The 10 Best Halal Restaurants in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Get fancy and flamboyant at this urban fine-dining experience. Impressive light features contrast with dark wood furniture, and the food arrives like something straight out of Cook’s Illustrated. If you have some change to spare, try the special grilled prawns – pricey, but worth it for the incredible flavor.

Generous portions, quick service, and flavourful curries – what’s not to love? This old bungalow-turned restaurant will serve you chicken kolhapuri, paneer masala, chili squid, and onion bhaji without batting an eye or causing too much damage to your wallet. Parking can be a little tight on weekends.

If you think a good lamb shank biryani is the perfect way to spend an evening, you’ll have a rollicking time at Arabian Nights. Located on the first floor of Plaza Pelangi mall, this small restaurant boasts fluffy naans, creamy hummus, curried vegetables, and succulent kebabs.

Locals rave about this restaurant-bar, and for good reason. Serving an impressive range of North Indian and Western-style cuisine, Olive dishes out everything from tandoori to biryani, pizzas to pastas, and has great ambience to boot.

Who says you can’t get halal dim sum in Johor? This is the place where you get your shumai (traditional dumplings), pao (steamed buns), and chee cheong fun (rice noodle roll) without the pork, lard, or non-approved meat. The crispy soft shell crabs, in particular, will have you coming back for more.

This simple, kampung-style restaurant features straw-woven canopies with picnic-style sets – all the better to enjoy your bone marrow dishes. The gearbox mee rebus (yellow noodles with stewed bone marrow) is a classic, and other local favorites such as mee soto (noodles in broth) and laksa Johor (spaghetti noodles with thick sauce) are also available

At It Roo, it’s all about the chicken chop. Choose your prep style, sauce, and sides – because there’s one for every appetite. Appetizer is a small bowl of peanuts (which you’ll be charged for, so ask that it be removed if you don’t want it). Chinese-style rice dishes and non-alcoholic beer floats are also available.

Have you tried the best mutton rendang (mutton stewed in spices) in town? Then you must have been to this restaurant. Simple, no-frills, and affordable, this is where you get Malay classics such as rendang, curry squid, fried chicken, and traditional kuih (rice flour desserts). They also cater for special occasions.