Century Street Food Court, JB: the 80-stall night food court 5 minutes from KSL

Century Street Food Court (Chinese signage: 口福 大食紀美食阁) is the big open-air food court in Century Garden, on the KSL City Mall side of Johor Bahru. Locals call the area Taman Century. It is not a heritage spot and it is not on the tourist trail — which is exactly why it is worth knowing about: this is where the neighbourhood eats dinner and supper, 80-plus stalls under string lights, from 4 in the afternoon until 2 in the morning.

We know it well because we run a stall here — Apam Balik Jalil, the crispy peanut-pancake stall (more on that below). This guide is what we tell friends who ask "what should I eat at Century?"

The layout

The court is one large lot on Jalan Dato Sulaiman with rows of stalls around the edge and open seating in the middle. Drinks come from a separate drinks stall (the usual arrangement in Malaysian food courts: you order food from any stall and drinks from the drinks counter, and pay each separately when the food arrives). Most seating is outdoors under canopies; bring a light jacket only if it has been raining.

What to eat, by category

Prices below are what a typical plate cost on our last walk-through in September 2026 — treat them as ballpark, not menu.

Category	What to look for	Typical price
Grilled	Pork satay (the court's best-known item), chicken satay, grilled otak-otak	RM1–1.50 per stick, otak RM1.50–2
Wok	Char kway teow, Hokkien mee, fried rice	RM7–10
Noodles & soup	Fish-ball noodles, laksa, wantan mee, kway teow kia	RM6–9
Steamed / fried	Dumplings and pan-fried gyoza, dim sum trays	RM6–10 a plate
Lok lok	Skewers dipped in boiling stock or fried, self-serve	RM1–3 per stick
Sweet snacks	Apam balik, pisang goreng, keropok lekor, tau fu fa	RM2–6
Drinks	Fresh sugar-cane, kopi, teh, canned beer (RM19 for a large bottle)	RM2–4 for soft drinks

A realistic dinner for two — a satay round, one wok dish, one noodle dish, two drinks and a sweet — lands around RM40–50.

Our stall: Apam Balik Jalil

Look for the round griddle and the fryer next to it. Apam Balik Jalil has been making the thin, crispy kind of apam balik (the Malaysian peanut pancake) for more than fifteen years. The classic is kacang — crushed peanut and sugar — and the board runs to twenty-plus fillings including kaya, kelapa, sweetcorn, Nutella, Oreo and cheese. The same stall fries pisang goreng (banana), keledek goreng (sweet potato), keropok goreng (fish cake) and Mr. Jalil's own hand-made keropok lekor.

Order it last, eat it while it is still crackling, and if you are taking some back across the Causeway, ask for it uncut — it stays crisper.

Getting there

• From KSL City Mall: walk out of the mall on the Jalan Seladang side and head along Jalan Dato Sulaiman; about 5 minutes.
• From JB Sentral / CIQ: Grab, 10–15 minutes. Put in "Century Street Food Court".
• Driving: free parking on site; overflow on the surrounding streets.

Nearby

• KSL City Mall — air-conditioned shopping, a Monday-evening pasar malam out front (roughly 4–10 pm).
• Cedar Point Food Centre (Jalan Musang Bulan, behind the Grand Paragon Hotel) — another hawker centre, known for grilled stingray; a short Grab away.
• Taman Sri Tebrau hawker centre — old-school Hokkien mee and Penang char kway teow, morning and evening sessions.

See our guide to eating around KSL City Mall for how these fit together in one evening.