Nov 16, 20166 min read

10 Popular JB Cafes Walking Distance from JB Sentral/JB City Square

Cafehopping has been quite a popular trend these days, especially amongst coffee enthusiastics, foodies and Instagramers. With the current exchange rate of 1:3, it makes cafehopping in Malaysia so much more affordable as compared to Singapore's cafes. Here are 13 popular cafes to go cafehop that are situated walking distance from JB Sentral/JB City Square.

*TIP: save the places that you want to go on Google Maps and download offline map for that area. It really helps a lot when you are trying to navigate your way around without the presence of internet/data/wifi!

The cafes are all pretty much situated at the same region, other than Faculty of Caffeine. To get to the cafe region, look for McDonald's that is located on the first floor of City Square, exit the mall and turn left. Walk straight along Jalan Wong Ah Fook for about 600m (5-10mins walk) till you see OCBC bank on your right, cross the road to OCBC.

1: FACULTY OF CAFFEINE

The sister cafe of probably one of the most popular cafes in JB - The Replacement. Both cafes serve really GOOD food that keeps you wanting to go back for more!

The Breakfast (RM22.90):

Beef bacon (or smoked chicken ham), sauteed mushrooms, housemade baked beans, hashbrown, pancake, sous vide egg, mustard seed butter.

F.O.C Aglio Olio (RM18.90):

Linguine, smoked duck (or beef bacon), sauteed mushrooms, parsley, mixed nuts, sous vide egg.

One of the BEST aglio olio I have ever had I would say and best with smoked duck! I love smoked duck so much and not many places offer smoked duck aglio olio.

Fried Chicken Maze Ramen (RM19.90):

Japanese ramen, F.O.C special sauce, sous vide egg, spicy minced chicken, fried chicken, sweet leaf, seaweed; with a side of milky chicken tonkotsu broth.

Chicken Tonkotsu Ramen (RM22.90):

Japanese ramen, milky chicken tonkotsu broth, sous vide egg, spicy minced chicken, sweet leaf, seaweed; with a side of fried chicken.

Korean Fried Chicken (RM15.90):

Signature fried chicken, shaved parmesan; served with Korean gochujang sauce.

I really thought it was the usual Korean fried chicken that I always had - sauce coated fried chicken. Turns out to be fried chicken pieces with a Korean dip. Oh wells, at least it still tastes good and the portion is really generous!

106 Jalan Trus, 80000 Johor Bahru

Opening hrs: 0900-1800hrs (daily)

2: FLOWERS IN THE WINDOW

Another cafe under ROOST, with two other cafes round the corner - Roost Juice Bar and Roost Recycled and Repurposed. I feel Flowers in the Window really have an Australia cafe-style touch to it. They have really interesting creations such as Rosemary Lemon and Chilli (drink), beetroot hummus, soda battered fish, and zucchini potato rosti.

Watermelon Strawberry (RM15.90):

Watermelon and strawberry juice, frozen watermelon cubes as ice cubes, basil, edible flowers, lime.

Coconut Juice (RM15.90)

Coconut juice (water), mint leaves, sliced cucumber, edible flower ice cube.

Both the juices were really good and refreshing!

Chicken Leg (RM22):

Roasted whole chicken leg, oregano brown sauce, mashed potato, roasted vegetables of garlic, onion, red pepper, carrot and mixed zucchini.

Thai Salmon Burger (RM28)

Thai-style minced salmon patty, charcoal bun, mixed greens, red onion, chilli padi, coriander (cilantro), housemade potato wedges.

9 Jalan Dhoby, 80000 Johor Bahru

Opening hrs: 1000-2200hrs (daily)

3: THE REPLACEMENT LODGE AND KITCHEN

Probably one of the MOST popular cafes in town, and personally my favourite cafe amongst the rest. The cafe is always pack whenever I pay a visit. I love the concept and design of the cafe, keeping the majority white, with touch of black, wood, brown and plants. White makes everything looks so clean and neat, bright and lively.

They have also recently launched their boutique lodge located just above the cafe, in the same concept as their cafe! Click here for more info.

Cappuccino (RM10)

Salted Egg Yolk Churros (RM16.90), Flat White (RM10)

This was pretty good, and look at that generous amount of salted yolk sauce!

The Breakfast Platter (RM29.90)

Scrambled eggs, mixed turkey ham (or beef pastrami), chicken sausage, grilled tomato, mixed mushrooms, housemade mixed beans with onion, muesli bread.

Eggs Benny - Smoked Salmon (RM25.90)

Hollandaise sauce, ciabatta, smoked salmon, sous vide egg, cracked black pepper, scallion, arugula (rocket).

33 Jalan Dhoby, 80000 Johor Bahru

Opening hrs: 1000-1900hrs (Mon-Fri), 0900-2200hrs (Sat), 1000-1900hrs (Sun)

4: SANGKAYA

Sangkaya is a coconut themed dessert cafe that serves just really good coconut ice cream and coconut water. Great place to cool down from the heat!

