Many hotels are not making full use of their online presence. They have websites but not with the latest information. Grand Paragon Hotel Johor Bahru is an example. Overall the website looks good. It have all the basic info of the hotels such as its facilities and rates. However it does not display all the latest information.

A friend is coming to JB and will be staying there. He was asking about Ramadhan Buffet since he is not driving. So, I went there to take the leaflet above for him and posted here for his reference. RM58 for an adult and RM29 for children for berbuka puasa. There are more than 99 varieties of food selections. The chefs specialty includes rendang tok, roasted leg of lamb, durian fritters, nasi kerabu and more. Surau is also available at level 3 of the hotel.

So, if any of you is interested, you can call 07-268 5222 for reservation.

Check out Restoran Ubi Kayu at Skudai, Johor. It is located in  No. 3 Jalan Kebudayaan 1A, Taman Universiti, Skudai, Johor.

Among the wonderful dishes presented are:

• Steamboat
• BBQ
• Soup (sup)
• Various Rice and noodles (Aneka Nasi/mee)
• Various cooked chicken/meat/fish dishes (Lauk-pauk)
• Cooked tapioca (Ubi kayu rebus)
• Traditional cakes (Kuih-muih Melayu)
• Desserts (Aneka pencuci mulut)
• Various assorted drinks/beverages (Aneka Minuman)
• Ice creams

What about the price:

For adult it cost only RM19.90 while for children it cost RM9.90.

Promotion: For every 5 adults eating in, the 6 adult will eat FREE.

For further information:

017-7711021  / 012-5954717

Promotion from 13.08.2010~08.09.2010.

Celebrate Ramadan with your family, friends, partner and colleagues at GoodHope Hotel Johor Bahru.

RM 35.00++ for adult; RM 20.00++ for child 4-12 years old; buy 10 get 1 free.

Please call 07-557 2828 for reservation & further information.

*Terms & conditions apply. *Not applicable with other promotions.

Get further information from : goodhopehotel.com.my

Besides the fantastic buffet, get attractive offers for hotel room. Check out below:

I think this is the least known Laksa in Malaysia. I am not from Johor and believe me, my Perakian Malay colleagues have no idea what this is.

Laksa Johor/ Johor laksa is spaghetti, served with a thick spicy fish gravy, topped with fresh vegetables. The gravy is a marriage between Laksam and Curry. The condiments are almost Laksam like, except for the preserved radish. When you finish eating the laksa (spaghetti), the gravy will be gone too, just like eating spaghetti Bolognese.

Although this is Johor’s Laksa, it is not found all over the state. I’ve been staying in Segamat which is located in north Johor for 2 years and it was not seen or even heard there. This laksa is only popular at the tip of the sweet potato, in Johor Bahru(JB). I stayed in JB for almost 1 year before, and during fasting month, I’d be scouring the food stalls looking for the best Johor Laksa. There are RM2 per portions, RM4 per portions, some even RM5. Why such a major difference in price?

It’s in the gravy.

Once I bought the RM2 stuff, being adventurous, just wanted to know how different is the 50% off. I tell you, I regretted that I wasted the RM2. It’s so watery. Just like Malay’s penang laksa, but with curry powder and thinned coconut milk. It’s disgusting, I’d say. I’ve learnt my lesson and the next time, I’ll hunt down the most expensive one at the food market, and those never fail my taste buds. Actually, the best that I’ve ever eaten was at Giant Plentong, the stalls’s name is Cathay Laksa. Cathay laksa is the one that introduced me to this addictive noodles.

After I left Johor for good, I craved for this super yummy Johorean fare, and non of my Johorean Malay friends knew how to do this and I finally found a recipe from a local Malay recipe portal, used it as a guideline and tweaked it to what I want my laksa gravy to be.

So, here goes, the making of Johor Laksa …

(A)
20 shallots, mine came to about 250gm, peeled
20 dried chillies, seeds removed
1 bulb garlic, mine was about 30gm, peeled
1 inch ginger, about 15gm
1. Blend everything into a paste with ½ cup cooking oil.
2. Cook the paste until very fragrant.
**No need to wash the blender after this. Continue to use the same blender unwashed until (D).

(B)
500gm Spanish Mackeral/tenggiri
1. Boil fish with 3 cups water until cooked.
2. Take the fish out (retain broth) and let it cool down. Remove bones.
3. Pulse with with another 2 cups water.

(C)
100gm dried shrimp
250gm dried salted fish- Threadfin/Tanau/Senangin
1. Soak dried shrimps. Drain.
2. Toast salted fish on a pan until fragrant. U can use charcoal to toast if u want. Remove flesh from skin.
3. Blend dried shrimps and salted fish flesh with 2.5 cups water.

(D)
5 stalk lemon grass (4 inch from base)
100gm freshly grated coconut
1. Toast coconut on a frying pan until fragrant and golden.
2. Slice lemon grass finely and place into the blender together with toasted coconut.
3. Blend with 1.5 cups water.

Then you will have all the A, B, C and D. Of course you can blend B, C and D together in the blender if you want, but do you want to overload the blender?

