Malaysias UNDERRATED Gem: ULTIMATE MUAR MALAYSIAN Food Tour | Muar Street Food in Malaysia

When you’re in Muar and if you want to really taste of old school, you got to come to this shop. And I don’t even know how many of these still exist in Malaysia at all let alone in Muar In 2017, this charming town was awarded as one of the cleanest cities in Southeast Asia by ASEAN Clean Tourist City Standard Award Muar is the state of Johor’s royal town. This riverfront town is full of colorful buildings and delicious food. It smells so rich. I can already smell the cumin all these other spices in here. I’m already really excited. We think it is one of the most underrated places in Malaysia If you’re a really big fan of bold flavorful spices like this thick broth, this is the soup for you.

01:05 - Good morning from Muar So yesterday we took a bus trip from Johor Bahru and now we are at the town of Muar. Muar is a beautiful quaint little town. Actually it’s a city. And just first impression we love it here. It’s just a lot of old buildings and colonial stuff. The city is very clean also. We’re having coffee from 434 Coffee. Thank you. This is an elephant bean coffee. They don’t use the elephant okay they don’t use any elephant nothing’s elephant in here, it’s just a name. This place has been here since 1953. And unfortunately due to the current situation of Covid-19, we are not allowed to drink it inside or have or enjoy our coffee inside, so we’re outside.

They’ve been 02:25 - doing takeaways for now, but when the situation is done, I’m pretty sure you can drink it inside. Let me taste my coffee. This one I got the elephant bean 1960. Apparently during the 1960s they used to drink - people used to drink this a lot, this type of coffee. Looks very very dark. Very dark. And I’ve got mine kopi o kosong. Black and nothing just straight. Wow. Very floral This spot 434 Kopi is like a must visit in Muar. Like we’ve heard from a lot of you, to come visit it. We have researched it. This is the first one that comes up. So this is a locally a local Muar coffee shop like very proud. It’s like the pride of Muar this coffee.

I’m really 03:24 - excited because I got the one that’s strictly elephant bean only. This one costs a little more and I’m a coffee lover, so I’m really curious what’s up with these elephant beans. Wow. This tastes like some coffee that I love. It’s got that kind of espresso taste and i also ordered it kosong, so no sugar. I really wanted to taste the quality of this coffee and man it is high. Like I taste a slight bit of bitterness, smoky. It’s really some of the best coffee I’ve had in Malaysia.

Like 03:59 - straight up I would order this again and again. Like if you love espresso, if you like kind of more of a bitter coffee, this is definitely for you. So I noticed here in Malaysia more of the coffee you get in the kopitiam there’s more like mellow. I think because they roast it with the margarine. I don’t think this is roasted with margarine, I think it’s just pure coffee. And there’s no mixture, there’s straight up coffee in here. And wow. Like I appreciate that style of coffee too uh that we get in the kopitiam here, but this if I could drink this every day I would. It’s really what I’m used to drinking around the world and the US. It’s delicious And for comparison sakes, I’m going to try Jumi’s. It’s the elephant bean the 1960. Kind of the old school kopi when you look at it it’s really dark.

04:47 - Mine is more on the tan brown side, so i’m really curious to try this one too. I see exactly what you say about the floral, it does taste - this does taste more like coffee in US and around the world too. It’s got a little bit of that smoky bitterness, but not as strong as mine but definitely more on the floral fruitier side. I like this one too. This is delicious also. This is great coffee. I mean this place is really famous for a reason and you have to come here when you’re in Muar. I think we’re gonna buy some of this kopi sachet to go as well.

05:27 - So I just tasted Greg’s coffee and definitely Greg’s coffee the one that he got is definitely um more on the bitterness coffee taste. I like my coffee floral and a little bitter, but not too much and this is perfect for me. Well that’s perfect for Greg and cheers. Oh this is good. Yeah we’d love to come back here one day and I think they do where you could go to the factory and see them roast it because the factory’s separate here. I’d love to see that. One day we’ll come back to Muar for that. Maybe, but for now due to some Covid-19 reasons and SOP we can’t go inside. We didn’t notice until we got here until we did some research and traveling around Johor that Johor is a big coffee capital it seems.

Like if you watch our Kluang video gonna 06:18 - put a card up here check that out, Kluang is very famous for coffee as well. They have a coffee factory and there’s another coffee shop that’s very famous. That’s kind of that’s what it seems like here in Muar as well. So Johor is the coffee capital of Malaysia it seems like. Let us know if there’s anywhere else that competes. But from what we had so far, Johar is where it’s at for coffee. Our second stop in our Muar food adventure. This is otak otak. This one is from Otak Otak Cheng Boi and it’s so fun to watch them grill it. This one is fish otak otak. Apparently they also sell frozen otak otak. It looks like a factory inside where I don’t think you can eat in there, but you can take your otak otak to-go. And otak-otak is finger foods, so you can just eat it on the go with you and this one it looks so fresh. It’s very warm. I can’t wait to have a bite of this.

