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Going local with weekend Tiffin tea treat

Situated in the heart of Johor Baru and towering over Jalan Trus and Jalan Wong Ah Fook, the Suasana Suites Iskandar not only commands a panoramic view of the city but is also located close to the city’s heritage quarter.

A Tiffin Afternoon Tea set served at Suasana Suites Cafe
exclusively on Friday and Saturday afternoons only
While tourists and visitors to JB may have discovered some of the popular local snacks and delicacies to eat and buy home as takeaways, there are still some traditional treats that only locals know about.

Taking this cue from them, the good people at Suasana Suites Café decided to present these tasty treats all in one place for diners to savour at leisure in a Tiffin Afternoon Tea set, exclusively – only on Friday and Saturday afternoons.

So now there is no need to rush, queue or find your way about the old town because JB’s popular local delicacies are served among eight items, presented in a charming traditional tiffin carrier and served with your choice of hot coffee or tea.

A tiffin carrier hand-painted in a charming lilac shade
While the charming tiffin carriers are served to the table, I hear exclamations of delight as diners admire its colour and designs:

“I like the Yellow colour!” and “The Orange design looks lovely too…” and they went on and on…

Tiffin carriers have a proud tradition in our Asian heritage, and I’m pleased to see that Suasana Suites Café is making use of limited edition, hand-painted tiffin carriers, a signature product of JEIWA, the short-form for NGO, Johor Empowerment of Intellectual Women Association.

A serving of afternoon tea with Chinese Jasmine tea
It’s also good to see our local specialties being featured in this charming Tiffin Weekend Afternoon Tea set which serves two, with a choice of hot beverages like coffee, English tea, Chinese Jasmine tea or Malaysian Teh Tarik or frothy pulled tea.

At the table, the serving staff gently unstacks the tiffin carrier, layer by layer and reveals the contents inside each delicate bowl.

There are no rules as to where to start because the spread is made up of both, sweet and savoury cakes or kueh and local delicacies.

I’m told that the items may change daily so that diners can savour different types of local favourites each time they came for a Tiffin tea set here.

Local delicacies are served from a traditional tiffin carrier
Looking closer, I see that there are two portions of every item so that we can have an equal share to taste every item in this tea set.

Wrapped in banana leaves for an added fragrance, there is a taste of nostalgia in comfort food like Nasi Lemak and Mee Siam.

When the banana leaves are unwrapped, we see that the Nasi Lemak or coconut rice is topped with sambal and half a hardboiled egg, with a side of toasted peanuts and anchovies while the Mee Siam or fried rice vermicelli is topped with sambal and strips of egg omelette.

The local flavour continues in other items found in a separate bowl from the tiffin carrier: I can recognise kueh lapis, kueh serimuka, kueh ketayap and angku kueh.

Banana leaf-wrapped Nasi Lemak and Mee Siam are
among the items in this Tiffin Afternoon tea set
“Apa ini, eh?” a Malay colleague asks with curiosity, pointing to the item in a smaller bowl.

This compels me to share what little I know: It’s Mengkuang Kueh, a Chinese steamed pastry filled with strips of turnip and dried prawns.

The filling was originally bamboo shoots but as this is a rare and pricey item, the makers of this pastry has substituted it with turnip.

This is served with a side of chilli sauce for diners to enjoy an added zing to its mild taste.

The two slices of banana cake in the small bowl really need no introduction because they are the famous must-have Johor Baru delicacy by Hiap Joo Bakery in the heritage quarter!

It’s presence in the Tiffin tea set comfortably completes the delightful afternoon tea experience at Suasana Suites Café.

Crispy crackers [Left] exclusively available from Suasana
Suites Cafe, can be highly "addictive" so just be warned
In addition to the items served from the tiffin carrier, a bag of crispy fish crackers is served on the side as part of this tea set.

Just ask the staff to help cut open the sealed bag when you are ready to have a bite of these popular crispy crackers.

Be warned that these tasty crisps can be highly “addictive” as you crunch your way through the bag, and may wish/desire to have more…

Then it’s good to know that these crackers are also available for sale and takeaways, offered in two bag sizes. Just ask the friendly staff.

Suasana Suites Café is on Level 33A, the rooftop of Suasana Suites Iskandar Johor Baru, an all-suites hotel located at No. 82-C Jalan Trus, 80000 Johor Baru.

Advance booking is required for Tiffin Weekend Afternoon Tea, served only on Friday and Saturday from 2pm to 5.30pm.

Price at RM48 nett per set for two persons.

For reservations, Tel: +607 – 267 0148 Extn: 7717 or +6017 – 283 5226.

For more info on Suasana Suites Iskandar Johor Baru, visit their website and Facebook page.

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