Melaka Food and Travel Guide

Thai food at Mc Quek's Sate Celup

2009-10-10T03:55:00.000-07:00

People usually eats or should i say, craves for satay celup during evening or night time as the weather is much cooler and the ambience of the sate celup shop is more suitable. Imagine eating hot satay celup under the hot afternoon sun @_@~...

Basically you can say that the main reason why there are no satay celup shops open before the sun sets. So what do you do if you own a sate celup shop and you want to optimize the space and maximize profit. You rent it to other people lo... or at least this is what Mc Queks Sate Celup shop owner does.

Look out for this McQuek's Sate Celup signboard

If you pass by this shop in the afternoon, there is a stall selling authentic Thai food. According to a friend the cook is also from Thailand... so this is no imitation Thai food, but original and nice. Some of the dishes served here also might not commonly find in other places in Melaka. For example, the belacan(shrimp paste) fried rice and tom yam pork noodle.

Belacan(shrimp paste) fried rice.

For me, the belacan(shrimp paste) fried rice is ok only but it's really refreshing to try something new. To eat this, the shop owner mentioned that we need to squeeze the lime juice over the rice first then mix up all the ingredients which consist of mango, long bean, egg, meat, onions and rice.

Tom yom pork noodle

The second dish I tried is the Tom yam pork noodle. Usually tom yum is served with seafood like prawn and squid, but here, they serve with pork. So it's non halal here. As you can see here, pork lover sure enjoy this. A bowl of tom yum noodle contains pork ball, pork liver, pork intestine and also pork mince meat. Also the spicyness and sourness of the tom yum complements well with the savoury pork soup. This dish is definately a must try!

Apple juice ^^

As for the pricing, if looking from the locals (Melaccan) point of view, I must say the price is abit on the expensive side if you compare to food from other stalls. It's about RM4-RM6. But if you are from KL or Singapore, the price is consider reasonable. Furthermore the food is nice:)

McQueks Sate Celup
Location: 231, Jalan Parameswara,

Bandar Hilir, 75000 Melaka,

Malaysia

Melaka cinemas

2009-09-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

Melaka have 3 cinemas, two GSC (Golden Screen Cinema) and one MBO. Previously there used to be an old Cathay cinema near Jalan Hang Tuah bridge. But now it's run down and replaced by big, modern looking cinemas such as GSC and MBO.

The MBO cinema is one of the latest cinema in Melaka. Many of the locals prefer to go to MBO which is located in Melaka Mall (a shopping mall). MBO or used to be called Kotamas is just opposite to Jusco and there is a overhead bridge connecting them. Apart from being convinient (less jam) the parking there is also free.

Besides MBO, there are 2 GSC (Golden Screen Cinema) in Melaka; One located in Mahkota Parade and another in Dataran Pahlawan. Dataran Pahlawan GSC is newer, bigger, have nicer design and seating if compared to GSC Mahkota Parade. Also, the price is usually more expensive by RM1, a reasonable price to pay if you want a more a better cinema experience.

Book ticket in GSC Melaka Cinema?
Usually there you no need to pre-book cinema tickets in Melaka. Unless you want better seating or if the movie is on weekend or a new release, you could book it online or through phone, just to ensure there is a movie to watch when u reach the cinema.
Here's the step on how to book GSC cinema ticket:

Register at GSC website to book online or use phone reservation(Tel No.:06 – 2810018 for GSC Dataran Pahlawan and GSC Mahkota Parade)
book at your desired time, date, number of seats and movie (TICKETS ARE OPEN FOR RESERVATION AND PURCHASE TWO (2) DAYS BEFORE THE DATE OF SCREENING)
Take note of the confirmation number
Collect the movie ticket based on the confirmation number at GSC reservation counter at least 45 minutes before show time. Otherwise, the ticket will be open for sale again.
Pay money and enjoy your movie

Also, now you can direct buy GSC Movie ticket online. This way, you can choose the seating you like and it is not required to collect the ticket 45 minutes earlier as the ticket is already sold to you.But take note, you need to pay RM1 processing fee.

As for MBO, I've have not heard whether booking is allowed. But you can see the movie show time in MBO website.

Fishball noodles with prawn crackers in Batu Berendam cheaper?

2009-09-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

Remember the savoury and crunchy prawn crackers in Tengkera fishball noodles? Well, there is another shop also selling the their version of fishball noodles with prawn crackers in Bachang, Batu Berendam. The stuff they serve together with the noodles such as fishballs and fish cakes are almost similar. But, the one in Batu Berendam, the prawn crackers are more to the crunchy side and they are more generous by putting more of then in a bowl of fishball noodle as compared to the one in Tengkera.

