Restoran Sze Zai Hiong (食在乡) — Restaurant in Johor

Out of the norm

When I was in JB, my friend would always bring me to his usual eateries as he was a creature of habits - but for me, I would love to try other options since I seldom go down South now. Therefore on my last trip, I scoured through my list to see which one I had not been to.. and then I demanded to go there.

Sze Zai Hiong is located few doors down the road from my favourite watering hole, JJ Wine & Tapas in Taman Pelangi. This restaurant has basic restaurant setup but with air-conditioned, something which I appreciate especially when having lunch under hot weather.

◾claypot mixed vegetables with tong fun - something not so heavy-flavoured for the rather heavy lunch. ◾stir fried lady fingers with salted egg yolk - crunchy texture covered with savoury salted egg yolk. ◾ham yue fa lam bou aka claypot pork belly with salted fish - I prefer stronger taste for this dish and it didn't disappoint. In fact, it was so good with my bowl of rice. ◾stir fried lala with pork lard - THE REASON I came here.. the sight of fresh clams and pork lards together was a case of foodgasm. The cili padi lent the dish some spicy kick. I enjoyed it... A must order for first timer ◾steamed shark meat (limited availability) with superior soy sauce and minced ginger - full of collagen goodness, and I must say that the flavour hit the right spot for me. ◾Chinese steamed egg topped generously with fried garlic and spring onions - gotta love it when they were generous with fried garlic and spring onions.

I almost had food coma after finishing everything - as there were only three of us but the sacrifice was so worth it. I drove back to KL with a...

It was a place recommended by a friend living in the vicinity and so we decided to try it. These are what we order for 3 adults and 2 kids:

Fried Hokkien Mee - at 1st sight it doesnt look too appealing as it was too "whitish" to be what we would consider the true blue Fried Hokkien Mee. Usually very dark due to the dark soy sauce. On the other hand, it was well lavished with a generous amount of deep fried pork lards! Now the taste, surprisingly was flavourful and pretty authentic albeit its "fair" appearance 🤣. Noodles texture was also alright. Not mushy or too hard. Overall it was nice. 🥰

Zhen Jiang Vinegar Pork Ribs. Again it was kinda light in colour as opposed to those dark ones. But... it was really tender and flavourful in every bite. The vinegar made it very appetising but we would have preferred it to be a tad less "vinegarish" and more sweet. 😆

Steamed egg with toufu. Looks appealing as the plating was kinda nice and unique. Eggs were silky smooth and taste was savoury umami.

Salted egg sotong. Now, the crust was nicely deep fried which was good. Unfortunately, the sotongs seemed slightly over cooked. Just slightly. And, the salted egg paste.. was umm... salty without that egg taste. 😅

Was recommended by friend to tried the prawn paste chicken wings but we did not. Perhaps may try that the next time wear...

Misunderstanding or cheating. You decide

We ordered take away, yangzhou fried rice, and claypot silver noodle, but upon ordering my husband requested if they can change the Char siew pork into chicken in the fried rice. The girl in the counter said its ok no problem will change the pork into chicken. My husband doesn't eat pork. And so she process the bill and we paid.. Tadaaaa after the payment is being processed she said immediately that the kitchen doesn't have chicken😳 And they will change it to seafood😳 my husbdan is allergy to seafood. What a blunder. And I wanted it to order pork ribs yam and white rice but I changed my mind because of the chaos.. and so I didn't confirm the order but she processed the order without confirming me. Another chaos I started to get angry... Because first the chicken pork incident then this no confirmation order and she is billing me.. I am actually willing to just take the porkribs but it's not even ready.

To be fair the fried rice was good it's just over priced for the quantity we get. Rm36 only good for 2pax.

Just beware and make sure thay really understand what you are ordering.

Probably not...