Dabinlo ??? steamboat restaurant at Taman Gaya, Johor Bahru.

The Dabinlo Steamboat Restaurant ??? (N1.56867 E103.80215) is located along Jalan Sasa 5 of Taman Gaya. The restaurant started operation about 2 months ago and drew a good crowd every evening.  
Dabinlo Steamboat created the new concept for steamboat lover within the nearby area, where the whole restaurant is fully air-conditioning, clean and comfort environment. (you can view from the photos below)

Dabinlo Steamboat Restaurant

The steamboat restaurant has a outdoor and indoor dining area...the clean and tidy setting really impressive!

The outdoor dining area of Dabinlo steamboat restaurant

Follow by the air-conditioning indoor dining area...

The indoor dining area of Dabinlo steamboat restaurant

Every diners have to choose their favorite sauces themselves at the counter. There are bird eyes chili, homemade chili sauce, sambal belacan, garlic and my favorite - peanut sesame sauce.

The counter for the sauces

The raw foods were served on our table pretty fast even it was full house on that evening, impressed with their services. The restaurant provide 3 types of soup which are chicken, tomyam and we chose the herbal soup.

The minimum order for every table will be the 2 persons set (RM38.80) which include the yellow noodles, vermicelli, eggs, veggie, tomatoes, taufu, fish, prawns, dumplings and many more...

The standard serving for 2 persons steamboat dinner

The standard serving for 2 persons steamboat dinner (the other angle view)

We did some side order beside the main serving...

The beef slices

The pork slices

The smoke duck

The special Korean vermicelli 

We like the herbal soup very much!
Especially cooked with all the fresh meats and ingredients, it was yummy! But remember 'not to' throw in the yellow noodles at the initial stage, the noodles will make the soup salty and might not suitable to everyone.
The friendly boss did advise us to enjoy the beef and the pork with their recommended peanut sesame sauce, oh...which was delicious!

Previously, we usually have our steamboat dinner during the raining evening because of the 'heat', but now...with the fully air-conditioning and relax environment by Dabinlo, I guess we can have it whenever we want!

The unique logo by Dabinlo Steamboat restaurant

We had a nice steamboat dinner and a total new experience within the popular steamboat restaurant in Johor Bahru. Worth for the price with the fresh foods and the friendly service.

The parking area can be quite challenging during the time from 7pm - 8.30pm, because there are many restaurants around the same area...visit as early as possible to avoid the inconvenience.

Do drop by the newly open restaurant if you are looking for good environment for steamboat dinner, the address and contact number stated below (map included)

Dabinlo Steamboat Restaurant ?????

23, Jalan Sasa 5,

Taman Gaya, Ulu Tiram,

Johor Bahru.

Contact number : +607-8634560

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dabinlo-Steamboat/398663740273631

Business hour : 5pm - 11pm
(they'll serve lunch in the near future)

Rest day : alternate Monday

GPS coordinates : N1.56867 E103.80215

Location map of Da Bin Lo Steamboat Restaurant at Taman Gaya

Johor Bahru GPS friendly travel and food guide (part 1)

If you are traveling to Johor Bahru for a short vacation by car, you may refer to this simple traveling guide as where to find a hotels, foods, shopping and attractions with GPS coordinates. (if you don't have a GPS device, just key in the coordinates into Google map in the smart phone, it'll navigate you to the destination)

There were many friends of mine visited JB from other state of Malaysia and also from Simgapore during school holiday and long weekend. Most of the time, they would like to try out different hotel and especially foods around Johor Bahru area, my simple guide is to share the popular area in JB where you can stay, shopping and eat.

I divided into few areas, like JB Town, Century Garden (include Pelangi, Sri Tebrau and Sentosa), Skudai area (include Nusa Bestari and Bukit Indah), Nusajaya (include Gelang Patah), Johor Jaya (include Molek, Desa Tebrau, Gaya, Mount Austin and Setia Indah), Permas Jaya and Kulaijaya.

Johor Bahru Town
Which is close to CIQ, Causeway to Singapore, and also Johor Bahru Sentral where all the ground transportation located.

