What to expect before you cross the Causeway.
R&F Mall is the mall built into R&F Princess Cove, the waterfront estate you can see from the Woodlands side of the Causeway. Its big draw isn’t the shops; it’s the location: a covered walk under ten minutes from the JB CIQ, no Grab, no bus. Most write-ups oversell it. The reality is quieter, and that changes who it’s for.
| Highlights | Details |
|---|---|
| In short | Quiet mall. Best as a low-crowd food, errands and massage stop, or a base if you’re staying at Princess Cove. Not a shopping destination. |
| Location | R&F Princess Cove, Tanjung Puteri, right by the JB CIQ (Woodlands side) |
| From Singapore | About an 8-minute covered walk from the JB CIQ via the link bridge; free shuttle from JB Sentral |
| Opened | March 2019 |
| Don’t miss | Korean food, a cheap movie, a foot massage, Kiddomo for the kids |
Table of Contents
- Is R&F Mall Worth Visiting?
- Who owns R&F Mall, and what is R&F Princess Cove?
- How to Get to R&F Mall From Singapore
- Things to Do and Shops at R&F Mall
- Where to Eat at R&F Mall
- What to Do Near R&F Mall
- How R&F Mall Compares to Other JB Malls
- Paying in JB: Getting the Best Rate on Your Ringgit
- FAQ
Is R&F Mall Worth Visiting?
Image Credits: R&F Mall Johor Bahru on Facebook
Honest answer: yes, but only for the right reasons. R&F Mall is quiet, and it has been since it opened. If you’re picturing a busy, full-size mall like City Square, adjust your expectations before you go.
The backstory explains a lot. The mall opened in March 2019, then the pandemic hit within a year, and a chunk of its retail units never really filled. Older walkthrough videos flat-out call it a “ghost town”, with shuttered shopfronts on the upper floors and a handful of outlets trading downstairs. That reputation still follows it around.
What’s changed is that the parts people actually use have held on and, if anything, picked up. There’s a supermarket, a cinema that’s still running, a cluster of Korean and local eateries, a dental clinic, foot massage and salons, and a free shuttle bus now linking it to JB Sentral.
The estate itself keeps drawing residents, so the mall works as their neighbourhood centre more than a tourist stop.
So it comes down to why you’re going:
- Staying at Princess Cove? It’s your downstairs. Groceries, food, a massage and a movie without leaving the block.
- Want a low-effort stop right off the checkpoint? The covered walk from CIQ is the whole appeal. Clear customs, eat, grab a foot rub, walk back. No transport, no jam.
- Coming for shopping? Give it a miss. City Square is a few minutes further and far livelier, and the big malls out west have the brands.
Best for anyone who values a short, low-crowd walk over choice. If you’d trek across JB for a proper mall day, this isn’t it.
📖 Related Guide: Building a full day across the border? Our 27 things to do in JB on a weekend getaway maps out where a quick R&F stop fits.
Who Owns R&F Mall, and What Is R&F Princess Cove?
R&F Mall is owned by Guangzhou R&F Properties, the Chinese developer behind the wider R&F Princess Cove estate. The mall is one piece of that estate, not a standalone shopping centre.
Image Credits: R&F Princess Cove
R&F Princess Cove is a large mixed-use development in Tanjung Puteri, on the JB waterfront directly across from Woodlands. It packs high-rise apartments, service residences, a marina and the mall into one site, right beside the CIQ.
That’s why so many searches pair “R&F Mall” with “apartment” or “Airbnb”: plenty of visitors are staying in a Princess Cove unit and treating the mall as their ground floor.
It also explains the mall’s quiet, functional feel. It was built to serve the thousands of residents in the towers above it, not to pull day-trippers over the Causeway. Once you read it as a residential estate’s mall rather than a destination, the whole place makes more sense.
📖 Related Guide: Staying over and want to range further into JB? Our JB car rental guide for Singaporeans covers costs, insurance and the cross-border rules.
How to Get to R&F Mall From Singapore
R&F Mall is one of the easiest places in JB to reach from Singapore, because it’s the closest. It sits right at the JB CIQ, so you can walk there straight after clearing customs, no onward transport needed.
Walking from the JB CIQ
This is the way most people arrive, and it’s the mall’s single best feature. After you clear the JB CIQ (the Woodlands-side checkpoint), follow the signs to the covered link bridge that runs directly to R&F Mall and the Princess Cove residences.
