Best Grilled Fish (Ikan Bakar) in Johor Bahru (JB)

Some of the best foods in Johor Bahru are congregated in Tepian Tebrau food court, and Tip-Top Ikan Bakar certainly adds to the list. The smell of the grilled seafood wafts throughout the air upon walking in, which leads you to this bustling stall, lined with fresh ocean goodness on an icy bed. The best sellers are sea bass and stingray, perfectly grilled with a lip-smacking sauce that blankets the fall-off-the-bone tender flesh, which breaks apart your self-discipline.  

Restaurant Queen Park is another renowned place among locals to spoil themselves with a range of local delights. Each turn just increases your hunger pang but what awakens all your senses is the Ikan Bakar stall. Once the delish dish lands on your table, bask in the marvellous aroma and admire the texture and colour of the fish. The juicy and tender fillet shrouded with a lip-smacking sauce with bits of chillies and onions elevates the dish to a further degree.

Frugal, famous and flavourful, this words sums up this fabled stall that has more than 20 years of experience. There’s nothing to shout about the ambiance as the myriad of seafood certainly does all the talking where their grilled sting ray is a sleeper hit. Consummately done on the griddle with scarlet-red sauce and served with grilled lady fingers by the side. The freshness of the fish is surely the real winner that leaves you wanting for more.  Looking at the price, you might opt for another bundle of joy. 

Sizzling StoneGrill offers a nice change from the regular Ikan Bakar scene, allowing patrons a little hands-on. What sets them apart from their competitors is diners have the liberty to grill their choice of meat or seafood themselves on a customised hot stone grill. Give a break to sea bass, mackerel and other local catches and opt for their Norwegian Salmon fillet that is fresh and plump. The key here is personalising the charred consistency according to your liking and delving it down piping hot with their chilli concoction. Sides wise - French fries, mixed vegetables, fresh corn and fried rice are contenders, where you can opt for two. For a full-fledged seafood feast, grace the grill with prawns and scallops too. 

This unassuming restaurant ranks high in authenticity by serving local delights such as nasi kerabu with widespread choices of dishes that are easy on the wallet. What not to be missed is their freshly grilled Mackerel which is deftly done over a charcoal fire. With pleasantly charred speckles on the outside and succulent white flesh on the inside, it tows a wonderful smoky flavour that keeps you yearning for more. Expect a quaint and quiet afternoon with friendly locals. 

An old-school restaurant that epitomes tranquillity. The real draw here is their cockles fried with chilli padi, and we will talk about it in another article. Other crowd-pleasing options on the menu is their grilled sea bass and hardtail which are equally praiseworthy. Expect a huge slab of fish rested on a banana leaf that is meant for sharing, with the right amount of crisp on the outside, while being juicy and fragrant on the inside. With two types of condiments and a wedge of lime tagging along, play around your tangy and spicy scale. 

Locals widely vouch about this modest stall as the one of the finest places to gobble down grilled dishes. And we were rather clouded with scepticism, a porridge joint delivering Ikan Bakar? Will this marriage of flavours work? And we left the eatery eating our words back, it’s was downright delicious. Fresh fish beautifully charred on the outside and bounteously brushed with an impeccable sauce that bombards your palate with savoury, sour, sweet and spicy ride, you’ll mop the platter clean within a blink of an eye. If porridge isn’t your cup of tea, opt for their steamed white rice.    

Burrowed between bustling stalls in one of the most vaunted food courts in Johor Bahru, Sin Kee Ikan Bakar is an extremely popular joint to get your seafood fix. You’ll commonly spot a perpetual queue at this stall and it’s not hard to see why once your taste buds are charmed with their sumptuous spread of grilled seafood, especially the fish. Succulent, fresh and flakes off the bone with ease, it's truly value-for-money. They are only open from 6 pm to perhaps 8 pm

Chomping down fresh and flavourful seafood in a laid-back ambiance is what Ikan Bakar Aurora is all about. What claps onto your eyes immediately is the grill counter, smoke billowing with a parade of seafood lined to quell the craving of locals. With raining orders for grilled fish, it would be a crime not adding yours into the list. Do yourself a favour; ask for extra sauce while you order as it got us scrapping the banana leaf dry. The flesh just slides off the bone with the mildest touch, complementing the thick gravy and handful of grilled long beans that add an element of crunch to the dish. 

As the sun takes a dip towards the horizon, this humble joint starts heating up a charcoal grill that churns out their much-raved Ikan Bakar. It’s a fuss-free atmosphere where locals stack up their orders without hesitating for a moment, thanks to their wallet-friendly prices. With a couple of fish selections, pick your favourite and let the smoky pit and adept master deliver you a grilled fish that delivers on all accounts, charred to perfection on the outside while retaining the moistness on the inside.