Once Upon A Time in Johor ... (Part 5 - Nasi Lemak Berlauk)

The 'floating' restaurant : Malam Indah Selalu

Still on Johor food, bear with me ya? One fine evening 2 Johor friends drove us to a place supposedly famed for its nasi lemak (rice cooked in coconut milk), somewhere around Permas Jaya (?), or something like that. Bad memories ...

The seating area, realize all the customers chose to sit by the river/strait/sea?

After a journey of roughly 10-15 minutes, we arrived at some secluded area, right by the straits of Johor, where we can view our beloved neighbour, Singapore, from our seats. This restaurant is situated alongside some seafood restaurants, so no worries if they're closed.

Nasi Lemak with Fried Chicken (RM5)

The Johor guys led the orders, suggesting nasi lemak with either the fried chicken or the rendang version. One glance at the menu on the wall revealed that they DO serve other dishes to go with their nasi lemak, namely rendang daging, and various fish dishes.

Otak-Otak Kempas : A Johor Bahru speciality

As usual, no meal (Malay ones, at least) is complete without the ever-popular appetizer of Otak-Otak, right here in JB.

The amazing sambal, fried egg and ayam rendang

On to the main characters of this food venture, the nasi lemak. Hot, fragrant, right consistencies, not too sticky nor tough-like-nails, albeit a little too sweet for some. Yes, SWEET. The santan (coconut milk) used to cook the rice is different from the ones we usually have in northern states. Some of us could not bear the sweetness, while for me, the rice is cooked just right, and paired with their killer sambal (a little sweet also, btw) the dish is good in its own right, rendering the chicken completely unnecessary for extra brownie scores.

Not to say the chicken was bad, mind you. The fried version was crispy and delicious (according to them anyway, as I had the rendang one). But be warned their rendang is NOT the run-of-the-mill type. It was a tad erm, sweet (hehe), and not spicy at all.

Ikan Siakap Tiga Rasa (RM4/100g)

BK (the pure Johorean) ordered an extra dish of siakap tiga rasa (rough translation : 3 flavours sea bass) for us to try. Sweet, sour and erm either spicy/salty, the dish was alright, savoury, but the overwhelming 'mud smell' of the flesh kind of put me off.

Remember to turn at this sign, if you manage to find this anyway ... :)

Location : Haha, asking the wrong person here. Let me see, it is at an area called Permas Jaya, there is a slightly more outstanding seafood restaurant called Senibong Village Seafood restaurant right before the sign board above. Word of advice : Ask a Johor guide to prevent unnecessary & extra miles. =)