Soon Soon Heng Bak Kut Teh (顺顺兴肉骨茶) @ Jalan Serigala, Johor Bahru

Located just opposite Johor Bahru's (JB) major tourist spot, KSL, lies Soon Soon Heng Bak Kut Teh - one of two popular BKT restaurants (the other is Soon Huat). We were there during a food trip to JB, It was about 5pm and dinner crowds have already started to stream in, with most customers being.. well.. tourists like limbeh and limbu (my mother - like literally, my mum was with me).

Soon Soon Heng's BKT is reasonably priced (1 pax = RM$12, 2 pax = RM$24, 3pax = RM$36, etc.) but only includes pork ribs and minimal ingredients. You can choose to add a wide variety of other ingredients such as pork meat, innards (e.g., liver, intestines), mushrooms and fried beancurd skin. They also serve your usual side dishes such as braised peanuts, salted veggies, and you-tiao. Please order the you-tiao for God's sake, it ain't a complete BKT experience without these fried babies.

What determines how good is a BKT? The biggest factor is simply, the broth. Soon Soon Heng's BKT broth is a delicate combination of herbal and peppery, with the flavour of herbs significantly stronger. As a Cantonese, I am genetically inclined to soups, in particular soups made with herbs, hence I am biased towards the herbal version of BKT as compared to the Teochew (peppery) style. Just personal preference! Talking about their pork ribs, it wasn't totally off the bone, but it was tender and succulent enough. On a side note, do let me know if there are any good herbal BKT in Singapore!

Besides BKT, go for their Braised Pig Trotters (RM$11). The skin was a tad tough for my liking, but I must admit that the meat was tender and well-marinated with the dark soy sauce. We shared this amongst two people and it was just nice.

It was a great experience and I'm glad to say that my mum enjoyed it thoroughly too. We haven't tried Soon Huat BKT so probably that would be our next stop for our BKT hunt. Oh by the way, as seats are limited, do not be surprised if strangers come to fill the empty seats at your table!

Soon Soon Heng Bak Kut Teh Restoran (顺顺兴肉骨茶)

43 Jalan Serigala, Taman Abad

80250 Johor Bahru