(E)
4 Tbsp tamarind paste (Adabi brand)
200ml thick coconut milk
2 heaped Tbsp fish curry powder (1 small pack of 50gm)
Salt to taste

Final assembly.
1. Put (A), (B), (C), (D), tamarind paste, thick coconut milk, fish curry powder all into one pot with at least 5L capacity.
2. Bring a boil and let it simmer (lid on) for 30 minutes or until coconut oil is released. Season with salt. Turn off the heat and let the gravy sit , lid on.
3. Best made 12 hours ahead before serving

Condiments
1. Calamansi lime
2. Bean Sprouts, ends trimmed
3. Long Beans, finely sliced
4. Chopped preserved radish, soaked for 30 minutes, squeezed dry, dry fry until hot and dry.
5. Basil (daun selasih) or Laksa leaves(daun kesum). Washed and remove from stems.
6. Cucumber, finely julienned without the seeds
7. Sambal Belacan, six fresh red chillies blended with a thumbsized belacan. Uncooked.

To serve
1. Cook 1 packet(500g) of spaghetti according to packet’s instructions. (I used San Remo’s Vermicelli)
2. Divide spaghetti into 10 portions. Top with condiments.
3. Ladle over gravy. Squeeze juice of 1 calamansi over and toss everything.
Voila!!! Yum yum!!!

Article by Wendy from www.wendyinkk.blogspot.com. If you are into food, get to know Wendy at Table for 2 .. or more.

I and 12 other friends of mine have our dinner at Steamboat & Grill Cottage and we stayed there for 3 hours and 30 minutes. It was the craziest eating experience I ever had in my entire life. I eat until my stomach wants to explode because of the one and only rule- eat as long as many as you want and make sure it is finished, or you will have to pay for the unfinished food. So, my friends and I was back and forth to the table until the table is full with grill and steamboat dishes. We grill and steamboat all night until the restaurant wanted to close. The best of all, we just have to pay RM17.50 per person. As for children, it is RM9.00 per person.

Using self-service style, Steamboat & Grill Cottage offers customers a great satisfaction as they can refill the drinks by themselves and provide a convenient eating place. The dishes included fresh seafood, black pepper meat and chicken, satay, broccoli, shrimps and more than 12 varieties of steamboat and grill items.

Steamboat & Grill Cottage is suitable for birthday celebrations, wedding anniversary celebrations, reunions or gathering. This entire event is possible as the restaurant provide a comfortable and open-air dining concept for the customers which come in the large group. They also make specials promotion during celebrated events such as Father’s Day and Mother’s Day.

Do drop by at Steamboat & Grill Cottage at Taman Mount Austin, nearby Sultan Ismail Hospital. It is open from 6 pm to 12 am, everyday except Mondays. For any reservation, feel free to contact these numbers, 013-7499380, 0127388314 or 019-7746160.

To start off, I’m in fact quite a tart addict. I can practically drool just by thinking of them. Especially on an empty stomach. I think tarts are one of those little little snacks that can truly appease me especially when I need something to munch on or just to satiate my greedy mouth. Convenient and delicious, all one need is to open their mouth and pop goes the tart into it. In my tarts kingdom, the king of king and the queen of queen has definitely gotta be the cheese and egg (more specifically Portuguese egg tarts) tarts.

Me and bro popped by this place called Tart Cafe one morning. It was just a random and casual drop by but turns out, I had discovered another good place to go for tarts the next time my craving calls out to it.

#1- Portuguese egg tart. It’s crispy, it’s eggy and it’s sweet but hey, it’s an egg tart so anything otherwise will be weird. hehe. RM 1.80.

#2- Chicken floss egg tart. Combining another of my fav, chicken floss with egg tart is just oh-too-yummy. RM 2.20.

#3- Original cheese tart. Although all their cheese tarts are not that large, probably the circumference slightly larger than a small sauce plate, but the whole tart is practically cheese with only a thin layer of crust. Not like some places one, the tart looks big, but it’s all crust and little cheese. And it tastes really good. Best eaten chill. Me like lots all their cheese tarts. RM 2.80.

#4- Kiwi cheese tart. Probably the only tart that I didn’t like here. Coz it tasted as if the whole tart was just taken out from the freezer and was rock hard. Took a while to ‘melt’. RM 2.80.

#5- Chocolate cheese tart. RM 2.80.

#6- Blueberry cheese tart. RM 2.80.

#7- Look at the goodness once u tear the tart apart. Whole lot of cheese with blueberry at the base.

Are you hungry already? hahaha.. Well aside from the tarts, they also have simple Malaysian food such as nasi lemak and mee goreng. The other thing I like bout this place is how close we are to the choo choo train that run it’s course to Singapore. It’s like as I sit there eating, whenever the train goes pass, it will evoke certain nostalgic feelings.

Besides it’s open 24 hours and halal too. So another place to check in Johor Bahru.

Disclaimer : I wasn’t paid to do this review and all review is based on yours truly personal point of view only. Hence, thy is not responsible for any discrepancy in taste or opinion.

Tart Cafe
G-43 Ground Floor,
Jln Abdul Razak,
Danga City Mall,
80000, Johor Bahru
Tel: +607 – 2222 535
Hp: +6016 – 721 2535

Check out Allison’s blog at Fondue of Life. Say hello to her ok