Visitors who’ve timed the walk clock it at about 8 minutes, though allow 10 if it’s busy. It’s sheltered the whole way, so rain or shine you’re fine, and there’s a Tourist Information Centre near the exit if you need to orient yourself. No Grab, no bus, no queue for either.
From JB Sentral on the free shuttle
If you come in by train to JB Sentral, a free daytime shuttle bus (run by Causeway Link) links the mall and JB Sentral. It costs nothing to ride and saves you a Grab fare, which spikes hard on weekends. Check the timing board at the mall for the next departure, as the frequency varies through the day.
By bus or car from Singapore
Driving over, R&F Princess Cove has its own car park, so you can park at the mall itself. Coming by public bus, you’ll clear the JB CIQ on foot anyway, which drops you straight onto the link-bridge walk above.
For the full rundown on crossing by rail, our train guide covers the RTS Link and Shuttle Tebrau into JB Sentral, where the free shuttle to the mall picks up.
📖 Related Guide: Crossing by rail? Our train to JB guide breaks down the RTS Link and Shuttle Tebrau, and where to catch them.
Things to Do and Shops at R&F Mall
Retail isn’t the reason to come. Most of R&F’s shopfronts are still empty, and the reviews are blunt about it. What keeps the place ticking is a small but solid core: a cinema, a kids’ playground, foot massage, a dental clinic, a supermarket and a handful of everyday shops. Here’s what’s actually worth your time across the three floors.
Womei Cineplex
Image Credits: R&F Princess Cove
R&F’s cinema is Womei Cineplex, an eight-hall multiplex that opened in March 2025 in the old Emperor Cinemas space. It runs the usual new releases, and the draw is the calm. On a weekday it’s genuinely uncrowded, so you can turn up near showtime and still get a good seat.
The prices help too. Standard adult tickets run around 17 MYR (~S$5), with VIP recliner or couple seats about 30 MYR (~S$9), all billed in ringgit. First screenings tend to start late morning rather than early, so best for a cheap, low-crowd matinee paired with lunch and a foot rub downstairs.
Foot Massage and Reflexology
Image Credits: Zen Pure Massage
A small cluster of massage places sits on the upper floor, Zen Pure among them, doing foot reflexology plus shoulder and aromatherapy massage. A foot rub after a day on your feet in JB is a must, and it costs a fraction of the Singapore price. It’s the natural wind-down before the walk back to customs.
Puteri Dental Clinic
Image Credits: Puteri Dental Clinic JB
Puteri Dental sits on the ground floor and covers the full range, from cleaning and scaling to fillings, crowns, wisdom-tooth extractions and whitening, open 10 AM to 10 PM daily.
Plenty of Singaporeans cross to JB because dental work runs roughly 30 to 70% cheaper than at home, and here it’s a covered walk from the checkpoint. Book ahead, and you can fold a scale-and-polish into a day out.
Jaya Grocer
Image Credits: R&F Princess Cove
Jaya Grocer is the ground-floor supermarket that anchors the mall, and the main reason Princess Cove residents come down. It’s a proper full-size grocer, good for Malaysian snacks, drinks and household bits at JB prices before you head back over the Causeway. Bring an insulated bag if you’re loading up on anything chilled.
Mr DIY and the Everyday Shops
Image Credits: MR D.I.Y.
For odds and ends, Mr DIY covers cheap home bits, tools and whatever you forgot to pack, and Caring Pharmacy handles toiletries and basics. Beyond those, it’s a scattering of beauty and hair shops rather than a full directory.
Be honest with yourself about the rest. The upper floors are where the quiet shows, with empty units and shuttered fronts between the outlets that are trading. It’s not the mall the leasing plan promised, so don’t make a special trip for any single shop without checking it’s still there.
📖 Related Guide: Want a newer JB mall with more of it actually open? Our guide to SKS City Mall JBCC covers the one that opened this May.
Where to Eat at R&F Mall
Food is the most alive part of R&F, but the mall’s eateries have churned hard since it opened, and most of the Korean and café spots the old 2019 to 2020 guides rave about (Dookki, KyoChon and the rest) have since closed.
A 2025 relaunch brought in a newer, more Chinese-leaning line-up, so what’s actually trading now is different from what you’ll read elsewhere. Here’s what’s confirmed open.
Hanam BBQ
Image Credits: @cherlin.sgmy on Lemon8
The most reliable sit-down meal is Hanam BBQ, a Korean pork barbecue joint on Level 2 where the staff work the grill and the banchan side dishes keep coming. It’s the pick for an unhurried dinner if you’re making an evening of the trip rather than a quick pit stop.
