I will first like to give credit to 'Johor Kaki Blog' for their recommendations on their blog and more importantly the exact addresses of each eatery! As it was a day-trip made to JB, we had to choose our makan (eating in Malay)-targets carefully so as to make the trip calories-worthy! Makanan Sedap (which translates to good food in Malay), here we come!

After reading some raving reviews about Kin Wah Kedai Makan which also received a strong recommendation from 'Johor Kaki', we thought that this would definitely be our 'Die-Die-Must-Try' (DDMT) place!

The lunch crowd was starting to crawl in to this humble looking coffee shop and we were fortunate to grab ourselves an empty table and figure out where and how to start ordering. The overbearing afternoon heat coupled with the busy crowd left us pretty flustered and frustrated for I had no idea what was good other than Nasi Padang. Plagued with the classic 'decidophobia', we were pretty intimidated when faced with a wide variety of fresh home-cooked 'Halal' dishes to choose from for each of them looked equally tempting and delicious! The natural order sequence at Kin Wah would be to grab yourself a seat, place your drink orders with the waiters who would come to you to take orders, then head forth to the counter to pick your different sides and mains to make up your Nasi Padang which will be billed accordingly.

Before we continue and lose some of you, let me briefly explain what Nasi Padang is. With an Indonesian origin (since Padang is a city on the west coast of Sumatra), the dish consists of steamed white rice wide a variety of meat and vegetable choices ranging from spiced dishes such as curry chicken to vegetable soup. The dishes are typically shared like a mini buffet where one would expect to help himself by scooping onto his plate of rice. Now that I had, hopefully painted a clearer picture of what Nasi Padang is, it is makan time!

Nasi Padang



We particularly liked the fact that the dishes were served atop a woven rattan 'plate', contained by the brown paper. The image of the dish just looked so fitting and apt to us for some reason, in that classic old school coffee shop setting with the overhead ceiling fan and the occasional yelling in the background. 'Beautiful Kopitiam'.

We ordered two plates of rice dishes to share among the four of us and went for different mains and sides on each plate. The chicken curry for this was mesmerizing. The coconut flavoured chicken curry had just the right amount of heat in it, probably diffused by the addition of fresh coconut milk so it would suit the masses. The flavours packed a good punch owed to the spices and the flesh of the chicken remained surprisingly tender and moist.


Spoilt for choice, I decided to ask for recommendations from the lady boss who was at the end of the till collecting payments. She instantaneously pointed to the rendant ayam (chicken rendang) which she claimed was the best-seller dish and a constant sold-out! Culinary experts for some reason regard rendang as the 'caramelized curry' according to CNN International and apparently an online poll in 2011 by 35,000 people chose this dish as the No. 1 of their 'World's 50 Most Delicious Foods (Readers' Pick) list.

This particular ayam rendang served at Kin Wah certainly saw some hard work into the cooking process. Traditionally, this dish takes hours to cook (some claimed a minimum of 4 hours), where the chosen main meat (be it lamb, chicken or beef) would be cooked together with coconut milk and a mixed ground spices paste which includes ginger, galangal, turmeric leaves, lemon grass, shallot, garlic, chilis and other spices. As some of these key spices have antimicrobial properties, serving as natural organic preservatives, a well-cooked dry rendang can last up to a month! The meat pieces soaked in the coconut milk and spices have to be cooked at a precise temperature till the liquid evaporates, allowing the meat to absorb the condiments. The cooking process is then varied from boiling to frying as the liquid evaporates and this slow-cooking not only allows the flavours from the spices to be infused into the meat but also tenderizes the meat. The cooking process also involves constant stirring of the coconut milk and the meat so as to prevent over-burn of the beautiful protein.



Anyhow, let us return to this salivating dish. It was an instant winner for all four of us at the table. With a rich consistency in the unique blend of flavours, it was no wonder that even our fussy palates found the chicken rendang cooked beautifully and spot-on. The richness was there, coupled with a grainy texture of creaminess and viscosity. The heat of the spices was also cleverly neutralized with the coconut milk, leaving just enough to titillate one's appetite for a sumptuous meal.

I overheard other regular patrons ordering the mee rebus and it looked too good to resist. It proved too true and I highly recommend this simple looking dish which came at an affordable RM3. The colours of the dish were beautiful and enticing to begin with and the unique difference was that brown crispy batter toppings which gave a crunchy layer of texture to the soft yellow noodles. I tried to ask them what that batter was but the lady boss was rather reluctant to reveal and simply brushed off that it was a secret recipe by their chefs. Our preliminary tasting suggested that it was the batter used in deep-frying the chicken pieces for that was the pleasantly outstanding flavour. That strong chicken fragrance reeked of its own seasoning and it was coupled with deep fried shallots to enhance the taste and flavours.

We also enjoyed the balance in flavours owed from the acidity of the fresh lime pairing harmoniously with the fresh cut chilis. The slight disappointment was that the yellow egg noodles spent a tad too much time in the hot water, resulting in it being slightly overcooked, tasting limp and flat. The spicy yet slightly sweet curry-like gravy made from potatoes, curry powder, water, salted soybeans, dried shrimps and peanuts was a pleasant savoury touch to the dish and it was surprisingly addictive!