Delicious Makan Trail In Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia! Part 2 (Kedai Makan Swee Kee 水记炖品)

Tony mentioned a no signboard fish ball noodles stall which comes highly recommended by Johor Kaki readers from Batu Pahat. He’d missed this stall during all his previous visits to Batu Pahat and was hoping that it would be opened today. As luck was on our side, the stall was opened for business that morning. I hope the taste hold up. – Semi Han

This minor road with stalls flanked on both sides is Batu Pahat’s Glutton Street.
Our interest was diagonally opposite what you see or rather where I was at taking this photo.
We were waiting for our grub!

We’re in luck this morning as Tony had on all his previous visits been unable to taste this highly recommended fish balls noodles (by Tony’s blog readers from Batu Pahat).
This stall has no sign board and so we shall call it “No Signboard Fishball Noodle Stall” at Glutton Street.

Mr. Lee and his family.
Mr. Lee has 40 years experience making and selling fish balls and also, the noodles (homemade).

As we were snapping pictures of the busy couple, Tony did the interview with Mr. Lee. The latter was patient enough to oblige us some answers as he twisted and turned around in the moderate working space, refilling more noodles as the pile dwindled and simultaneously churning out bowls of piping hot delicacy of hand-beaten fish paste that Mrs. Lee said was made from fish similar to “鳗鱼” (eel).

Handmade fish balls from 100% pure fish meat.

There was a “gamey” but not the bad kind of fishy taste to the off-white fish balls.
The outer “skin” snapped quickly revealing bouncy texture with each mastication.

The fish cake slices displayed the same characteristics albeit being deep-fried to produce an even more chewy skin.

At MYR4 for their big portion of tasty noodles and succulent fresh ingredients, I do consider this value-for-money!

Ricky noticed that I drizzled a tablespoon of the broth onto the noodles before taking pictures and later when we had the noodles, he was amazed that the QQ-ness (springy texture) of the noodles was unharmed and managed to remained al-dente. The chilli sauce from this bowl was just right for me. Those who had earlier said Ah See’s wanton noodles had balanced seasoning were beginning to concur with me that Ah See’s Wanton Noodles seemed “wanton” (pun intended) in comparison. No deliberation here, all agree that this was the best dish we’ve had so far. Loved it!!!

Kedai Makanan Swee Kee

By now I felt parched from the hazy weather (thanks to the annual forest-burning from Indonesia) and this refreshing pure sugarcane juice was a lifesaver.

Fish Head Curry that also came highly recommended by some of Tony’s readers from Batu Pahat.

In my humble opinion, the fish head curry was sweeter and milder in spices than I would like but it is a great dish when children and older folks (weaker stomach) are included in family meals.

Tony asked if there’s locally grown vegetables (not those from Cameron Highlands).
I’m not sure if the order taker understood him but we got this leafy greens known as 帝皇苗 “Di Huang Miao” .

Yam Rice had a few chunks of yam (according to Benny, I didn’t see or tasted it) but I’ve had better ones so it was ordinary to me.
Rice was not as fluffy as I would liked.

Double-boiled Frog Soup.

No doubt the Ikan Merah (fish), from Kedai Makan Swee Kee 水记炖品, was fresh and its flesh tender yet firm enough to give good bite. The curry did not exude “grainy” mouthfeel clueing me that it was probably made from powder rather than homemade paste. The sour came from assam and there’s curry leaves after-taste. I would consider this Fish Head Curry dish ordinary even by Singapore standard (Malaysian food has always had high regards from us).

I’m not sure if the order taker understood Tony when he asked for locally produced veggies but we got this leafy greens known as 帝皇苗 “Di Huang Miao” roughly translating to emperor’s sprouts. Pea shoots, in general, are not easy to cook as they can become slimy when quick-wok-stir-fry technique isn’t executed properly. The greens we had were stir-fried to a perfect crunch and nicely seasoned.

The Angelica sinensis (danggui – 当归) herbal fragrance permeated the air the minute the server took off the lid. Ricky took the first sip and sulked, “Tell me how am I going to go back to Sg food after this?” He was all praised for this herbal concoction. I agree totally with him on the broth and the appropriately balanced strength of herbs used in this dish although the flesh of the frog seemed tough and lacking in sweetness which I surmised its essence had been infused into the wonderful medium-bodied brew.

With one more round of sugarcane juice, Benny drove us to another part in Batu Pahat for a legendary snack we’d very much anticipated but had no idea it was quite out of this (ok, so as not to exaggerate too much) our world! See you in my next post :)

Our itinerary for 4th October 2014’s leisurely food trail:

Restaurant name: Tong Chuan Kopitiam 东泉
Address: 763, Jalan Batu Pahat, Ayer Hitam, Johor. Malaysia.
Map: http://g.co/maps/rnfm3
GPS: 1.917571,103.179409
Hours: 8.30am to 6pm

Restaurant name: Chop See Kee 張亞泗雲吞面
Address: 2, Jalan Jenang, Batu Pahat, Johor. Malaysia.
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/o4T2d
GPS: 1.853994,102.927668
Hours: 8.30am to 9.30pm

Restaurant name: No Signboard Fishball Noodle Stall at Batu Pahat’s “Glutton Street”.
Address: At the junction of Jalan Peng Kai and Jalan Soga, Batu Pahat, Johor. Malaysia.
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/pThRx
GPS: 1.854745,102.927206
Hours: 10am to 4pm (closed on Tues)

Restaurant name: Kedai Makan Swee Kee 水记炖品
Address: 70, Jalan Abu Bakar, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia.
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/eO8Z
GPS: 1.852606,102.928445
Hours: 12nn to 8pm

Restaurant name: Ah Soon Fish Head Beehoon and Pork Organ Soup 阿顺猪杂汤
(inside Kedai Makanan Minuman Ah Soon)
Address: No.5, Jalan Temenggong, Batu Pahat, Johor. Malaysia.
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/fkTUA
GPS: 1.855185,102.929033
Hours: 11am to 2.30pm | 5pm to 10pm (Closed on Thurs)

Restaurant name: Da Bei Shui 大杯水 Kopitiam (delicious Mee Jian Kueh located there)
Address: Junction of Jalan Penjaja 3 and Jalan Penjaja, Batu Pahat, Johor. Malaysia.
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/MW79J
GPS: 1.858455,102.928998
Hours: Mee Jian Kueh stall operates from 12.30pm until sold out (usually at 4.30pm)
Tel: (+60) 012 732 0369  and (+60) 16-791 0503

Restaurant name: Yong’s Steam Bot Garden 海口泳池火锅
Address: No. 2 M/S, Jalan Minyak Beku, Batu Pahat, Johor. Malaysia.
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/WQeQg (approximate)
GPS: 1.836086,102.926128
Tel: (+60) 07-432 3320
Hours: 6pm to midnight

Happy eating and bonding :)

P.S. Special thanks Benny for making this short video. And also a very big thank you to Tony of Johor Kaki Blog for allowing me to hijack the addresses and GPS coordinates ;-)