We explored Malacca on several visits and worked out a list of eating places both in the old town and outside the town but not too far away:
In this post, we highlighted 12 must-tries if you are going to Melaka for a short trip.
How is this post organised? We will start with food that are must-tries for breakfast, then brunch, followed by lunch and so on till supper.
Let's start with what's good for breakfast...
1. Traditional Breakfast Set
The Nanyang Chinese traditional breakfast set includes two soft-boil eggs, toasts with butter and kaya (coconut jam) and a cup of traditional coffee. This is served in most of the coffee shops in Malacca, but tastes and experiences differ.
Try @ Lung Ann Refreshments (隆安茶室)
Lung Ann is a traditional coffee shop located at a road junction. It serves thick black coffee that is not overly sweetened and goes well with their toasts set. The breads are lightly toasted to retain its softness while crispy on the outer surface. This is the best spot for light breakfast or afternoon coffee.
Opening Hours:
7am to 4pm (Sun: 7am to 12pm) | Closed on Wednesday & Thursday
2. Traditional Dim Sum
For travellers who have been to Malacca Old Town, there is only one place for dim sum. And Loh Yong Moh Tea House serves traditional dim sum without frills and at low cost.
Try @ Loh Yong Moh Tea House (榮茂茶樓)
The key thing about Loh Yong Moh Restaurant is its persistence in serving traditional dim sum, focusing on food quality rather than making them look pretty. Ordering the food is easy, the staff will go to your table and show you what he has on his tray and you just point. After the meal, ask the staff to count the plates before paying at the cashier. For better experience, have some Chinese tea the traditional way.
Opening Hours:
7am to 11:30am | Closed on Tuesday & Wednesday
3. Nyonya Rice Dumplings
Nyonya dumplings are usually filled with minced pork and glutinous rice, unlike Chinese dumplings that use fatty pork belly meat. Natural blue colouring, extracted from blue pea flowers, are usually added to the rice with tint of light fragrance to the traditional dumplings.
Try 1 @ East & West Rendezvous
East & West Rendezvous is popular for its Nyonya rice dumplings and ice-cold Nyonya cendol. Pairing its rice dumpling with a bowl of cold cendol is perfect for afternoon tea. The shop sells Chinese rice dumplings as well and other Nyonya goodies.
Opening Hours:
9:30am to 5:30pm | Closed on Wednesday
Try 2 @ Poh Piah Lwee Dumpling
Another place to go for Nyonya dumpling is at Poh Piah Lwee Dumpling at the far end of Jonker Walk. The shop is actually more well-known for its poh piah (or spring roll). A great place to try both their special poh piah, rice dumpling and laksa too.
Opening Hours:
9:30am to 5:30pm | Closed on Monday and Tuesday
If you are not an early riser, the following will be great for brunch or lunch...
4. Nyonya Laksa
Nyonya laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup dish among the Peranakan cuisines. There are various variants of laksa but can be broadly categorised into three main types: the asam laksa (of Penang) using sour asam (or tamarind) as base, the curry laksa that is coconut-milk-based and combinations of both. Asam laksa is generally sour-spicy whereas coconut-milk curry laksa is sweet-spicy, although most of its variants tend to be spicier than sweet.
Try 1 @ Jonker 88 (大寶小食)
If you like hot and spicy Nyonya laksa, Jonker 88 is where you should go in the old town. It serves a wide variety of laksa dishes, like asam laksa (sour-spicy), baba laksa (coconut-spicy) and combinations of both (called baba laksa kahwin asam laksa, literally translated as "marriage of baba laksa and asam laksa"). Traditional Nyonya laksa uses prawns, but Jonker 88 has a chicken version for those who prefer otherwise.
Warning: Jonker 88's laksa can be really spicy! You can be soaking in perspiration half-way through a bowl of laksa, so standby some packs of tissue paper.
Opening Hours:
9:30am to 6pm (Fri & Sat: 9:30am to 7:30pm)
Try 2 @ Calanthe Art Cafe
If you like a lesser spicy version of the Nyonya laksa, head over to Calanthe Art Cafe. The cafe's signature claypot laksa is filled with variety of ingredients and the hot claypot adds flavour to the coconut-based curry laksa. Top up with a cup of one of Malaysia's 13 states' coffee to hype your Melaka experience!
Opening Hours:
9am to 10:30pm | Closed on Thursday
5. Chicken Rice Balls
Chicken rice are common dishes in Southeast Asia and varies in cooking styles across different regions, but basic ingredients are still chicken and rice. In Malacca, rice balls are served with Hainanese-style steamed kampung chicken. The rice balls are made from flavoured rice that are hand-rolled and compressed into the shape of ping pong balls. The size may differ at different outlets but roughly 5 rice balls make up a regular bowl of rice.
Try @ Kedai Kopi Chung Wah (中华茶室)
Chicken rice ball is the only dish that is sold at Chung Wah. However, it has crazy long queues on weekends. There is no shelter outside the tea house, so bring an umbrella if you decide to queue for its chicken rice ball. Chung Wah's kampung chicken is small in size but the meat is really tender.
Note: The minimum serving is half a chicken that is usually for 2 person. If you are travelling solo, you will probably have to finish half a chicken with less rice balls or join other travellers for a meal.
