Oriental Kopi — Restaurant in Johor

Sept 2023 I went to mid valley mall a few times, everytime, this shop was full of people regardless what time, breakfast, brunch, lunch, teabreak, dinner, even 8plus still got queue, maybe its weekend 😅 So today I went on a weekday morning, reach there abt 915am. Already need to queue and wait for abt 15min to get a seat.

There is a young lady. Just pass you quietly the menu and a order paper. Didnt even say hello, ask how many people then went on to the next person. Maybe still new to the job, havnt train yet. 🤔

I order their breakfast set (till 1030am I think) The set has a beverage option (coffee/tea), 2 softboil eggs, 1 set of bread with kaya n butter. Rm12.90 (set price)

I choose their kopi (coffee with milk) (3.5/5) Their kopi was fairly rich, the nanyang style however the ratio or the condensed milk quality overpower the coffee, when you finish the coffee, you dont have the crave that you wanted a second.

Softboil eggs (3.5/5) Their eggs was not bad and big, when you crack the eggs, the shell is still hard and firm, however the eggs lacks any flavour and you can see the egg white are not fully form around the egg yolk, maybe the brand/farm that the eggs are from doesnt give their chicken quality feed or the quality is not there. Their light soya sauce is also quite the dilute type, however cheers to their white pepper, it is fragrant!! it is not over powering and subtle in your mouth.

Toast bread set (4/5) The toast was nicely toasted and crunchy, the butter was generous 😋 to my liking. You cant really taste the kaya thou. Just that it was not even warm. Maybe the kitchen sequencing need some coordination.

I also order their chicken horfun (2.5/5) It was one of their recommended dishes, however I would recommend to skip it. This is a famous dish in ipoh. The key to this dish is the broth and the horfun. Rm18.90

The broth packs quite some msg and you cant really taste that it is a chicken broth, that I was feeling quite thirsty after the meal and you will know that the kitchen doesnt really care about their food QC. The shredded chicken was tasteless and abit mushy, maybe they use those "meat" chicken that are reared in cages. Thats why even the breast meat are abit mushy... and they are too young, thats why its abit tasteless. The prawns they used are also frozen/reared prawns. Even cook using the broth(msg), you also cant taste the sweetness of the prawns!! Not sure if other outlets are the same 🤔

I also order a take away their signature nasi lemak (2/5) Well this dish is an iconic dish in Malaysia and Singapore. To cook until I didnt finish the whole dish speaks a whole new level. No wonder the guy sitting next table also didnt finish his nasi lemak. Too bad I already order it 😔

First off, this dish main character is the nasi (rice) and to use overnight rice, I guess the rice is not fresh is that when cooked rice puts into the fridge and reheat another day it will become lumpy and become brittle not like freshly cooked rice where it has abit of stickiness and not brittle like.

Next off is the sambal chilli, they didnt put it in the box, this is the soul of nasi lemak beside the rice....

The anchovies today was abit burnt, not sure what time they come to the shop and prepare, maybe it was rushing or short handed that the batch of anchovies was burnt.. lucky the peanut tasted fine 🙂

The egg was nicely done, it was poached and the yolk just runs out when you lightly cut it open unlike the usual nasi lemak where it was sunny or hard boil, it was big however not much flavour. Especially without any sambal or soya sauce, the lack of egg flavour was even more apparent (3/5)

The chicken they used are frozen chicken, you can still see the bones which are dark. The flour coating was abit overly salty even for me (I like strong taste) and you cant taste the other spices, you cant even taste the turmeric (the chicken coating is so...

Get there early because on a weekday morning it’s also crowded. We got there before 10am it was already packed but we got a seat quickly.

Shortly after there was a long Q already. We ordered too much for 3 persons as we wanted to try a lot. Total came to about RM115 over S$30, which is still affordable.

The laksa noodle was packed with ingredients from fish balls, fish cakes, taupok, chicken shreds, long beans and good amount of noodles. It’s about RM24. But the sauce is more like curry than laksa from Singapore.

