Food Blog | Routine by Soon R&F Mall Johor Bahru
From the team that brought you People & Places comes Routine by Soon! I would describe this as an almost fast food-esque (in concept rather than quality, because I think it is still pretty tasty & healthy) version of the original restaurant, but it’s great if you want a quick bite.
Updated 24/01/2020 (I’ve basically stripped down the entire post and updated it because my initial visit was on a soft opening day)
Context: Came here for lunch with my girlfriend!
Is it Halal?
Not sure about certification, but I would say this is one of the safer picks - I’m fairly certain no pork, no lard. But do check and eat at your discretion if you’re concerned.
Salmon Poke Bowl (RM25.90 a-la-carte - Old Image, scroll down for the Salmon Poke Bowl from my latest visit)
Where it Is?
This is a pretty big eatery (one of the biggest in R&F, I would say) that you can find at the Ground Floor. I would just say find LiHo, face it and turn right. Keep walking straight, and you will see it somewhere on your left.
I would say that if you want to eat here, you pretty much have no choice but to park at the R&F mall parking lot. Parking is free for the first 2 hours at this mall, with a fee of RM3 for every subsequent hour.
This is a pretty IG-worthy spot more for pictures with you in it rather than of the food, but maybe that’s just me. It’s got a lovely interior and exterior to it!
Address: R&F Mall, Lot G-025, G-026, Mercu 1, Jalan Tanjung Puteri 1 R & F, Tanjung Puteri, 80300 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Operating Hours:
Daily: 10am to 10pm
What it Costs
Routine has changed from their initial concept of burittos, cakes and small pieces of quesadilla to becoming pretty much exactly like People & Places! Now the servers come up with the menus and the menu now is actually quite a big menu with a variety of options!
For my second visit, I had a Quesadilla Brekkie (RM25) and a Hawaiian Poke Bowl (RM27.90) to share with my girlfriend. Free water available here and I even got a free jar of peanut butter because they have a partnership with Emperor Cinemas (they have some kind of partnership with the cinema so do look out for it if you’ve been wanting to catch that latest box office hit).
Our bill came up to RM58.20 after 10% service charge.
The menu is attached below.
How it Tastes
Going to start off with the poke bowl and I would say that it is a little bit on the expensive side for me (even comparing a-la-carte prices with places like Poke Twins - RM18.90 salmon poke bowl). I’m not going to deny, though, the fact that this place does include A LOT of things as part of their poke bowl.
You can taste the healthiness of this dish with every bite and they have a lots of different bits and pieces mixed up in there. The salmon, I would say, is pretty decent, so overall speaking, I would say that this is still a pretty nice poke bowl!
Next up, the quesadilla! The issue here is that I feel the need to compare it to People & Places because it is almost like the same dish - in my opinion, it is an almost exact replica of the dish from People & Places! That’s why I find it hard to recommend going to People & Places now that it is so much more accessible at R&F Mall!
Star Rating
8/10. A solid place to go for lunch. I would say that it is a little bit on the pricey side to want to eat it on a daily basis (especially for students like me), but I’m pretty sure that’s not the market they’re going for. (I updated this rating up from a 6.5) Now the quality is basically the same as People & Places from a food standpoint, so this is a great place to visit to experience some quality Johor Bahru/Australian cafe culture.