Opening Hours:
9:30am to 2pm | Closed on Tueday & Wednesday
6. Peranakan Cuisine
Being one of the two birth places of Baba-Nyonya (or Peranakans), Malacca is the place to try Peranakan cuisine — the result of blending Chinese and Malay ingredients and cooking styles. The most common ingredient is coconut milk and spices. Note that authentic Peranankan dishes do include pork and most dishes are spicy.
Try @ 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.
Nancy's Kitchen also serves poh piah (spring rolls), Nyonya cendol and Nyonya cakes, which are great options for afternoon tea (do take note of their rest time).
Opening Hours:
11am to 3:30pm; 5pm to 9pm (Wed & Thur: 11am to 5pm) | Closed on Tuesday
When the afternoon is hot and humid, get out of the heat and go for some dessert or finger food...
7. Nyonya Cendol
Nyonya cendol is an ice-cold sweet dessert made from crushed ice topped with coconut milk, green jelly, red beans, etc and with the locally-made gula melaka (palm sugar). Some shops also topped it up with durian. A number of shops and restaurants serve cendol in Malacca, so we will point out a couple of them in the old town.
Try 1 @ East & West Rendezvous
Pair up a bowl of Nyonya cendol with Nyonya rice dumpling at East & West Rendezvous. That will make two must-tries at one stop.
Try 2 @ Jonker 88
Try the icy-cold and sweet dessert after a bowl of fiery-hot and spicy Nyonya laksa at Jonker 88. It's the best way to cool down after a "hot" meal.
8. Poh Piah (Hokkien Spring Roll)
Poh piah is fresh spring roll with several ingredients wrapped in paper-like flour crepe. The main ingredients are usually stir-fired turnip, fresh bean sprouts, lettuce, etc.
Try 1 @ Poh Piah Lwee Dumpling (香薄饼食家)
Poh Piah Lwee is one place where you get to try laksa, Nyonya dumpling, poh piah (spring roll) and rojak. The uniqueness in Poh Piah Lwee Dumpling's poh piah is the addition of crispy fried pork lard which makes their spring rolls tasty and very different from others.
Try 2 @ Nancy's Kitchen
If you are at Nancy's Kitchen to try the local Peranakan food, do try their poh piah with lots of fresh ingredients and egg.
9. Satay
Satay is a traditional dish with meat skewered on a wooden stick and charcoal-grilled. The grilled meat skewers are then served with spicy peanut sauce. In Malacca, peanut-pineapple sauce is commonly used, which is sour-sweet with mild spiciness.
Try @ Sun May Hiong Satay House (新味香沙爹屋)
Sun May Hiong Satay House serves pork and chicken satays, and they do have offal satays like pig intestine and pig liver. The satays here are usually slightly charred with a smoky taste that adds some aroma to the meat.
Opening Hours:
10am to 6pm | Closed on Tuesday
And lastly, find these food outside the old town for dinner or late night supper — if you aren't eating street food in Jonker Walk Night Market...
10. Satay Celup
Satay celup, or sate celup, is uniquely Malacca and is only available there. There are several sate celup outlets scattered around Malacca. Among all the outlets, we recommend Capitol Satay.
Try @ Capitol Satay
Hygiene should be the primary consideration when it comes to food. It also means the price is slightly higher for each new pot of satay sauce. After getting a table at Capitol Satay, go to the fridges to get the food (on skewers) and cook them in the pot of spicy satay sauce before eating. After the meal, the staff will count the number of sticks and call for the bill.
Note that Capitol Satay always has long queues. To avoid queues, go either on weekdays or at 4pm on weekends to queue.
PS: Capitol Satay had moved to Jalan KPKS 3. Check the map below.
Opening Hours:
4:30pm to 11pm (Friday: 4pm to 12am; Saturday: 4pm to 11pm)
Closed on Monday
11. Longkang Siham
Longkang Siham means "shellfishes by the drain". There are two stalls side-by-side in 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 the seafood. Perhaps, the differences between the two stalls will be how they make their dipping sauces and their own specialty items.
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.
Try 1 @ Capitol Seafood (佳必多)
Capitol Seafood 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.
Opening Hours:
5pm to 10:30pm | Closed on Tuesday
Try 2 @ 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 before Capitol Seafood. Both stalls serve almost the same things, except for some specialty items.
Opening Hours:
5:30pm to 11pm | Closed on Wednesday
12. Pakistani Tandoori Chicken & Naan
Apart from Peranakan and Chinese cuisine in Malacca Old Town, there is also a Pakistani restaurant, serving tandoori chicken and different flavours of naan, from the early-days-migrated local community. This is one special must-try item of its kind and is served at Pak Putra. The locals highly recommended this restaurant too.
Try @ Pak Putra Tandoori & Naan Restaurant
Pak Putra's specialty is their naan (baked leavened bread) and savoury 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. Do go with a bigger group to try more things.
Note: Pak Putra is located just outside the old town and is opened only at night. Do spray on some mosquito repellent, especially on the legs that will be in the dark shadows of the tables.
Opening Hours:
5:30pm to 1am | Closed on alternate Mondays
Location Maps
Location of eating options in Malacca Old Town.
Location of eating options outside Malacca Old Town.