Weekend back in JB: 5 things to eat before the Sunday Causeway jam

Sunday evening is the worst time to be sitting in a car on the Causeway, and most people crossing back to Singapore already know it. The trick isn't avoiding JB on a Sunday — it's timing your last meal so you're not also stuck in the queue for it. Here are five stops that work with the clock, not against it.

1. Kacang pool at Kacang Pool Haji, Larkin

If you're leaving in the morning, this is the move. Kacang Pool Haji in Larkin runs 7am to midnight daily, and its kacang pool — a fava bean stew thickened with ground peanuts and minced beef, ladled over buttered toast with a fried egg on top — is widely rated as the original, most-copied version in Johor. It's a ten-minute sit-down meal, which matters when you're watching the time.

2. Grilled fish and mutton soup at Meldrum Walk

For an early-evening stop before the jam sets in properly, Meldrum Walk Halal Stalls is the halal-labelled end of JB's best-known night-food alley, a short walk from City Square. It opens around 5pm and gets going properly by 6, with four or five sup kambing (mutton soup) stalls, charcoal-grilled ikan bakar and halal oyster omelette all within a few stalls of each other. Go at 5:30–6:30pm and you'll be done eating well before the road backs up.

3. Coffee and kaya toast at Hua Mui, if you're leaving Sunday morning

Not everyone drives home in the evening — some make the smarter call and cross before the crowds build. Restoran Hua Mui on Jalan Trus has run from the same corner since 1946, and its Hainanese chicken chop and kaya toast make a proper sit-down breakfast if your plan is to eat, then cross before midday.

4. Supper at Century Street Food Court, timed after the jam

If you're not in a rush and can afford to wait the jam out, Century Street Food Court near KSL City Mall runs until 2am. Eating supper there from 9 or 10pm — instead of joining the 4–8pm crush — turns the wait into a meal instead of wasted time in traffic. Eighty-plus stalls, including our own stall, Apam Balik Jalil, for something sweet before the drive.

5. A last apam balik for the road

Whichever route you take, grab a crispy apam balik from Apam Balik Jalil on your way out — it travels well, doesn't need reheating, and gives you something to eat in the queue if the timing above doesn't quite work out. Kacang for the classic version, Nutella-keju if you want the modern one.

Why the timing matters more than the menu

None of these five stops are hard to find or exotic in what they serve — this is standard JB hawker and kopitiam food, the kind every guide covers. What actually changes your Sunday is when you eat it relative to the crossing, not which stall you pick. A kopitiam breakfast at 8am and the same breakfast at 11am put you in two completely different positions by the time you reach the checkpoint, even though nothing about the food itself changed. Locals who commute regularly build their whole Sunday around this rather than around any particular dish.

Putting it together

If you're driving home Sunday morning: Hua Mui for breakfast, then cross before midday. If you're leaving in the afternoon: kacang pool at Kacang Pool Haji as a late lunch around 2–3pm, then cross before 4. If you can only leave in the evening: eat at Meldrum Walk by 6pm and try to be at the checkpoint by 7:30, ahead of the worst of it — or accept the wait and turn it into a proper supper at Century Street Food Court instead of fighting it.

None of this guarantees a smooth crossing — the Causeway does what it wants on a Sunday — but eating on a schedule beats sitting hungry in a queue. And if your last stop in JB is Century Street Food Court, our stall, Apam Balik Jalil, is right there: thin, crispy apam balik in twenty-plus flavours, from the traditional kacang to Nutella and cheese, at Century Street Food Court in Taman Century. It's an easy way to end a JB weekend on something sweet.