Tom Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh (强记肉骨茶) is located at Batu 8, Jalan Mawai, Kampung Haji Mohd Jambi, 81900 Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia. Yup, you read that right, Kota Tinggi. Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh is actually an hour’s drive away from Johor Bahru. So the big question is whether Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh is worth the one hour drive, if you’re not enroute to anywhere further up north. That is to say, is Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh, in Kota Tinggi, worth a day trip in itself? This time, we found out…
Arriving at Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh (强记肉骨茶)
Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh opens from from 730am to 2pm daily except for Mondays and Tuesdays. Hence, we thought it could be a day trip for us to arrive early and have breakfast before spending the rest of the day in Johor Bahru. The drive to Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh was relatively smooth on a Saturday morning but because of the jam on the Causeway, we were only able to arrive in the late morning. Early lunch was in order.
If you’re coming from Johor, you’ll find Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh to be on the right side of the road. Parking is available on the gravel spaces next Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh. After walking into the premise, you’ll first head towards a small little station where you’ll see some menus and that’s also where you’d make orders for your meal.
It was here that we made our orders at Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh
– 1 person Bak Kut Teh (16RM)
– 1 person Braised Pork Knuckle (14RM)
– Additional You Tiao (Fritters – 2RM)
– Can Drinks (2.5RM)
– 2 bowls of rice (unknown)
By right, the total came up to less than 40RM but we paid 42RM. Probably due to the taxes? The bill is only paid after the meal. Once you’re done, head over to the cashier (near to the ordering station) to clear your bill.
After we made our orders, we were shown to our seat. The seat number was then informed to the ordering station where they would tag our order to our table. Then we waited…
While we were waiting for our orders to be delivered to our table, we looked around and found that the premise was almost full. From the time that we sat, till the time that we left (just before lunch time), Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh was full! A testament to the quality of offerings that can be found here. We also took a quick look at the kitchen and found an entire row of clay pot being cooked via charcoal – old school style. Whenever we see charcoal cooked food, we know it was gonna be different…and we were right…
What We Had at Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh (强记肉骨茶)
First, the Bak Kut Teh at Kiang Kee. The Bak Kut Teh arrived at our table piping hot. The soup was still bubbling and the fragrance was exuding into the ambient air around us. It was great. Initially, we thought that the soup would be rather herbly but we found it to be only mildly herbal and mostly fragrant. Yum. Next, we moved on to the ingredients. There were several pieces of pork ribs in the soup – 4 generous pieces and they were very tender as you can see from the photo above. Within the soup, you’ll also find tau kee (fried beancurd skin), enoki and button mushroom. Ingredients-wise, it was generous. Hence, if you’re here to try out the different dishes, 1 person portion would be good for 2 to share.
Next, the Braised Pork Knuckle. There were 2 things about the braised pork knuckle that impressed us. Firstly, the choice of soya sauce was excellent. It was fragrant and enticing, went really well with the rice. You could even have it on its own (a nod to Gardenia). Salivating as we’re writing this. Secondly, and this is what really really impressed us, is that the pork skin was not tender. It had a nice bounce to it. You could bite into the fatty collagen, yet enjoy it with the tender meat below. This was excellent culinary skills to be able to prepare the braised pork knuckle to have this texture and taste. There were also several pieces of pork knuckle here. Another good option while you’re dining at Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh.
The only option that we didn’t try out this time was the Pepper Stomach Soup because we were about to head back to Johor for other dining options that day. Hence, if you have tried this, let us know more in the comments section below.
We also added You Tiao (Fried Fritters – 2RM) to enjoy with the bak kut teh, which turned out to be a really good choice. If you dip the you tiao and left it in the soup, the delicious bak kut teh would be soaked by the fritters and you’ll be able to enjoy the yummy fritters infused with flavourful bak kut teh soup.
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All in all, we totally enjoyed our day trip to Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh. The Bak Kut Teh was mildly herbal but wildly savoury and the braised pork knuckle was fragrant and the meat was simply unbelievable. So, to answer our original question – whether it is worth a day trip to Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh, just for a meal here? A resounding yes! If you have visited Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh, let us know what you think in the comments section below as well!
