IT Roo Cafe at Jalan Dhoby, Johor Bahru in Malaysia

Back when we were much younger, Paul and I would take one weekend off a month to go on a trip. Be it to go overseas or to explore one of the many provinces and islands of the Philippines, these quick trips have proven to be really effective in busting our stress levels due to work.

Since migrating to the Lion City, we have incredibly slowed down in terms of taking impromptu trips. Perhaps, it's because of the size of Singapore as a whole and our lack of familiarity on this region. Slowly though, we're learning and hopefully soon we'll get back on track.

A few weekends ago, we took in impromptu day trip to nearby Johor Bahru. Going to JB, as popularly called by the locals, is as easy as hopping on a bus and just following the sea of people as they go through the immigration centres and finally to City Square Mall. On our first try, we got lost. Yes, really lost that we somehow ended up at the other end of town. Unbelievable! Add to the fact that I failed to make any research so we just randomly tried any restaurant within sight. On our second visit though, I was much more prepared. Thanks to all the blog reviews shared by my favorite Singaporean bloggers, I went to JB with a list to refer to.



Number 1 on my list was IT Roo Cafe. Said to have the best chicken chop in town, we crossed the street from City Square Mall and searched for Jalan Dhoby. This map provided by blogger Johor Kaki saved us from wandering around aimlessly. With the map on hand and Paul's superb sense of direction, we found the restaurant in no time. Hooray!

The menu was very simple and despite all the other options, my eyes zeroed in on the first item -- Chicken Chop (RM 15). Of course, I'm going for the house specialty!

You can get it in two types of sauces -- black pepper or mushroom sauce. We agreed to get one of each to be able to try the difference. Each set comes with fries and coleslaw too! I tried the Chicken Chop with Mushroom Sauce which I think was really good. The sauce wasn't too salty and the consistency was just right that it didn't felt like they added a lot of cornstarch into it which some restaurants would. The chicken was HUGE yet they have managed to keep it so juicy and tender. How amazing! I love the cold coleslaw which I think could rival KFC's. Sadly though, the fries were just a-okay as I was never a fan of extremely thick cut ones in the first place.

Paul had the Chicken Chop with Black Pepper Sauce which I have to admit was way more tasty. It must be the kick of the pepper which presented a different dimension of the rather predictable and straightforward fried chicken chop dish. As you know Paul loves anything with potatoes, he enjoyed the thick-cut fries and happily took ownership over the ones on my plate as well.

To go with our Chicken Chops, I tried the IT Roo Fried Rice (RM 7.50) which sounded really promising. If you look at the menu above, it shows a mountain of fried rice with a piece of shrimp in it. Unfortunately, I couldn't hardly find a single shrimp in our rice but they sure have added in a lot of eggs, leeks and chopped chicken fillet too. For a minute there, I wondered if I have ordered the wrong thing. I have to admit though it was good but it sadly have failed my expectations. Where are the shrimps?!

The service was very quick and I have to say the servers (all of them are aunties) were very attentive to our needs. The restaurant was packed to the brim but they have managed to served each hungry customers with ease.

I'm so glad to be able to try IT Roo and I can't wait to go back on our next shopping trip to JB.

IT Roo Cafe is located at 17 Jalan Dhoby, 80000 Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Better go early especially during weekends as it's best to secure a seat inside especially with the warm Malaysian weather outside.