JB oh! JB: Boiled Tapioca & Lempeng at Dapur Jendela

Dapur Jendela Outside Seating

My trip to Johor Bahru, abbr. as JB was full of surprises. From stunning "home" delicacies to foot-ache historical tracking and shocking of other new development in town. I am a Johorean, but honestly I spent very less time in here when I was mostly in Kota Tinggi (another districts located 40KM from JB) and grew up in Segamat district, 200KM or 3 hours by driving.

Unique feature. Forks & Spoon for warm light decoration setting

It was a very warm Saturday evening and we were walking along the night market at Tan Hiok Nee street, the Chinatown of JB. The outlook of this Restaurant is very unique. Dapur Jendela or literally as "kitchen's window" is the synonymous of Malay traditional kitchen with small windows, wooden stools and kitchen table plus some other creative stuffs here and there for the decor. 

Boiled Tapioca & Sambal

As usual, we will highlight the food that we ate here. The truth, we were really full after having dinner at Meldrum Road. But, our eagerness to sit and enjoy authentic Johor food made us to squeeze or stomach here and there for some extra spaces for more foods 

Firstly, we ordered Ubi Rebus with Sambal Tumis (Boiled Tapioca with Sambal) which is one of my childhood favorite. Back then, when we live in Kampung "village", ubi is the easiest plant to grow in our backyard area and we can have it at anytime we want, plus its FREE. 

In Dapur Jendela, our serving came with a very nice aroma of butter which been spread-ed on top of the tapioca. The sambal on the side is the dipping sauce if you like to have it spicy. To describe more about the tapioca, the aroma was good, its soft (young tapioca i guess) and once I dipped it in the Sambal sauce and eat it, my childhood memory just blow to my mind when we always having it at my parents house especially during raining days. The Sambal was truly delicious, neither too spicy nor too sweet and very Johor style. 

Secondly, we ordered Lempeng or "Pancake" with Sambal, another typical  Malay Johor home breakfast. The different between the Lempeng and the western Pancake is the thickness of the layer and the ingredients. Basic Lempeng is just a simple mixture of from wheat flour, water and salt before cooking it with a little cooking oil onto non-stick flat pan by making a thin layer  of Lempeng; cook side by side. This is a real sample of quick & easy home breakfast.

Lempeng & Sambal on the side

Peeking from the
kitchen's window

Back to our Lempeng at Dapur Jendela, it come with Sambal, the same as we ate with boiled tapioca. The best is to eat Lempeng is by using hand, but if you not familiar with it, fork and spoon is an option. 

My favorite style is by cutting the Lempeng into small pieces, dip it into the Sambal sauce and eat it. If you don't like Sambal or spicy stuff, you might ask for plain sugar to eat this Lempeng. Optionally, I love to have it with brown sugar or tuna sardine too. This easy meal is so easy to match with what you have in your kitchen cabinet. 

Eating out at Dapur Jendela was an awesome experience. I will definitely come again whenever I'm visiting JB to enjoy more good foods here. This restaurant have 2 floors which uniquely designed in a creative Malay style. The second floor is more spacious which is very suitable for big group or private party. 

Optionally, you can choose the outside setting and enjoy the food while seeing people passing by. It was same like having food in Warung; "malay stall which is normally the business run by family members'.

There were many other dishes for you to try here such as Rice Porridge and Soto which I is very popular among their regular customers. You may follow Check Dapur Jendela's facebook Fan Page for recent update or promotion.

As usual, I would like to thank my travel mate Christopher for his willingness to eat in this Dapur Jendela even I know you were full to the neck. Thanks for the photos during the trip too mate. 

You can LIKE his photography page at 祥發 Photography for more photos and sharing.