MALACCA: Restoran Tong Sheng

It's 7.30am and I'm waiting for Nick to get out of bed to send me to the airport. Since there's a bit of time I thought I might as well squeeze in a little post.

It's funny how we found this restaurant a few years back. I remember we were just aimlessly walking after a peranakan dinner at Makko and then we just saw this shop, with heaps of people + a queue. And you know la, asian mentality " WAH GOT QUEUE ! SURE GOOD ONE "

Managed to get a booking for the night after and the rest is history.

I think we've patronised this place several times over the years, basically its in the line up in every Malacca trip.

First up, their specialty Cheesy prawn mee sua.

Love love their gravy !

Scallops cooked this way can never go wrong

Despite having a mee sua noodle dish, EVERYBODY SHOULD STILL ORDER BLACK NOODLES!

And the main seafood star, CRAB. This is the butter and salted egg flavour. Its good, but I still prefer my conventional chilli or black pepper (:

With the family.

Restoran Tong Sheng

No. 377 & 378, Taman Melaka Raya, 75000 Melaka, Malaysia

Closes every alternate wednesday 

Opens 5.30pm -11.30pm

MALACCA: Restoran Aunty Lee

I guess the question everybody asks when they are planning for their Malacca trip is: WHERE IS THE BEST PERANAKAN RESTAURANT ?!

And the truth is, after all these years, I don't know... We used to go to Nancy's kitchen down at Jonker Street, but the standard has since dropped, and they have since moved. I heard a malicious rumour, and I say malicious because it's just downright mean to the extent it feels like a curse: Someone told me that Nancy died. 

And the worst part is, alot of Singaporeans also heard this malicious rumour! 

Clarified it with the owner of Restoran Aunty Lee, who said that Nancy is still alive. And he was pretty sure of it. Because Malacca is such a small place, he would have heard about it if Nancy really died. 

I remember when I was younger we used to try and get a table at this Restoran but it was always booked out way way in advance. The story I've heard from my mom and relatives is that, Aunty Lee goes to the market everyday and her menu depends on what she gets at the market. hmm, sounds about like Sushi chefs, hey. 

However as time pass, people do get old and people do get sick and pass on. And this is what happened to Aunty Lee. 

Since 2014, Aunty Lee's kitchen has been headed by Chef Anthony, a malacca boy of Eurasian descend. It's been noted that the recipes created by Aunty Lee has been maintained.

Waiting for the restaurant to open for business. We had to take a taxi to this place because it's really out of city centre. 

Must have dish: KUEH PIE TEE

My love for Kueh Pie Tee stemmed from when my grandmother used to make them when I was younger. 

Oh, note: NO PERANAKAN RESTAURANT FOOD can beat my Grandmother's! She's of peranakan descent by the way.
I think what they say is true, every peranakan family will think their mother's/grandmother's recipe is the best. 

If you think the 2 pictures above are the same, look again. Spot the difference :p

Hahah, okay, they are largely the same except the duck soup is replaced by Ayam Buah Keluak.

Starting from top and moving clockwise we have the:

 Cili Garam - signature deep fried fish (SO GOOD, PLEASE ORDER)

Kueh Pie Tee ( BEST BEST, ORDER PLEASE_

Aya, Buah Keluak ( I've honestly never been a fan of this since young)

Prawns ( pretty nice)

Lady fingers with sambal balachan ( SO good but SO SPICY)

Sambal Petai Squid ( Again very good but very spicy)

Middle: Nonya Chap Chai ( This was really weird, I wouldn't order it again. I was so disappointed because I loved my Grandmother's Chap Chai. In fact, I love Chap chai, so this dish tasting sucky was really disappointing)

It's a sin to not end a peranakan meal in Malacca with CHENDOL.

I LOVE CHENDOL

This was pretty good.

Overall, really happy with the food here at Restoran Aunty Lee. And I highly urge anybody who's making a trip here to Malacca to make a booking here. 

STILL CAN'T STOP RAVING ABOUT THE KUEH PIE TEEEEEEE!

Restoran Aunty Lee
385 Jalan Ujong Pasir
Closed on Tuesday
Lunch: 11.30am -3pm
Dinner 6-10pm
Reservations: +60 192788653 ( whatsapp preferred)
website (click)

MALACCA: Heesan Kopi 囍叁隔壁

In the last few years, I see more and more people jumping on to the coffee bandwagon. And when I mean coffee, it isn't your usual hawker centre/kopitiam kopi o, kopi siu dai, kopi c.
If you aren't from Singapore/Malaysia, you'll probably be going like " WHUT? What is this girl talking about? Where is she from? China? "

DENG 

DENG 

DENG 

THOU SHALT BE REMINDED OF MY CHINA FACE. 