Jubilee’s Nanyang Kopi
Image Credits: @hoveringtomatoes on Lemon8
For an old-school start, Jubilee’s Nanyang Kopi does the nostalgic half-boiled eggs, kaya toast and kopi set, and it keeps long hours (roughly 7 AM to midnight). That covers both an early breakfast before the crowds and a late supper, and the buns and mains stay cheap, the kind of meal that costs less than the toll home.
D’Shanghai Dim Sum
Image Credits: D’Shanghai Dimsum
The anchor eat these days is D’Shanghai, a ground-floor dim sum restaurant doing the full spread of har gow, siew mai and xiao long bao, with the rice-wine and scallop XLB the ones to order. It runs 10 AM to 9:30 PM daily and is the most reliable proper sit-down meal you’ll get a covered walk from the checkpoint.
Doma Korean Cuisine
Image Credits: @nineo_ on Lemon8
If Hanam’s full, Doma on Level 1 scratches the same itch from a different angle: Korean charcoal barbecue plus stews and rice sets, open roughly noon to 11 PM. Two Korean grills in one quiet mall is more than most JB malls manage.
CMJ Kitchen
Image Credits: 602234064 on rednote
For something soupier, CMJ Kitchen does Teochew-style beef hotpot and beef noodles, the clean, peppery kind of broth that’s a meal on a rainy day. A good shout if you want comfort food rather than a grill.
Pao Xiang Bak Kut Teh
Image Credits: 95497864026 on rednote
Pao Xiang brings Klang-style bak kut teh to Level 1, the pork-rib herbal soup Singaporeans and Malaysians happily argue over. It’s billed as the chain’s first outlet in southern Malaysia, so it’s a proper new arrival rather than a leftover from the 2019 line-up.
Chun Man Ren Jian Food Court
Image Credits: R&F Mall Johor Bahru on Facebook
When you just want cheap and fast, the mall’s food hub is Chun Man Ren Jian Food Court (春满人间), open 7:30 AM to 11 PM. It’s a hawker-style hall with enough stalls to give you decision paralysis, and it’s the safe bet in a mall this changeable, since stalls turn over less visibly than the shopfront units.
A few standalone spots round things out: Sek Bao for herbal chicken soup and comfort plates, a Burger King on the ground floor, and Chokdee for Thai food at any hour, since it runs around the clock.
On weekends, the Chill Day night market sets up outside from about 5 PM with food trucks and stalls, worth timing dinner around if you’re there in the evening.
Prices run at JB rates, so a proper meal here lands well under the Singapore equivalent once you convert it. A sit-down spread for two might come to around 80 MYR (~S$25), and a drink or a snack is small change.
One honest caveat: the tenant mix still changes fast in a mall this quiet, so don’t cross the border for one specific stall without checking it’s still trading. If you want more than the mall’s one dim sum spot, our dim sum guide covers the JB classics a short walk from the CIQ.
📖 Related Guide: Want the full JB food map beyond this one mall? Our JB food guide with the best places to eat sorts the city by area.
What to Do Near R&F Mall
The mall alone is a couple of hours at most, so it’s worth knowing what’s within reach. The good news is that some of the nicest bits of the Princess Cove estate are a short stroll away, and City Square is close enough to fold into the same trip.
Right by the mall:
- The waterfront marina: a promenade behind the estate with yachts docked along the water, part of the development’s marina-living concept. An easy, pretty stroll, best in the early morning or at golden hour.
- Permaisuri Zarith Sofiah Opera House: the waterfront performing-arts landmark R&F built beside the estate, worth a look from outside even if there’s no show on.
- City Square (JB City Square) and JBCC: the big, busy mall most people combine with an R&F trip. It’s a short walk or quick ride from the CIQ, and it’s where you go for actual shopping, a fuller food court and more brands.
If you’re building a proper food day, the old town’s heritage cafés and dim sum spots are a short ride away, and the Mount Austin belt to the east is JB’s dessert-and-Korean-BBQ zone. Both are easy adds once you’ve done the R&F stop.
📖 Related Guide: Making a food day of it? Our Mount Austin JB guide covers the city’s busiest café and BBQ belt.
How R&F Mall Compares to Other JB Malls
R&F Mall doesn’t compete with JB’s big malls, and it isn’t trying to. It’s the closest mall to the Causeway and the quietest, which is either the point or the problem depending on what you want. A quick placement:
Versus City Square
City Square (JB City Square) is the obvious head-to-head, since it’s also walkable from the CIQ. It’s busier, fuller and better for shopping and a food court, so if you want a livelier mall right off the checkpoint, City Square wins. R&F’s edge is the shorter, calmer covered walk and the Princess Cove setting.