Medium bowl but lots of prawn crackers :p

The Batu Berendam fishball noodles with prawn cracker comes in 2 sizes. Big and medium. But I do feel that the medium here is equivalent to big in the Tengkera fishball noodle. Felt very full after eating the medium size one but enjoyed the very last bits of it. Come to think about it, the one is Batu Berendam price has increased quite a lot. It is now RM3.50 per bowl. I remembered it used to be just RM2.50 a few years back. If compared to Tengkera fishball noodle, i now prefer here although the one in Tengkera used to be my favourite. They really need to do something to improve their quality to attract the old and new customers. As for the fishball noodle in Batu Berendam, i personally feel that the soup taste nicer and i feel like there are more ingredient. Just one comment, they might just use a bit too much on MSG.

Fishball noodles with prawn cracker shop in Bachang, Batu Berendam

Best fried noodle in Melaka - Mee Hassan (Update)

2009-09-06T22:27:00.000-07:00

Remember the post about the best fried noodle in Melaka "Mee Hassan" aka "Mee Ganja" as it is so nice that it is almost addictive? I did mentioned that, that shop is strictly for breakfast rite? Well, there is an exception, during the puasa month but minus the week before the Hari Raya, they opened at nite.. yes it's true. Apparently many of the local knew about it and so the place is also quite packed at this time too. At nite, they opened from 8.30pm to about 11 pm.

Also, a not so good news is that they have increased the price of the noodles and egg by RM0.10. Yikes...

Putu Piring Tengkera

2009-09-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

Putu Piring is local Malay delicacy. It uses rice flour with palm sugar or 'Gula Melaka' in the middle. There's one particular shop in Tengkera that really excel in cooking it. Well, they are even featured in a local tv show and came out in newspapers. The uniqueness of this shop is that the putu piring made there is relatively larger in size compare to other shops or stall and they use a lot of the gula melaka and freshly grated coconut. Combination of these ingredients makes the putu piring one of the best you can find in Melaka or maybe, in Malaysia too?

Here how they cook their putu piring: Rice flour is placed in a mould and then the 'Gula Melaka' (quite alot) in the middle. Then top with another layer or or rice flour. Putu Piring is cooked in special a 'steamer' for about 5 minutes. After it is done, the owner sprinkled a generous amount of freshly grated coconut on it and placed a square shaped banana leaf on it. Finally, the putu piring is turn upside down and tada ~ A hot and steamy and ever delicious 'kuih' or cake is done.

If you follow a food tv show "Taste with Jason" or "阿贤人情味" previously, you might see before an episode featuring this stall. Here's video of about it.

Price: RM0.70 per piece
Address：
Putu Piring Tengkera
No 252, Jalan Tengkera,
75200 Melaka,
Malaysia
Tel No.：06－282 1505
Opening hours：6.30pm － 10.30pm(or once they sold out)
Open everyday except on Sunday.
GPS location: N2 12.062 E102 14.351

Yau Char Kwai or Chinese crullers at Jalan Bendahara

2009-09-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

Chinese crullers or better known as Yau Char Kwai in Cantonese or You Tiao in Mandarin by the locals, is a long double strips of dough connected in the middle which is deep fried till it's golden brown. If you are interested in knowing it's history and origin, you can look in Wikipedia here. It's quite interesting.

What defines a good you tiao or yau char kwai? Well, my definition is that it must be soft and fluffy in the inside and crispy in the outside. Also the taste and aroma also important.

One of the famous You Tiao in Melaka is the one in Jalan Bendahara, Melaka which is located along the road heading to Dutch Square. Some locals nicknamed the you tiao here as 'Emas' which means gold. The perfected golden brown color of a deep fried You Tiao might be the reason and the aroma is just unforgettable. The texture is not soft but a little chewy. But its this is definately a must try!

Wanton noodles in Bukit China

2009-09-06T18:37:00.000-07:00

Wanton noodles or wantan mee is normally what I order when I can't decide what I want to eat(but only applicable in Melaka...below is the reason :D). Wantan noodle one of my all time favourite food since small. Especially the version in Melaka. In Melaka, the wanton mee is more spicy because they usually put a little bit of chili paste and mix it together with the mee or noodle.

