Restoran Todak (旗鱼海番村) - Opposite Sembawang Park @ Masai in Johor [Malaysia]

Admittedly, I frequent Johore Bahru quite often. And it came as a surprise when I told some friends and colleagues I was thinking of going to this seafood restaurant known as Todak, and many were aware of this place for the longest time!

While most mentioned that standard had dropped and pricing had increased quite a bit since they last visited, it was noted that the Google review of 3.9 was still pretty decent with almost 5,000 reviewers! Hence, no reason for us to give it a miss.   

We grabbed in from Mid Valley Southkey shopping mall but I had to warn you; getting a Grab out might not be so easy as we waited for about 30 minutes to secure a booking! p.s. to be fair, we requested for a bigger car as there were five of us.

Urbanites like me who had lived in a kampong and borne before the 1980s would love such setting; having seafood by the sea in a restaurant on stilts! It's nostalgia and for the older generation like my mom, this was how they ate seafood in the past.

Problem for urbanites is that the sight for low tide might not be as welcoming. In addition to rubbish laying on the seabed, there was also the unavoidable stench. Frankly, I had smelt worse.

Doggy doggy! Quite a number of them although they were domesticated and honestly didn't quite care for the humans that kept passing by them. 

I don't get this sign; should I proceed to find a table on my own? Well, when one didn't know what to do, one could just use their mouth to ask. It doesn't hurt. 

Timing was about 5.00 pm and the whole restaurant was already packed with customers. Guess it still remains popular after all these years, and it's best to reserve if I were to revisit in the future. 

Unsheltered space that might appeared unused at this moment but once it's night time, the whole area would serve as another big space with tables and chairs for diners! More of those photos later.

Straits of Johor that cuts across Singapore and Malaysia; the tall buildings at the background are actually from Johor Bahru, the state capital of Johore.

The two photographs as above showed the Singapore side, which was surprisingly quite underdeveloped with much greenery. I actually knew this part of Singapore quite well as my dad used to bring us to the park often when we were young. And even when I was a teenager, my friends and I would have barbecue sessions in the park.

It's actually Sembawang Park (beaulieu house as indicated with the red arrow) and I had visited a few times on lunar new year's eve to check out the fireworks across the Straits of Johore! 

Highlight for such seafood restaurants was live seafood! This reminded me of Love Seafood Restaurant at Batam which had an impressionable seafood in a humongous pan! Malaysian counterparts should do something similar! 

I know it's sad but when it comes to seafood, freshness beats everything! And at Restoran Todak, the variety was startling although my family would be quite boring when it comes to seafood; it would be the usual crab, prawn, fish. 

And you can choose your own seafood. I left the selection to my mom who has better experience identifying the "freshest" one that would make our meal. 

The poor crabs and seabass. Even though I am not very sure about the running rate for sea bass, I am aware that crabs in Singapore would generally cost about S$70-S$80 per kilogram. The large crabs here that we chose was just RM 150 a kilogram; about S$45.

Queuing up to order and inform the service staff the style for the live seafood. For the fish, it shall be steamed, Hong Kong style and crabs shall be golden sand and chilli.

Orders that were quickly written down. I can't imagine writing down in full Chinese characters as my handwriting is bad; to the extent I sometimes don't understand what I wrote. 

Now, awaiting our food! Waiting time was not very long and all that we ordered were placed on our table in around 30 minutes. That's quite fast in my opinion. Without further ado, let's review! 

Tea - a pot of tea for us to wash away all the sinful things we would be having shortly after. A bucket of ice was provided in case we prefer ice tea. 

Sweet Potato Leaves in Sambal - well, this was quite average and was added merely as a vegetable dish to complement the overwhelmingly meat and seafood ones.

Cereal Prawns - 300 grams with about seven prawns; the meat was fresh but I had issue with the cereals; they were clumped together and lacked the unique cereal flavor that I absolutely dig! One thing that was interesting; green chilli, instead of chilli padi, were fried with the cereals and that was novel.