07:33 - It’s just so chewy and you can really taste every bite there’s meat in here. I can eat this every day. So good. One thing that Muar is very famous for, the 434 elephant bean coffee and now we’re having something that Muar is very famous for otak otak. We love it. We’ve had so many varieties here in Malaysia all over the place. A lot of the Nyonya style. We also had the Malay style in Kuantan. We’ll put a card up here - check that out you can see what that one looked like. But this one is the Muar style. Look at that. I’m going to open it up so it’s in these attap leaves. It’s grilled fresh. And it’s called otak otak.

Otak means brains and the inside does look kind of like a brain so 08:13 - I can see where that comes from. This one’s a nice parcel of fish. Look at that - smells so good. It’s got that orange color interspersed a little bit of white and red. Go ahead and take a bite. It has a great flavor. It’s got a nice spice to it. It doesn’t have as much of a bouncy texture. I think they do use less starch so it has more fish. This one I believe they use mackerel. So smooth. There’s probably some turmeric in here, probably some lemongrass, chilies. Like Jumi said, I can eat this all day long.

And I would love to be able to get the frozen batch. I mean unfortunately we don’t have a place to cook it, but they also have a squid one here I’ve seen pictures of it online - it looks amazing. It actually has a piece of squid embedded. Maybe one day. But this is the spot. This is the one when you research otak otak in Muar, this is the first one that comes up. Probably the most famous and very delicious. These are so good. This is probably the best eighty - eight zero cents ringgit we’ve ever spent. Yeah buy ten of these eight ringgit.

We bought 09:26 - ten, we’re gonna buy another ten right now. That’s how good these are. It’s so light so fresh. It’s healthy. You feel like it’s you feel like you’re you’re just eating something good in your life. Yeah get that protein in, get that spice. It’s grilled fresh - it’s nice and hot. Another thing that our research told us to not miss here in Muar is to try the famous Muar Soup House. And these are sup kambing. It’s this kambing, mutton knee. And they always always give us straw to sip everything in there. Oh I see marrow here So Muar Soup House dates back to 1958.

It actually takes up three shop houses - a big space. It’s right underneath the canopy here like colorful canopy. So this is a historic spot here in Muar. Really excited to try it. So I got the sup kambing, Jumi has it with the gearbox. I’m gonna try a little of her gearbox too, but I want to get it just with the kambing, with the mutton meat. And first glance, the broth is really thick and it’s got this brownish tan kind of color. Smells so rich.

I can already smell the cumin and all these other spices in here. I’m already really excited. Without further ado, I’m going to go ahead and take a sip. Whoa! Very cumin-y, very rich, spicy. Wow. This is such a flavor packed broth. I haven’t even gotten to the meat yet, that’s how good it is. There’s also some cilantro here, there’s some fried shallots. Man. I’m going to try a piece of the kambing. Kambing is so tender juicy. It pairs so perfectly with that rich flavorful broth. Man I’m loving this broth. Wow. Taste a little cardamom in there too. Cinnamon.

The cumin is 11:43 - really the strongest spice in here. I’m loving this. If you’re a really big fan of bold flavorful spices like this and thick broth, this is the soup for you. Wow. One of the richest flavorful broths I’ve had here in Malaysia - any soup. Amazing. So Muar Soup House used to sell in a push cart since 1958. They used to sell their goods - their food their soup in a push cart or on a push cart maybe something like this. But now they have not just two, but three storefronts or restaurants. One, number two and that’s number three. That’s so cool. Good morning from Muar. This is our second day here and it looks like satay is a breakfast dish here, which means it’s savory breakfast. We’re here at Haba for some satay for breakfast. Can’t wait to have this. This is daging. Wow. That is well marinated So satay for breakfast is a thing here in Muar. I’m so excited for that because I love satay. I love barbecue meat and this one is grilled with the charcoal in the front, which is very important. Did a lot of research here.

There’s a famous one next door called Satay Warisan they’re closed today 13:55 - on Tuesdays. But this one is kind of like under the radar from researching like a local favorite. And you can see they’re grilling it right at the front right on that charcoal grill he’s fanning the flames. That’s how you know it’s going to be good. Did a little research, some places they’re using gas. We’re all about that charcoal life. We got the campur, so that’s the mix. We have the ayam (the chicken), the perut (the beef stomach) and the daging (the beef).

So I’m actually gonna this uh 14:20 - beef stomach is really calling my name. It’s very yellow. Looks like it’s marinated in turmeric. Smells delicious. You can really smell the smoke from that charcoal. Whoa. Wow. That charcoal smoky flavor really permeates this beef stomach. Wow it is a really clean taste. It’s got a slight sweetness to it, but really the dominant flavor is that smoke. Wow. I haven’t even had it with the peanut sauce. I can eat this one just plain by itself, that’s how good it is.

