Restaurant Howwin Catfish King — Restaurant in Johor

Claypot Catfish (Small), No Rice = RM15.00 Bak Kut Teh (1 Person), No Rice = RM16.00 No Service Charge.

This Eatery has a Very Small Menu with only 2 pages. The place itself is a Old Kopitiam and the Staffs while Friendly, are Quiet and keep to themselves most of the time. I love the Big Boiling Pots of Bak Kut Teh Soup they have Bubbling Away and the Herbly Smell was very Appetizing!

Both Dishes took about 7 Mins and both of them were served up at roughly the same time.

Claypot Catfish (Small), No Rice = RM15.00

When this was served up, it was Beautifully Bubbling in the Claypot. Completely Braised Dark in Colour and Garnished with a Handful of Spring Onions.

The Smell is reminiscent of the Sauce used in Gong Bao Chilli Frog Legs. Sauce is liberally peppered with Dried Chilli, Loads of Garlic and a mixture of Sauces making this Superbly Savoury. I thought this tasted almost No Different from Braised Pork Sauce but done at a More Savoury Garlicky Level. Very Salty but very 开味! Amazing Sauce!

The Catfish Meat is cut into 7-8 relatively Large Bite Size Pieces and totally resembles Braised Pork Belly. Meat is SUPER SOFT and Tender with No Bones and MOST IMPORTANTLY ZERO MUD TASTE! Amazing! Eaten with the Sauce, it is Mildly Spicy and there is No Fishy Taste at all.

One thing to note is that this Catfish is SUPER FATTY! It is so Fatty, some of the Fats even resembles A Super Fatty Pork Belly! Eating this feels like no different from eating a Very Savoury Dry Braised Pork. This tastes like a Braised Pork Belly, thats Not Quite a Pork Belly, yet also Not Quite a Fish if it makes any sense.

Its the Beautiful Braised Gong Bao Sauce that is the Soul of the Dish. I'm also guessing that this Catfish is specially bred in such a way that it doesn't have any Mud Taste typical for a Catfish.

Bak Kut Teh (1 Person), No Rice = RM16.00

By Default, this comes as a Soup Version although they do sell a Seperate Dry BKT version if you want. While the BKT here is not the Super Herbal Klang Style of BKT, it does still have a Faint Herbly Taste and is not just a Simple Soy Sauce Broth. I don't know what Herb is used in this Broth but its the type where it has a Bitter-Sweetish Aftertaste. Not Bad.

Comes with Various Thick Cut Sizes of Pork. About 7-8 Pieces. Some Lean ones, some Belly, some Ribs. All the Meats have a somewhat Tougher Chewy Bitefeel and have a Noticeable Porky Taste, but they are all still Juicy to the Bite. Also comes with about 4 pieces of Taupok. Personally I felt the Amount of Ingredients given is Very Acceptable for a 1 Person Portion.

Pairing this Herbly BKT Soup to chase down the Salty Claypot Braised Catfish was the Perfect Combo. These 2 Dishes pair very well together indeed.

Conclusion and Closing Thoughts

I am in Complete Awe at how Good this Braised Claypot Catfish tasted. Although the Braised Sauce was obviously used to cover and mask the taste of the Catfish, they did not just Vulgarly Spam it as I could actually still taste the Unique Catfish Meat.

This is also the 1st time in my Life i've ever eaten a Fatty Catfish. Must have been specially bred to make it so Fatty and of course to remove its Mud Taste. If you have never tasted Catfish before and you like the Gong Bao type of Sauce, I can totally recommend to give this a try. Their BKT is also not bad and I feel pairs very well with this too.

At a Combined Total Price of RM31.00 (S$8.90) without Service Charge for 2 Very Filling and Tasty Claypots, this is Absolutely Worth the Money to come give this a Try. I don't even think you can find Braised Catfish Claypots in Singapore. Even if there are, you're probably not going to find one that costs only S$4.50.

At the end of my meal, I went up to the Friendly Young Boss of this place and complimented him with a Thumbs Up. Highly Recommended!

Thanks for Reading. Come join my Facebook Food Blog: "A Solo Singaporean's Guide to JB Foods" to view the Full Review...

One of the BEST Claypot Catfish I have ever eaten. Its chunks of fresh no-bone catfish, cooked till dry-ish in a savory piquant black sauce, with loads of roughly shredded ginger strips and dried chilli - you can ask not to have chilli. The large costs RM20.

Also ordered the Mini Wok Pepper Chicken (small is RM11) which came in a pale gravy, again with plenty of ginger strips, and the fragrance of white pepper. My friend said it reminded her of her mother's cooking, and it was SO good, she finished the gravy with her bowl of rice.

Didn't order the bak kut teh this time, as I'm not exactly fond of their version, and it was only just the 2 of us, so we couldn't eat more.

Parking is easy and plentiful, but remember to put the parking coupon - was fined once for not displaying the coupon, and had to HUNT for the office to...

Catfish for lunch. It's good. I would say that separately, the sauce and the fish were independently good. However, they lacked harmony when complementing each other.

What I liked: The catfish was clean tasting and had a good texture. Not gummy, nor tough, nor mushy. The sauce was thick and strong, caramel notes. Oil was ample and properly separated, so although it was oily (in a good sense), it was not greasy (in a bad sense). Lots of thinly sliced ginger. Glad to eat with the accompanying soy sauce + garlic + chili (like what you normally see at Bak Kut Teh) combo condiment.

What I didn't like: The sauce was strong n salty but the fish tasted light and delicate, resulting in an imbalance. I would have preferred if the sauce had maybe a bit more salt/sugar/acid and less...