Food Blog | Sevenoaks Bakery and Cafe JB
For how big & grand it is, I feel surprised this isn’t mentioned up there among the top cafe hopping spots in Johor Bahru, so I would definitely say that this is one of those ‘hidden gems’ of Johor Bahru!
Context: Came here for a belated birthday celebration with my girlfriend! She found it somewhere on the web and looked pretty cool - and I think she knows that I love putting new content up on my blog XD.
Is it Halal?
I’m not sure whether it is halal, but I do believe it fits in with those ‘no pork, no lard’ concepts at the very least. I’ve seen quite a few Malay bloggers blog about this cafe, so whilst don’t take that as actual advice regarding what you can eat here if you’re concerned about it, as always, eat at your own discretion. (Although one thing to keep in mind is that a lot of people cook risotto with white wine)
Where it Is?
Sevenoaks is located in Taman Terbrau Jaya and Mid Valley Southkey. My review will cover my experience of the Sevenoaks Bakery at Taman Terbrau Jaya.
Kinda in the middle of nowhere, so I don’t really have many particular landmarks for you to look out for, but you won’t miss it. Kinda looks like a mixture of a grand, rustic hotel and a furniture shop on the outside and it is REALLY hard to miss because it’s golden and really stands out from everything else around it (it is on a corner lot).
Parking is pretty easy, with many spaces available. Just walk on in and (at time of writing there’s a renovation, so the bakery was closed) take the stairs/lift up before taking a seat!
Address: 134, Jalan Serampang, Taman Tebrau Jaya, 80400 Johor Bahru, Johor
Operating Hours:
Monday to Thursdays: 11am - 11pm
Friday to Sundays : 10am - 11:30pm
What it Costs
The two of us ate an appetiser, a main course each, a mocktail kinda drink and a glass of iced water, with the bill coming up to RM97.90.
Important to note that they actually have a semi-buffet lunch offering on weekdays - this means you can select a main course (this one is not refillable) and you have a buffet offering for salads, fruits, desserts, etc. for RM19.90 net, which is kinda a crazy deal to kind of think of it.
But anyways, we shared the chicken in baked potato skins (RM18.50), a creamy mushroom risotto (RM28), a funghi & bacon spaghetti (RM23), a Sunrise Mocktail (RM13.90) and an Iced Water (RM1). Service charge (10%) and SST (6%) charged here, bringing the bill up to RM97.90.
Price-wise, I wouldn’t say I’m the biggest fan of the price, but I would say that it is very well worth it because the food is nice!
How it Tastes
Starting off with the baked potato skins with chicken, it almost seemed like the potatoes were on the burnt side. I’m not sure if intentional or not, but the colour just looked pretty dark. Despite that, the filling is yummy - almost lasagna or a pasta-esque.
I’m a REALLY big fan of the creamy mushroom risotto. Has that really umami taste towards it all around and fills you up despite not really having a meat inside (at least I believe there’s no meat inside). This isn’t one of those that tastes like truffle, but still is really yum. I would say that this is definitely one of the creamier/thicker risottos that I’ve had - to my liking, but maybe not everyone’s cup of tea.
The funghi & bacon spaghetti is one of those pretty nice pastas, but I kinda wish it was something tastier/more unique, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that pasta in particular - it’s not bad, just not as amazing as that DELICIOUS risotto!
The mocktail is refreshing - but the one comment that my girlfriend did make about it is that she mentioned that it tasted a bit on the artificial side (I was kinda okay, but I guess just worth to keep in mind).
Star Rating
8/10. Definitely deserves to be talked about more. I almost can’t believe it was the first time I’ve heard of it when I went here and it was so grand! Good food (and their Opera cake actually looks REALLY GOOD).
Bubz Rates (My girlfriend): 8/10. Really good food - worth every cent!