New outlets for dining - Traders Hotel Harbour Cafe & Tam Zabb Thai Lao Restaurant in Nusa Bestari

With the newborn baby, we've not been out much so it's so nice to be out recently to try out a couple of new dining places.

Harbour Cafe @ Traders Hotel Nusajaya

For lil James' 1st month celebration, we took the house crew to dine at the newly opened Traders hotel's Harbour Cafe.

The buffet dinner cost RM78++/person and offers standard international spread of cuisine, ranging from sashimi, indian, chinese, roast lamb and chicken to tangine. Desserts selection include chocolate fondue (white and normal choc - super yummy), cakes, fruits, ice cream and local dessert, e.g. cheng theng. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to take pictures (i'll update this when we dine at the restaurant again).

Food was good and ambience was nice. Though not something you'd go every day, it's so nice to have a more upmarket dining option selection finally in this area. The restaurant was quite packed even though we went mid week. We were told that the restaurant's usually fully booked in the weekend.

Phone: (60 7) 560 8888
Location: Block 1, Level 1
Opens daily from 6.30am - 11pm
Dress Code: Smart Casual
Smoking Policy: not permitted in Harbour Café (indoor area).





Tam Zabb - Thai & Lao Restaurant @ Nusa Bestari 

Last week four of us went to try a newish (opened since Dec'12) Thai Lao restaurant in Nusa Bestari. The restaurant is owned by Benny, fellow motor-cross rider that Ian came to know from riding in Johor. Benny's wife is the head chef and is from Northeastern Thailand, hence their aim is to provide authentic Thai food.

Courtesy of Tam Zabb Facebook page

For the four of us, we ordered steamed fish, pandan chicken, pineapple fried rice, pork larb, chicken sauteed with cashew nuts, tom kha gai, stir fry kailan and banana with palm sugar dessert. I've also tried the lemongrass drink as well as pandan soda, both of which are very refreshing drinks.

Food is authentic Thai, unlike many Thai restaurants which taste more Chinese than Thai. Food has the right spiciness. Unfortunately I wasn't able to eat too much of it due to breastfeeding (God I miss chillies!!!) The restaurant is very nicely decorated, modern and simple. I love the Sweedish looking tables and chairs which were made by Benny's father as we were told. The ambience is very cosy.

The meals are also reasonably priced. All of us are pretty happy with dinner so we'd definitely be back for more. Unfortunately I didn't get chance to take decent photos but there's a recent review on Johorkaki which is quite detailed.

The restaurant is located at:
48G Jln Bestari 3/2 Tmn Nusa Bestari, Johor

Phone	07-232 5859
Email	info@tamzabb.com

Mon: 12:00 pm - 11:00 pm

Wed - Sun: 12:00 pm - 11:00 pm

Soul Asia - Little Thailand in Nusa Bestari, Johor

We finally had the chance to check out Soul Asia, a Thai massage shop in Taman Nusa Bestari. We tried the 60 minutes traditional Thai massage and had dinner at the restaurant after massage.

I must say I felt like we were back in Health Land Bangkok. The room was very nice and clean. The massage ladies were Thais who have been in Johor for over 3 years. There are apparently over 30 Thai massage ladies in this place.

The total cost of our massages was RM106 (including tax) - SG$50 equivalent for 2 people. In Singapore, the cheapest Thai massage I can find is in Golden Mile, which is still more expensive than this and the place wasn't very nice.

So needless to say, we will be going back to this place for sure. I'd like to try the Thai aromatherapy next, which cost RM110 (for 90 minutes).

Here are some pictures we took of the ground floor area:


Pictures of 3rd floor - our massage room:



After the great massage, we also had dinner at the Soul Asia bistro.



We ordered Coconut cream tom yum chicken soup, Thai style steamed prawns, kai lan with Oyster Sauce, pineapple fried rice, stir fried chicken. Though not as authentic as First Thai or Diandin Leluk Thai restaurants in Singapore, I did enjoy the meal and it was nice. The dinner cost RM90 (SGD38 est. equivalent).



Overall, we spent less than SGD100 for the relaxing evening (massage, food & drinks), so I was very happy.

The place is very clean, nice, cheap and very Thai - so if you like Thai massage, I highly recommend this place :)

Soul Asia is located at No 3G, Jalan Bestari 3/5, Taman Nusa Bestari, 81300 Nusajaya, Johor.

Contact No: 07-511 1000/2000, Open Daily from 11 am to 1 am.


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