JB Eat: Restoran Ah Kaw (亚九咖喱鱼头店) San Lou Mee Hoon (三楼米粉) @ Pelangi
- Rick
- May 5
- 2 min read
Restoran Ah Kaw (亚九咖喱鱼头店) is a zi char (cooked food) restaurant located in Taman Pelangi, a stone's throw from Pelangi Leisure Mall. The restaurant specialises in san lou mee hoon (三楼米粉), curry fish head (咖喱鱼头) and other cooked dishes.
In 1979, the founder of Restoran Ah Kaw, called Ah Kaw (亚九), created the Johor-specialty dish called san lou mee hoon — translated as "three-storey rice vermicelli" in Chinese, not "三捞" in Cantonese which is a cooking style originated in Singapore. The mee hoon dish was coined "three-storey" since the dish was initially served in an old estate known as "San Lou" (三楼), due to large number of 3-storey residential buildings in that area, before moving to the current restaurant, which has been serving it as one of its signature dishes till today.
Aside from the original rice vermicelli dish, Restoran Ah Kaw also serves its signature fried beancurd and various styles of fish head dishes, including curry fish head, dry-fried fish head, etc. There are a number of other cooked dishes too.
The large-size San Lou Mee Hoon (三楼米粉), for 3 pax, is stir-fried with egg, chicken meat, prawns, slices of fish cake, greens, dark sauce, etc, and served in "clustered" pieces — the rice vermicelli are compressed and bonded together by the sauce. The key characteristic of the dish is its strong wok-aroma and savoury flavours. It is indeed delicious. The small-size mee hoon (for single pax) may not have prawns.
Top-left: The highly-recommended Kam Heong Fish Head (甘香鱼头) uses cuts of fish (red snapper) head to fry in a sweet-savoury dark sauce with non-spicy chilli and other condiments. The fried fish meat are crispy and tasty. Top-right: The Signature Beancurd (招牌豆腐) is made using beancurd mixed with minced vegetables and nicely-fried. It is served with mayonnaise and has crispy thin skin with spices and its inside is ultra-soft. Bottom-left: The French Beans (四季豆) are stir-fried with minced meat, shreds of red chilli, and minced condiments using garlic, preserved radish, etc, to create a flavourful dish. It is non-spicy and the minced preserved radish gives the dish a delightful and unique savoury flavour. Bottom-right: The Omelette with Fresh Oyster (生蚝煎蛋) is a dish of fried omelette added with oysters and garnishes — this is not oyster omelette that is added with tapioca flour.
All the dishes we tried at Restoran Ah Kaw are tasty and flavourful, yet not salty. They are really skilfully-cooked and delicious. Will go back again.
Address:
33, Jalan Perang, Taman Pelangi, 80400 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Opening Hours:
11:30am to 3:30pm; 5:30pm to 9:30pm | Closed on Tuesday
How to Get There:
From JB Sentral, take myBAS T11, T14 or T20 to Plaza Pelangi or CT to Jalan Sri Pelangi. Read JB Bus Guide: Getting to Pelangi & Dai Mah Garden.
Next: JB Eat: The Toast (土司坊) @ Pelangi
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