Oct 1, 20164 min read

Long awaited break - JB Cafehopping!

Finally on a loooong break as my workplace is shifting to a new place! My colleagues and I decided to go cafehopping across the border, something that we always wanted to do but didn't have the time to do so. So yup, one item off the bucket list!

There are many ways to enter and exit JB thru public bus. For me, I like to take Bus 950 from Woodlands Bus Interchange and Bus CW1 (to Kranji MRT) when exiting. The journey takes about 1.5hrs, depending on the traffic. The checkpoint is linked to JB City Square and many other shops, so it's pretty convenient.

Johor Bahru City Square

Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Darul Ta'zim, 80000 Johor Bahru.

Operating hrs: 1000-2200hrs.

From City Square, we walked to our first destination - Faculty of Caffeine (F.O.C). F.O.C is probably one of the few common cafes that you will hear if you were to ask where is good to cafehop in JB. The food here is pretty affordable (if you were to compare the prices to cafes in Singapore) and the food is so good and satisfying.

Faculty of Caffeine

106 Jalan Trus, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru.

Operating hrs: 0900-1800hrs.

The Breakfast (RM22.90/SGD7.60)

Choice of chicken ham/beef bacon, mushrooms, housemade baked beans, hash brown, pancakes, sous vide egg, mustard seed butter.

F.O.C Aglio Olio (RM18.90/SGD6.30) - Smoked Duck

Linguine, choice of beef bacon/smoked duck, olive, oil, black pepper, parsley, mixed nuts, mushrooms, sous vide egg.

I would strongly recommend this pasta, one of the best aglio olio I have ever had!!

Fried Chicken Maze Ramen (RM19.90/SGD6.60)

Japanese ramen noodles, F.O.C special sauce, spicy minced chicken, fried chicken pieces, sous vide egg, spring onion, seaweed; served with a side of milky chicken tonkatsu broth.

Chicken Tonkatsu Ramen (RM22.90/SGD7.60)

Japanese ramen noodles, milky chicken tonkatsu broth, spicy minced chicken, sous vide egg, mushrooms, spring onion, seaweed; served with a side of fried chicken pieces.

Korean Fried Chicken (RM15.90/SGD5.30)

Fried chicken pieces served with Korean gochujang sauce.

I thought this serving was pretty generous! For SGD5, we get a full basket of fried chicken, probably around 20pcs? Well in Singapore, you will possibly able to get just 2-3pcs with SGD5.

Next we went to Bev C'afe, a cafe opened by a group of fashion enthusiasms that run fashion brand - Bev C. This place is artsy fartsy, but really warm and dim at parts. There isn't much food over here, just drinks, cakes and croissants. You could walk here but since we had a baby with us, we took a cab from F.O.C and reached Bev C in like 2mins? The meter just went from RM3 to RM4.25. -_-||

Bev C'afe

54 Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru.

Operating hrs: 1200-2000hrs (Tue, Wed, Thu, Sun), 1200-2200hrs (Fri, Sat).

Closed on Mondays.

Espresso Ice Cubes with Chocolate/Caramel (RM14.90/SGD4.90)

Espresso ice cubes, fresh milk, Monin chocolate/caramel sauce.

Maybe Deconstructed Iced Coffee would make it sounds cooler? Since it's eventually Iced Mocha or Iced Caramel Latte.

This area is also a heat area for cafes. You can find dozens of cafes just by walking around this region. We decided to drop by Maco Vintage and Chaiwalla & Co., that were located just opposite each other. Maco Vintage is popular for their Mille Crepes, especially the Rainbow Mille Crepe. Disappointed that they didn't had the Rainbow one on point of visit, so we settled with the Rose Mille Crepe. The cake was really nice, but the rose flavour was pretty mild.

Maco Vintage

18 Jalan Ibrahim, 80000 Johor Bahru.

Operating hrs: 0900-1900hrs.

Rose Mille Crepe (RM8.50/SGD2.80)

Well, if you were to get a slice of Mille Crepe in Singapore, it can easily cost around SGD8-12.

Chaiwalla is an open concept store build out of shipping container. They sell mainly tea and I got myself a Thai Green Milk Tea with tapioca pearls.

Chaiwalla & Co. Container Cafe

Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru.

Operating hrs: 0930-2230hrs (Mon-Fri), 0930-0100hrs (Sat, Sun).

Thai Green Milk Tea (RM11.80/SGD3.90) with Pearls (RM1/SGD0.30) - same price as Singapore.

Next, we took a cab down up to KSL City Mall for some massage. The fare is about RM11. We had our massage at Dr Soho and I selected the 2-in-1 massage which consists of 40mins foot massage and 20mins neck and back massage. Guess what? It's only RM63!! My friends had the 60mins foot massage for RM51.

KSL City Mall

33 Jalan Seladang, Taman Abad, 80250 Johor Bahru.

Operating hrs: 1000-2200hrs.

Ending the day with our last stop at Coffee Signature, a two-storey cafe made out of shipping containers as well. They also had some tables at the open space on ground level. Opposite of Coffee Signature is Seven Oaks, a popular boutique-style cafe. This is one of the places where you can get your hands on a nice piece of the much raved salted yolk lava croissant in JB.