Kafe Sek Tong / SYST (acronym for Shen Ye Shi Tang / 深夜食糖.港式甜品) is a wildly popular Hong Kong-style dessert cafe in Malaysia known for its vibrant 80s Hong Kong retro decor and neon signs, providing a nostalgic atmosphere to enjoy traditional comfort food. The cafe started its first outlet in Mid Valley Megamall (Kuala Lumpur) and expanded to Johor Bahru with an outlet in Mid Valley Southkey Mall.
Aside from a series of traditional Hong Kong desserts and contemporary desserts, the cafe offers a list of popular Hong Kong dishes, including char siew rice, curry chicken noodle, wanton noodle, steamed rice dishes, toasts, sandwiches, egg tarts, etc. A particular dish that stands out among the list of Hong Kong-style dishes is the Johor Bahru specialty dish san lou mee hoon (三楼米粉), a “kung fu” dish that demands great wok skills — I rarely see this dish outside Johor Bahru’s zi-char (cooked-to-order) restaurants, so definitely must try.
Sek Tong has set promotions for its main dishes where a dessert can be added-on at cheaper price. I went for the JB-Style Fried San Lou Mee Hoon (新山三楼米粉) and added one of their signature desserts — Lemon Grass Jelly with Pomelo (香茅柚子冻).
The JB-Style Fried San Lou Mee Hoon (新山三楼米粉) is served fried-side up and in a clump as expected. It carries a nice fragrance of the condiments used and strong wok aroma. Flipping the noodle over reveals prawns, chicken slices and scrambled egg that are stir-fried with the thin rice vermicelli before clumping them. Of special note, the dish is not dark and savoury, from using soy sauce, but with more aromatic flavours and slight spiciness. It tastes different from other zi-char restaurants and is delicious in its own way.
The Lemon Grass Jelly with Pomelo (香茅柚子冻) has soft jelly with mellow lemongrass flavour topped with pomelo fruit pulps. The pomelo pulps add its low-acidic, bitter-sweet juice to the mild-sweet lemongrass jelly, creating a light and refreshing dessert.
The recommended Home Ground Black Sesame Soup (生磨芝麻糊) — added with two glutinous rice balls — is very finely ground and smooth with a viscosity that is neither too starchy nor too fluid. The black sesame paste carries a mild characteristic bitterness of black sesame with very low sweetness. The glutinous rice balls have black sesame fillings which blend well with the dessert. This is great for afternoon tea in place of coffee / tea.
The Salted Egg Toasts (咸湿咸蛋西多士) is served with a layer of molten salted yolk paste sandwiched between two thick French toasts. The non-oily golden toasts carries a mild sweet-savoury flavour of butter and egg. And the filling is slightly sweetened to balance the saltiness of the salted yolk and smoothen it. This is a nice light bite for afternoon tea.
Sek Tong Cafe offers more than just desserts. The JB-Style Fried San Lou Mee Hoon is definitely a must to try and I will be back again for its soulful char siew rice (黯然销魂叉烧饭), its emerald pistachio paste, and more.
What’s in the Name?
Kafe Sek Tong’s Chinese name is called “深夜食糖” where “食糖” (shi tang) means “eat sweet / dessert”. It has the same pronunciation as “食堂” which means an “eatery / eating place”. Thus, the name “Sek Tong” — literal pronunciation of “食糖” in Cantonese — carries a dual meaning as “a place for eating desserts”.
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Address:
Mid Valley Southkey Mall, Level 3, T-043
1, Persiaran Southkey 1, Southkey, 80150 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Opening Hours:
10am to 10pm | Daily
How to Get There:
From JB Sentral, take BAS.MY J15 directly to Mid Valley Southkey Mall. Read JB Bus: To Mid Valley Southkey Mall in Kota Southkey.
Nearby:
More @ Mid Valley Southkey Mall:
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