MCO Bites | Kam Long Curry Fish Head | Bandar Johor Bahru

Definitely not been active on my blog of late (in terms of food at least, I did quite a bit on badminton at the Olympics) and I have an announcement. I’m going to Dubai pretty soon, so most of my content will mostly be driven around being in Dubai.

If you’re ever interested in a holiday there, pop me a message in the form of a comment or in the contact me form in the about page! There will still be some KL/JB content on that odd occasion, but most of my content will be coming from Dubai.

But that’s not what you’re here for, here’s what I thought of Kam Long!

Honestly speaking, this is a VERY famous curry fish head. I would say it is probably the most famous amongst Singaporeans even, when pre-MCO period, people would cross the border, buy 10 packets or so and go back to Singapore to enjoy for months on end after freezing it in the freezer.

Is it Halal?

Unfortunately, no, Kam Long is not a halal restaurant. I’m not sure whether their curry fish head has anything in particular of concern in terms of non-halal ingredients, but I do believe that they are no-pork, no lard. But as always, eat at your own discretion if you’re concerned about this.

Where it Is

Not going to lie, I’ve actually seen the shoplot a few times over my years in Johor Bahru, but it really isn’t obvious to the eye if you don’t know what you’re looking for. You’re basically looking for a “Johor Bahru Market Stall Owners Association” shoplot with a bunch of other Fish Market Associations on top.

There is a lane where you can stop quickly in order to pickup food if you’ve ordered through Grab (available on Grab Food), but I wouldn’t recommend parking there for long periods. Parking in the area is pretty sparse (as it is, even in MCO-era JB).

Address: 74, Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor

 

Phone Number: 016-752 8382

Operation Hours: 8am - 4pm

Note: It is walking distance (maybe a bit far, but definitely do-able) to Hiap Joo (another popular spot to try JB food - particularly their banana bread), so I recommend you do the two together if you’re in the area.

What it Costs

Me and my girlfriend ordered the following - Curry Fish Head (Small - RM27.50 plus box RM1.90), big rice (RM1.42), small rice (RM0.67) tofu skin (RM5.66 - note, this is for an extra portion, they give it to you by default). With SST of 6%, the bill came up to RM39.40.

So one thing I’ll tell you is that they’re experienced when it comes to doing takeaway. It’s basically their bread and butter because of the volume of Singaporean customers who used to get this. That’s pretty much why I would say they pack everything VERY well, no leakages and everything very organised into little boxes.

In terms of ordering extra tofu skin, don’t. What they give you with the fish head curry by default is more than enough.

In terms of portion size, I would say that this is great for big family dinners when you have a few dishes to share. If you want to eat JUST the curry fish head with rice, I would say that the ‘small’ portion is probably more for 3-4 people. Even someone who eats and LOVES the curry as much as me had to put it in the fridge and save for other meals.

In terms of fish content, I’ll be honest and say that me and my girlfriend aren’t the biggest fans of fish - more because of the bones than the fishiness. I would probably say there isn’t TOO much fish in itself (which I know is a bad thing in terms of value), but the bones can be small and sharp so just take note of what you’re eating.

How it Tastes

Putting it simply, it is a bloody good curry. No fishiness, really tasty, just a great curry in general. I think the first question in my mind was whether they made a pure curry with just the vegetables (because I’m not that big of a fan of fish in general).

It has the perfect balance between having the flavour of the sauce and creaminess coming from coconut milk (I would say that although it has a bit of that jelat flavour coming from the coconut milk, this curry is more towards the watery side relative to other Chinese curries).

Vegetables are great, but the bottom-line is that they give you A LOT of curry so you definitely will have enough regardless of how much you eat the fish and vegetables. As I said before, I think the small portion is more for 3 people, I would say that at around RM 11 per person (you don’t need to order extra tofu skin even for 3 people), this is an absolute steal and definitely at least worth a try if you’re in the JB area.

I think one good thing is that they put in some tofu skin and separate some outside in a different packaging, which simply means that you get some of the soft ones soaked in curry sauce (really yummy) and some waiting for you to put in so you have have that crisp texture rolling about in your mouth (I’m still more of a fan of soaking it).

Star Rating

8.5/10. I’ve been meaning to try this basically since 5 years ago, but either never had the time or just forgot about its existence from time to time, but I’m glad that I finally had the chance to try it! This is a GREAT curry and not just that, it is very value for money relative to most other things you would eat anyways. Definitely worth a try. (and Hiap Joo banana bread as well!)