Butter Sotong - So often faced with sotong that was bland tasting, this was refreshingly good as the meat was full of flavor! It also help that the butter component was both sweet and aromatic! They weren't perfect though as the sotong was a little rubbery. 

Seabass Steamed Hongkong Style - what's the best way to have fish? Aside from eating them raw (not really recommended given the risk of bacteria), Chinese believes that steaming would be the way to go.

This didn't disappoint. The meat was firm and so fresh, and needless to say, my mom was over the moon given how big a fish lover she is! Just for this fish dish, she has been asking when we would return again to Restoran Todak.

Golden Sand Crab - there was hardly any "sand" which was in reality cereal-tasting. Big disappointment on the crab; I thought it was live crab but the meat was mushy, coupled with a fishiness that made us frown between our eyes as we dug into the meat. 

Chilli Crab - in comparison, the chilli was better although it was more tomato than chilli, which I personally prefer as too hot a chilli made my lips burn! 

The crab was also better; meatier, fresh and firm! 

Mantou - fist sized, it was strange to have this plate of fried buns served to our table when the chilli crab came only about 20 minutes later! For those who don't know, the mantous were to dip into the chilli crab sauce! 

Buns were amazingly soft and fluffy yet blessed with a thin, crisp outer skin that gave way to a little crunch as my teeth sank through! Totally perfect for soaking up the chilli crab sauce! Yummy! 

I was wondering why this large tool was passed to us. Even though I don't have a technical diploma / degree, I figured the concept was similar to the crab pliers. 

Which do I prefer? In terms of mess, this one was much better in containing the rogue, flying crab shells, and with the use of both hands; had the advantage of dealing higher pressure for a stubborn shell that refuses to crack!

Chicken Satay - catching the unmistakable whiff of grilled meat brought me to this separate stall nearer to the entrance of the dining area. I wasn't hungry yet, I knew I could have some stomach space for satay! 

I was mindful; just ten sticks.

The kind of satay I love that have charred bits and layers of fats in between the meat! Satay gravy had hints of sambal and the unassuming slices of onions were sweet and crunchy! 

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In a nutshell, the food wasn't mind-blowing even though freshness played an important part, especially for the fish! However, our total damage was just RM 403; a steal as it would have been a lot more should we have the same dishes in Singapore! Would I be back? Why not, especially if I could have more of those delicious satay! 

Address

1, Jln Dedaru 11, Kampung Teluk Jawa, 

81750 Masai, Johor, Malaysia

Map

As above. 

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Sweet Potato Leaves in Sambal - RM 16.00

Cereal Prawns (300g) - RM 30.00

Butter Sotong - RM 24.00

Seabass Steamed Hongkong Style (600g) - RM 42

Crabs (1.5 kilo) - RM 255.00

Mantou - RM 8.00

Chicken Satay - RM 1.50 a stick

Tea - RM 1.00 per person

(Subject to Service Tax) 

Additional Information

Unsheltered space that would be filled with tables and chairs as the sun sets and more customers start to stream in! Only thing to worry about; rain! 

Food stall right outside the main entrance.

Ending the post with photographs taken at the restaurant with my family! Pity my dad didn't join as he couldn't stay the night with us. 

Loving Uncle Lim Happy Popcorn from Melaka in Malaysia

While walking along Jonker Street on 7 October 2023, I caught a whiff of that familiar popcorn aroma that we commonly find in cinemas, and as I strolled past, the operator gave me a small saucer dish of samples, containing about 4-5 flakes. 

I was hooked and bought a jumbo bottle from this Uncle Lim Happy Popcorn makeshift stall; commenting to my mom that I would share half with her. By the time I passed the bottle to her, with a much heavy heart as I really didn't want to; it was only about 15% filled.

Since then, I had been on a lookout for the Uncle Lim popcorn; to the extent of messaging its Facebook page to check if the popcorn is available in Johor; the Malaysian state nearest to Singapore! Apparently, they don't maintain a stall although there are the occasional popup events that they might participate in Johor.

