There are many nice places to have local food in Malacca, and it is quite a long list. So, we have 3 posts to list them all. In this post, we continue to list places in Melaka Old Town.
Did you missed Part 1 (No. 1 - 8)?
9. East & West Rendezvous by Aunty Grace (祖传冰室)
East & West Rendezvous is popular for its Nyonya rice dumpling and cendol. Nyonya dumpling is usually filled with minced meat and rice, unlike Chinese dumplings that use fatty pork belly meat. The natural blue colouring on the rice is extracted from blue butterfly pea flowers. Pairing a dumpling with a bowl of cold cendol is just nice for afternoon tea. East & West Rendezvous sells Chinese rice dumplings, Nyonya pastries and gula Melaka (coconut palm sugar) too.
10. Heng Huat Coffee Shop (兴发茶室) & Ah Ma Wan Tan Mee Stall
Heng Huat Coffee Shop serves traditional breakfast set with toasts, soft-boiled eggs and good local coffee. The coffee shop is also popular for its wonton (meat dumpling) noodle. The traditional wonton noodle is served with light sauce and lean barbecue pork with a bowl of meat dumplings in soup.
11. Poh Piah Lwee Dumpling (香薄饼食家)
Poh Piah Lwee is a family-run eatery located at the far end of Jonker Walk. This is one place where you get to try Nyonya laksa, Nyonya dumpling, popiah (spring roll) and rojak. The uniqueness in Poh Piah Lwee Dumpling's popiah is the addition of crispy pork lard. This is really special as it makes the spring roll very different from others. For those who are health-conscious and worry about the calories, we just want to say: "you get to try it only when you're in Malacca, not everyday."
12. Sin Yin Hoe Coffee Shop (新云河海鲜餐室) - CLOSED
Sin Yin Hoe Coffee Shop is actually a seafood restaurant by its Chinese name. They can really serve up some nice dishes for dinner. We were there for the fried oyster omelette and tried their seafood hor fun (flat and broad white noodle). It was really nice. We will be back to try their seafood dishes again.
The fried oyster omelette is prepared by a grandmother at a small stall right beside Sin Yin Hoe. She uses baby oysters and the eggs are fried till crispy on the edges. The oysters are small but has more in quantity, every mouthful will have both eggs and oysters. The vinegar-chilli combination adds a little sourness to the omelette and make it taste less oily.
13. Halle Herbal Tea House (中国华佗涼茶館)
Halle Herbal Tea House has a friendly and cheerful lady boss and she chatted with us on several visits. The small outlet serves home-made herbal tea (bitter), herbal jelly, and desserts like snow white fungus, bird nest soup, etc. Most of these items have Chinese medicinal properties to help relieves heatiness, especially after all the spicy, grilled and fried food in hot-humid Malacca. If you are worried about the bitterness of the herbal jelly, order the menthol version which adds a little sweetness and a cooling sensation.
They have egg custard pudding too, added with ginger to give it some medicinal effects.
14. Straits Affair - CLOSED
Straits Affair is a Peranakan cafe that serves authentic Nyonya food, especially pastries and traditional kueh. The cafe is linked to Cheng Ho Cultural Museum, and is actually setup to promote traditional Peranakan delicacies and to preserve the culture. You can visit the museum and try the Peranakan food or have high tea here. We tried their signature le pongteh baguette, nasi lemak and also their 3-tier English-style tea set of Nyonya delicacies. Nice food and homely environment.
15. Places for Nyonya Cendol
Cendol is a popular dessert in Malacca (and also most of Southeast Asia). It is available in most restaurants, especially nyonya restaurants. In recent years, new cendol variants were created with the addition of flavoured ice-creams and durian in Malacca. Durian cendol is the next popular dessert to the traditional cendol.
The list of places that serve cendol can be pretty long, but we will list down only those that we tried and highlight some of the unique ones. If you are dining at any of the places mentioned in this post (including Part 1), do try their cendol too.
» Number 1 Kopitiam
Number 1 Kopitiam is one of the oldest shop that has been serving traditional nyonya cendol for as long as I can remember. Try their original traditional cendol without other frills. If you are a fan of Coca Cola bottles and cans, check out the collections in Number 1 Kopitiam.
» The Kappan House (甲板屋)
The Kappan House serves cendol with large red beans. Do try it if you are eating there. The restaurant also serves a wide variety of food.
» Lao Qian Ice Cafe @ San Shu Gong (钱中园冰室@三叔公)
Lao Qian Ice Cafe is located inside San Shu Gong (三叔公), a local products shop. It serves mainly beverages and cendol with durian flesh, a delightful dessert for travellers who like durian. If you are not into durian, ask for the traditional cendol instead.
We can't stop feeling hungry every time we update this post. :D
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