There are many great places to eat at KSL City Mall, Singaporeans’ beloved weekend mall. Based on my visits, I have created a list of my 10 favourite eateries in the mall. Click here for the full restaurants directory.
1. Meng Meng Roasted Duck (阿明帝皇鴨)
Meng Meng Roasted Duck is a famous roast meat restaurant with several branches in Johor Bahru.
The wife and I had a very pleasant lunch at the KSL branch. The restaurant is spacious and brightly lit, and service was very good.
We ordered the small Roasted Combination (RM33.80), a roast meat trio platter that consists of roast duck, char siew and roast pork. All the meats were delicious, but my favourite was the roast pork because it was really tender and juicy. The Lotus Root Soup (RM13.80) was pretty good too.
You can’t go wrong with eating at Meng Meng Roasted Duck!
Location: #L2-132
2. Grandma Ong
Grandma Ong is a well-known noodle shop in Johor Bahru. It is most famous for its delicious Mee Hoon Kueh (hand-pulled noodle soup). The noodles are usually eaten with minced meat and marinated mushrooms, along with small servings of katuk, sambal chilli and fried onion.
Location: #LG-21
3. D’Shanghai (大上海)
Fried Beancurd Skin with Cuttle Fish & Prawn (RM9)
D’Shanghai is a dim sum specialty restaurant chain in Johor Bahru (similar to Crystal Jade in Singapore).
My favourite dishes were the Fried Beancurd Skin with Cuttle Fish & Prawn (RM9) and Crispy Mushroom Rice Rolls (RM8.40). Both were very delicious and satisfying.
However, service wasn’t very good. Most of the staff were quite unfriendly and one of them even knocked into me while he was heading back to the kitchen.
Location: #L2-132(B)
4. Liang Sandwich Bar
Liang Sandwich Bar offers Jay Chou endorsed “Asian sandwiches”, which are essentially scallion pancakes wraps. Some of the flavours include Black Pepper Chicken, Sambal Ikan Bilis, Cheese & Egg, Chicken Patty, etc.
Interestingly, there are two branches in KSL mall, one located on the second floor and another on the ground floor just outside Tesco’s entrance.
Location: #LG-BZ13 / #L2-S20
5. The Alley
The Alley is a Taiwanese bubble milk tea chain with outlets all over the world. It is known for its delicious milk tea, brown sugar drinks, and Aurora Speciality Drinks.
The prices at the KSL branch are about 2o% to 40% cheaper than Singapore. For example, the Brown Sugar Deerioca Milk costs RM12.90 (SGD4.20) at KSL but it is priced at SGD5.30 in Singapore.
We ordered the signature Royal No. 9 Milk Tea (RM7.90), which had a rich milky flavour along with a very smooth texture. This was quite a satisfying drink.
Location: L2-132 (C-2)
6. KFC
For some reason, I always find the fried chicken at Malaysia’s KFC outlets to be more delicious than the ones in Singapore. Somehow, they just taste more juicy, tender, and savoury. Perhaps it’s due to different sources of poultry?
Location: #LG-37 & 45
7. Ji Long Tang (“JLD”)
Ji Long Tang is another popular Taiwanese bubble milk tea chain. It is known for using stir fried brown sugar from Okinawa, and their boba pearls are made from scratch by hand.
We ordered the Brown Sugar Boba Milk (RM13.90) to sneak into the movie theatre to drink while watching “Joker”.
This JLD drink was rich and creamy, and had a very smooth texture. The brown sugar syrup gave the drink a pleasant sweet flavour along with a slightly charred aftertaste. The boba pearls were soft and squishy, complimenting the drink perfectly.
On the whole this was a very satisfying brown sugar milk drink, and I liked that it was not too sweet. However, I wished it had a thicker texture. Location: #G-B6-A
8. Emack and Bolio’s
Emack & Bolio’s is an ice cream shop that was founded in 1975 in Boston by a hippie. Today, it is a global ice cream chain with outlets across the world. They are known for their irresistibly pretty ice creams with fun outrageous flavours.
Location: #GF-S04a & S04b
9. You Kee XO (有记XO烧腊之家)
You Kee XO Restaurant is a famous roast meat eatery with several outlets in Johor Bahru. It is known for its delicious herbal soups and roast meats. The soups are cooked using charcoal fire for around 17 hours in a large traditional urn. Make sure you order the meat platter consisting of roast duck, pork belly and char siew.
Location: #LG-33
10. Bao Zhan (包栈)
Bao Zhan (包栈) is a Chinese restaurant specialising in delicious fresh buns and dim sums. It has many outlets in Johor Bahru. I recommend checking out their signature Da Bao (meat bun), Siew Mai (Chinese dumpling) and Lo Mai Gai (Steamed Glutinous Rice).
Location: #LG-52 & 87
Conclusion
As you can tell, there are many great places to eat in KSL City Mall. And thanks to our strong exchange rate, dining here is significantly more affordable than in Singapore. For the bubble tea fans, other than The Alley and JLD, the mall is also home to Gong Cha and Tiger Sugar. Therefore, you have a tantalising selection of BBTs to choose from!
KSL City Mall
Directions: 10-minute car ride from Johor customs
Address: 33 Jalan Seladang, Taman Abad, 80250 Johor Bahru
Opening Hours: Daily 10am to 10pm
Mall Directory: www.kslcity.com.my/store/view