Johor Bahru Food & Leisure Itinerary

Johor Bahru is only a causeway away from Singapore and is a great place for staycation and leisure while enjoying their local delights. Lately, we have made a few trips crossing the border and venturing our way in search for fun and yummy-licious food.

Here's a compilation of where we have stayed, places where we had fun and delicious food which we have eaten in Johor Bahru. Hopefully it will be helpful when you are planning for your upcoming itinerary.

Stay In JB

Whenever we are in JB, we preferred to stay in hotels which is centrally located, reasonably priced, with easy access to eateries and shopping malls.

KSL Resort Hotel and Grand Paragon Hotel fulfilled our criteria and have been one of our top accommodation choices to date. Both hotels are only about 10 minutes walk away from each other and is strategically located at each end of the popular Pasar Malam which opens every Monday.

8 Days Boutique Hotel has 3 branches conveniently located within Johor Bahru offering comfortable and affordable stay. We stayed in the Permas Jaya branch during our 3D2N food trail. AEON Premas Jaya is just beside the Boutique hotel and Senibong Village (Malay Seafood Village) is only 5 minutes drive away. There are also many dining options around Permas Jaya which is within walking distance.

8 Days Boutique Hotel - Mount Austin is slightly further up from the causeway. Mini Kuso 3D Trick Art, Mystery Room Escape and Aeon Tebrau City Shopping Centre are minutes away from the hotel. There are also a few eateries nearby but for more alternatives, it would be best to drive out.

Ample Hotel (formerly known as Kingston Hotel) is strategically located about 7-10 minutes walk away from Sutera Mall and surrounded by many cafes, eateries and restaurants. It has a big family room which has 1 Queen and 3 Single bedding suitable for large families. A no-frills hotel that comes with free Wifi.

Grand World Hotel is a boutique hotel with modern contemporary deco. It offers guests a variety of room types to choose from, which comes with en suite bathroom. We stayed in their Family Suite which has 2 Queen beds. Room is spacious and it comes with free Wifi.

Palm Tree Hotel is strategically located within the heart of Permas Jaya where many cafes and restaurants are nearby. It has multiple room types at an economical price. We particularly fancy their family room (1 Queen & 2 Single bedding) that comes with 2 attached toilets/bathrooms.

Yangtze Hotel, (formerly known as The Great Wall Hotel) a boutique hotel in Permas Jaya with a car porch within that can park 12 cars. Family room comes with 2 Queen beds and offers free WIFI.

Eco Bed & Breakfast is a unique homestay alternative situated within the gated and guarded residential estate - Setia Tropika (Johor Bahru). About 20 minutes drive away from KSL City, the little white house provides travelers with comfortable overnight accommodation and delicious home-made breakfast.

Check out more photos and our reviews of the hotels at the following links;
KSL Resort : http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.sg/2013/12/jb-makan-shopping-trip-dec-13-day-1.html
Grand Paragon Hotel : http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.sg/2013/08/3d2n-trip-to-johor-bahru-day-1-part-1.html

Mount Austin
8 Days Boutique Hotel (Mount Austin) : http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.sg/2015/04/8-days-boutique-hotel-mount-austin.html

Taman Sutera Utama
Ample Hotel : http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.sg/2015/11/ample-hotel-taman-sutera-utama.html

Permas Jaya
8 Days Boutique Hotel (Premas Jaya) : http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.sg/2014/06/sponsored-review-8-days-boutique-hotel.html
Grand World Hotel : http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.sg/2015/06/grand-world-hotel-permas-jaya.html
Palm Tree Hotel : http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.sg/2015/04/palm-tree-hotel-permas-jaya.html
Yangtze Hotel : http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.sg/2015/05/yangtze-hotel-permas-jaya.html

Setia Tropika
Eco Bed & Breakfast : http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.sg/2015/03/eco-bed-breakfast-homestay-in-johor.html

With the opening of Legoland Hotel, there are more alternatives to consider when you are planning for your stay.

Fun In JB

During our stay-cation, we went shopping and have loads of fun at Legoland. Here's what you can plan for your next road trip.

- Legoland 

- Angry Birds Activity Park

- Mini Kuso Trick Art

- Go-Kart Circuit (Permas Jaya)

- Escape Room

- Johor Premium Outlets (JPO) - Johor's finest shopping outlet
- KSL City - Shopping Mall - Cinema, Indoor Playground, Karaoke
- Meldrum Walk - Food street with local delights

- Sutera Mall - Shopping Mall - Dining, Indoor Playground, Arcade, Supermarket, Library
- Tan Hock Nee Cultural Street
- Tesco Extra Plentong


Other places to consider visiting includes:
- Puteri Harbour Family Theme Park (Housing Sanrio Hello Kitty Town and The Little Big Club)
- Danga Bay

Pasar Malam in JB

- Near KSL City - Opens every Monday
- Taman Johor Jaya - Opens every Tuesday
- Taman Impian Emas - Opens every Thursday
- Taman Puteri Wangsa - Opens every Friday
- Taman Ungku Tun Aminah - Opens every Saturday
- Taman Cempaka - Opens every Saturday
- Taman Munsyi Ibrahim - Opens every Saturday
- Permas Jaya - Opens every Sunday

Eat In JB

Food is always the main agenda in our trips! Check out our listing of what food you can indulge in and where to find them. :)

Bakery
- Hiap Joo Bakery and Biscuit Factory (协裕面包西果厂) - Famous for its Banana Cake!
- Salahuddin Bakery - traditional bakery selling assorted puffs

Bak Kut Teh
- Hwa Mei Bak Kut Teh (华美肉骨茶)
- Soon Soon Heng Bak Kut Teh Restoran (顺顺兴肉骨茶)
- Shun Fa Bak Kut Teh (顺发肉骨茶)
- Shi Wah Restoran (古来世华肉骨茶)

Cafe
- Chaiwalla & Co - Container Cafe - Unique Cafe in a Black Container.

