Kam Long Ah Zai Curry Fish Head — Restaurant in Johor

As I searched for the best local food in Johor Bahru, this famous curry fish head restaurant appeared with a rather impressive rating. I made my way to the shop and realised that parking may not be easy here but I managed to find a paid parking lot in the basement of Wisma Vasty which was only few steps away from the eatery itself. Arriving at the entrance, the staff took my order. Menu here is simple with only one single dish namely their curry fish with multiple options for size. They also offer the fish in either fish head, fish tail or fish meat portion. I got the fish meat since the fish tail was unavailable. I moved next door for their indoor seating with air-conditioning. I believe this was run by a separate owner who also sell drinks and snacks. I got a side of their fish otak-otak to go with my fish curry. First thing which caught my attention was the size of the fish curry pot. It looked sizeable despite I only ordered a small one. It came steaming and piping hot so I let it cooled down a little. From the looks of it, there were plenty of beancurd sheets and when I gave it a good stir, the other ingredients such as the long beans and okra surfaced. There were 2 rather large pieces of fish meat which can feed 2 small eaters in my opinions. The appearance looked promising but I was curious if the curry broth delivers. The texture was rich with a strong/ coconut milk santan presence. The rempah and spices on the other hand played a secondary role here as they were milder in taste. This reminded me of how my experience with Katong laksa was. If you enjoy a rich santan based curry, then this version may appeal to you. Nevertheless, I felt the soup was savoury with nice light hint of tang. Anyway, the dish can only be as good as the freshness of the fish. Keeping that in mind, I am happy to say that the fish here turned out really fresh with no traces of fishiness and the meat was firm while the fish skin and belly offered a nice gelatinous bite. Overall, the curry fish here was a good experience despite the curry broth is different compared to other states. The fish otak-otak was a decent one although the price was...

Avoid, tourist trap. Once entered store, a makcik aggressively ask us to order fruit juices and rojak. (Making us doubt if we entered fish head curry store or fruit juice store). We denied, as we noticed a fridge, where various drinks are sold for 6rm. However, she did not stop, and told us those drinks from fridge is "unavailable". We ask if the fridge belongs to her business, she said yes.

As this is our first time there, we took her word for it. Hence, we proceed to order fruit juices and rojak from her. We order 4x fruit juices and 2x rojak, all small. Drinks price: 8rm for small, 15rm for big.

When order came, we were told all were automatically upgraded to large, as small is very "small". The rojak was astonishing small at palm sized plate, and we were given a condescending remark "see very small only". Don't understand why we were getting this remark when we are already forced to upgrade to large prices, where it's very overpriced. So are they telling us, large portion at such overpriced prices, only have this ridiculous small amount, and they still have the cheek to boast about it.

As for fish curry, the fish tasted decent, however there is no curry taste at all. It is 1 of the most bland curry ever.

Hygiene wise was also very bad, raw fish and cooked food all placed side by side. Very strong foul smell at entrance where food is cooked.

When making payment, we were also told our medium sized curry was upgraded to large as "medium" is not available.

Overall, very over rated place with obvious singaporean scam tactics such with their overpriced side dishes like fruit juices and rojak etc and automatic large size upgrade. You can easily find better fish curry anywhere else, without all the...

The reviews all over the internet speaks of 30min waiting time to have Kam Long Fish Head curry -extremely famous at Johor Bahru. That wait time is accurate. However that's about it. You need not extrapolate further. I checked queues at 10am, 12am and 2pm; and in all those slots the queue length was around 20-30mins not more, not less. Food, off course, finishes most days by 3pm. For family (or group) of four, I would recommend taking the large fish tail serving as it has enough meat. The fish head servings don't have much meat. The curry pot though contains a bed of beans, ladyfingers and cabbage which ensures a thick layer of vegetables. Honestly the curry (with vegetables) stand-alone would make a great meal with rice. Hence, this is a must visit place and I recommended to visit around 11am for an early lunch with delicious and memorable fish head curry broth. Total cost for meal for four 70MYR = 18SGD = 14USD including Chinese tea and rice for four! Must visit.

If you love to travel on a budget and seek value for money then my book on Amazon & Kindle should help you. Do search for ‘Scissors Paper Stones - A Family Budget travel guide’ in Amazon or kindle or Goodreads, to buy. Travel more...