However in other parts of Malaysia, such as KL, the wanton noodle is a little different. They usually use roasted pork instead or 'Char Siew', the noodle sauce black in color, no minced pork and ultimately, they don't mix the chili paste with the noodle. Almost gave me a culture shock when i ate my first wanton mee there, haha. But i do think that the roasted pork they use tasted much nicer compared to 'char siew', but that's all. If i have to eat wantan mee from other place than in Melaka, i usually take more pickled green chili to add the spiciness to the dish. Luckily, all version of wanton mee have the pickled green chili :D

Simply delicious

Yesterday, I went to a Wantan mee restaurant in Bukit China. My dad claims that they serve the best Wanton mee in Melaka and really, the taste and texture of the noodle beats lots of their competitors hands down. The restaurant usually flocked with customers during weekend and their service is quite be slow during that time. We had to wait a few minutes for them to take order from us(after being seated) and another 20 minutes before being served. Other than that complain :P, the food is good.

1 bowl has 3 wantons

Price: RM2.50(small), RM3(medium), RM3.50(big)

Bukit China Wan Tan Noodle Shop

Malim curry rice aka 'Jonker curry rice'

2009-09-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

Curry rice might not be as famous as chicken rice ball or sate celup in Melaka, but this particular shop in Malim, named Ji Chang Jie Curry Rice or Malim Jaya Curry Rice, is definately one place you should drop by. Here the curry is flavourful with its spices and have only light coconut milk. The pork meat is so tender that if almost melts in your mouth. Here, the curry is serve with combining with the soy sauce and star anise stewed eggs and the tofu. The licorice flavor from star anise enhances the taste of the eggs and tofu. Combining both sauces, it is like a match made it heaven.

Can you resist the temptation of this curry rice?

This shop has a history for about 50 years and is originally from Jonker Street. I came to know about this shop in Malim after my dad brought us there for breakfast a few years ago. According to few peoples I talk to, most of them are the older folks in Melaka:P, they often refer it as 'Jonker Curry Rice' and back in those days they have a lot more customers than they do now. I guess one of the major reason is the location. I must say that by foot, Malim is a bit out of reach to go from Melaka town and the other tourist attactions centralized there. With that aside, they do have a lot of loyal customers, often old customers and their families that come to "pong chan" (meaning something like help to give them business by eating there, hard to translate, but something like that la...haha :P).

It has been about a decade since they had shifted to Malim. Rumours has it that it was due to the hike of the shop rent caused by the 'Jonker Walk' project. Ok, enough with the history and let's talk about the food. I'm feeling abit tired now... so I'll say it in one sentence, "you'll just need to try it once and the food itself will the do the talking for you". Also, look at the photos, how can you resist it.

Look for this signboard

Location Address:
Ji Chang Jie Curry Rice,
G-11 Malim Jaya,
Melaka, Malaysia

Opening hours: 8am - 2 pm everyday except on Tue and Thur (close).

Price : RM3.50 per person (Rice + curry chicken and pork + some vege)
RM1.00 per egg in soy sauce.

Melaka 5 star latest hotel deals

2009-09-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

To enjoy more in Melaka and if you have those extra bucks to splurge, staying in 5 star hotel might the just be the secret to a great holiday. I did some checking on the latest best deals on a few of the 5 star Melaka Hotel. Below are what I've found so far but I'll add more soon. Just for your information these are the most famous hotels in Melaka and location wise, the most strategic; near to town, places of interest and also the glorious food :)

Renaissance Hotel : Early Bird Savers Promotion
For reservation your room by 9/20/09 . Stay period starts from 8/13/09-9/30/09.
Rates from: RM180
Valid Through: September 30, 2009

Equtorial Hotel Gateaway Package
Stay from RM268++ per room per night and get RM88 credit daily to spend at any of their food and beverage outlets.

Bayview Hotel : Ramadhan Family Package
Package includes:
2 days / 1 night stay in a Superior Room
Buffet Breakfast OR Sahur for 2 adults & 1 child
Ramadhan Buffet Dinner for 2 adults & 1 child
RM250++ per package
Package is valid from 22 August to 18 September 2009 (except for 12 September 2009).

Best Bak Kut Teh in Melaka?

2009-09-01T06:01:00.000-07:00

Bak Kut Teh with yam rice and 'yau chai kwai'

Bak Kut Teh is probably my dad's favourite food. Although I do think that PORK cooked with ANYTHING can my dad's favourite food, haha. Bak Kut Teh is basically a pork dish cooked in herbal soup. This dish make a hearty breakfast or dinner for many pork lovers especially in the Chinese community. Although the best Bak Kut Teh in Malaysia is probably located in Klang but, here in Melaka, you can't deny that there are still some selling reasonable good and tasty bak kut teh. If you're still wondering what is bak kut teh, check out more about it in Wikipedia here.

