The Sights And Tastes Of Malacca

As mentioned in my previous article, I was at Malacca to attend a wedding and finally got an excuse to visit this charming little historical landmark in Malaysia. Time was really short so we wasted no time in exploring the place, especially the local cuisine!

Malacca is kind of famous for its chicken rice balls so the very first place we visited for lunch is the Hainamko Chicken Rice Restaurant located within a 10mins walk from the Bayview Hotel Malacca, where we stayed.

Lunch at Hainamko Chicken Rice Restaurant

It was the first time I tried the rice balls so I was pretty excited. However, my companions and I find that the taste of the rice and chicken in general is a little bland and not as fragrant as what we can find in some chicken rice stalls in Singapore (e.g. Wee Nam Kee at Novena). We also tried the chicken rice at one of the branches of the well-known Famosa Chicken Rice Ball restaurant, but reach the same conclusion. I think the taste of the chicken rice in Malacca may be more suitable for people who do not like very strong flavors and prefer something lighter.

For dinner that night, we visited the Nancy's Kitchen Restaurant recommended by my friend's roommate who happens to be from Malacca. This restaurant has a very modest appearance, unlike some of the restaurants in the same area which look more high-end. However, it is a very well-known restaurant as it serves authentic Peranakan food.

Authentic home-cooked style food at Nancy's Restaurant, stategically located at Jonker Street Area

If you love nyonya spices and flavors, you will love the food serve at this restaurant! My personal favorite is the popiah, which is very rich in tasty filling with a hint of mint leaves. A unique and tangy dish is the tamarind chicken, which is perfect for people who like sweet and sour dishes. I did not try the spicy Chicken Candlenut (Nyonya Curry Chicken) as I was having a bad cough but heard from my companions that the dish was excellent.

After attending my friend's church wedding the next day, we decided to do some sight-seeing in Malacca.

Heavy traffic at Jonker Street Area. Chinese lanterns as decorations to welcome the approaching Chinese New Year

Another unique boutique hotel in Malacca

A picture with my girlfriends, Masako and Kai, outside an alfresco restaurant

The shopping area at Jonker Street is make up of streets of traditional looking shophouses, selling all sort of  items, including but not limited to accessories, Chinese New Year snacks and decorations, toys, clothes and peranankan shoes.

Some interesting street style snacks not seen in Singapore:

Ice-cream in the shape of an egg

Stone grilled egg and ham

Apart from the streets of shop-houses, Malacca housed quite a number of well preserved building and monument architecture. Some examples:

 

 A rustic watermill

A brick fortress with cannons 

A building with beautiful poetic phrases written in chinese calligraphy style

The next restaurant that I am going to recommend is a MUST visit place for anyone with a sweet tooth:

 

A lot of people queuing up to purchase the signature mille crepe at the restaurant

The cheese cake is good but the mille crepes are to die for!

Tiramisu Mille Crepe. Just one of the flavors out of many others.  Photo taken at the display counter.

The Nadeje Patisserie (at Mahkota Parade) specializes in mille (i.e. a French word which means "a thousand") crepes, a French cake made of many crepe layers. It comes in a variety of flavors such as tiramisu, green tea, strawberry, double chocolate, original, banana chocolate and berries etc.. We were really spoilt for choices and if each of us have two mouths and two stomachs, we would probably order all the flavors! In the end, we ordered a total of four different flavored mille crepes and a cheesecake to share. And I have to say that the taste is super fantastic! The crepes are creamy in texture and melt smoothly in the mouth, with just the right level of sweetness. In fact, the crepes are so good that when they were served, we were all so excited that we forgot to took pictures of our orders and just went ahead to savor the cakes! We only remembered that we haven't taken any pictures after we have finished eating (oomps!). Definitely recommended for all who visit Malacca!

Last but not least, here is another famous Peranankan restaurant I will like to recommend:

We were lucky to reach Donald & Lily early because a long queue was formed 10 minutes after we were seated. This eatery has been serving authentic Nyonya food since 1980, meaning that it has a history of more than 30 years!

From top: Mouth-watering Laksa, Mee Siam, Rojak and Ayam Pong Teh (Nyonya-Style Braised Chicken)

I tried the Ayam Pong Teh and really like the sweet and savory dish, especially since it has all my favorite ingredients including potatoes and mushrooms. The sauce tastes quite unique and upon some research, I found out that it is made from taucheo (fermented soy bean sauce) and gula Melaka (palm sugar). This should not be too complicated a dish, so I may look for the recipe and try to cook it one of these days..Ha!

Group photo after a hearty meal

We really have a great time in Malacca but due to the time constraint, there are still a lots of places we have yet to explore. Till next time!