Just down from the more popular Hiap Joo bakery. No queue here and no tourists either and that suits me just fine. 

This is where the locals buy their coconut bread and their famous Bengali Curry Puffs!

You heard it here…. ! 

It is now very difficult to get good quality old style curry puffs but locals here are spoilt for choice. 

Coconut Bread better value than across the road-just as fresh!

“If I had but two loaves of bread, I would sell one and buy hyacinths, for they would feed my soul.”

Now this is old school-down and dirty!! 
All the breads are done in this wood fired oven. 

Ready to roll! Floor looks clean trust me its dirty as S@#T!

The bread here is "all that it is stacked up to be".

The glorious Bengali Chicken curry puffs! 

Mutton Curry Puffs for the more adventurous!

Sardine Curry Puffs

A good variety of breads and pastries no time to try them all.

Salahuddin Bakery

Address: 26, Jalan Dhoby, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Facebook: are you kidding?

Instagram: wot?

Twitter: In your dreams...

Kin Hua Kopitiam:Dirty Dining in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Kin Hua Kopitiam

Part of getting to know the culture of a new place is to experience breakfast "like a local"! In Johor Bahru, there is no better place to do this than Kin Hua. 

It really ticks all the boxes for Dirty Dining-it has a good mix of locals and visiting Singaporeans from accross the border, it is packed from early morning till way past lunch. Everything is prepared & served "old school". The toast is done over coals, the coffee is filtered through a "sock" (figuratively speaking), eggs are boiled and timed to perfection manually. (no immersion circulator here)

I will have to take more photos and update when I have more time.

Look at them buns!

Fresh buns toasted with butter and kaya (coconut jam) were absolutely delish. 

Eggs-cellent!

The eggs were free range and you could tell from the colour of the yolk. The yolk was a dark orange vs the typical yellowish colour we have become used to with industrial eggs.

A dash of pepper and soya sauce and I was all set. Just like the locals did I dunked the bread in the eggs and slurped the remainder of the eggs straight from the bowl.

In Malaysia soft boiled eggs are referred to as half-boiled-eggs. 

Kopi!

Mastering the art of ordering coffee in a Malaysian Kopitiam (coffee house)

Coffee=kopi (koh-pee)
Coffee black with sugar=kopi-O
Coffee with cream =kopi-C (C= carnation evap milk, they dont have regular milk) and they will automatically add sugar unless you specifically mention otherwise.
Coffee with cream no sugar= kopi-C- kosong
Coffee black no sugar= kopi-O -kosong
Stronger coffee =kau

Therefore my coffee is kopi-C-kosong-kau which translates to coffee with cream, no sugar, served strong.

If you want a cold coffee same as above but add "peng"

X = Paid!

They have a unique billing system here. Grandma will come over ask you what you ordered (although she already knows what you ordered). She will then add the bill up using a calculator (although she already has the total amount in her mind). She will show you the total to verify the amount. Pay that amount and dont question grandma!

Once she collects the cash she will mark the table with an "X" to let the others know that you are good to go. 

Remember Grandma is watching so you dont want to get caught out-you dirty,dirty boy.

Brilliant!

Kin Wah Address: 8 Jalan Trus, 80000 Johor Bahru 

Open: 7am to 12pm

Dirty Dining in KL: Heritage Food Village-Brickfields Kuala LumpurSentral

 

Dirty Dining in KL!

 

Getting down & dirty in KL and I mean that in the most positive way. 

This place serves simple home style cooked meals. 

Which translates to great cheap eats!!!!

Spoon, fork or chopstick..choose your weapon?

Go figure... does not seem like chinese food if I dont use chopsticks, but I see all the locals grab a spoon and fork.

Quattro Stagioni?

Four Seasons= Wok fried mixed vegetables with belachan (shrimp paste) Okra, Eggplant, Lima Beans and string beans

Pork Belly with salted fish

Pork Belly with Salted Fish -I have been here a few times to try this. The preparation is inconsistent a visits ago it had tad too much salted fish. Today it was spot on!

Deep Fried Squid with chilli sauce

Deep fried squid with chilli sauce.. ho hum.. will give this a miss next time.

Fish Head Curry

This is my go to dish at Heritage Food Village-the fish head curry!  

Address:
80-82 Jalan Tun Sambanthan
Brickfields 50470
Wilayah Persekutuan, Kuala Lumpur