vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Melaka
Yet Another Melaka Food Guide – What’s Good & What’s Not?
Feb 10th
So I was at Melaka again over the last weekend for yet another food hunt.
The mission remains the same: to provide good alternatives to the overcrowded makan places so that you won’t have to queue to eat, as well as weeding out the bad ones (yet highly recommended by various sources) so you can avoid them.
For this round, I also made the effort of including more Halal places that did not open in my last visit due to the Hari Raya celebrations. To make things simple and clear, I will be listing the places according to my own rating instead of the time I visited them. Now lets get started with the good ones:
1. Sin Yin Hoe’s Fried Oysters – This is so much better than that lousy O Chien at Bunga Raya Food Court which I still can’t believe people are actually lining up for. The omelette is void of preserved turnips, nicely cooked and not tore into tiny, miserable pieces. Oysters are fresh and although not big in size, the generous amount makes up for it.
Sin Yin Hoe Coffee Shop
135 Lorong Hang Jebat
GPS Coordinates: N2 11.685 E102 14.942
Business hours: 4pm onwards until midnight (closed on Tuesdays)
2. Kingtu Satay Celup – Tastes as good as the ‘famous ones’ minus the queue, reasonably priced (70 cents a stick, some items have multiple sticks on them) and the ingredients are fresh. Good consistency on the peanut sauce and the taste is just right without being overly sweet. And what’s better, there are no dozens of eyes staring at you, hinting you to give up your seats.
Sun May Hiong Pork Satay @ Jalan Kota Laksamana, Melaka
Jan 11th
Satay is a common food in Melaka so there is no surprise that this state has the most Pork Satay restaurants. Besides the meat being used, one major difference in Pork Satay (aka Nyonya Satay) is the peanut dip which is usually mixed with a dollop of pineapple sauce.
Sun May Hiong (and along with Xiang Ji, Ming Sate Hut etc) is one of the more popular restaurants in Melaka that specializes in Pork Satay. Once you sit down, you will be given a big tray of satays regardless of whether you ordered it or not. Then, you are free to take as many as you can stomach. When the tray is almost finished the satays will be replenished automatically until you say stop.
While I find the satays (60 cents each) to be quite good, the peanut sauce is oily and diluted. The pineapple sauce on the other hand does not do anything much to improve the overall taste. In fact, it is too sourish for my liking.
Mille Crepe @ Nadeje Cake House, Dataran Pahlawan – nice meh?
Nov 29th
Have you heard of Mille Crepe? This cake-like-dessert is actually French and got its name from the many layers (hence Mille) of crepes and cream used to make it. Maybe because of its unique appearance for a cake and its rarity in Malaysia, it became a hit on the Internet a few years ago. But now it is quite common in Klang Valley since many cafes are serving it over their cake counters.
My first time trying it was at Food Foundry at Section 17 PJ, where I found it to be so-so at best. I didn’t hate it nor love it, just felt it was nothing quite impressive except for that special layered texture it offers. So when I expressed my not-so-favorable response towards this dessert, some hardcore Mille Crepe lovers defended it furiously and asked me to try ‘the best one’ at Melaka, which is Nadeje Cake House.
So during my last trip to Melaka I also took the effort to look for this cake house to try the highly acclaimed cakes. I was really curious of how good the ‘best’ could be. Verdict? It tastes only marginally better, if not the same with the one I had at PJ. Click here to continue reading >
Char Siew ‘Chap Fan’ @ Chuen How Restaurant, Batu Berendam
Oct 6th
There are two popular Char Siew rice in Melaka, one at Jalan Bunga Raya and another at Batu Berendam. Even though they are basically selling the same thing, their style and business hours are totally different.
The one at Jalan Bunga Raya is famous for their fatty Char Siew and only opens during the day, while the one at Batu Berendam sold in Chuen How restaurant is the leaner type and previously they only open for dinner. Now they are also open for lunch from 10am onwards until 10pm.
Chuen How’s Char Siew is the one I am going to show you and it was surprisingly very very delicious, one of my most memorable eats in Melaka. Anyway, you won’t find a lot of information about this Char Siew online so if it wasn’t for my friend’s (a Malaccan) guidance I wouldn’t know about it. And since this is at Batu Berendam it was quite a drive from the town center, but man was it worth it!
Chuen How is basically a ‘chap fan‘ (economy rice) restaurant and most of the customers are locals comprising of the working people and families who take away packets of packed rice for dinner. Besides the Char Siew, the assam fish is equally popular. The sourness and spiciness are very strong but in a good way that it opens up your appetite nicely. Price wise it is as common as any other ‘chap fan’ stalls you will encounter.
