Monterios Portuguese Seafood Restaurant in Malacca

Malacca has a long history of serving as a colonial trading port, with the Portuguese leaving one of the more noticable marks in the city and cuisine. There is an area called the Portuguese Settlement on the eastern side of the city, and tonight in particular was very cool given that the Kristang community there holding a Christmas Party on the street, with many homes not only decked out in Christmas lights and decorations, but even some of these homes serving food to the public on their driveways. Cool!

As much as we wanted to try some of that home-cooked food, our intention was to sit down at one of the many open air restaurants along the water. There were basically Eurasian-influenced cze cha lined up in a row, kinda like the East Coast Park Seafood Centre in Singapore or even the satay stalls at Lau Pa Sat. We got pulled into one further inside called Monterios thanks to the friendly proprietor who offered us a table (18C Medan Portugis, 014-623-0694). We grabbed a range of items, including the Portuguese Baked Fish, which was not as spicy, greasy, nor sweet as it might look; the taste of our siakap seabass above still came through despite that oily red sauce and onions on top.

We also had a number of other items, including some sambal clams, steamed otah (which interestingly featured two types of fish but was very mild in taste), and even something called Commando Chips, which were crisscut fries topped with anchovies, white onions, and chili paste. Admittedly none of it was anything that I'll do backflips over, but it was still so cool to experience this uniquely local culture here. Next time I'd like to try some of the grilled oysters that I saw someone selling down by the water. And find someone selling kari debal.

McQuek’s Satay Celup in Malacca, Malaysia

The way that they do satay in Malacca is rather unique. The most notable thing is that it is more salty than it is sweet, and they use different parts of the animal like intestines, which are pretty good. But satay in Malacca can also be served in a hot pot format called satay celup. The communal pot in the center of the table is filled with a spicy peanut base that is slightly sweet, but it's not as sugary, thick, nor aromatic as the dipping sauce that one might be thinking of. It's actually more spicy, so much that I even ate a few extra spoonfuls of the sauce at the end of my meal because of how pleasant it was.

This satay celup restaurant (288 Jalan Parameswara, 010-268-2998) has been around since 1930. One goes up to the fridge to pick out their selection of skewers to dip in the free broth. And there were quite a few interesting things available, including a number of minced fish paste items like "pandan sushi" and a "seafood cone." My favorite item was actually the shelled prawns, which were small and charged at a premium but were impressively fresh and savory. The service here was fast and I moved through the queue pretty quickly tonight. I'm surprised this Malaccan style isn't more well-known.

An Afternoon of Local Malaccan Treats

Just north of the Jonker area of Malacca lies a little hole in the wall called Sin Hiap Hin (5 Kampung Jawa), and it is seriously one of the coolest places I've ever been to. It's a very old school bar that is only open during the daytime, and is helmed by the sweetest lady who serves local booze neat or with ice and/or a simple garnish like salted plums. The selection consists of mostly local spirits like Melaka samsu rice wine or young sim chiu herbal liquor, plus some lychee and rose-accentuated bottles too. It couldn't get any more local than that, and I was super excited about being there.



Then a little further up the street was a cendol shop called Mahkota Ice Kachang (165 Jalan Bunga Raya, 017-634-6988). The cendol here was so much better than the watered down tourist place Lulala that we went to yesterday, which was clearly leveraging its prime location at the Tan Kim Seng bridge. Mahkota, on the other hand, used a gula melaka that provided lots of depth to the bowl, which incidentally came with the option for kidney beans instead of red beans. That little sagu in the background above was nice, and everything was extremely affordable.



It was also only on this trip that I realized that the Mamee brand of instant noodles is from Malacca, with its advertising/signage seen everywhere around town. They have a gift shop on Jonker Walk (46 Jalan Hang Jebat, 06-286-7666) that has a so-called Noodle Doodle option for you to decorate your own cup, select your garnishes, and have it sealed for you to bring home as a souvenir. Apparently the Momofuku Ando Cup Noodle Museum was the one that started this first, but I still had fun with the Mamee version despite my lousy artwork.

Restoran Aunty Fatso in Malacca, Malaysia

There is a seafood place in Malacca called Tong Sheng that is so popular that we couldn't get a table this week, so instead we went to this place with its amusing name (13-15 Jalan KLJ 1, 012-611-6996). It's a cze char, but there are a number of dishes that they do differently in Malacca, one of which is that "fresh milk crab" above. The crabs are tossed in a sweet and tangy sauce made with evaporated milk like Carnation, so I guess it wasn't fresh milk after all. But it was quite deep and earthy thanks to a load of spring onions in there, making it rather fragrant. Yep, they provided fried mantou buns for one to mop up the sauce with.

The more exciting thing for me was the river prawn cheese mee hoon behind it. The dairy-based name is again a bit confusing, as it wasn't covered in melted cheese like it might sound. Instead, it sat in a thin and savory broth. I'm not sure if there was grated cheese in there to justify the name, but it tasted as if it were assisted by a instant powder for cream of chicken soup. I liked it, and was also a big fan of those fibrous green vegetables on the left. But I didn't care much for their sweet and sour fish, even if it was quite pretty coming out of the fryer.