Eh, Before you report me to whoever, I am not being racist of any sort. It's just an inside joke between Nick and I, about me having a China face and being a China girl. I am, by the way, not a china girl. 

Recently, my dad has also caught this coffee bug. Well, he has always loved his coffee, but in his time there were hardly any flat white, latte, skinny capp, and there definitely wasn't " dirty chai with soy milk, to go, please " .  Anyhow, being in Australia and exposed to this coffee culture has definitely influenced me, and I'm so glad to be able to share this love of coffee with my dad. 

So when we were in Malacca my dad was like " okay, lets look for good cafes" 

Had a couple come up on google, but I think when you're on holiday, you're more likely to be walking around randomly and if you come across your search results then so be it. 

Oh I love Malacca and these Peranakan Houses. 

While we were walking around Jonker street, we came across this pretty hipster cafe - Heesan.

Coffee was pretty good - just a tad bitter, think the coffee beans were roasted a little over.

But very nice ambience! A perfect place to sit down and chill with friends and family. 

Heesan Kopi 囍叁隔壁

100, Jalan Hang Jebat, 75200 Melaka, Malaysia

Open everyday 9am -12am

MALACCA: Restoran Bee Bee Hiong

I heard from my parents that school holidays are here in Singapore! And whats a better way to celebrate the end of school year than to go for a holiday?
Well, depending on how many days leave parents can get as well as vacation budget, people go to different places. When I was a kid, I used to go to Malaysia quite a bit. Because my parents were always busy, I had school camps (READ: Band camp wtf ) etc, and we just couldn't really afford the time to be away for long.
I remember one place we love, and I still enjoy going to this place heaps now even as an adult , Malacca. Or some might spell it as Melaka.

When I went back to Singapore recently in October for a week, we made a trip there despite it being super rushed. It was essentially a food trip which I've spent the bulk of my off days planning. The whole trip just consist of eating and walking and eating.
We stayed at Hatten Hotel, which is a really nice hotel. I remember choosing between 3 - Hotel Equatorial ( we always stayed there), Hatten Hotel and Imperial Heritage.
We decided to go with Hatten because we heard it's newer.

And boy I wasn't disappointed with this junior suite room !

They also have a small infinity pool! I specially bought a swimsuit from the sports shop at the shopping complex just below the Hotel to use this pool. 

Because I've never been to a hotel with an infinity pool before *cries*

And, if Team Australia was staying in the same hotel, you can be assured that it's a quality Hotel. They were there to play against Syria for the world cup qualifiers. Hence, their team managers will definitely choose a hotel that's safe, and where sleep comfort is guaranteed. My dad had a picture with one of Team Australia. He's pretty good looking yes? hahah.

Anyway, I love Yong Tau Foo, and so does the rest of my tour group ( my family + my aunty's family). And where else to eat Yong Tau Foo in Melaka apart from the famous Restoran Bee Bee Hiong?!

There aren't many choices to begin with as you can see from the menu board. But I guess when we are eating Yong Tau Foo, we all just basically go for the fish paste and the fish balls. 

Like every Yong Tau Foo restaurant, their noodles come in either dry or soup. I tried both the dry kuey teow + yellow mee mix  and the kuey teow + yellow mee soup and my verdict it, GET THE DRY !!! 

It's mixed in with soy sauce, fried shallot, spring onions and PORK LARD ( Super unhealthy, but SUPER GOOD! I guess we can all let our hair down during vacation time hey? ) 

We rushed to this place immediately after getting off the bus and checking in, we reached around 2pm and this was all that was left. 

FRIED TAU KEE ( THE BEST I'VE EATEN), fried fish ball, steam fish ball, some tau kua with fish paste, my parents and aunty were lucky enough to grab the last few lady's fingers with fish paste and chilli + fish paste.

Fried Tau Kee so good, it deserves a picture by itself.

Restaurant Bee Bee Hiong

8-3pm

Close on Wednesday

Malaysia, 27, Jalan Bpm 14, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75400  Malacca, Malaysia

+60 6-284 3139