We set off early in the morning to make our way to Johor Bahru. Thought there would be a lot of people going in and that traffic would be heavy but it wasn’t so. Didn’t take us long at all to cross the Causeway. Arrived at City Square at around 9am and the mall wasn’t even open yet so we decided to walk over to old JB downtown to grab breakfast.
Really missed the good old days (pre-pandemic times) when we could just pop over to JB as and when for food, shopping, massages and staycations. Because of the SGD-RM currency exchange rate, everything there just seemed so much cheaper compared to Singapore’s.
Just really glad that we can finally travel to JB freely again and do all the things we used to do. Snap up boxes of banana cake from Hiap Joo Bakery. Sing our hearts out at the KTV. Hop between cafes and malls. Catch movies as ticket prices are ridiculously cheap and the popcorn there tastes better too (lol!). Get foot and body massages. And the list goes on, haha.
Settled on Restoran Hua Mui for breakfast so we could grab a ‘gau-gau’ (thick/robust) kopi to start off our day. For those of you who haven’t been to Hua Mui, it’s really quite an old school coffee shop with a history since 1946.
Unlike the typical kopitiam in Singapore where you’d have to order different food from different stalls, in Hua Mui, it’s everything in one. When you see the menu, you’ll know what I mean.
Menu
Restoran Hua Mui offers a huge variety of food options, ranging from traditional toasts & sandwiches, nasi lemak, chicken rice to Western food, noodles, fried rice and more. It’s a mix of kopi & toast, tze char, Malay dishes, local Chinese food, Western food, snacks, etc. 是个很有南洋风味的茶室。
For the full menu and prices, please refer to their website here.
Iced Kopi-C (RM3.70 each)
Normally I would go for hot kopi but the weather was just too hot and humid so decided to opt for an iced one instead. One lesson I’ve learnt while travelling in Malaysia is to always ask for kosong (no sugar) instead of kurang manis (less sweet) because the ‘less sweet’ versions are always too sweet for my liking. Since Kopi-C has mildly sweet evaporated milk in it, there’s really no need for extra sugar.
This Iced Kopi-C was rich and robust-tasting. Slightly acidic but still acceptable.
Butter Kaya (Single Butter) Toast RM2.80
Loved the thick slices of butter in these. The kaya spread was fragrant and not too sweet. Bread was nicely toasted too.
If you’re very into butter, you can also opt for the Double Butter version at additional RM0.70.
Hua Mui Breakfast RM10.90
Hubby ordered the Hua Mui Breakfast which was a plate of homemade-looking breakfast fare. Though simple, but satisfying. How would fried egg and sausages ever go wrong, really? The perfectly fried potato wedges were delicious.
Salted Egg Chicken Chop RM23.90
What an indulgence! Fancy having deep-fried chicken chop at 9-something in the morning, haha.
Some of you may be familiar with nearby It Roo Cafe on Jalan Dhoby that claims to serve ‘The Best Chicken Chop in Town’. Well, I felt Restoran Hua Mui’s chicken chop was on par with It Roo’s if not better. This chicken chop which was made up of chicken leg/thigh cut was crispy and crunchy on the outside but remained moist and juicy on the inside. And I actually liked their sauce better because it didn’t taste artificial like It Roo’s.
Hua Mui’s original Hainanese Chicken Chop is priced at RM17.90 so for this dish, you’re basically paying extra RM6 for the salted egg sauce. Worth a try!
This outlet on Jalan Trus is their main branch. They also have 4 others outlets in Sutera Mall, Mount Austin, Eco Botanic and Seri Alam.