There is plenty of good food in Johor Bahru and foodies are constantly on a lookout for new cafe or restaurants to try out during their weekend breaks in JB. Singaporean commonly travel over to indulge in seafood because of the exchange rates but I chanced upon this Western restaurant which is also quite worth the penny.
Anmour has a total of 5 outlets throughout JB and the outlet we visited was at the Bukit Indah area which is very popular amongst Singaporean as they do their groceries shopping in the nearby mall. The name Anmour sounds pretty much like angmo which is a local term for Western so the cafe simply means Western cafe or cafe serving Western food.
The cafe itself is not very big and can house at the most 40 diners at any given time. The decor is quite simple and clean with a modern industrial-chic look of brick walls and black metal.
They have quite an extensive menu with salads, pizza, pasta, mains, rice dishes, desserts and beverages.
The seafood bisque soup came in a usual soup bowl with herbs as garnish. The soup consistency was creamy and thick but I generally find the taste of the seafood not strong enough.
The seafood marinara spaghetti was filled with chunky tomatoes and a couple of fresh seafood like mussels, prawns and squid. The spaghetti was slightly dry and more tomato gravy would have made it better. The taste is quite general and the pasta was cooked well and not too al dente.
The fish and chip had a very crispy and golden brown coating but unfortunately, the fish was very bland and did not have a good texture. Some of the meat was slightly mushy and had the refrigerated taste. The fries were also slightly soggy.
The baked rice came with a generous amount of chicken and cheese and it was also quite tasty with a nice cheesy taste balanced with light herbs and spices.
The lamb shank came highly recommended as it is braised in sauce for many hours and the meat is extremely tender. The meat actually falls from the bone so it is really soft but not dry. The sauce is made with beef stock so it adds an additional layer of flavours to the lamb meat.
The lamb chop was, however, a bit of a disappointment as the meat had a lot of veins and was slightly tough to bite. The meat was also slightly gamey in taste.
This next dish was very impressive in terms of outlook when served as an entire fish was served together with rice and sambal cream sauce. The fish was huge for a 1 person serving and it was fried perfectly till crispy and every bite of the fish was crispy and crunchy. The sauce, however, did not quite make it as it did not have any strong sambal taste and did not go too well with the fried fish.
This was my favourite dish of the meal which is the honey pork chop served with spaghetti. The pork chop itself was very tender and juicy and the flavours of the honey nicely complemented the pork with a well balanced sweet and savoury flavour. The pasta also soaked in the sauces and was a good side dish to complete the meal.
Overall, I would not say it is a must-go place for western food since there are many other places serving better dishes. There are some hits and some misses but the price is really reasonable for the serving size and the environment is also pretty family-friendly so if you are just looking for a pocket-friendly place to bring your family, you can check out Anmour.
Address: 20, Jalan Indah 16/5, Taman Bukit Indah, 81200 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Operating hours: 12 pm to 10 pm
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