Travel distance to CIQ - approx. 2-4km.
Travel distance to Senai Airport - approx. 30km.
Travel distance to Nusajaya, Legoland and others -  approx. 25km

Recommended Hotels :-
*  Puteri Pan Pacific (4*) (N1.46099 E103.76171)
*  Hotel Aman Sari (N1.46421 E103.76201)
*  Tropical Inn (N1.46545 E103.76068)
*  Double Tree Hotel (4*) (under construction) (N1.46560 E103.75980)
*  Thistle Hotel (5*) which is less than 5km from town. (N1.46169 E103.74320)
*  Grand Blue Wave Hotel (N1.46082 E103.76898)
*  Suria City Hotel (N1.46056 E103.76857)
*  Sentral JB Hotel (N1.46165 E103.76913)
*  Zon Regency Hotel (in duty free zone) (N1.47088 E103.78299)
*  Straits View Hotel (just refurnished recently) (N1.46056 E103.73742)
*  M-Suite Hotel (N1.46479 E103.73046)

Shopping Complex nearby :-
*  City Square (N1.46183 E103.76353)
*  KOMTAR (which is under upgrading now) (N1.46352 E103.76263)
*  The ZON Duty Free Mall (N1.47075 E103.78314)

Attractions :-
*  Jalan Tan Hiok Nee (historical street)
*  Johor Bahru Chinese Heritage Museum (N1.45590 E103.76323)
*  Royal Abu Bakar Museum (N1.45504 E103.75656)
*  Art Gallery Johor (less than 5km out of town area) (N1.46667 E103.74765)
*  Johor Old Chinese Temple  (N1.46069 E103.76304)
*  Danga Bay (N1.47680 E103.72388)

Recommended Foods (based on local's favorite) :-
Breakfast
*  Hwa Mui Kopitiam (which is the first Hainanese kopitiam in JB) (N1.45732 E103.76432)
*  Qin Garden (N1.45700 E103.76434)
*  Yong Mui Beef Noodle (N1.46086 E103.76722)
*  Ah Heng Char Koey Teow - 7am - 3pm (N1.46863 E103.78055)
Lunch
*  Mei Hua Bak Kut Teh (N1.46084 E103.76754)
*  Johor Bahru famous Stulang mee rebus (N1.46309 E103.77426)
*  The Roost Juice Bar (N1.45707 E103.76401)
*  Waterwork Laksa (N1.47157 E103.73658)
Tea break
*  Goreng Pisang Mawar (N1.46176 E103.74192)
Dinner
*  The Teow Chew popular fish noodles (night) (N1.46378 E103.77188) 
*  Yong Yong Ikan Bakar (night) (N1.46090 E103.73847) 
*  Lazio Italian Restaurant and Bar

Century Garden (include Pelangi, Sri Tebrau and Sentosa)
One of the popular and crowded area in JB which contain of 4 residential area - Pelangi, Sri Tebrau, Sentosa and Century, it has lots of good foods within.

Travel distance to CIQ - approx. 8km.
Travel distance to Senai Airport - approx. 28km.
Travel distance to Nusajaya, Legoland and others -  approx. 24km

Recommended Hotels :-
*  Crystal Crown Hotel 3* (N1.48674 E103.76593)
*  Grand Paragon Hotel 4* (N1.48112 E103.76166)
*  KSL Resort 5* (N1.48590 E103.76291)
*  Mutiara Hotel 4* (N1.48800 E103.75759)
*  Holiday Villa (under construction) (N1.48706 E103.76190)
*  11 Century Hotel (N1.48652 E103.76147)
*  Grand Sentosa Hotel (N1.49268 E103.76883)
*  Hallmark Regency Hotel (N1.48090 E103.76209)
*  New York Hotel (N1.47879 E103.76104)
*  Hotel Selesa (N1.47777 E103.76297)

Shopping Complex nearby :-
*  Holiday Plaza (N1.48828 E103.75969)
*  Pelangi Plaza (N1.48053 E103.76504)
*  Leisure Mall (N1.48384 E103.77396)
*  KSL Mall (N1.48551 E103.76291)
*  Sentosa Plaza (N1.49281 E103.76855)
*  Danga City Mall (N1.47427 E103.75525)
 