Signature (RM9.90)

The Signature comes with 4 scoops of ice cream and 3 toppings, served in a coconut husk (with some coconut flesh). There are 4 flavours to choose from - original (coconut), Thai milk tea, Thai green milk tea and chocolate. I skipped the chocolate flavour. The other three flavours that I tried ALL tasted so good! Each flavour has the right amount of flavour and sweetness. The two Thai tea flavours, it really do feel like you are 'drinking' the actual tea!

14 Jalan Dhoby, 80000 Johor Bahru

Opening hrs: 1100-2300hrs (daily)

5: KOONE

Koone is a soft serve ice cream dessert cafe.

Watermelon Soft Serve - basic (RM11)

Fancy comes with caramel popcorn, honey and potato chips (RM15). Other flavours incude chocolate, matcha and yogurt.

Didn't expect them to serve it with dry ice! That's my first~ The texture is similar to sherbet rather than ice cream as the melting sensation is more watery instead of creamy.

Hokkaido Matcha Soft Serve (RM15)

Fancy version of the matcha soft serve, served with wild honey, dango and dessicated coconut. Hmm.. I prefer this over the watermelon!

30 Jalan Dhoby, 80000 Johor Bahru

Opening hrs: 1300-2200hrs (Mon-Thu), 1300-0000hrs (Fri-Sun)

6: BEV C'AFE

Bev C'afe is a cafe run by the fashion enthusiasts of clothing brand, Bev C.

From their menu:

"Bev C, a clothing label with original designs founded by Beverly and Cally since 2013. Bev C begins from various aspects in producing every piece of clothing, be it sketching the designs from scratch, curating and finalizing with material selection, to the completion of a design piece. Bev C ensures that every detail is carefully put together into a masterpiece. Rather than being just a fashion label, Bev C doubles up as a cafe providing a space for creativity to be expressed through fashion design together with beverage crafting. Believing in the philosophy of 'seeking your own style', rather than cultivating a culture of 'following the trend blindly', the dynamic duos is driven to inspire growing style communities to shape their own fashion sense." -Bev C-

Very inspirational!!

I thought it was really cool to have a bed amongst the dining area!

Espresso Ice Cubes - with caramel (RM14.90)

A cup of ice cubes made from espresso, Monin caramel sauce, and a flask of milk. I would say the espresso is too weak for me and it tasted almost like iced caramel milk.

Ice Cubes Peach Tea (RM13.90)

Same concept as the Espresso Ice Cubes, the Tea Ice Cubes is served with a cup of ice cubes made from the tea itself, some sliced peaches, and a flask of peach tea.

Smoked Salmon Charcoal Croissant (RM18.90)

The croissant tasted really good! Flaky on the outside, and doughy on the inside. I love how well each element on the plate could complement each other without a mix of flavours.

Chicken Ham Almond Croissant (RM17.90), Peach Soda (RM11.90)

Returned to try their almond croissant but it was not as good as the charcoal one. This was hard and pretty dry. The soda was alright.

54 Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, 80000 Johor Bahru

Opening hrs: 1200-2000hrs (Tue-Thu, Sun), 1200-2200hrs (Fri-Sat), Closed on Mondays

7: CHAIWALLA AND CO.

Thai Green Milk Tea with Pearl (RM11.80)

Thai Milk Tea (RM9.80)

2810 Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, 80000 Johor Bahru

Opening hrs: 1200-0000hrs (Mon-Thu, Sun), 1200-0100hrs (Fri-Sat)

8: MACO VINTAGE

Matcha Adzuki Mille Crepe (RM9.50)

Always wanted to try their Rainbow Mille Crepe but it is always not available, so I settled down with matcha!

18 Jalan Ibrahim, 80000 Johor Bahru

Opening hrs: 0900-1900hrs (daily)

9: EH HE ART CAFE

Eh He Art Cafe, unlike the rest, serves up local food like chicken rice, mee siam, nasi lemak; as well as some western dishes like pasta, western soup, chicken chop and fries; and fushion dishes like sambal fries and lei cha pasta. The cafe serves food on the ground floor and transform into a recycled-material art museum on the second floor, with more seating area.

I was about to leave after I had my meal, and this sign caught my attention. I am so glad that I saw this sign which leads me to see the amazing art pieces on the second floor!

Ribena Lemon (RM4.90)

Tan Hiok Nee's Special Hainanese Chicken Chop (RM16.90)

Out of the many recommended dishes, I chose to try this. I thought it was going to be sweet and sour sauce, but it turns out to be this sauce that I just couldn't figure out the taste. I didn't quite like this dish. The chicken was pretty hard and dry, especially at the edges where the cut is thinner.

I should had tried their signature Hainanese chicken rice!

1 Jalan Trus, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru

Opening hrs: 0700-1700hrs (daily)

10: SHAKESPEARE MILKSHAKES

New kid on the block! Shakespeare Milkshakes took over the space where By Grace, Trus used to be. They serve coffee, hot chocolate, milkshakes and waffles.