Korean Fried Chicken @ 22 Korea Fried Chicken Factory 韓國炸雞工廠

22 Korean Fried Chicken Factory was one of our stops during Johor Bahru food trail in December.
We were lucky to spot this shop after driving around Mount Austin for few rounds as the direction (address) was very vague. Korean Fried Chicken had become a food phenomenal due to the hit Korean drama My Love From The Star in which the main characters Do Min-jun and Chun Song-yi having their favorite food i.e. fried chicken and beer (maekju).

The sign board 

Extensive range of Korean cuisines are available in 22 Korea Fried Chicken Factory 韓國炸雞工廠 such as main course (Kimchi Fried Rice, Korean Jajangmyun Set,yopokki) and their signature fried chicken with different types of sauces like crispy, garlic, gangjeong, Bul dak and Hot BBQ flavors . French fries, chicken nuggets, potato wedges, drumsticks, burger were available here too. I wonder if KFC will come out with Korean version fried chicken!

The interior design is all-in-one factory concept with shelves, long chairs and containers are used as chairs. Korean merchandises, tidbits and snack foods were sold here too.

Source: 22 Korea Fried Chicken Factory

Menu are shown at the entrance

It was almost 4pm when we found the shop and long queue was formed in front of the counter.The ordering process was done at the counter and we were given a "beeping UFO” which will vibrate signifying the ordered food were ready. The wait was about 20 minutes. Let's look at the food we ordered now. We chose chicken wings set, chicken drumsticks and 22 signature burger. Paper cups were given to fill our ordered drinks ourselves. By the way, there were no beers served here.

Interior decoration

Each of us were given a plastic glove so that we will not make our hands dirty when eating the fried chickens. Well, not a good idea as I still like the "licking good" concept of KFC chicken.Anyway, compared to KFC chicken, 22 Korea Fried Chicken Factory's chicken wings and chicken drumsticks have less batter used when fried, hence less oily. 

Left: The fried chicken wings and chicken drumsticks [ Garlic soy sauce and Hot BBQ ]
Right: Burger with potato wedges (belonged to value set of fried chicken wings)

The chicken wings coated with garlic flavour, nicely fried and crispy. The skin of chicken drumsticks was fried to a crackly crisp with a layer of savory spicy-sweet marinade. The burger didn't fail our expectation either. Tender chicken meat which had well-marinated, you will definitely want to have more bites of it!Each of us were still hungry after eating, perhaps we shall order main course to share during next visit.

22 Korea Fried Chicken Factory 韩国炸鸡工厂

Address: 51 Jalan Austin Height 8/1 Taman Mount Austin 91100 Johor Bahru

Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 12pm to 3pm; 6pm to 1030pm

Backstreet Cafe 小巷咖啡館@ Taman Pelangi, Johor Bahru

The BackStreet Cafe (小巷咖啡馆) is like a hidden gem located behind  “Big Bowl” dessert stall (大碗汞和) at Taman Pelangi.  The cafe is literally located at backstreet, a typical corner shop-lot which is hardly spotted. I'm amazed by the lady boss who utilize the basement area, carving out cozy place occupying less than 25 cafe-hoppers.

The exterior had decorated with colorful wind wheels, yellow flowers, purple lavenders and lamp posts, offering an old-European themed garden. Anyway, beware while stepping into this cafe as you could easily hit your own head due to the low ceiling at the entrance. 

The exterior 

Source: http://angiekayexplorer.com/ 

The interior of the calm, cosy, quirky basement cafe. Perhaps the lady boss likes Europe very much. Many wall paintings and pillows featuring Paris Eiffel Tower, old traditional lamps and old music player had spotted. Few plush toys had been placed as decoration, giving a homely feel when stepping into this backstreet cafe.

We chose to dine at this cozy area ; typically a hidey hole which could accommodate around 5-6 person. We opine the signboard “好好活着，因为会死很久”  was quite funny and didn't really match the ambiance and decor. In English translation, it's saying that live well because will die for a long time. We had great fun by capturing photos with the decoration.

A few choices of waffles, cakes and crepes were available. We had chosen the hot flower tea and red date tea instead of coffees. We shall return to try Backstreet Cafe's coffee next time.

Overall, it's a pleasant dining experience at backstreet cafe.

The cozy ambiance is great for chilling out with friends and chit-chatting. 

Address:
Backstreet Cafe 小巷咖啡館
No 28-A,Jalan Abiad 1,Johor,
Taman Pelangi, 80400 Johor Bahru, 

Chee Cheung Fun and Fried Durian Fritters @Taman Ungku Tun Aminah,Johor Bahru

Skudai; one of the Southernmost state of Malaysia is full of a variety of breakfast. As recommended by my friend, we went to Restoran G Cheong Fun to have a plate of this soft and smooth textured version. served in 5 different sauces. Chee Cheung Fun; the plain white rice noodle rolls are chopped and served in 5 choices of sauces such as specialty An Soon (the fillings are made of yam and sprinklers of preserved vegetable), BBQ honey sauces, Kampar curry, red sweet sauce and black sweet sauce. Various side dishes are offered here such as yam cake, pork skin, fish balls, crab sticks, dumplings, Hakka Yong Tau Foo, etcetera.

 
Sourced from http://www.foodesteem.com/

Crowded shop

安顺猪肠粉

Overall the chee cheung fun here was satisfying and did not disappoint us.  The price of a plate chee cheung fun is quite high, approximately RM10 per plate with few side dishes. 