Attraction :-
*  None

Recommended Foods (based on local's favorite) :-
Breakfast
*  Poh Kee mee pok - ??Teow Chew Koey Teow  (N1.48076 E103.75686)
    7.30am - 2.30pm, rest on alternate Thursday.
*  Hainanese pork congee ????? - Multi Mart Kopitiam 7am-2pm. (N1.48506 E103.76010)
*  Ah Hwa Koey Teow ???? 7.30am - 4.30pm (N1.48562 E103.76102)
*  Ho Seng Kee Wantan mee ?????? 8am - 4pm. (N1.48670 E103.76058)
*  Koey Teow Kia (???) at Ka Hoe Kopitiam (N1.48079 E103.76673)
    6.30am - 12.30pm, rest on alternate Wednesday.
Lunch
*  Nyonya Curry Fish head and curry pork ribs at Mui Sheng stall. 11am - 3pm (N1.49092 E103.76233)
*  Menu Please Bistro 11am - 10pm, rest on Monday. (N1.48083 E103.76612)
*  Soon Chiang Bak Kut Teh  ?????
*  Ah Soon Bak Kut Teh 8am - 3pm, rest on Monday.
*  Ah Seng Steam Fish 8am - 3pm, rest on Monday.
*  Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh ?????, Jln Sutera (N1.49410 E103.78239)
*  Yew Swee Laksa ???? 8am - 4pm, rest on Sunday (N1.48294 E103.76486)
Tea break
*  Dong Hong Traditional Chinese kuih ???? (N1.48701 E103.76803)
    5pm - 10pm Business on Sat, Sun, Mon and Tue. Many different type of traditional Chinese snacks which called 'kuih'.
Dinner
*  Century Curry Fish Head ???????? at Cedar Point Hawker Center (N1.48126 E103.76296)
    5pm - 11pm, rest  on Monday.
*  New Storey Seafood Restaurant (N1.47833 E103.77514)
*  Tsuki Japanese restaurant (N1.48207 E103.77496)
*  Kim Chi Korean BBQ Restaurant (N1.48170 E103.77479)
*  The City Cafe (N1.49719 E103.76284)
*  Kong Inn Seafood Restaurant ?????? (N1.49348 E103.77278)
*  Penang Hokkien prawn noodles hawker ?????? (N1.49305 E103.77090)
*  Lemon Tree Restaurant 12pm - 11pm, rest on Monday (N1.49135 E103.76201)

There are still many more delicious foods within the area that I cannot list all of them, this is just a simple guide for you if you want to travel to Johor Bahru by car.

I will continue on the next post for other area. Stay tune!

(I will update this blog post from time to time, please feel free to visit back. Thanks.)

The Kulaijaya popular and famous Char Koey Teow during the evening

The nameless yet famous char koey teow stall (N1.65992 E103.60263) is located along Jalan Ibrahim of Kulai Besar. It's easy to spot the stall by coming through Jalan Ismail (which is the street on the left from JB direction after KFC, Maybank and BSN Kulaijaya), once turn in...the second turn on the right. Another landmark same row with the stall is Clinic Chai which is 2-3 shops away...

The stall is open around 5pm, and the owner set his own target daily and the rice noodles finish very fast around 7.30-8pm. Even their business hour stated 4-9pm, but hardly can see the wok continue to fry after 8pm due to the local demand.

The nameless and famous char koey teow stall in Kulaijaya

We were there around 7.30pm and luckily the owner said the koey teow still available, and we only ordered 2 plates because we had to spared some space in our stomach because of our Kulai food trail in that evening.

I noticed the skillful old man keep frying the koey teow non-stop since we stepped in...

Even he was trying to posed to my camera, but I missed it!...

The pleasing plate of Char Koey Teow spread out the nice aroma when it served on the table, it was a simple flat rice noodles fried with eggs, bean sprouts and cockles without the chives and lards. I like the fresh cockles very much, unlike many stalls in JB providing the frozen cockles which totally kill the sweetness of it...

Char Koey Teow of Kulaijaya street stall

There's actually still rooms for intense "wok kei" (literally breath of wok over the high heat in Cantonese), maybe it was due to the local preference of the taste.

From the short chat with the owner, I realized that the stall had been operated since 39 years ago and been through the third generation. It must be the magical taste that kept the long history of the local delicacy - Char Koey Teow.

Do drop by if you happen in the area during the stall operating hours, it might surprise you by the plate of delicious Char Koey Teow of Kulaijaya.

Kulaijaya Char Koey Teow Stall

Along Jalan Ibrahim of Kulai Besar

Business hour : 5 - 8.30pm

Rest on every Tuesday

GPS coordinates : N1.65992 E103.60263

Location map of the Popular Char Koey Teow stall in Kulaijaya.

My trip to the Machapking Durian Farm at Machap, Johor.

Visited the Machapking Durian Farm (N1.90353 E103.24766) on the end of March 2014. We reached the farm around 10am and met up with the farm owner - Mr Cheng who is a humble, polite and knowledgeable guy. According to Mr Cheng, his farm has about 50 acres, one thousand of durian trees, palm oil trees and many more...
It's located quite a distance from the main road of the Machap town, and only 4WD is able to drive through. We were riding on Mr Cheng's 4WD into the farm...

