Supperhop in Johor Bahru: Durian season, Loklok, Abalone noodles.
Ever since my uni friends introduced me to JB's loklok, I have never stopped craving for it. Getting to JB from Singapore is also fairly convenient to the point that my group of friends and I often do a spontaneous supper run to JB just to get our fill of loklok.
The loklok that we get in Singapore is quite different, it's usually the "steamboat" version where you just put all your sticks into a pot and wait for your food to get cooked.
I've never yet seen the fried loklok that JB has here in Singapore yet, so till the day I do, I'll probably still go on spontaneous JB trips!
My favourite is actually the oyster mushrooms!
Don't be fooled by the large mushrooms, because when they get fried, they shrink and you'll be left wanting for more haha.
The other typical things I eat from the loklok trucks are the other mushrooms, cheese tofu, and "zhai e" (vegetarian goose).
I would say that my favourite go-to place for loklok is just outside the 2nd entrance of KSL (NOT the main coffeebean entrance. This entrance is at the Tesco level).
Walk past the durian stalls right outside the mall entrance, cross the street and you should be looking right at the loklok truck!
They usually play some techno or chinese music so that they catch your attention.
I prefer this loklok truck because I feel that the fry the oyster mushrooms just nice, not too dry!
The loklok trucks usually open in the evenings.
The one that I frequent outside KSL roughly opens from 6pm till about 1am.
If you're a night owl and these hours don't suit you, don't worry!
There are definitely other loklok trucks open in the wee hours of the night past 1am.
If this loklok stall isn't open, I usually then head to either the stall at
Restoran Ah Piaw (12 Jalan Kelewang)
or the one near the back of New York Hotel (located at 2008 Jalan Dato Abdullah Tahir).
After I get my loklok cravings satisfied, I usually eat Abalone noodles next.
I head to Restoran 59 at 12 Jalan Kelewang for abalone noodles, (I don't eat Restoran Ah Piaw's) but rivalry between them is quite fierce.
The abalone noodles store can be identified by white tables.
I usually order the dry noodles, large, less spicy.
It comes with 4 slices of (fake) abalones, pieces of pork, fish maw, vegetables.
When I'm done with my abalone noodles, I head on to 31A Jalan Keris for my durian fix, which is just a 2 minutes walk away from the seafood noodles store.
Depending on what time you arrive, there may be up to 3 durian stalls just opposite the Shell station.
I usually patronize the stall right in the middle.
However, I've bought from all stalls before and their price and quality are quite similar.
On off seasons, average is 40 ringgit per kg for the Old Tree aka 老树, and about 65 ringgit per kg for the Mao Shan Wang.
If you think the price isn't right, you could always haggle abit but don't go overboard!
As it's currently the DURIAN SEASON (as of 5th June 2017 woohoo!!), prices for durians are at an all time low.
As I visited a few days ago, Old Tree aka 老树 was going for 28 ringgit per kg, and Mao Shan Wang going for 38 ringgit per kg.
So hurry to JB now to get your affordable yet delicious durians!
The durian stalls are usually closed by 3am or even earlier, depending on how fast they sell out. So don't come too late!
If you're too full to eat the durians there and then, don't worry as you can always ask the friendly store owners to "dabao" or takeaway for you!
They'll put it in a styrofoam box and wrap it with cling-wrap so that the smell isn't so strong. Sometimes if they're nice enough they'll even put coffee powder, which apparently takes away or neutralizes some of the smell.
I've always managed to bring the durians across the customs whether by car or bus as I place the durians in my bag and wrap them with even more plastic bags, but do be wary when you're bringing durians on board public transport!
You may get fined or even denied entry on board in Singapore.
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