Waiting is a virtue and my wait wasn't in vain! Uncle Lim Happy Popcorn posted on their page that they would be there for Chill Day Night Market at Eco Spring and I resolved to get in and finally get my hands on those incredibly good popcorn! 

Note that Chill Day Night Market at Eco Spring is only available till Monday, 13 November 2023, and even though official operating hours start from 4pm, the market came alive only at about 6pm. I was actually there at 4.30 pm but this gigantic inflatable bottle of popcorn was nowhere to be found.

At 6pm, the inflatable was up but the popcorn wasn't ready! By the right, the bottles of popcorn were not made somewhere and then delivered to the stall.

They were made fresh on the spot by this friendly Peranakan Baba who had to cool down the popcorn before packing them into the bottles! I was almost on the verge of just putting my hands in and taking a few flakes to curb my almost month-long craving.

Want to guess the pricing for the popcorn? 

Make a guess on how much each jumbo bottle cost. 

It's one for RM 22 and two bottles had a promotional bundle price of RM 38. Based on current conversion rate, one jumbo bottle (under bundle) cost just S$5.50! 

Don't judge me... I purchased four jumbo bottles! Would have loved to secure more to share with family and friends but it's a hassle without a car! According to the baba, expiry is one month and you don't have to put them in the fridge. p.s. first thing I did was to open up one bottle and take a few flakes! 

My four jumbo bottles after lugging them back to Singapore! Putting up my Oasis branded stainless steel water bottle on the left for comparison. 

Attractive pricing aside, what I enjoyed most from Uncle Lim Happy Popcorn was that the flakes were always so crispy and the flavor, while having a caramelized sweetness, wasn't cloying, and had a tinge of saltiness. They were so addictive; I literally had to stop myself from constantly putting my hands into the bottle! 

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Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/UncleLimHappyPopcorn for there latest update on where you can buy their delicious popcorn. Only place you can find them easily would be at Melaka although you can also purchase through Shopee at elevated pricing. 

Oyster Station - Near Jonker Street @ Melaka in Malaysia

By myself, I admit that I will do some research before stepping into a new dining establishment when I am overseas. In this case, at Melaka, I just followed wherever my sister and brother in law brought me to since they have been to the Malaysian UNESCO city countless times! 

Frankly, Oyster Station isn't a place I would step in willingly since I don't eat oysters. And I just realized it had a super low score on Google; like 2.5. Bet this would be the lowest scoring dining establishment I have ever dined at.

It did have one advantage; air-conditioning, which was super important when the weather was so hot! Without much trees, it can be so much hotter in Melaka, compared to Singapore. 

Aside from oysters, Oyster Station also served many fried / grilled seafood dishes and also other food from the stalls outside their dining area. You can't just bring in outside food and ordering must be from within the dining area.

Oyster with Lemon - I am not a fan of oyster but both my sister and brother in law are! The oysters looked plump and I guess fresh since both of them had been to oyster station before. At RM 25 for 3, I am unsure if this is a good pricing. 

Oyster Egg - small serving and without much of the oyster flavor. Granted there were more eggs than flour but it's definitely a fail for oyster egg. And serving food on plastic plates cheapened the experience. 

Fried Carrot Cake - this had the same taste as the oyster egg; albeit spicier. I never have good experience with fried carrot cake at Jonker Street; the one I had in 2013 was terrible. This was worse.

Grilled Big Shrimp with Salt and Pepper Garlic Sauce -  looking more like baby lobsters than shrimp, I wasn't impressed. The salt and pepper garlic sauce overwhelmed the palate and while nice; I am better off just slurping the sauce since the meat of the shrimp hardly matters. 

Fried Lala with Ginger and Garlic - this was the very first dish I found to be good. The garlic was strong yet it complemented with the salted, seafood sweetness from the lala meat. This would have been perfect when pair with a bottle of iced cold beer! 