He was explaining all the way since our farm trip started, and he introduced to us the different types of Durian trees one-by-one...

The Machapking Durian farm at Machap, Johor

 

This is the famous Musangking durian tree

After a while, he stopped the car and let us enjoy the aromatic durian's flower...that was a great moment during the trip!
The photo below was the very initial stage before the flower...

Before blossom...

The photo above showed that all these will be blossom in the evening around 5-7pm...

And some of them were beautiful with flowers...

Another type of the durian flower

After the flowers withered, the branches are going seeding...

The whole area was so beautiful and this was my first time in life surrounded by durian tress and flowers!

Normally the blossom session will be in the evening, and most of the flowers will wither after 6-7am. If you be able to witness during that moment, it's just like watching a flower rain! I can only visualize the beautiful scene...too bad I can't be there during the flowers rain...

The flowers were everywhere in farm...it was a wonderful scene!

Durian's flower

According to Mr Cheng, sometime they will collect all these flowers and cook for dinner, it's just like stir fried the vegetables, and it's delicious! Said Cheng. I would like to taste it too if I have a chance...

We even tasted and drank the nectar, it was really sweet!

Robin had his first try on the durian flower's nectar

Mr Cheng said, basically he only concentrated on the four (4) main species which are : Musangking ???, Machapking, Tek-kah ?? and Kim-Hong ??. Beside that, he also has D24, D78, nai-you-bao ??? (his own creation) and many more...

There are also other fruits in his farm, like Philippines rambutan, mangosteen and many more which I didn't manage to get the name...

The flowers of the rambutan tree

The baby cempedak...

And this...I didn't get the name of the fruits...

Mr Cheng showed us another hut which produce the 'enzymes' which use as the 'fertilizer' for all his fruits in the farm.

The enzymes produced by Mr Cheng own recipe...

The enzymes

The water supply for all the trees in the farm is also designed by Mr Cheng himself, once he power on the motor from the water source, the water will goes to all his trees in the farm automatically! Fully automated for the whole fifty (50) acres, amazing!

Mr Cheng visit his farm 3 times a day to monitor and observe the grow of all the fruits, it is become his hobby to take care the trees and the fruits. He 'generously' shared with us his past experience since the day one inherited from his father.
We were having a precious lesson on that day and definitely worth the trip! I will be back to the farm again during the 'golden season' when all the trees full of fruits, before the harvest season.

His durians will be selling at many area within Johor Bahru, his own stall is at opposite the Daily Point Kopitiam, Tmn Molek. And all his durians will be available start from middle of June till August.

Mr Cheng - the owner of the Machapking durian farm

The location of Machapking Durian's Farm in Machap, Johor

The nameless Kulaijaya (formerly known as Kulai) main road Chicken Chop stall

The Kulaijaya Main Road Chicken Chop stall (N1.66207 E103.60152) is famous around the area and many of the local grew together with the chicken chop, located along the main road and next to the Kulaijaya Centre Point Building. It has more than 30 years history and the son of the stall owner is helping his father nowadays...positively will be pass over to his next generation soon in the future.

Kulaijaya Chicken Chop stall

The stall is open on 8pm everyday, and we were quite early that evening...watching they setup the stall and everything...
Once everything ready, their son continue to take order from the customers...

After look at the simple and easy understand menu, we just ordered the popular chicken chop with the additional egg and sausage.

It took a moment to served on our table...the simple and yet popular in Kulaijaya Main Road Chicken Chop.

The Kulaijaya Chicken Chop

The simple chicken chop filled with nice aroma, served with deep fried chicken, fries, baked beans, sausage, soft boiled egg and cucumbers.
It was really 'simple'.

It was crispy on the outer skin and succulent inside. The chicken was just nice, moist and not over cooked. The other side dish also not bad at all. Anyway, with the reasonable price of the chicken chop, we didn't set a high expectation for it but the dish served on table was unexpectedly good!

The chicken chop above cost less than RM12, very filling.
It's simple and nice meal if you really looking for the fast and traditional chicken chop around the Kulaijaya area during the evening. It wasn't heavenly good and value for money.

I just simply like the traditional way of setting and admired the long history of the stall, I will be back again whenever I need a quick bite.

