The name Si Si Nan Cun 四四南村 refers to Four Four South Village (aka Forty-Four South Village) in Taipei, a former military dependents’ village that has since become a cultural and creative spot.
These villages are often associated with a mix of regional Chinese cooking, home-style dishes, noodles, dumplings and braised items.
Si Si Nan Cun 四四南村 at SKS City Mall JBCC makes its Taiwanese identity quite clear before you even walk in, and is listed by the brand as its first flagship store in JB.
The modern Taiwanese casual dining restaurant is quite large, with a long frontage, wood toned panels, booth seats and a spacious dining area.
Food-wise, the menu tries to bring in a few Taiwanese street food elements such as braised pork rice, pork chop rice, beef noodles, oyster mee sua and wheel cakes.
For Lu Rou Fan lovers, there are the Champion Braised Pork Rice (RM 18.90 a la carte, RM 23.90 set), Golden Ratio Braised Pork Rice (RM 19.90 a la carte, RM 24.90 set), and Champion Braised Pork Shrimp Rice (RM 25.90 a la carte, RM 28.90 set).
The “champion” version is stated to follow a fattier (90% fats) ratio, while the “golden ratio” version uses a more balanced mix of fat and lean meat.
I went for the Taiwanese Pork Chop with Champion Braised Pork Rice (RM 27.90), just as they recommended. The set came on a wooden tray with rice, braised pork, a sunny side up egg, fried pork chop, side dishes and chilli.
The Lu Rou Fan sauce was dark and glossy, coating chunks of pork belly over the rice, with the oozy egg adding that familiar comfort food touch.
While it was listed as 90% fats, I thought it didn’t taste too greasy, with the melt-in-the-mouth savour.
The pork chop, sliced into thick pieces with a crisp seasoned crust, surprisingly brought me back to the night markets of Taipei.
It had a light peppery fragrance and was not too oily, though parts of the meat could be a touch firmer than expected.
There are also weekday business lunch sets from Monday to Friday, 12pm to 5:30pm, with sets starting at RM 21.90. Pretty affordable, I must say.
Some of the lunch options include Champion Braised Pork Rice, Braised Pork Knuckle Rice, Flat Wonton Braised Pork Soup Noodle, Mushroom Chicken Soup Noodle, Sesame Oil Chicken Misua, and Taiwanese Hong Sao Beef Ramen.
One thing that may catch your eye near the entrance is the Taiwanese wheel cake section.
Wheel cake 車輪餅 is a popular Taiwanese street snack made by cooking batter in round moulds, then filling it with sweet or savoury fillings.
Here, the wheel cake flavours include Red Bean (RM 5.90), Custard (RM 5.90), Peanut Butter (RM 6.90), Taro Paste (RM 6.90), Cheese Potato (RM 6.90), Oreo (RM 6.90), and Pearl Milk Tea (RM 6.90).
The wheel cakes are probably worth trying if you want a small snack, and I found my Red Bean cake not too sweet.
Si Si Nan Cun 四四南村
SKS City Mall JBCC L1-16, Jalan Storey, 80300 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Opening Hours: 11am – 9:30pm (Mon – Sun)
Google Maps – Si Si Nan Cun 四四南村 SKS City Mall JBCC
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