It Roo Cafe, Taman Sutera Utama, Johor Bahru

“The Best Chicken Chop In Town”, screams the sign on the awnings at their main shop at Jalan Dhoby, Johor Bahru, and it has quite lived up to the billing for many generations. But the old shop that had been declared as one of of JB’s “Heritage Sites” now has a new branch at a rapidly growing food area in Taman Sutera Utama.

Old Name, New (Shop) Face

As gNOMe 1 hails from Johor Bahru, this has always been a place that gNOMe 1 would introduce to his friends when they come over to JB. So far, people enjoy the food served here. The shop is usually full to the brim during lunch time.

In case you did not notice it the first time, they have decided to announce it another time on your way in.

The usual, please!

An old favorite with the crowd, the fried chicken chop (RM 15.20) here is truly tasty. Fried and seasoned to perfection, one has the choice to top it off with either black pepper sauce or mushroom sauce, whichever you fancy. The batter is crispy and also serves to lock in the juiciness of the meat within. Just ask any regular here and they will recommend the fried chicken chop for sure.

Grilled Chicken Chop

As for those of you who do not fancy batter or flour, there’s always the equally satisfying alternative – the Grilled Chicken Chop (RM 15.90)! Coupled with salad and seasoned potato wedges. However the gNOMes do feel that the wedges over at Jalan Dhoby are a little tastier than the one here.

Wild Mushroom Soup

If you happen to be looking for an appetizer not typically made out of the contents of a tin can, perhaps real wild mushroom soup is what you are looking for. Sufficiently tasty with nice little chunks of wild mushrooms, but thicker broth is always more welcome.

Super Salmon!

The surprise package of the day was the Grilled Salmon (RM 22.90). We had no expectations when this dish came along, but boy were we wrong. Even though it may look a little dry from the picture, the salmon was juicy and very very fresh, the marination and grilling masking any fishy odor perfectly. This dish stole the headlines for the day and made us forget our chicken chops.

ahhh… Root Beer

Top it all off with their house root beer float (RM 6.90), which apparently has been a house favorite since the old days (when A&W was still popular).

Verdict : If you are ever heading down to JB and don’t know what to eat, head on down to Taman Sutera Utama and pay this shop a visit. Otherwise if you are close to the city centre, head on over to their main shop at Jalan Dhoby! Arguably the best chicken chop in JB.

How to get there :

Address : 17 Jalan Dhoby, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia (Main outlet)

18G, Jalan Sutera Tanjung 8/4, Taman Sutera Utama, 81300 Skudai (2nd Branch)

Contact number : +607-222 7780 (Main Outlet), +607-5566018 (2nd Branch)

Opening hours : Mondays to Sundays, 1000 hours to 2130 hours