In previous articles, we covered a list of local food in the old town of Malacca. In this post, we take a walk outside of Jonker Street, or the old town, and check out more eating places in close proximity.
1. Nancy's Kitchen
Nancy's Kitchen is a popular restaurant that serves authentic Peranakan food. You can try their popular appetiser Top Hats (pai tee) and few dishes including non-spicy fried egg cincalok (fermented shrimps), spicy chicken candlenut (one of their signature dishes), steamed fish paste (otak-otak), water spinach, chicken in tamarind, etc (we tried these in two visits).
These pai tee (above) are called "Top Hats" due to the crispy cups looking like inverted Englishmen's top hats.
A sumptuous Peranakan meal at Nancy's. Nancy's Kitchen also serves popiah (spring rolls), nyonya cendol and nyonya cakes, which are great options for afternoon tea.
For those who have not been to Melaka in recent years, Nancy's Kitchen had moved to its current location at Taman Kota Laksamana since September 2015. It's just a short walk from Jonker Walk.
Opertaing Hours:
11am to 5pm; Fri/Sat/P.Holiday: 11am to 9pm | Closed on Tuesday
2. Sun May Hiong Satay House (新味香沙爹屋)
Despite it being a stone's throw away from Jonker Walk, Sun May Hiong Satay House do attract large crowds during weekends. In the past, the satays were grilled outside the shop but new regulations make them prepare the satays in the back of the shop.
Sun May Hiong Satay House serves mainly pork satays, and they do have offal satays like pig intestine and pig liver. They have chicken satays too, sometimes. The satays here are usually slightly charred with a smoky taste that adds some flavours to the meat. They use peanut-pineapple sauce, which is not spicy but sour-sweet (wonder if it is a local characteristic to add pineapple to spicy peanut sauce).
Operating Hours:
10am to 6pm | Closed from Monday to Wednesday
3. Xiang Ji Satay House (祥记沙爹屋)
Xiang Ji Satay House is located closer to Jonker Street, just a few minutes' walk from the stage near the end of Jonker Walk. Xiang Ji's satay style is very similar to Sun May Hiong (some said they are related). Apart from tasty pork satays, they have otak-otak (spicy fish paste grilled in banana leaves) as well.
Operating Hours:
12pm to 5:30pm daily
4. Capitol Satay
Satay celup, or sate celup, is uniquely Malacca and is only available there. Do not miss it if you have not tried it before. We visited three sate celup outlets and is recommending Capitol Satay only. The main reason being that they changed the satay sauce and added minced peanuts before our eyes. Hygiene should still be the primary consideration when it comes to food. It also means the price is slightly higher for each new pot of satay sauce.
Capitol Satay always has long queues. The wait can be up to 2 hours on weekends if you go there late. After getting a table, go to the fridges to get the food (on skewers) and cook them in the pot of satay sauce before eating. After the meal, the staff will count the number of skewers and call for the bill.
To avoid queues, go either on weekdays or at 4pm on weekends. We did not try going after 10pm to check on the queue.
Operating Hours:
4pm to 1am; Sunday: 5pm to 12am | Closed on Monday
5. Baba Charlie Nyonya Cake
Baba Charlie Nyonya Cake is located quite a distance from Jonker Walk. If you are in need of some exercise after all the eating, take a walk there for about 30-40 minutes. You may need a GPS to guide you as it is not located along the main road.
Nyonya cakes are usually sweet and some may have spicy fillings. They are usually consumed as breakfast or during tea time. Don't be fool by the size of these bite-size cakes, 5 pieces can make a meal. Made with coconut milk or coconut shreds, these cakes can go rancid after some hours, so do consume them as soon as possible and avoid warming them under the hot sun.
Baba Charlie has quite some varieties of nyonya cakes, nyonya dumplings and other pastries. Pick what catches your eyes. Do go there in the morning before the cakes get sold out, especially on weekends. If some trays are empty, ask if they are making new ones, don't just walk out. Also, buy just enough to eat within the next few hours and don't leave them overnight without refrigeration. Try their nyonya dumplings too!
