JB Food Hunting 02 - The Replacement Lodge and Kitchen

I got to know The Replacement Lodge and Kitchen through Instagram.  It shows up quite often and seems quite 'instagrammable'.  Out of curiosity, I paid it a visit on a fine Sunday afternoon.

To get there, get to City Square in JB, look for the MacDonald on the ground floor, walk out of City Square into Jalan Wong Ah Fook.  Then walk towards Johor Strait/Singapore, until you see an Indian temple.  Walk across the street to the street behind the Indian Temple, turn left and continue walking, until you reach Jalan Dhoby.  The Replacement is on the right, behind a very run down place.

The Replacement Lodge and Kitchen Building

We got there around 12 o'clock noon.  They only had outdoor seating at that time, if we wanted to have indoor seating, we had to wait for 15 minutes or so.  Considering the raving heat outside, we decided to wait for indoor seating, in the comfort of air-conditioning.

The Counter

The interior design is simply, fusion with both modern and some hints of retro.  The patrons seem to be mostly young people, I mean really young people, those who are in their late teens to early 20s.  The staff there are also very young, about the same age group.  My friend and I looked pretty much out of place :(

We were soon offered an indoor seating, sofa seats.  The two of us occupied two sofas that could fit at least six people.  I wondered why nobody took up such nice seating while the whole place was full?  I got the answer the moment I sat down.  My butt was expecting a comfortable, soft cushion when it hits the sofa, instead, it met with the hard, cold wooden frame underneath a paper thin layer of fake leather!  In addition, water was dripping down from somewhere on to one of the seats of my 3-seater sofa.

As we already had our lunch that day, we only ordered a dark chocolate cake, a piccolo for myself, and a mocha for my friend.

Dark Chocolate Cake, RM18.90++

A sponge cake with a layer of hard crust of dark chocolate was served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, with biscuit crumbles as the topping.  The cake was not bad.  Rock-solid crust of dark chocolate!  Those that like it bitter must have loved it to the core.  The sweetness of the vanilla ice creams softened the impact of the bitterness of the dark chocolate, leaving a pleasant sensation. 

Piccolo, RM 11.00++

My piccolo was acceptable, but comparing it with the one I had from The Botanist, it lacked the nutty fragrance, the punch was also much milder.

My friend ordered the mocha, and it was a total disaster.  It didn't taste anything remotely like mocha.  I had a sip.  Yucks, was it actually water chestnut juice?  Or something like that?  My friend said it tasted like durian.

Our bill came to a total of RM50, including service charge and GST.

My opinion is that this place is hip, but there is quite a lot of room for improvement.  Eventually, what attracts people are good food, good drinks, a nice and comfortable environment, which they are lacking in some.

JB Food Hunting 01 - Kam Long Curry Fish Head

I have heard about Kam Long (金龙）curry fish head in Johor Bahru for a long time, but never had a chance to give it a try, recently I decided that I must give it a try.

To get to Kam Long, take the Woodlands causeway to Johor Bahru.  After you go through Malaysia immigration, walk into City Square.  Look for the MacDonald on the ground floor.  Walk out of City Square, into Jalan Wong Ah Fook.  Then walk towards Singapore/Johor Strait.  If you are in City Square, facing Jalan Wong Ah Fook, it is on your left.  Keep walking along Jalan Wong Ah Fook, until you see a queue out of nowhere in the street.

The queue at Kam Long

Kam Long Curry Fish Head Shop-front

We got there at 10.09am on a Saturday.  There was already a queue of about 10m there.  This is the only shop with a queue, you can't miss it.  A busker was performing right in front of the shop, entertaining the people in the queue.

Busker in front of Kam Long

We finally got a table at around 10.55-11.00am.  This place serves nothing but curry fish head.  The menu is on the wall, simple and straight forward.  When you are ushered into the shop, you will be asked what you like to order immediately. 

Kam Long's Menu

The chef starts cooking your pot of fish head immediately upon your order, right at the shop front.  You can see what he does.  There is nothing to hide.

Chef Cooking at the shopfront

11.10am, our bubbling pot of curry fish head was delivered on our table.  The steam was rising from the pot violently, fogging my camera lens.

Curry Fish Head, Small, RM26.00

The fish head is strategically placed in the middle.  Vegetables such as cabbage, lady's finger, long bean are placed at the bottom of the pot, while dry bean curd skin is placed atop.

I first tried the curry.  The curry is different from all the curry I had before.  It was smooth, with the fragrance of coconut, even good to drink on its own.  Yet it still retains its punch at the end.

The dry bean curd skin soaks in all the flavors of the curry, the fish and the vegetables, wow...it is heaven!

They use red-snapper for the fish head.  It was super fresh.  The fish head was fully cooked, but the meat was still very tender.  It would bounce in your mouth.  There wasn't even a hint of any fishy smell.  Instead you would taste a hint of sweetness of the sea.  Great!

Portion-wise, we ordered a small pot for the two of us, both guys, plus a small bowl of rice for each.  We were full after we finished everything.

For the entire meal, our total cost was RM36.00.

I strongly recommend Kam Long curry fish head.  This is the best curry fish head I have ever had.  The 1-hour wait is worth it.  Everything is perfect!  I have never given any other restaurant/eating place such a high rating.