In Malaysia and Singapore, you can find about 3 variants of bak kut teh. These 3 variants are Teochew style which have clear and peppery tasting soup, Hokkien style which have darker and saltier tasting soup as they usually add soy sauce and Cantonese style which has more stronger medicinal herbal flavoured soup. Meanwhile, there are also some shops or their cook decided to they own variant and created dry bak kut teh. I've yet to taste it but from words of mouth, it is quite good. You can read it about it here.

Glorious pork and soup

Now, you might wonder where's the shop is the photos from rite, no? haha. Anyways, this bak kut teh shop is located in Taman Melaka Baru in Batu Berendam. If you are coming from town you'll pass by Infineon (a big electronics factory in Melaka) on your left and about 500 meters more, keep on the lookout for the signboard "Ah Lang Bak Kut Teh" on your left. It is just beside the main road, so you can easy spot it.

I quite like the bak kut teh served here. The soup is ok but pork meat is very tender. Must have cooked it under a slow fire for quite some time. Meanwhile the yam rice contains lots of small chucks of yam, that is quite salty but if eaten together the soup and pork, it tasted just right. Too bad the 'Yau Char Kwai' or Chinese cruller fried bread stick is not crispy as I like it to be.

Price: About RM9 per person (includes everything you see above).

Ah Lang bak kut teh shop

Chicken rice ball in Melaka Baru

2009-08-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

Yummy :p...

Melaka is famous for its chicken rice balls. In case you are wondering what is chicken rice balls, well, it is almost the same as conventional chicken rice sold elsewhere but the rice is made into shape of balls. Nowadays, the rice balls are made using machine to compress and shape it.

This is what you'll get if order chicken rice ball for 1 person

The most famous chicken rice shop is located in Jonker Street. However, according to my taste bud, it is not the best one in Melaka :P. On of my favourite place to savour Melaka chicken rice ball is located in Melaka Baru and the stall name is "Huang Chang Chicken Rice Restaurant". This chicken rice shop is a excelent example of a place where we can find cheap but nice food. No kidding, the taste is superb but the price is cheaper compared to other chicken rice shop else where.

Here's the shop signboard. If you look closely, you can see the crowd standing outside the shop. Usually on weekends, you'll need to wait for awhile to get a seat.

Price:
Whole chicken:RM17

Half chicken: RM8.5o

Chicken rice ball: Rm0.15 each

If order for 1 person to eat ( 1 set include 7 chicken rice balls and a plate of salt steamed chicken) : RM2.30 (cheap, rite)

Address:
Huang Chang Chicken Rice Restaurant
BB-376 Taman Melaka Baru,
Batu Berendam,
75350 Melaka

Tel: 06-3170299

Here's the map for easy navigation:

Authentic Melaka Nyonya Kuih

2009-08-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

Nyonya kuih is famous in Melaka and Singapore. They might be fattening like any other cakes or cookies but they sure are tasty:P So, just close one eye and sink your teeth into it.

The common black and red Kuih 'Ku'

Various Nyonya Kuih

Kuih closeup

One of the few places where you can order Nyonya kuih in bulk for events such as open house or any kind of festivals, is located in Batu Berendam. Another location is in Tengkera. There are also many customers who buy just a few pieces of the Nyonya kuih for breakfast or tea time. Most of them buy here because of the large selection of kueh and the taste.

When i came to this shop in Batu Berendam, the nyonya kuih is almost finish. Sorry can't take a good picture showing more kuih selection. Maybe i'll visit the shop again next time earlier,haha. This shop is located at Jalan Dato Seri Mohd Zin or better known as Jalan Pasar Borong Batu Berendam. If you are heading to the Pasar Borong the shop or rather the house is on your left hand side. The shop is actually a house but there are table and other cooking equipments on the outside (see the picture below). Also, is just beside a kopitiam name "Cafe" (used to be Nyonya Cafe" but now the "Nyonya" word is erase with a white paint leaving just "Cafe" on the signboard.