The mee siam with beef rendang is not bad. The rendang is tender but a bit sweet to me but those who don’t like spicy will like it. It’s less spicy than the “laksa”. It’s also around RM24.

The coffee “Cham” which is tea & coffee mixed with ice, large cup is about RM10, but the cup is really large, you can share with minimum 2 people. Taste is also creamy enough.

The so-called legendary polo bun is actually so-so to me only. The bun was a bit hard and not soft melt in the mouth. It was also not warm. The butter slices were huge though and nice served ice cold. Also a bit of condensed milk for you to drizzle. RM8 is ok price for the size portion.

The peach gum dessert about RM10 is also nice but generally the food at this branch we find is not as tasty as the City Square Mall outlet which we had tried before.

We also ordered the “valuable “ breakfast weekday set - large kaya toast, small drink , 2 soft boiled eggs RM13. The portion size is good and we are happy the butter is so big slice as my mum loves butter. Eggs are fresh and large, well boiled. Coffee taste is good and thick enough.

Also tried the herbal chicken soup - not bad but takeaway quantity is less, the dry ban mee is ok ok for the price but I think add RM1 is a bit much for spicy version, but we tried both versions and must have spice lah! If not, not so nice.

On the whole oriental food is quite value for money for the taste, environment and portion. Service is ok, many of them are like foreigner (Myanmese) they didn’t understand our English but they tried thankfully to help. Don’t mind going again for some local delights but city square branch seems to have tastier food.

Dec 2024 holiday update : already at 9 am there’s a long long Q. At first it moved quickly then it was a long wait over an hour to get a table. Since we were already Queuing up we just continued since shops not open yet anyway. Food still good. Price affordable, portion is good value too. Kaya toast got thick thick butter. But I don’t know if Q up for 1 hour is a good...

Finally after various attempts at different times with friends just to get a seat for their food, we made it! Effort paid off for getting in as early before 10am to the outlet at Mid Valley Southkey.

ORIENTAL BOLO BUN - Butter and condensed milk served on the side. The entire outlook of the Bolo Bun passed. Surprisingly, it wasn't sweet and with crusty top. Bestie said the butter was good and taste better w drizzles of condensed milk over it.

ORIENTAL EGG TARTS - The looks of Portuguese Egg tart with real thick egg custard on the inside and it wasn't sweet. My friend commented that the crispiness on the outside taste like Tiong Bahru Bakery croissants. Crispy and flaky. And their tarts appeared in The Malaysia Book of Records for Thickest Egg Tart. Okay this one, no doubt.

CURRY DOUBLE LAVA EGG TOAST - The eggs were jiggling from side to side. So perfectly cooked. Mediocre taste but the curry was the saviour. The toast was thick, crisp and good for dipping with the curry. And not forgetting that curry was thick, fragrance and spicy.

CURRY FISHBALL - On contrary to the curry from the toast, this one here was kind of diluted. My friend proved it with the drip test. And yes it really was although I find it okay. Served with small fishballs of 10 pieces, makes us miss those Hong Kong street food.

ORIENTAL SIGNATURE MEE SIAM - My friend had this as the main and find that it can be a little more moist for her liking. Just like any dry mee siam, you get some morsel of tau pok in it. The big fried drumstick that comes with it had the lemongrass taste, not too overpowering and blends with other seasoning.

FRIED CHICKEN MEAT KAMPUNG MEEHOON - I found love with white beehoon (or meehoon) and everytime if there is an option for that other than normal beehoon (the dark one), I will go for the former. Loved the lightly flavoured and moist beehoon but not really for the chicken meat. It tasted normal though crispy but near dry.

And I ordered a Oriental Hot Mocha. It didn't have that Mocha taste I was looking for. Yes when served, it looks like a perfect cup with the foam on top but it is just another normal coffee. Not Mocha.

VERDICT: If there isn't queue, you can try their food. If there is, probably...