Food Blog | Tropique Cafe & Restaurant Johor Bahru
Today I’ll be talking about yet another one of those cafes that fall under the ‘Instagrammable Cafes’ category, and it is none other than Tropique Cafe & Restaurant (Taman Ekoflora, Johor Bahru). Serving up fantastic food, this was a place where I had a really pleasant experience.
Is it Halal?
Tropique Cafe says that it uses ingredients sourced from a halal supplier, and their menu contains no pork or lard. They back up their claims with the evidence of certificates showing where they obtain their ingredients for. They, however, don’t have a full halal certificate - said to be because they serve alcohol on their premises.
Where it Is
Tropique Cafe is located in an upcoming area of Johor Bahru, Spring Labs! It is a really hipster spot in Johor Bahru with beautiful buildings, unique lighting and wonderful backdrops with lots of colour! At the center of it all, you pretty much have Tropique Cafe! The few things you will want to find would be the gym, and the train, which are placed beside Tropique.
It is quite easy to identify - you can even identify it from the main street! Most of the parkings can be found on the sides of the main streets. I believe that the parking here is free.
Address: Lot D, Jalan Ekoflora 1, Taman Ekoflora, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor
Operating Hours
Daily: 10am to 11pm (But do note, they are sometimes closed for private events, so I HIGHLY recommend checking on their Facebook page)
What it Costs
As many of you guys know, I’m a VERY big fan of The Entertainer (click this link here and purchase the deal, and you get some points to use!), and you can get buy 1 free 1 deals on the app, and this is one of those places where this becomes very relevant. You can get buy 1 free 1 mains, beverages or even appetisers.
So I headed there with my girlfriend and used a buy 1 free 1 for the appetisers. We decided to go with 2 appetisers and 2 mains. For starters, we chose the Corn Ball (RM18.90) and 2 pieces of their Fresh Imported Oysters (RM24), and for the mains, we had the beef burger (RM32.90) and the aglio olio unagi (RM28.90)! Our total came out to be RM99.50.
Tropique Fresh Oysters
Portions wise, probably not the biggest, but what I would say is that every single dish is made for a whole lot of care. They are all very intricate and sophisticated at the same time, making it very worth the money - especially when you think that in my case, I paid RM24 for 2 of their starters.
If you’d like to take a look at the full menu with all the prices, you can find them all right here in their full menu!
Tropique Corn Balls
How it Tastes
This is where this restaurant really excels. Each bite you take is just… WOW. We started off with their complimentary bread with some butter and some other component - not too sure, just that it is fatty, and it is one of the better complimentary services that I’ve seen in almost any restaurant, which I appreciate.
Then we move to the oysters. This is where it really surprises me. They seem to want the oyster to do the talking - don’t think they have tobasco sauce, which is quite common to eat with oysters, but just eating it fresh it tastes really good! It isn’t really like that watery consistency that you normally find, but more like a mussel like consistency - so if you don’t really like oysters being of that goo-ey consistency, definitely try the oysters here!
The other appetiser we had was that corn balls. So they offered 4 of them, and this sauce is the absolute BOMB. Think the McDonald’s Smoky Grilled Beef Burger spicy mayo but just elevated with fresher ingredients, but that is the same general idea of the sauce. The corn balls were fried to PERFECTION, and the corn makes a pretty nice filling when mixed together with that mozzarella cheese.
Tropique Unagi Aglio Olio
For the mains, I ate more of the beef burger, and it is a really well balanced burger! You have a nice beef patty, topped with a tasty garlic mayo combined with some delicious caramelised onions and some vegetables beside a delicious serving of crispy fried rice. The burger works really well, and their fries are so tasty and crunchy - to the point when I even thought it tastes a little like truffle fries - but definitely one of the best fries I’ve had since I went over to Brazzo House for their truffle fries.
My girlfriend’s Unagi Aglio Olio was tasty too! It doesn’t look like it has too much in terms of the flavour department, but it has a LOT of elements. I would say it is definitely on the spicier side - compared to other aglio olios - and has other elements like your crunchiness (they have garlic and even some croutons - I’m not 100% sure about this) to match with the linguine pasta.
But overall, as I said, this is a NICE place!
Tropique Beef Burger
Suitable For…
Please don’t bring a girl here for a first date. You setting the bar way too high for future dates, because this is just a splendid cafe. The ambience, food and service make for a great experience. This is, in my opinion, a place fo anniversaries or MAYBE special occasions like Valentine’s Day (not sure how the pricing for their special menus would be like though).
Star Rating
8.5/10 (Both for me and Bubz - my girlfriend). This is a REALLY good cafe. You guys know how few 8.5s I give. I pretty much have only given 1 other, and that restaurant isn’t in Johor Bahru, so imagine that! But everything I love about this restaurant I mentioned before already. There was a small mixup with The Entertainer app, but I was willing to let it go because I enjoyed the meal, but otherwise, this was a REALLY nice meal!