The famous fried durian fritter and fried banana fritter from Restoran Wah Cai which is located few shop-lots nearby had been bought for tasting. The durian flesh retained its natural flavor and tasted great with the crunchy crust. On the other hand, the fried banana fritter is similar to those which could be bought from mamak stall. By the way, unbelievably the durian fritter at Restoran Wah Cai had caught the attention of most media savvy including Singapore.

Restaurant details:

1.Restoran G Cheong Fun

176 Jalan Pahlawan 2

Taman Ungku Tun Aminah

2.Restoran Wah Cai
华仔三合一招牌炸年糕、炸榴莲糕

86, Jalan Pahlawan 2, 

Taman Ungku Tun Aminah (TUTA), 

Skudai, 81300 Johor Baru

Dinner @ Zen Taiwanese Restaurant 珍品轩台式馆; Aeon Tebrau City Shopping Centre

A backdated blog post which was regarding the nice dining experience at Zen Taiwanese Restaurant 珍品轩台式馆; Aeon Tebrau City Shopping Centre one year ago. It's similar to Fong Lye Taiwanese Restaurant which was full house during dining time. Taiwanese dishes that continued to intrigue tourists visiting Taiwan and also influenced Chinese families, introducing more variation of delicious cuisines. One day, I shall visit Taiwan to taste their authentic mouth-watering delicacies.

The restaurant was quite spacious and each table had enough space for cozy chats. It's not a stuffy place with noisy ambiance. Clean environment was one of the good impressions when I stepped into this restaurant. We spent some time to choose our set meals before our cozy chat and "wefie" session. The set meals were available with affordable price and various choices of main meal accompanied with soup, a bowl of rice, prickled Japanese cucumber slices, chicken roll and dessert. Apart from that, ala carte dishes such as Taiwanese sausages, bassil fried rice,dumpling soap noodles, pan-fried dumplings, Mapo Tofu and etcetera.

My prettiest partner in crime with her bubble milk tea

Taiwanese braised pork with read yeast set meal

My friend chose to satisfy her taste buds with the flavorful braised pork which was cooked for few hours. The meat acquired a delicate texture and flavor, a homely dish which reminded me of cider braised pork cooked by my mom. 

Taiwanese 3 Cups Chicken Recipe | 三杯雞  set meal

An extremely popular Taiwanese dish that occupies the Taiwanese restaurant I had been to. Three Cups actually referred to a equal portion of three essential ingredients: soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice cooking wine.The divine aroma of sesame oil combined with sliced gingers, garlic, chili making this dish tasty. The boneless chicken meats were much convenient to be eaten.

Poached Chicken 葱油鸡 set meal

The chicken slices served with the mixture of aromatic shallot oil, ginger, soy sauce drizzling on top of them. The shredded, poached chicken matched well with the hot rice. Well, a lazy eater like me preferred to have boneless chicken breast hence this dish suited my appetite and eating behavior. 

The side dishes which came along with our choice of set meals included deep fried pumpkin ball, prickled cucumber, chicken roll and herbal soup. I liked the pumpkin ball very much. The outer layer was crispy and its filling (red bean) was not too sweet. After all,it's one of the great dining experiences in Johor!

High Tea @ Just Want Coffee ;Taman Sutera

The convocation was approaching and we were heading to South for getting our convocation robes. It was a great afternoon accompanied with high-tea and gatherings with buddies that have not been met for months. The last visit to Just Want Coffee; The Garden was a pleasant experience, hence we chose to have high-tea session at Just Want Coffee, Taman Sutera.

The nice designed menu.

Cold cappuccino

Rose Latte

Caramel Machiato which tasted good

Matcha Latte

Hot Cappuccino 

Chocolate waffles with ice-cream

The signature tiramisu.

As mentioned in previous post, I prefer the one I had at Bel Pasto Italian Restaurant.

JUST WANT COFFEE @ The Garden

Million thanks to the Johor local friends otherwise I wouldn't have the chance to visit this nice cafe. This cafe could be one of the good choices to have high-tea at.

Just Want Coffee;The Garden was previously a show house but has been renovated into a cafe by the boss at JP Perdana, Johor Bahru. From the news obtained from my friend, the concept was aimed at attracting visitors regardless weekdays or weekends. Unexpectedly, we got there just few minutes later than the cafe opened on the day, yet we had to queue outside to be served.

While waiting to be seated, my dear buddy and I had gone for some photo-shooting session. Well, why not to capture some string of memories?! :)

Back to the main points of the blog post, let's continue with the review of the foods. We had ordered blueberry cheese cake as I opined that it will not turn out to be a bad decision for ordering this flavour of cheese cake as the first trial in any cafe. The waitresses kept recommending tofu cheese cake, perhaps I shall try it next time.

Ice cappuccino

hot cappucino

Latte

 The tiramisu has a layer of ice cream instead of the normal mascarpone cheese layer. The tiramisu seems like have put some red wine as it contains some aroma of red wine. I would prefer it to be in larger size as the price of this tiramisu is quite expensive.Notably to mention that the best Tiramisu I had eaten before is at Bel Pasto Italian Restaurant (p/s: the Tiramisu is in larger size and delicious; costs only RM8.90).

Overall the exterior of the cafe is very big yet the interior is considered packed and less spacious. It could be providing a feel of ' congestion' when the cafe is crowded.  Compared to KL cafe, I would say the price of the food here is considered as reasonable. The coffee (specialty coffee) tastes not bad and tiramisu which is recommended by my friend does not fail my expectation. A suggestion: Have more pastry please.

JUST WANT COFFEE vs CHEELICIOUS @ JB
I would opt for the second one, as the cheese cakes there had lingered in my mind most of the time :)