The nyonya kuih shop in Batu Berendam, Melaka

There is another shop in Tengkera which also selling nyonya kuih. Below is the address:

72, Lorong Pantai Tengkera 2C,
Tengkera, Melaka,
Malaysia

GPS Coordinate:
N2.20325 E102.23149

Fishball noodles with prawn crackers in Tengkera, Melaka

2009-08-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

Fishball noodles is chinese dish that very common in Malaysia. Usually, fishball noodle consist of noodle of your selection (mee, bee hoon, kuey tiao, etc) and fish balls. Sound a bit boring rite. Well, here's the twist. In Jalan Tengkera, Melaka there is a shop selling fishball noodles with prawn crackers. I'm not sure whether there is such dish in other parts of Malaysia, or unique to Melaka. But if you do visit Melaka, do give it a try.

Prawn crackers in the noodle soup is crunchy on the outside and savoury in the inside. Overall, it is tasty and blends well with the fishball noodle. Yummy! The only complain I have is that the noodle does not have any vege in it. Not even 'tau geh' or bean sprout. Ok, i know some people (vege non eaters) will say 'what are you complaining about??', but some vege is good rite??

Big bowl has more prawn crackers

This is what I ate, a medium bowl

It looks so yummy...

This shops located at the same road as 'Mee Hassan' mentioned in my other post here. Opposite this shop you can find Wesley Methodist Church. There are 3 sizes you can choose, big, medium and small (RM3.50, Rm3.00 and RM2.50 respectively). If you are a big eater, order the big size as it is more fulfiling. As you can see from the picture above, it has more noodles and prawn crackers in it.

This shop has been in business for a long time. Also, there used to be an aunty selling the freshly squeezed sugar cane water using the sugar cane machine just outside the stall but now there isn't. I do miss eating this noodle while slurping my ice cold sugar cane water. Recently also, there seems to be less customers compare to their previous years. I'm not sure whether the customer had changed their taste buds or whether there is no sugar cane water selling there anymore.

Tengkera fishball noodle stall

More information, such as map coming soon....

Pork satay in Melaka

2009-08-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

Pork lovers will love this place, guranteed:) This is one of the few stall in Melaka (and I believe in Malaysia too) that you can find selling pork satay. Satay is a dish where small marinated cubes of meat threaded on skewers and grilled using charcoal.

If you like pork intestine or pork liver this is the place you should head to. Apart from that, you can also find the common chicken satay here.

Another thing worth to mention is their satay sauce. It's taste quite different from the normal satay found in Malaysia. It contains small pieces of pineapple, peanut and other 'secret ingredients' that gives the satay sauce a more sweet, sour and spicy feel to it. It's really unique and matches well with the pork satay. So what are you waiting for?

Address:
Kedai Satay Xiang Ji
50, Jalan Portugis
Melaka (quite near to Jonker Street)
GPS Location: 2.202817,102.244209

Pork satay map here

Pictures will be added soon.....

Best satay celup in Melaka

2009-08-04T06:07:00.000-07:00

Whenever friends comes to visit Melaka, they sure ask for satay celup. Satay celup is one of the signiture dish of Melaka. Satay celup basically are an assortment of food item (raw meat, seafood, fish balls, vegetable, bean curd, etc) on skewers that are dip or dunk into 'Satay' sauce to cook or heat them. Satay celup is quite similar to 'lok lok' found in Ipoh or Kuala Lumpur. The main difference the sauce. 'Satay' sauce main ingredient is peanuts and it is a thick and aromatic.

The best satay celup in Melaka is probably Capitol satay celup and it never fails to generate long queues waiting for their turn to savour the delicious food it has to offer.

Opening time: Every day from 5.30pm to midnite (except on Monday)

Address:
Capitol Satay Celup,
41, Lorong Bukit Cina,
Melaka, Malaysia
GPS Location: N2.19548 E102.25252

More information on the location, pictures and price coming soon....

Dim sum in Malaysia

2009-08-04T03:03:00.000-07:00

Dim sum originated from China but it is also a famous Chinese delicacy here in Malaysia. Dim sum is a Cantonese phrase which literally means "touch the heart". Dim sum are mostly famous in states such as Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur. However, Melaka dim sum is also very delicious and the plus point is that the price per plate is cheaper by half or more if compared to dim sum in Kuala Lumpur.

Dim sum are small dumplings filled with meat, fish, prawns or vegetable that are fried or steamed. There are various shape, design and ingredient used to cook dim sum. All is up to the creativity and culinary skill of the chef.

One of the nicer dim sum you can find in Melaka is situated in Bachang. The shop business seems to be blooming as the you can see the number of shop lot it is occupying increases. Also, the dim sum restaurant have added air conditioner in the shop recently.

More information on the location, pictures and price coming soon....

Asam pedas in Melaka beside Pasar Borong ?