Fried Squid with Sambal - squid was unfortunately rubbery as the I loved the uniqueness of the sambal which had a curry fragrance and absolutely addictive! 

Shanghai Mini Fried Bun - don't ask me why we ordered this as I couldn't remember. However, I am glad we did as these mini buns were delightful. Compact with a crispy bun and deliciously juicy meat fillings within, the only issue I faced was that they were not piping hot when served.

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Would I be back? To be honest, I don't think so. Prices were not great, ambience was noisy with air-conditioning and being able to sit while eating being the two biggest advantages. Even if I do like the Shanghai Mini Fried Buns, I would maybe buy from the stall outside and eat while I walk along Jonker Street. 

Address

70, Jalan Tokong, 

75200 Melaka, 

Malaysia

Map

As above. 

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Oyster with Lemon - RM 50 for Six 

Oyster Egg - RM 13.00

Fried Carrot Cake - RM 7.00

Grilled Big Shrimp with Salt and Pepper - RM 38 for Two

Fried Lala with Ginger and Garlic - RM 15.00

Fried Squid with Sambal - RM 38.00

Shanghai Mini Fried Bun - RM 12.00

Breakfast at Kedai Minuman Siang Chiang (香江茶室) @ Melaka [Malaysia]

It's a clear objective; breakfast at Nyonya Secrets in Melaka. But, I mistook the opening hour and we were about an hour early! Never one to give up, our eyes veered over to across the road. 

A coffee shop that commanded a queue attracted our attention and since my family can be pretty adventurous; we decided there and then to join the line!

Whole coffee shop was packed with hungry diners; a surprising scene given that the entire area was pretty quiet with not much cars and people walking around. 

Our wait was only about 15 minutes although I can understand why. Diners honestly didn't have the luxury of space to relaxingly sip their cup of nanyang kopi; I was bumped at quite a number of times and I guess you would get guilt-trip when you see the line of customers waiting under the sun. 

We split up to get what we would love to try! I was in charge of drinks and aside from the order, the only thing I needed to remember was the table number! Food and drinks came fast and fury; within 10 minutes.

Half Boiled Eggs - I am no fan of half boiled eggs when I am overseas given how sensitive my guts are Alex and my mom were big fans though and judging from the photo, I must save they appeared really good. What are your favorite condiments for them? Mine would be dark soya sauce and pepper! 

Kaya Butter Toast - this would be the one I can't resist and would order, even though I have had my fair share of disappointment in Malaysia. Something is always off; the aroma of bread, the sweetness of the kaya, the unappetizing butter etc. 

This would be one of the better ones; thinly sliced, light crisp texture, thick and cold butter that was delightful and custardy kaya that screamed of tasty creaminess! 

Laksa - my mom's choice. Personally, laksa is seldom my top choice when it comes to meals. Only exception was the the Yishun 928 Laksa next to Northpoint City shopping mall. 

I stole a few bites from my mom; laksa was full of dried shrimp flavor and while spicy; it was not as creamy as expected. My mom enjoyed the bee hoon whereas I am more a thick bee hoon person when it comes to laksa.

Kolo Mee -  my breakfast, in addition to the kaya toast! First look and I knew the char siew wouldn't be the kind I like. When it comes to kolo mee, however, it's the texture of the noodles that really matters. 

And I must say the curly noodles were delicious with a QQ texture. I bet the noodles were also smothered with lard oil! I could just eat the noodles by themselves, with maybe a splattering of crispy pork lard. Delish! 

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If you are in Melaka and want to have a variety of local breakfast, I bet this would be a good option for you! p.s. I didn't mention about the coffee as my kopi gao was a tad sour. Maybe I should have just gone with normal coffee. 

Address

59, Jalan Munshi Abdullah, 

75100 Melaka, Malaysia

Map

As above. 

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Half Boiled Eggs - RM 1.80 each

Kaya Butter Toast - RM 2.80 a set

Laksa - RM 7.00

Kolo Mee - RM 7.00