Alternatively, visit Baba Charlie Cafe where you can try their nyonya food and also nyonya cakes in a restaurant instead of packing away and needing to find a place to eat.
Opening Hours:
10:30am to 3pm | Closed on Thursday
6. Fried Oyster @ Medan Makan Boon Leong (a.k.a. Boon Leong Foodcourt)
The fried oyster stall at Medan Makan has long "queue" almost every night. You will not see the physical queue as customers will place their orders and walk away, coming back later to collect it. The waiting is usually half an hour or more. A stark contrast to the fried oysters at Sin Yin Hoe Restaurant (see this), the stall owner uses bigger oysters (but lesser).
The fried oysters are packed for taking away only. But you can sit at the tables in the fluorescent-lit back alley. Note that the tables are set up by the owner of the dessert stall, so buy dessert or drinks from the owner to use a table. Otherwise, you will have to eat the fried oyster omelette back in your hotel / guest house.
Operating Hours:
7pm to 12am | Closed on Tuesday
7 & 8. Longkang Siham along Jalan Bunga Raya
Longkang Siham means "shellfishes by the drain". There are two stalls side-by-side at the end of a back alley off Jalan Bunga Raya, serving almost the same type of foods like cockles, shellfishes and sotong kangkung (water spinach with cuttlefish), etc. General cooking methods are boiling and grilling. Perhaps, the main differences between the two stalls are how they make their dipping sauces and their specialty items.
Note that cockles are usually lightly-boiled and served quite raw. If it is too bloody for you, ask for it to be fully cooked — but it will not be nice though, suggest you order other shellfishes.
Note: There are mosquitoes in the dimly-lit back alleys. Do apply insect repellent before going there to eat, not when seated while others are eating, especially at the low tables.
» Capitol Seafood (佳必多)
Capitol Seafood is located at the end of the alley. It offers a wide variety of shellfishes and specialty items like barbecued cuttlefish and pepper-salted prawns. You place orders by marking on a piece of paper and hand it to the stall assistants.
The portion of each dish is not a lot so you can order one of each type to try. We ordered cockles, clams, green mussels, sotong kangkung, century eggs, pepper-salted prawns (below) and grilled cuttlefish (not shown). What a seafood feast!
For cockles, you can specify it to be "half-cooked", "normal" or "fully cooked". The photo above shows "normal"-cooked cockles. They are very fresh. Below is one of their premium items, the pepper-salt prawns.
Operating Hours:
6pm to 11pm | Closed on Tuesday
» Tong Bee Cockles Stall (東美檔)
If you walk into the alley from Jalan Bunga Raya, you will come across Tong Bee Cockles Stall first (if they are opened for business that day) before Capitol Seafood. As mentioned, they serve almost the same things, except for some specialty items. Tong Bee Stall actually introduced claypot clams in 2016. Try it!
Operating Hours:
7:30pm to 11pm | Closed on Tuesday
9. Tengkera Duck Noodle Restaurant (大树下鸭面)
If you know where Jonker Street Hawker Centre is, Restoran Tengkera Duck Noodle is along that same stretch. Unlike other coffee shops that sell hot beverages but rent out stalls to other vendors selling various food, the duck noodle is the protagonist of this restaurant. You can request for small, medium or large portion.
This is the "small" duck noodle with a bowl of herbal soup. The amount of duck meat is quite a lot. Add a cup of coffee and it makes a perfect morning meal.
Operating Hours:
7am to 1pm daily
10. Pak Putra Tandoori & Naan Restaurant
Restoran Pak Putra is located further down the road from Restoran Tengkera Duck Noodle but on the opposite side. It is opened only at night. Pak Putra's specialty is their naan (baked leavened bread) and tandoori chicken, said to be from Pakistani cuisine. They have a lot more other items on the menu than we can try in a single visit. Go in a bigger group to try more things.
We ordered butter naan and cheese naan to sample, along with their popular tandoori chicken. They are very good!
Operating Hours:
5:30pm to 1am | Closed on alternate Mondays
Locations: See our Google Map.
We are frequent travellers to Malacca and will keep this list updated. So, do bookmark this post and visit us again when you are going there.
We will be back with more!
Check out rustic cafes too: