Abu Bakar Hanipah’s stall is famous for its authentic mee bandung — a Johor-specialty dish created in Muar and Abu Bakar Hanipah being one of the pioneers of the dish — and has been serving it since 1930. The stall is located inside Wah San Kopitiam (华山咖啡店) in the old town of Pekan Muar, but no worries, Abu Bakar Hanipah’s big signboard is very obvious.
“Bandung” is a Malay word for “mixture” or “combined”, referring to how the gravy-broth of mee bandung is made using a mixture of ingredients. The Muar-specialty dish has nothing to do with Bandung (万隆), a city in West Java of Indonesia.
The Mee Bandung uses thick yellow noodle added with dried shrimps, a poached egg, chopped cuttlefish, greens, fried shallots and drenched in a thick gravy-broth made from finely-ground dried shrimp, minced dried beef and spices. The thick dried-shrimp-flavoured gravy is well-blended with balanced flavours of spiciness, sweetness and savouriness. It is indeed delicious.
Aside from mee bandung, another stall (unnamed) serves soto, chicken and beef satays. The daging (beef) and ayam (chicken) satays are marinated with sweet sauces and grilled on orders. The nicely-grilled and succulent meats have pleasant sweetness from the meats and are tasty on their own. Best to savour them while hot.
The satays are served with a unique satay gravy that contained finely-ground peanuts and not spicy. The gravy was light-tasting and enhanced the flavour of the meats rather than overpowering it. Is this Muar-style? Singapore’s satay gravy is usually added with coarse minced peanuts and, in Malacca, pineapple puree is added to create more flavours. Anyway, the satays here offered a nice taste experience and pair well with mee bandung.
Don’t miss Abu Bakar Hanipah’s mee bandung and the satays here when visiting Pekan Muar. Both are must-tries and very cheap.
Address:
Wah San Kopitiam (华山咖啡店)
69A, Jalan Abdullah, Pekan Muar, 84000 Muar, Johor, Malaysia
Opening Hours:
7am to 4pm | Closed on Friday
Nearby:
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