The Spice Kitchen @ Johor Bahru, Johor

A couple of weeks back, I happened to be travelling to Singapore for work and on our return journey, due to the traffic congestion, we ended up crossing the causeway rather late. Both my friends and I had not had a single meal the entire day and we were starving. It was past 9.30 pm and many of the restaurants that I had looked up on Google were closing for the day at 10.00 pm . No way could we reach any one of those restaurants before that based on where we were. After some Googling, we finally came across this place that opens till 11.00 pm and Google Maps said that it would take us approximately half an hour to reach this restaurant and that leaves us with an hour for dinner. The contact details were also there and I had called to confirm this. Once done, we went over to this locality called Bukit Indah.

The Restaurant Along Jalan Indah 15, Taman  Bukit Indah

Dim Lights And Cosy Ambiance

Taman Bukit Indah seems like a very happening locality with lots of restaurants that open till late. Many hypermarkets in that area too and it seemed like there were a lot of student crowd as well. Probably there's a university not too far from here. This restaurant is located along Jalan Bukit Indah 15 and you can't miss the place. The restaurant occupies two or three units of shop lot and is brightly lit up with clear signage which is visible from afar. The place seemed to be romantically lighted up and had a very wonderful ambiance. Lots of staffs were seen and everyone seemed to be working in a specific order alongside the captain who was the one that was taking the orders. 

They have a very interesting line up of dishes ranging from North and South India. They do also have Chinese dishes but please note that these are the Indianised Chinese dishes similar to what you may find in India and has got no similarity with the Chinese dishes that you find in Malaysia. For the kind of set up, I was expecting the prices to be on the high side but it seemed very affordable. This way, they would not only attract working adults but students too. Ordering was a breeze and the Captain was a friendly chap who took his time to build a friendship with the customers. That's excellent customer service. 

Iced Water @ RM 0.50 per Glass

Plain Naan @ RM 4.99 each

Butter Naan @ RM 6.99 each

Due to the crowd, it did take a while for the food to arrive. We ordered one piece of Plain Naan and two pieces of Butter Naan. Their Plain Naan was bad to be honest and we did relate this to the Captain as well who went on to say that the Naan chef was rather new on the job. It was very dry, not properly toasted and it was like you would almost fracture your fingers trying to tear it. The texture was very coarse too. My rating for this shall be 5/10. Their Butter Naan was better. At least, this was made to be softer by the butter that had been applied. Still not a great one but way better than the earlier one. I would rate this latter one at 6/10. 

Crispy Chili Potato @ RM 13.99

This Crispy Chili Potato was an excellent dish. I do not know if this is a North Indian or South Indian dish or even if it's a fusion dish but it did taste awesome. The potatoes were fried to a crisp and topped with a sweet and spicy chili topping. I was just so addictive and good to go on it's own. My rating for this shall be 9/10. 

Paneer Butter Masala @ RM 16.99

Their Paneer Butter Masala was nice as well. It had the right flavours and they did not skimp on the ingredients. The gravy was thick as well and that went very well with the bread. Paneer was of a good quality too and that was evident from the taste. I shall rate this at 8/10. 

Kadai Vegetable @ RM 13.99

Their Kadai Vegetable was not that great actually. The blend of vegetables used were good but it did taste quite bland. A long way to go to reach the desired taste. My rating for this shall be 6/10. 

Bill For The Day

The Spice Kitchen is definitely a decent place to have your North or South Indian meal in Johor Bahru and another good thing about this place is that they are open till 11 pm daily. We tried a number of dishes, some were very good and some were just okay. Despite the mixed reviews, I would say that this place is worth visiting, especially for cross border travelers who are looking for a vegetarian meal when most places would have already closed for the day. Nevertheless, the ambiance is excellent and their prices are reasonable. 

Address: Jalan Indah 15, Taman Bukit Indah, 81200 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Opening Hours: 1130 - 2300 Daily

Telephone: +607 237 3311