Before going on our food tour, we decided to meet our friend Edwin Wong before he drove to Singapore. Waiting for him in the lobby of this Malacca boutique hotel, Arenaa De Luxe Hotel, at 0845 hrs as we did not wish to miss him, we had time to browse through the daily newspapers before he arrived half an hour later.
Arenaa De Luxe Hotel, Malacca Malaysia
After saying our goodbyes to him and thanking him for his hospitality, we moved off to have morning breakfast with a fellow warrior who lives in Malacca, David Tan. We drove to Jonker Street where we were fortunate to get a parking lot along the street and proceeded to Hoe Kee Restaurant, a shop famous for chicken rice ball.
Chicken rice balls (right), vegetables (left) and white chicken (top)
Undoubtedly one of the must-eat delicacies whilst in Malacca, the chicken rice ball is unique and never fails to draw a crowd as can be seen in the picture below.
Made from a traditional Hainanese chicken rice recipe, these cute looking and tantalizing rice balls resemble golf balls and are best eaten with boiled tender and juicy chicken flavoured with sauce and sesame oil.
Without doubt, the chicken rice ball is one of the top five Malacca food that you simply must try.
Made from a traditional Hainanese chicken rice recipe, these cute looking and tantalizing rice balls resemble golf balls and are best eaten with boiled tender and juicy chicken flavoured with sauce and sesame oil.
Without doubt, the chicken rice ball is one of the top five Malacca food that you simply must try.
We then adjourned with David to the shop next door, San Shu Gong which is well known for local delicacies. One of the famous traditional pastry shops in Malacca, San Shu Gong is renowned for its Beh-Teh-Soh (马蹄酥), tao-sar-bia (biscuits with salted green bean fillings), lao-po-bing (wife biscuit) and other pastries as well as their coffee.
Besides Malaysian food products, San Shu Gong also sells decorative items
Proceeding upstairs, we sat at the café and had a drink whilst catching up with one another as we had not seen David for more than a year.
Next we proceeded to buy some Malacca delights along Jonker Street before heading to Melaka Raya area where we David introduced us to Jeta Groves at 115, Taman Melaka Raya. Open from 0700 hrs – 1600 hrs daily except Mondays, Jeta Groves serves superb Malacca food such as mee rebus (boiled noodles served with a slightly sweet spicy gravy) so much so that it was all sold out by 1300 hrs when we were there.
Next we proceeded to buy some Malacca delights along Jonker Street before heading to Melaka Raya area where we David introduced us to Jeta Groves at 115, Taman Melaka Raya. Open from 0700 hrs – 1600 hrs daily except Mondays, Jeta Groves serves superb Malacca food such as mee rebus (boiled noodles served with a slightly sweet spicy gravy) so much so that it was all sold out by 1300 hrs when we were there.
We managed to enjoy the plain chendol (dessert made with shaved ice and served with coconut milk and brown palm sugar) as well as the durian chendol. This must be one of the best chendol that we have tasted and if you love to try really authentic Malacca nyonya cuisine, be sure to head over to Jeta Groves.
Durian chendol at Jeta Groves
After enjoying the chendol, David brought us to Malacca Club where we had a drink before saying our farewells and going separate ways.
View from Malacca Club
We moved on to Bee Bee where we had ordered some pineapple tarts. Located at 307A Jalan Parameswara, Bee Bee serves some of the best pineapple tarts as well. You can also see how the tarts are made as her living room is turned into a production room.
Next, we returned to the Malacca boutique hotel, Arenaa De Luxe Hotel where we packed up and checked out. Leaving some of the food items that we had bought in the hotel, we then went to Mahkota Parade and Dataran Pahlawan to do some shopping. We managed to get some donuts from Big Apple which we had not done so for some time already.
Exhibit of swords at the shopping centre
By the time we completed our shopping, it was already after 1800 hrs and time for dinner. Since we did not have a proper lunch, we made our way to Amy Heritage Nyonya Cuisine along Jalan Melaka Raya 24.
Amy Heritage Nyonya Cuisine
Here we ordered the itek tim (duck and salted vegetable) soup, otak-otak panggang (fish cake wrapped inside banana leaf), udang sambal petai (stink beans and prawns in chilli paste), udang goreng asam (fresh prawns marinated in a sweet tamarind sauce and deep-fried), ayam pongteh (saltish sweet chicken stew), ayam buah keluak (chicken with black nuts) and kangkong kobis keledek masak titik lemak (water spinach, cabbage and sweet potato cooked in coconut).
If you love the really authentic nyonya food, then you should try Amy Heritage Nyonya Cuisine. You can get nyonya food almost anywhere in Malacca, but not many places serve such authentic nyonya cuisine. If any place deserves a perfect 10 score, this is it!
Itek tim soup – a simple savoury and slightly sourish soup
Otak-otak panggang - fragrant banana-leaf parcels of spicy fish mousse gently steam-cooked to perfection
Udang sambal petai – cooked to the right balance of spicy, sour, salty and a tint of sweetness from the freshness of the prawns
Udang goreng asam - sweet and sour fried prawns with turmeric powder and tamarind paste
Ayam pongteh – a famous nyonya dish which is basically Chinese black mushrooms, potatoes and braised chicken in sweet bean paste sauce. It tasted really good, not too thick, not too diluted and just the right taste and texture
Ayam buah keluak - Buah Keluak is a nut from the ‘Kepayang’ tree with a dark, oily slightly bitter meat within. This traditional nyonya dish takes hours to make and is truly memorable for its acquired yet robust flavour and taste
Otak otak panggang, udang goreng assam and sambal belacan (chilli in shrimp paste)
(Back row L-R) Ayam pongteh, ayam buah keluak and Itek tim soup
(Front row L-R) Udang sambal petai and kangkong kobis keledek masak titik lemak
After the awesome nyonya cuisine and a more than full stomach, we finally made our way back to Singapore at 2030 hrs, reaching the Tuas second link at 2330 hrs. What an amazing day we had today especially with the chicken rice ball and the various nyonya cuisine we have discovered.
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