Food Blog | Rowan & Parsley Food Atelier | Masai

Another cafe that probably comes under that ‘hipster cafe’ kind of category and this week it is Rowan & Parsley Food Atelier, a Texas style barbecue smokehouse coming to you from Masai, JB!

Context: Came here for dinner with my girlfriend for our 5th year anniversary together! Found it somewhere online and thought it would be a nice place to try.

Is it Halal?

This is definitely one of the more difficult places to go if you’re going with Muslim company. Most of the main dishes are centered around pork being the main protein, so I would suggest you avoid Rowan & Parsley because it is non-halal. Eat at your own discretion if you’re concerned on this front.

Where it Is

I would say that there aren’t too many landmarks that can guide you but from the outside, it basically looks like a semi-detached house with a grand entrance. Parking is free (parallel parking on the road it is located on) and pretty easy to find.

Address: 17, Jalan Cenderai 20, Taman Perindustrian Kota Puteri, 81750 Masai, Johor

 

Operating Hours:

Daily: 11am to 10pm (last order: 9pm)

What it Costs

My girlfriend and I ate for a grand total of RM116.60 and the breakdown is like this:

Texas Hot Wings (RM22)
Pork Belly (RM36)
Creamy Tomato Prawn Linguine (RM29)
Apple Cobbler with Ice Cream (RM19)
with 10% service charge (RM10.60)

Water is free here.

Generally, the mains range from RM25 - RM49 and we initially wanted the corn bread (RM14) but it wasn’t available on the day. Everything we ordered is a signature for them according to the menu.

How it Tastes

Starting off with the hot wings, I would say the one comparison that I can make with it would be Friday’s buffalo wings. Definitely not as ‘commercial’ as Friday’s but definitely similar concept and taste.

The sauce also doesn’t ruin the crispy texture of the hot wings but it retains a lot of its flavour, so I would say that the hot wings are definitely something that I would recommend. Plus they also have a nice ranch dressing to give that extra flavour to the dish. A dish I enjoyed!

I had more of the pork belly and what I’ll say is that this dish is actually insanely good. You know when you think of that perfect bite, you think of that melt in your mouth texture, the burst of flavour and that very ‘umami’ taste in your mouth? This is precisely it. A perfect bite.

Lots of flavour, absolutely melt in your mouth and they actually made a cut of meat which I love (the pork belly) something that is just elevated and so, so delicious. Absolutely LOVED it. A nice mashed potato to finish the dish off. The salad dressing is a bit meh and almost a bit too acidic for me, but I guess it sort of balances the fatty elements of the dish coming from the pork belly.

For the prawn linguine, I would say it is sort of like a tomato aglio olio with the prawn elements mixed in, but it is basically a pretty yummy seafood pasta. The sauce has depth of flavour and a nice creamy component to it (it’s pretty rich and the sauce itself has a lot texture to it as well).

But I feel like the main attraction of this place (basically what you should come here for) is definitely the barbecue components!

Lastly, we capped off out meal with dessert: in their apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream! To be fair, I haven’t even heard of what an cobbler is before, but think apple crumble but without that pastry component. Overall, this is a yummy dessert to finish off your meal! I’m always a fan of those hot meets ice cream desserts and this is a good rendition of it! The cinnamon and cooked off apples go great with the crunchiness of the nuts and the ice cream!

Star Rating

8.5/10. Arguably one of the best overall dinner experiences I had in Johor Bahru with great service (which I will usually only point out when they’ve done something in particular). A pretty cafe with good food!