2009-08-04T00:40:00.000-07:00

Ah.. asam pedas.. The word itself can make my saliva dripping. One of the best asam pedas you can find in Melaka actually is just beside 'Pasar Borong' in Batu Berendam. Pasar Borong means market in english. It's quite peculiar and downright weird to have such delicious food serve right beside the wet market (yes, the market is a wet market which sells fish, meat and vegetables). If you can ignore the fact of eating beside a wet market, the asam pedas serve there is just mouth watering and should not be miss.

In case you are not familiar with what is 'Asam Pedas', it is a hot and sour dish cooked with fish. It is normally served with white rice and salted egg. Look at the picture below:)

The place opens from night (dinner time) till morning I guess and the my favourite asam pedas stall is located somewhere in the middle (lot no. 12). The owner is a chinese lady and the asam pedas is served in a claypot. This place is actually in a food court where there are many stalls selling various types of food. Also, there are quite a number of stalls selling asam pedas and also other foods such as fishball noodle, curry rice, bak kut teh and fried oysters.

Asam pedas can be very spicy. Usually I'll order the fresh soya bean from the next stall to neutralize the burning sensation in my mouth

Price:
Asam pedas: RM5.00 (per person)
Rice and salted egg: RM1.30
Soya bean drink: RM1.30

Opening time:
Dinner - supper time

More information on the location coming soon....

Best Mee Goreng (fried noodle) in town - Mee Hassan

2009-07-19T21:29:00.000-07:00

Just take your GPS and find this location N2 12.183 E102 14.097. The 'mee goreng' here is just so simple but yet so nice. When I said simple, yes, I do mean simple. The 'mee goreng' just consist of yellow noodle (mee) and bean sprout (tau geh), stir fried to prefection using oil and chili. However, their chili or sambal adds that special 'kick' to our taste buds making it the best mee goreng in town. If you still don't believe me, just pass by the shop and look at the crowd there every single morning. People will literary line up to be served.

This shop is famously known as "Mee Hassan" and located at Jalan Tengkera, nearby Melaka town. It's just situated beside the main road, so u'll be able to spot it easily. You can use gps(if you have one) to find it also.

Other than Mee goreng, they also serve nasi lemak. If you want to try their nasi lemak, come early. It can be sold out as early as 10 am. Btw, the 'mee goreng' also finish fast. Normally they will close shop before 12 pm. So this place is strictly for breakfast.

Price list:

Mee Goreng: RM1.40

Nasi Lemak: RM1.80

Fried Egg: Rm0.60

Location: Jalan Tengkera (near Methodist Girl School)
GPS Coordinate : N2 12.183 E102 14.097

P.S.:Updated on the price and opening time here

Yee Wat Yong Tau Fu

2009-07-12T09:06:00.001-07:00

If you come to Melaka through the Alor Gajah Toll, you'll definitely pass by "Restoran Yee Wat" on your way to Melaka Town. I highly recommend this shop as it serve delicious home made fish balls or 'Yong Tau Fu'. "Restoran Yee Wat" can literally translated as "Fish Paste Restaurant". Also, if you see on the left of the shop signboard, there is a logo, stating "Ivan's Ikan Parang". Ivan should be the shop owner name (correct me if i'm wrong) and 'ikan parang' is best type of fish to make fish paste due to it smooth texture and taste.

Yong Tau Fu shop in Krubung, Melaka

This shops is quite unique compared to other Yong Tau Fu shops found in Melaka. One of the reason is that you can order it with various types of flavours. Usually, most shops only serve 2 types, soup or dry. But here, you can also order tom yam and mee rebus flavour. Secondly, and the most important reason is that they make their own fish paste (using "ikan parang" I believe) and the taste is just superb. Yummy! Besides, there are also a lot of certificates and awards proudly hanged on the wall of the shop. This shows how good and experience the chef's culinary skill.

In Melaka, Yong Tau Fu is served with noodles

Tom Yam flavour Yong Tau Fu

Mee rebus flavour Yong Tau Fu

For those who doesn't know what is 'Yong Tau Fu', you can read the origin and description of it in Wikipedia here. 'Yong Tau Fu' (釀豆腐) literary translated as stuffed bean curd. Basically, it is a Chinese soup dish containing food item such as tofu (bean curd), 'tau ki' (soya sheets), 'tau pok (fried bean curd) and vegetables that are stuffed with fish paste or meat paste. Look at the pictures below and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Yong Tau Fu in soup

Mix Fried Yong Tau Fu with special sauce

Price : Reasonable and can be consider CHEAP if you're from KL or Singapore. Only RM3.20 per bowl and RM0.60 for each piece of Yong Tau Fu. So, what are you waiting? It's the best Yong tau fu in town.