Baba Freds Nyonya Restaurant in Malacca, Malaysia

This place is smack in the middle of Malacca's tourist district, complete with a parallel brand called Jonker Street Chicken Rice Ball next door (15 Lorong Hang Jebat, 012-633-3449). Its commercialized location suggested that it wasn't anything to get one's hopes up about, but we needed something convenient and local.

And it satiated those needs, especially with things like those small chicken rice balls in the background. They were almost polenta-like in texture with hardly a sense that they were distinct grains of rice previously. The chicken and char siew in our set did the job, as did the tofu, steamed ladyfingers, and soup.

Actually, the most notable highlight for me was their udang lemak nanas. It was a Peranakan way of serving prawns in a pineapple-based curry, and this one was pleasantly spicy rather than fruity. All of this set a good comparison base for what we else we might encounter later this week.

Charcoal Sutera in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

We made a pitstop at this Nanyang-style cafe after crossing the border this morning (73 Jalan Sutera Tanjung 8/2, 016-324-1812). That Malay-style mee siam above was savory, but the thing that was more unique their seafood nasi lemak, featuring not just fresh and meaty skewered prawns, but also a softshell crab that was deep fried. They were done nicely enough that it didn't matter as much that the rice wasn't very coconut-y. It was fun to wash it down with their salted coffee too.

Jia Yuen Eating House at Tanjong Pagar MRT Exchange

I've passed by this yong tau foo shop a million times on my way to the fish soup stall next door (120 Maxwell Road #B1-29), but only today did I get the inspiration to stop and try it.

It was better than I was expecting in terms of the quality and range of the ingredients, including a fried tofu skin that was glazed mildly sweet but was airy and fun to eat. I realize now that the Hot Hideout folks probably got their inspiration from yong tau foo stalls.

I liked how they had a tub of shallot oil available, but I should go easy on it given how dangerously large the scoop is. These guys are also known for some kind of creamy salted egg rice that I should try someday.

Station by Kotuwa in Telok Ayer

I had this guy's food delivered during the pandemic a couple of times, and it was pretty good. Back then, his Sri Lankan concept was still under incubation, but it has since become a Bib Gourmand, and there is also a more casual Michelin-listed offshoot called Station (21 Boon Tat Street, 6221-1911).

Casual is in relative terms though, as I still racked up a nearly triple-figure bill for one person tonight, but the food was pretty good. I especially liked their deliciously firm and tasty pan-roasted red grouper sitting in a punchy and tangy curry underneath.

Their roti was awesome too, as those little things were piping hot and light with a gooey center. And yes, those prawns above were smoky, although I was a little disappointed that they weren't as fresh as they could've been. I'll go back again if someone else pays.

The Crispy Fried Potatoes from Dingjiapo

OK here were the cuipi guoba tudou from Dingjiapo (as well as a serving of their mashed potatoes in the corner), and it was finally the crispy textured one instead of those weird crinkle cut ones. I also asked them to make it spicier this time, which it was, but it was also very salty. I'm not entirely sure if next time they can make it spicy without being so salty, but I'll ask. I should also try the tofu and egg wrap varieties.

Hua Bee Restaurant in Tiong Bahru, Singapore

That yakitori place Bincho closed a couple of years ago, but the setup at that location is still the same, with noodle aunties there in the morning before an upscale restaurant takes over. We stopped by this morning for the noodles (78 Moh Guan Terrace #01-19 Block 78).

It was a delicate bowl, with a very small portion of noodles that were firmly cooked and laced in a gently smoky chili oil with a good amount of fried shallots. The protein was all thrown into the soup bowl, which excluded liver but included slivers of (soft) pork skin. It was different from other shops, in a good way.

Alas, they are cash only without a QR code in sight, so one has to come prepared for that. The evening restaurant, Dirty Supper, looks extremely promising, by the way. I fully intend to go back, both for the morning noodles, as well as for what looks like a very fun place for dinner and drinks.

China’s Hakka Yu in Singapore

I've been wanting to try this Hakka chain from China for a long time, but there was always a huge line in front of their Jewel Changi Airport outlet that I didn't want to wait for. They've since expanded to new outlets though, and today I was able to walk in. Yay!

The menu had quite a number of items on it that looked promising, but I was after one thing: their salt-baked chicken. And it was delicious! Not only was it moist with a mildly herbal tinge, but most importantly, it had just the right amount of salt and grease to be fun. The best part was when it all came together with the collagen in the skin to form a mildly sticky consistency that was fun to gnaw off of the bones. They arranged the carcass in anatomical order by the way, and they also labeled the dish as being an Intangible Cultural Heritage.

What's odd is that the franchise down here is run by the Putien team, and they decided to put that Spice Mum chili sauce on each table, which felt incongruent and forced. But I did go for their suggestion to pair the chicken with that light pork soup in the foreground, which was crisp and refreshing.

Flavour Fusion at Mercu Aspire, KL Eco City

This office building lobby café was not something I had expected to be anything worth talking about (3 Jalan Bangsar, +60-12-762-7686). But I was quite happy with that fish and scallop porridge above, as it was delicate yet textured, and I could wash it down with a local kombucha featuring calamansi limes. I won't make any huge effort to go back, but I am impressed by how nice some of the food has been on this trip.