Versus SKS City Mall
SKS City Mall JBCC is the newer arrival, a short drive from the Causeway, and it opened in May 2026. It’s the fresher pick if you want more of the mall actually open. R&F is the older, quieter neighbour, but it’s the one you can walk to.
Versus the JB giants
For a full mall day, the big western malls are a different league, and none of them are a walk from the checkpoint:
- KSL City Mall: a sprawling all-day mall with a cinema, arcade and indoor playground.
- The Mall, Mid Valley Southkey: JB’s largest and most modern full-size mall.
- Paradigm Mall JB: another of JB’s big full-size shopping complexes.
So no, R&F isn’t the biggest or newest mall in JB. It’s the low-key, walk-from-customs one. On size and shops it loses to all of the above, and that’s fine, because it’s competing on convenience, not scale.
📖 Related Guide: Rather make a morning of it before the malls fill up? Our best breakfast in JB roundup sorts the city’s spots by area.
Paying in JB: Getting the Best Rate on Your Ringgit
JB is cheaper than Singapore once you convert, but how you pay decides how much of that saving you actually keep. As of mid-2026, one Singapore dollar gets you around 3.15 MYR, so everyday spending works out well below home prices.
Where the saving leaks away is fees. Credit cards usually tack a 3 to 3.5% foreign transaction fee onto every overseas tap, and money changers bake a markup of a few percent into the rate they quote you, wider at the checkpoint and airport counters.
A simple way to hold onto the better rate:
- Tap your YouTrip card for anything cards-accepted: the supermarket, Dookki, the cinema, the massage counter. There’s no foreign transaction fee, every spend is billed at the Mastercard wholesale rate, and because MYR is one of YouTrip’s holdable wallet currencies, you can lock in your ringgit when the rate looks good and spend it later.
- Carry a little cash for the cash-only stalls and parking. Skip the money changer and withdraw ringgit from a JB ATM instead. Your first S$400 of overseas ATM withdrawals each calendar month is free with YouTrip, then it’s a flat 2% after that.
- Top up an e-wallet like Touch ‘n Go if you’re driving and want cashless tolls and parking.
For deeper detail, see our Malaysia ATM withdrawal guide and the SGD to MYR rate guide.
FAQ
It depends on why you’re going. As a low-crowd stop for food, groceries, a massage or a movie a short covered walk from the CIQ, yes, especially if you’re staying at Princess Cove. As a shopping destination, no. It’s quiet, with empty units on the upper floors, and City Square or the bigger JB malls are better for that.
Walk. After clearing the JB CIQ, follow the signs to the covered link bridge that runs straight to R&F Mall and the Princess Cove residences. It takes about 8 minutes (allow 10 if it’s busy) and it’s sheltered the whole way, so you don’t need a Grab or a bus.
Yes. A free daytime shuttle bus (run by Causeway Link) links the mall and JB Sentral, handy if you arrive by train. Check the timing board at the mall for the next departure, as frequency varies through the day.
R&F Mall is owned by Guangzhou R&F Properties, the Chinese developer behind the wider R&F Princess Cove estate in Tanjung Puteri. The mall is part of that mixed-use waterfront development, not a standalone shopping centre.
Yes to both. The cinema is Womei Cineplex (it opened in 2025), with first shows from late morning, and Jaya Grocer is the supermarket that anchors the mall and serves the residents above it.
The core is Jaya Grocer (supermarket), Mr DIY, Caring Pharmacy and Puteri Dental, plus a cluster of massage, nail and hair shops, a food court (Chun Man Ren Jian) and the Womei Cineplex cinema. It’s light on fashion and big-name retail, with many upper-floor units still empty, so treat it as a convenience-and-leisure mall rather than a shopping destination.
No. City Square (JB City Square) is the bigger, busier mall, and it’s also walkable from the CIQ. R&F is quieter and smaller, with its appeal being the shorter covered walk and the Princess Cove setting rather than the size or the shops.
Quiet, close, and worth it on your terms
R&F Mall isn’t the mall you cross the border for. It’s the one you’re glad is there when you’re staying at Princess Cove or want an easy stop the moment you clear customs. Go for the short walk, the cheap food, the foot massage and the calm, not the shopping, and it delivers exactly that.
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