The soft boiled egg served together with the chicken chop

The Kulaijaya Main Road Chicken Chop Stall

Jalan Besar (Main Road),

Kulaijaya, Johor.

Business hour : 8pm - 12am

Rest on every Monday

The location map of the Kulaijaya Chicken Chop Stall

Nyonya Treats Restaurant at Taman Perling, Johor Bahru.

Nyonya Treats Restaurant (N1.48338 E103.68017) is located along Jalan Simbang of Taman Perling, diagonally opposite the Pizza Hut of Tmn Perling. It's about 15KM from Causeway and 25KM from Second Link.

Nyonya Treats Restaurant at Taman Perling.

The restaurant has a nice decor and cozy ambience, but limited seating area. It's advise to make a reservation if you going to dine in during weekend evening.

While we stepped into the restaurant just like a time portal, the retro design with the touch of Peranakan atmosphere is a reminiscent of those golden days. The restaurant is fully air-conditioned and is a good place for family dining and friends gathering.

Nice decoration of Nyonya Treats Restaurant

Another view of the Nyonya restaurant

We (total of 3 families) visited the restaurant on one of the Saturday evening and let me share with you the delicious foods we had in the restaurant. We ordered three types of fish, three types of veggie and others.

1)  Nyonya Assam Fish
2)  Nyonya Fish Head Curry
3)  Deep Fried Slice of Fish with ginger and garlic
4)  Nyonya Chap Chai (Mixed vegetables)
5)  Sambal Petai (bitter or stink bean)
6)  Stir Fried Long Bean with Prawns
7)  Cincalok Omelette
8)  Chicken Pongteh

The above dishes were catered for 6 adults and 3 children.

Nyonya Assam Fish

The Nyonya Assam fish taste sour and spicy, and the sourish and spicy level were balanced and satisfied. The portion was just nice and not over served.

Clay pot fish head curry

As usual, the fish head curry served with piping hot and delicious! The flesh was flavorful and pleasingly firm, curry was rich really goes well with the plain rice, you shouldn't miss this if you are a curry lover.

Deep Fried Slice of Fish with ginger and garlic

This was the dish specially for the children. The slice of deep fried fish served with dried ginger, garlic and bean paste. It was sweet with fragrance of the bean paste gravy. The children were happily enjoyed the fish till empty.

Nyonya chap chai (mixed vegetables)

The Nyonya chap chai is one of the must order dish for every Nyonya restaurant we visit, the reason is because the dish is the Nyonya authentic homecook dish. The chap chai was well prepared and the taste was just perfect, but the portion was rather small...

The sambal petai (stink bean)

The petai was fresh and the special made sambal went well with it. The sambal had a balanced sweet and spicy taste that made us can't stop enjoying it.

Stir fried long bean with prawns

This dish is not really a Nyonya dish, it's available easily at most of the Chinese restaurant within Malaysia. The long bean was not overly fried, provided some crunchy bites and the prawns were fresh!

Cincalok omelette

This is another dish we will order while visiting a Nyonya restaurant. The Cincalok omelette was served with nice fragrance and taste just nice, not salty at all. The children had it happily.

Ayam Pongteh (chicken)

The Ayam Pongteh is an authentic dish from Baba Nyonya, we won't miss to enjoy this meal on every Nyonya restaurant we visited within Malaysia. And in Nyonya Treats Restaurant, the chicken was well prepared and cooked to perfection. The meats were tender and easily drop from bone while you bite on it. The dish is cook with bean paste and potatoes, it had the strong taste of the sweet bean paste in the chicken...

Ayam Pongteh (chicken)

Nyonya Treats Restaurant serve varieties of Nyonya foods, and the above dishes we tried were satisfied. Beside, the prices also reasonable. The total bill for the savory dishes we had was around RM180.00 included drinks (for 6 adults and 3 children).

It is a another good restaurant to having a nice Nyonya food within Johor Bahru area, we having our dinner there after the children's fun from the Legoland. It's another good choice for those who want to dine in after the whole day activities at the Theme Park.

Do drop by the restaurant if you happen to be around at Taman Perling, and I believe you will like it even you are not the fan of Nyonya food. :)

Nyonya Treats Restaurant

280, Jalan Simbang, Taman Perling.

Tel : +6012-7692934 (Ms Jessica Chun)

Business hour : 11.30am - 3pm, 5pm - 9.30pm (Close on Monday)

Email : nyonyatreats@ymail.com

Location map of Nyonya Treats Restaurant at Taman Perling, Johor Bahru.