Alai Ikan Bakar - Seafood by the river

2009-07-12T09:00:00.001-07:00

Last weekend my family and I went to Alai 'Ikan Bakar' for dinner. For those who don't know what is 'Ikan Bakar', well it is a Malay word and it literaly translated as 'burned fish'. Just kidding, a better translation would be charcoal grilled fish. Sounds yummy rite.

Alai is our favourite place to eat 'Ikan Bakar'. It has a lot of choices of seafood and the price is resonable here. On weekends Alai 'Ikan Bakar' never fail to be packed with customers, both local and outstation. But that particular Saturday, the place strangely does not have so much customer as I expected. Anyways, lucky for us as less people means faster service:D Location wise, in fact Alai is not quite strategic as it is not in the center of town or even visible easily along the road. In fact is located quite deep inside and is situated just beside a river. Most customers know this place though the word of mouth. This just show how delicious the food there can be:P

Alai Ikan Bakar river view

Choose your seafood!

There's so much variety

Tables and chairs

Price on that day

The first thing that came was nasi lemak and otak-otak. I can't wait for all the food to arrive... so I ate first:P

There a various seafood that you can choose from:
-Fish (Jenak, Siakap, Pari, Kembung, Selar Kuning, Merah, etc)
-Clam (Lala, Scallop, Kerang, etc)
-Squid
-Crab
-Prawn
-etc.

Cooking method:

Bakar(Charcoal grilled)You should at least have one dish cooked this method. If not, wouldn't it defeat the purpose of going to Alai 'Ikan Bakar' and not eating 'Ikan Bakar', rite? (Note: If you saw the 'ikan bakar' picture below, please excuse it... i forgot to take the picture BEFORE we ate it.. i guess it was too tempting :D). Anyways, my recommandation, choose 'Ikan Jenak' a medium sized fish and ask the to 'bakar'(grill) it. Jenak is suitable as its flesh it thicker and juicer if compared to smaller fish. It is also a saltwater fish, so cooking this method is better compared to fresh water fish that might have a bit of the fishy smell. The best part of grilled fish is that you get the taste the original fresh flavour of the fish and able to dip it with their 'special' soy sauce. Definately a must try:)
Goreng Berlada (Deep fried with Chili paste on top)This is one of my favourite cooking method here. I love spicy food, and if you are the same then you definately try Deep fried with Chili paste on top menu.

Goreng tepung (Deep fried with flour)If you thinking of cooking method for squid, you should definately try deep fried with flour. It's absolutely tasty.

Asam pedas (hot and sour soup) Quite tasty actually. Should try:)
Sweet and sour (Tomato paste)
Goreng kunyit (Fry with tumeric powder)

Other food:

Otak-otak RM0.50 each

Nasi lemak bungkus RM0.70 each

Vegetables (not many choices)
Beverages:
Hot drinks,Cold drinks,Fruit juice,Coconut drink

Finally, here's the receipt. The owner was quite nice and gave us some discounts. Total paid, RM95:)

Seri Muara Alai Nasir Ikan Bakar
Contact Number:016-6331373 / 012-2725310 /06-2634612
Address: Km 8, Alai, 75460 Melaka
Opening time: Dinner time
GPS Location: Coming soon ...

A Famosa Fortress or Porta de Santiago - A must visit

2009-07-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

Similar to the Dutch Square, A Famosa is definately a must visit as is one of the most famous historical landmark in Melaka.

A Famosa Fort or also known as Porta de Santiago was built by the Portuguese in 1512 under the direction of Alfonso de Albuquerque. The name A Famosa means famous in Portuguese and it remains true till this day as it is still the most well known and biggest fort once built by the Portuguese in history. Originally, the function of the fort is to fense off the attack from Sultan Melaka (Sultan Mahmud) armies and also from Acheh empire.

However, the one that you can see today is only the remains of one of the four main gates of the fort. As Melaka experience various change of colonial powers (Portuguese, Dutch, British), the fort also undergone different stage due to this. Here's the story...

In 1641, after more than a century, Melaka was then took over by the Dutch (Dutch East Indian Company). The Dutch kept the fort, renovated and rebuilt it for their own use.