Chinese Food
- Restoran Pou Wok (补锅佬菜馆) - KL Hokkien Mee, Sambal Kampong Chicken, Fried Bittergourd Salted Egg

Coffeeshop
- Kim Wah Restoran (锦华咖啡店) - Nasi Padang, Breakfast toast and half-boiled eggs, Coffee, Fruit Rojak
- Hwa Mui Coffee Shop (华美茶餐室) - Coffee, Hainanese Chicken Chop
- Bestcook Restoran (好美食咖啡餐室) - Selling cakes, kueh, noodles, nasi lemak. Nice variety of food within the coffeeshop.

Curry Fish Head
- Curry Fish Head @ Kam Long Restaurant Johor Bahru (阿福街金龙阿仔咖哩鱼头)

Curry Noodles
- Fat Mom Restoran (肥妈)

Dessert
- U Dessert (Permas Jaya Branch)
- U Dessert (Sutera Utama Branch)
- La Gourmet Desserts (乜都撈)

Dim Sum
- D'Shanghai (大上海) - KSL outlet
- Gui Yuan Restoran (桂苑港式點心茶樓) - Nice Dim Sum

- Kai Xuan Chinese Restaurant (凯旋) - Halal Dim-sum
- TaSiXi Restoran (大四喜香港点心小厨) - Impian Emas outlet
- Yoong Lei Restorn (古来云来包点) 

Drinks
- Bali Coconut - KSL City Mall

Fried Fritters
- Wah Cai 3 in 1 Chinese Cake (华仔3合1招牌炸年糕) - Fried Durians, 3 in 1 Fried Nian Gao

Kacang Pool Haji
- Kacang Pool Haji (Larkin Bomba Branch) - Thick toast with robust beef dip

Kway Tiao Kia (Kway Chap)
- Guo Tiao Zi Tasek (果条仔)
- Meng Fang Kway Teow Kia (茗芳粿條仔) - Cedar Point Food Centre
- 268 (果条仔)

Laksa
- D'Laksa (No Pork, No Lard Penang Laksa)

Mixed Vegetable Stall

- Chau Zhong Restoran (潮宗菜饭专卖店) - Teochew stall (Dimsum, Assorted mixed vegetable rice
- Good Taste Food House (美丰味菜饭之家) - Near KSL City. Curry mee, Mixed vegetable rice, Satay

Nasi Uduk
- Nasi Uduk (兰花饭) with Ayam Rendang

Noodles (Kway Teow, Mee Pok)
- Ah Hua Kueh Teow Restoran (亚华粿條汤)
- Xiao Lee Kway Teow (小李粿条) 

- Restoran Kiang (十五楼阿坚面簿)
- Triple K Cafe

Organic Food
- Zenxin Organic Park Chef Garden Restaurant

Paper Baked Chicken
- Teck Seng (德星茶餐室)

Prawn Noodles
- San Ming Penang Prawn Mee (三民槟城福建虾面) - Inside Heng Heng Food Centre

Roti Prata
- Bukit Chagar Roti Canai
- MD. Salleh Restoran - Roti Prata

Roast Meat
- Tong Tong Cross Way Bay Hong Kong Roast Meat (糖糖尖沙咀港式烧臘)

Seafood
- Star Chef (星名廚)

Western Food
- IT Roo Cafe Restoran - Signature Dish - Fried Chicken Chop with Mushroom Sauce

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A typical 3 days 2 night stay in Johor Bahru would includes driving in early in the morning (avoiding the traffic jam). Normally, we will cross the border by 7am. Where do we go from here?

Day 1: 
7am - Early Breakfast! - There are many eateries which are already open.
8am - TESCO Extra Plentong - walking around the mega mart before the shopping malls open at 10am.
10am - Registration at KSL Resort Hotel. Shopping while waiting for our rooms to be ready. (Consider visit Tan Hock Nee Cultural Street)
12pm - Lunch at Tan Hock Nee and explore other eating hideouts.
2pm - Check-in to hotel and resting.
3pm - Free & Easy (Swimming/Massage/Resting)
5pm - Dinner (Meldrum Walk/Pasar Malam)
7pm - Free & Easy around KSL City (We preferred not to drive out in the nights for safety concerns. Staying within KSL Resort has the advantage of shopping, eating and leisure all under one roof)
9pm onwards - If you are movie goers, why not stay up and catch a late night movie at MBO.

Day 2:
9am - 6pm - Legoland

Day 3:
8am - Morning swim and breakfast
9am - Travel down to Johor Premium Outlet
2pm - Lunch and drive back home. :)

Travel Tips:
1) Check the opening hours of the shopping malls or eateries. Key the location coordinates into your GPS prior to travelling. (we try to group them by location to minimize driving around places)
2) Print out a copy of your travel itinerary.
3) Purchase data sim card for staying connected.
4) Avoid driving out in the nights.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There's SO MUCH to do and EAT in Johor Bahru. Time to consider it as your next vacation. :)