14:56 - Wow that smoke! That smoke! It’s got a pleasant chew to it. Let’s try the chicken That chicken has a really strong lemongrass and turmeric flavor. It’s not as juicy as I would like it to be, though it does have a nice crisp on the outside. The lemongrass flavor is really nice in it. That beef is also really well marinated with that lemongrass. That smoky flavor is just dominating it and it’s nice because it has a little bit of chew to it as well. But I gotta say, I’m gonna come back to this tripe every time. I’m gonna try it with the peanut sauce. It’s a really nice peanutty peanut sauce. A little sweet with a nice strong peanut flavor. You can tell from looking at it it’s not very oily. Because you have the satay sauce that’s really oily this one’s definitely more thick and peanutty. I really like it. Lontong is a classic Johorean breakfast. If you saw our local favorite food in Johor Bahru video we’re gonna put a card up you can check that out. We tried it for the first time there. But this one here, let me take a sip.

16:16 - That lontong gravy is so good with the coconut milk, turmeric, it’s got peanut in there that’s adds some crunchy. Got a lot of lemongrass and I love the vegetables, glass noodles, the compressed rice cubes and you have egg. It’s such a great savory breakfast. You pair that with the satay - a winning combination for sure. Wow. So we’re here at Kedap Kopi See Hoi. This place has been here almost 50 years. I’m not quite sure almost 50, 49, 1949? Okay so this place has been here for a very very long time. Um I’m not quite sure if we understand each other.

I don’t know if it’s been here since 1949, or it’s been going since for 49 years so 17:24 - I’m not quite sure. But wow it feels so homey that everything here is being brewed using wood fire Classic breakfast here. I’m so excited because this place I really felt like I stepped back in time when I walked into this kopitiam. So this place is just so - you can smell the aroma of the wood fire. Everything here is cooked using wood. So the coffee is boiled using wood, They toast the toast here using wood fire. So you smell that aroma when you walk in.

You really just feel, especially a day like today a rainy day 18:42 - when you smell that smoky wood aroma it just makes you feel at home and comfortable. So this coffee is just very dark and rich. I got it the kopi-o kosong, but I got it hot. I like to have my morning coffee hot and this one just looks so black and rich. Smells strong. Let’s take a sip. Oh it’s very dark and rich. Strong just how I like it. There’s a slight fruitiness to it too, but not like a sweet way. Really nice. Very old school coffee it’s served in this like classic old school mug.

But I’m really intrigued about this toast right here that was cooked 19:30 - the toast is cooked over the wood fire, so I’m really curious to try it. We got it with the kaya, the coconut pandan jam and butter. She toasted it just perfectly. A slight smoky aroma from that wood. And it’s a perfect balance of that sweet kaya and that creamy butter. What you have to do is dip it in the coffee. I love that contrast of that sweet toast and you can combine it with that nice strong dark rich bitter coffee combine it together.

20:16 - when you’re if you want to really taste some old school, you gotta come to this shop. And I don’t even know how many of these still exist in Malaysia at all, let alone in Muar. Alright so we just did a quick tour in here of how they make their coffee. So Greg also just made his coffee. The kaya here is house made. They make it in the morning and they have this bucket right outside the cafe and then they put the bucket in another tub full of hot water and they just let it simmer in there for 6 hours. There’s a lot of egg, there’s a lot of coconut milk and there’s a lot of pandan and brown sugar. You can really really taste how delicious it is.

21:38 - We made new friends and they’re gonna drive us. Mee Bandung is a really special dish here in Johor. And actually Muar, the town we’re in now, Muar is really well known for the mee bandung. So we’ve been waiting to come to Muar to try it and come here. This is the most famous one. It’s been here - it’s been going since 1930. So the interesting thing about this one is that it’s actually a stall tucked into a kopitiam.

22:14 - So it’s a Chinese kopitiam, but you have the mee bandung stall you also have a satay stall. And this place is so famous. You see pictures all over the walls. You have the Sultan, the Prime Minister, the President of Singapore. All these different people over the years on the walls. So this place is well known. It smells incredible. The first thing I smelled when this came out was prawn. And you see there’s little prawns in here. There’s greens, you have the noodle, you have there’s sotong aka squid. And you have a choice. You can get it with chicken or with beef. We chose the beef. And I’m ready. Also at first glance the mince paste here kind of reminds us of Laksa Johor, but has a little bit of liquid. But it’s kind of a balance of paste like a thick paste and liquid. So I’m gonna go ahead and just take a sip of that broth first with a little bit of beef. Wow - very prawny, spicy and sweet. It’s really good and the spice is just kind of humming in the back it just lingers. I love that extreme prawn flavor.

I mean if you love the flavor of prawn, this is the 23:32 - noodle dish for you. And the more I eat it, the more I enjoy it. And that spice is just lingering and actually building a little more, which I enjoy too. I see why. There you go, that spice kicking in. I see why they say mee bandung you got to have it in Muar. I see why they say you have to come here. And I see why Hanipah is so popular. It’s incredible it’s a really unique dish. I love it. A must try when you’re here in Muar. Here in Malaysia that if a place is good they will put their face all over the place. It’s you! .