guide to malacca

I just spent the weekend in Malacca, and certainly it has been one of the best holidays I've had in recent memory. I use holiday in the classical sense, i.e. a day free from work that one may spend at leisure, and not the more modern visit to exotic city in foreign land with checklist of monuments to see, experiences to try and spoils to bring home. That kind of travel is not a holiday.Yes, it has been quite a blissful weekend. I have been to Malacca many times from childhood, so there is really little there that interests me apart from the food. And such food. So I thought I should share.

Recently there has been some hawker-bashing in the Singapore media about how our street food really isn't all that good. Well I can safely say the food in Malacca is better than most, if not all their competition in Singapore, and much cheaper.

Aided by two decades of childhood memories, I hereby present the paddychicken guide to Malacca - a weekend eating extravaganza. (Names, addresses and GPS coordinates are provided where available)

(If you aren't heading up to Malacca, you may wish to amuse yourself with something closer at hand by reading the paddychicken guide to Serangoon Garden instead.)

Breakfast/Lunch
Man Ting Siang Tim Sum Restaurant
45A Jln Ong Kim Wee
48 N 0193393 0243743
This is a really simple Chinese restaurant serving a small but very fresh selection of dim sum. I particularly enjoyed the Siew Mais and the Chee Cheong Fun, but everything was really good overall. Unfortunately, they were sold out of their specialty stewed pork buns (kong bak pau) and chicken feet by the time I got there. Two people stuffed themselves for RM19 ($8).

Bak Kut Teh
There is Bak Kut Teh all over Malacca, and I haven't yet eaten a bad one. They come in the Hokkien (clear with lots of ingredients) and Teochew (brown with lots of garlic) varieties. Some tried and tested places are:
Lim Kee Restaurant (Hokkien)
Lot 180, Jalan Laksamana Cheng Ho
-Family Favorite- (Teochew)
48 N 0194113 0242007
Unfortunately I forgot the name and address, but a GPS will take you right there. It is slightly east of Mahkota Parade.
Newton Hawker Centre (Teochew)
(see Supper)

Lunch
Hoe Kee Chicken Rice Ball
4 Jln Hang Jebat
48 N 0193954 0242913 (Carpark)
Located off Jonker St, this eatery has grown from a roadside stall to occupy several units, and dirty tables and stools have been replaced by impressive Chinese furniture. The ambience has improved much, and the food remains as good as ever. I'm actually not that impressed by the chicken (some of its immitators apparently do a better job), but the rice balls are delectable, the Assam Fish Curry is superb and they serve very nice soup and vegetables as well.

Dinner
Bei Zhan Restaurant
16 Jln Melaka Raya
The food here is so famous that you can find signs pointing towards it from the surrounding aread. And I'm not talking about billboards, I mean offical road signs! The specialty is braised pork ribs in buns, but they serve a variety of Asian food at very affordable prices. Best visited in large groups so you can order more stuff.
Sea Terrace
Stall No. 1, Portugese Settlement, Jalan D'Albuquerque
If you like Sambal, this is the place. With just two people, we feasted on Baked Fish, Sambal Kang Kong, Sambal Prawns and two Burned Crabs in salt and pepper. All for just RM80 ($35)!

Supper
Medan Selera Newton (Newton Hawker Centre)
Junction of Jln Parameswara and Jln Tamby Abdullah
Lots of lovely stalls here including satay, guo tie, bak kut teh and a delicious wine soup noodle.

Pineapple Tarts
Homemade Pineapple tarts also seem quite ubiquitous in Malacca. Here are some tried and tested places:
Makko Nonya Restaurant
123 Taman Melaka Raya
This restaurant is actually a family favorite too, but I personally don't like Nonya food.
Bee Bee
307A Jln Parameswara
This is a pineapple tart cottage industry (kind of like Lana Cake), serving tarts out of the backyard. Whether they have tarts for sale kind of depends on your luck.
Sea Terrace (see above)
They also have some lovely homemade tarts here, but a little more pricey.

Portugese Egg Tarts
Italy Bakery
155 Jln Bunga Raya
I have been on a Portugese Egg Tart quest for some time, and it continued on this trip. The custard in the tarts here is quite excellent, although the pastry is sadly on the tough side. Still, this is probably better than anything I have found in Singapore yet.

Disclaimer:
The above eateries are located all around Malacca, so don't try this without a car. Malacca is actually a very small city, and you can drive from end to end in maybe 20 minutes. But due to the monstrosity of one-way streets, some of which are not even marked on the map, do not be surprised if you find yourself at a cross junction looking down the wrong end of a one-way street. When this happens, curse, swear, and try your best to stay your course through dead reckoning.