Hiang Kee Seafood Restaurant (香记海鲜大饭店) @ Taman Sri Tebrau Hawker Centre (大馬花園小販中心), Johor Bahru [Malaysia]

Taman Sri Tebrau, known popularly as 大馬花園 among many Chinese Singaporeans, was well-known as the place to have your dinner right across the causeway at Johor Bahru.

It wasn't my first visit although the last was during my Starhub days, which was easily seven to eight years ago when i wasn't as motivated to update this blog on a frequent basis.

Anyway, my fellow NUS colleague strongly recommended a seafood meal at Hiang Kee restaurant (frankly, this was more a tze char stall in a hawker centre than a restaurant) in our recent JB trip and we decided to take up her suggestion!

Malay Kangkong

馬來風光

Even though this had the much-needed spiciness, it lacked the wok hei flavour that so often differentiates it from the home-cooked version. The absence of pork lard was a disappointment but it could not match the disgust our faces when we realised there was sourness after chewing! We left almost the whole plate alone after that.

Sambal Squid

叄峇鱿魚

The fiery spiciness was not as intensive as the kangkong and featured a sweeter tomato-based sauce that was very much welcome after the awful vegetables.

Furong Egg

芙蓉蛋

Am i the only one who feels that chefs have recently been attempting to transform this simple dish by adding more ingredients?! It was the same case in Hiang Kee, except that it was too salty for my liking.

Salted Egg Yolk Crab

咸蛋螃蟹

Love the wet form salted egg yolk crab? This was by far one of the best i had; amazingly buttery with a strong delicious infusion of salted egg yolk that actively tingled the taste buds!

The cream was of course great to go with plain white rice. Not to mention that the crab was super duper fresh and came with humongous claws guaranteed to please your eyes.

Butter Crayfish

牛油蝦婆

Honestly, this would not have made any difference if prawns or crabs were used in place of crayfish. Basically, i am not that particular on the type of crustaceans being used so long they are fresh and meaty! Crayfish is, in many instances, not as flavoursome and contains little meat for me to indulge in. 

Having said that, crayfish had a cheaper price tag and in this case, it was the buttery crisps that impressed me more; sweet yet savoury and boasting a buttery richness that slowly melted in your mouth as you could not help but continue to eat spoonful after spoonful.

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Location

Jalan Keris, Taman Sri Tebrau, 

80050 Johor Bahru, Johore (hawker centre)

How to go there?

Take cab lah! Easy and fast.

Contact

Tel: 07-3352633

Mobile: 012-7697443

Price

Malay Kangkong - RM 10.00

Sambal Squid - RM 15.00

Furong Egg - RM 8.00

Salted Egg Yolk Crab - RM 112.00

Butter Crayfish - RM 35.00

Menu

As above [please note that fish, crabs and crayfish etc are subject to seasonal pricing]

Additional Information
That friend who recommended Hiang Kee has recently signed up a blogging account; for her review, click here!