Oriental Kopi (City Square)

From Oriental Kopi
素仁当鸡椰浆饭
The pandan-infused coconut milk rice was aromatic and perfectly cooked, complemented by a luscious lava egg.
The vegetarian sambal sauce added a delightful kick, while the crispy vegetarian anchovies and peanuts provided satisfying crunch.
Sliced cucumber offered refreshing balance.
The highlight was the vegetarian rendang chicken—rich, flavorful, and convincingly meaty.
Overall, an excellent fusion of textures and flavors in a well-executed dish.
Highly recommended!
Priced at RM20.90

Found ourselves having the opportunity to make a trek to Johor Bahru recently and the first thing that is in our agenda for the day right at the start of the trip is was Oriental Kopi. A name that has since become rather familiar to those whom frequent Malaysia, Oriental Kopi is a name that had made it into the list of places that is a must-visit in Malaysia — the most convenient outlet to hit for those heading in from Singapore would be their City Square location though they do have multiple outlets situated across Kuala Lumpur and Selangor aside the few that they have in Johor Bahru. Its core focus is seemingly revolving around traditional Hainanese fare, and that there is a certain hint of nostalgia that hits when one dines here — this is also evident from their design decor reflecting a contemporary look and feel of a traditional Hainanese coffeehouse in the colonial-era, as well as the old-school Chinese tunes that he potent softly in the background. The menu comprises of sections that is dedicated to dishes such as Nasi Lemak, Mee Siam, Oriental Chicken Hor Fun, Penang Char Kuay Teow, Penang Prawn Mee, Nanyang Curry Chicken Rice, Oriental Laksa Mee, Dry Curry Chicken Mee Pok, Kampung Mee Hoon, Chicken Herbal Soup, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Malay Rendang Chicken, Malay Fried Rice, Kampung Fried Rice, Prawn Fried Rice, Vegetarian, Egg Tart, Oriental Polo Bun, Homemade Toast, Wholemeal Bun, Local Street Food, Cendol, Mango Fiesta, Tong Shui, Tang Yuan and Chinese Herbal Jelly. Beverages available at Oriental Kopi includes sections dedicated to Oriental Kopi, Kopi Butter, White Coffee, Oriental Mocha, Cold Beverages, Eight Treasure Herbal Tea, Golden Lime Plum and Sour Plum.

Having heard quite a fair bit about Oriental Kopi from others, it was a little difficult to make a decision in which items which would like to give a try. That being said, the Oriental Nasi Lemak line-up was one of those items that we were looking forward to try — we found ourselves opting for the Oriental Nasi Lemak with Chicken Meat since we were told that the Oriental Signature Nasi Lemak does come with quite a large-sized chicken drumstick and that the Oriental Nasi Lemak with Chicken Meat comes with boneless chicken chunks which also much more easier to share. Oriental Kopi does not describe in its menu the various elements that also come together with the Oriental Nasi Lemak with Chicken Meat, though we did note that the item does come along with the usual suspects like the Ikan Bilis, peanuts, cucumbers and sambal chili. It also comes with a sous-vide egg rather than a sunny side-up which we are more used to seeing paired with Nasi Lemak elsewhere. Digging into the Nasi Lemak rice, this alone already felt very different to the usual Nasi Lemak rice that we are more exposed to from Singapore — the Nasi Lemak rice comes with a very light hue of green that is not as intimidating as the neon green ones that we sometimes would come across from some establishments in Singapore; the rice also carried a coconut-y fragrance at the start, but rounds off nicely with a gingery finish. The balance of flavours here felt particularly refined — this is especially so when one compares to Nasi Lemak in Singapore that usually only tends to skew towards either side of the scale; makes this one felt especially fragrant with some complexity in its flavours.

Moving on to the chicken chunks, these would be the Ayam Goreng Berempah that one would typically associate with Malaysian-style Nasi Lemak; the golden-brown fried batter was crisp, while the meat within was tender and easy to chew apart — one can also detect light fragrance of the lemongrass used in the preparation of the fried chicken here. Breaking the sous-vide egg, the sous-vide egg comes with a runny egg yolk which helps to bind all the elements together; it is also noticed that the sambal chili comes in a darker shade that what we are used to seeing elsewhere — the sambal chili carrying an earthier, savoury and sweet note that comes with just a slight hint of spiciness that should work well with those whom are tolerable to only lower levels of spiciness. We were also glad that the Ikan Bilis still carried a crisp crunch to it whilst being aptly saltish as well. Other dishes that we had tried during our visit to Oriental Kopi includes the Oriental Fried Chicken Meat Mee Siam — this dish would almost be entirely reminiscent to the Oriental Nasi Lemak with Chicken Meat though this would see the Nasi Lemak being replaced by a dry Mee Siam; there are also no Ikan Bilis and peanuts that comes together with the Oriental Fried Chicken Meat Mee Siam. While the chicken meat is the same as what we have had in the Oriental Nasi Lemak with Chicken Meat, we really liked the tanginess and nuttiness of the dry Mee Siam which we found to be absolutely appetising and delightful. We were also tempted to get the Oriental Polo Bun, which also comes accompanied with two slabs of butter coming in ice (which prevented the butter from melting) and condensed milk; the Oriental Polo Bun comes with a slight crunch from the crusted top, which carried a milky fragrance and a lightly sweet note that matched well with the slabs of butter — the Oriental Polo Bun also having been conveniently sliced in the middle for one to insert the slabs of butter with ease.

It would also not be a complete trip to an Oriental Kopi location if one does not give their Oriental Egg Tart a go — the Oriental Egg Tart are slightly larger-sized than the typical egg tarts that one would find in more traditional bakeries around, though this does seem to be the trending style of egg tarts of the late that has seem to have started from Oriental Kopi. Here, one can already smell the wafting fragrance of the French butter (as they have claimed) used in the making of the Oriental Egg Tarts as one makes a beeline to get a seat to dine-in; the tart pastry is done to perfection with a light, crisp and flaky texture — not overly buttery or greasy, while the egg curd comes all soft and sufficiently moist within. The egg curd also comes not too sweet with an evidently eggy note of flavours as well. Not to be missed would also be the Cold Oriental Kopi, which comes complete with the overflow aesthetic which comes with a balanced note of sweetness against the coffee that provided a sufficient kick of caffeine. It is needless to say that we enjoyed our experience at Oriental Kopi — that is also the same reason why Oriental Kopi always attracts a crowd on the weekends as well; mostly comprising of folks like us who made the trek from across the border. The success of Oriental Kopi is also partially the reason why such cafes with a traditional Hainanese coffeehouse theme has been appearing in Singapore, with one particular establishment being rather obvious in trying to achieve similar vibes as Oriental Kopi from its menu to its offerings and the plating of their food. It is needless to say that we are looking forward to be back at Oriental Kopi when we make our way across the border again some day, not only do we have some favourites like the Oriental Nasi Lemak with Chicken Meat, Egg Tarts and Cold Oriental Kopi that we would like to have again, but we are also looking forward to try their other offerings as well!