Years later, during the reformation in Europe, King William of Orange from the Netherlands handed over Melaka and other Dutch territories to British on a temporary term agreement. It was done to avoid these territories from being taken over by the French colonizer Nepoleon. However, the British too had the intention of keeping Melaka for themselves. Therefore, in 1795, before the temporary agreement came to the end, Captain William Farquhar ordered to destroy the fort to break down the Dutch defence.

The task of demolishing the fort was not easy as it initially thought. Using human strength of slaves and labourers to manually taking it down was not sufficient. Therefore, he then ordered gun powder and cannon to blast it all down. Luckily, if not for Sir Stamford Raffles and Lord Minto efforts to stop this devastation, there will not be any remains of the fort left in Melaka today.

The Dutch Square (Stadhuys and Christ Church)

2009-07-10T05:39:00.000-07:00

If you have not step foot in the Dutch Square area, then you can't say that you've visited Melaka. It'll be just wrong, haha. Well, technically it's untrue. But it is one of Melaka most famous historical landmark. You should at least visit there once.

How do you know that you've reach the Dutch Square? Easy, if the surrounding building are all painted in red, then you can be certain that you've reach there.

There are a few historical landmark which you can find in the Dutch Square area:

Stadhuys : This building was built in the year 1650 as the center of Dutch administration and residence of the Dutch Governor and their officers. The structure truly reflects Dutch architecture in that time and is believed to the the oldest Dutch building in the East. Now, it is known as "Museum of History and Ethnography" which exhibits traditional wedding clothes and artifacts of historical Melaka.

Christ Church: Built in the year 1753 by the Dutch and it is the oldest functioning Protestant church in Malaysia. Inside the Christ Church you can find jointless wooden ceiling beam(each cut from a single tree trunk), a brass Bible inscribed with the first verse of St. John in Dutch, a tombstones written in the Portuguese language and a tiled artwork replica of " The Last Supper". It also still contains the original hand crafted pews (church long bench seat) and window dated back 200 years old. Later, during British occupation in the year 1795, the church was consecrated as an Anglican Church.

Both Stadhuys and Christ Church is opened daily for tourists from 9 am to 6 pm.

Top 10 places to eat in Melaka

2009-06-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

Yes... this is my favourite topic. Foods...and more foods

In Melaka there is a lot of nice dishes if you know where to find them. One tip if you have no clue whatsoever.... just follow the crowd! Simple rite :) The stall with the most customer, chances are that they are the best.

Now, here's my 10 ten list of the best places to eat in Melaka

Capitol Satay Celup
Hoe Kee Chicken Rice Ball
Taiwan Mee
Pak Putra Taandori & Naan Restaurant
Geographer Cafe
Portuguese Settlement Seafood
Alai Ikan Bakar (Seafood)
Dim Sum Bachang
Asam Pedas (Pasar Borong)
Wan Tan Mee (Bukit China)

Some sounds familiar? No? Don't fret. I will give the details about it and how to go there soon :)

Top 10 places to visit in Melaka

2009-06-26T06:18:00.000-07:00

Melaka.... a beautiful small state in Malaysia.... Where to go and what to see in Melaka? Here's my top 10 places to visit when you are travelling there.

Stadthuys
St. Paul's Hill (the site of the historical St. Paul Church and A' Famosa Fortress)
Jonker Walk
Hang Li Po Well (locally known as Perigi Hang Li Po)
Melaka River (boat ride)
Eye on Malaysia
Menara Taming Sari (Revolving Tower)
Museums(Maritime Museum, Cheng Ho Cultural Museum, Baba-Nyonya Heritage Museum)
A' Farmosa Resort
Zoo Melaka

Don't know where are the places? Stay tuned, more info about each of them and more coming soon...

How Melaka got her name

2009-06-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

Storytelling mode :On

It was the year 1396, a prince from Palembang fled Temasik (Singapore) to find refuge in neighbouring land. In one of his journeys, he was resting under a 'Melaka' tree when he saw a white 'mouse-deer’ surrounded by his hunting dogs. Suddenly, it occurred to him that the he and the mouse-deer situation shared something in common. Both are alone in unknown land, surrounded by enemies.

However, the mouse-deer achieved the improbable. It managed to defend itself and even forced the dog into the river. Parameswara was so taken up by the mouse-deer courage and intelligence. He thought that the place that he was seeking refuge was an auspicious land for the disadvantaged to triumph. Therefore, he named the land as ‘Melaka’, after the Melaka tree he was resting.

Melaka was indeed an auspicious and prosperous land. In 15th centuries, Melaka grew to be a maritime empire and international trading post due to its strategic location (sheltered harbour and located in the middle of the spice trade route between China and India)