On the way to Singapore for Oasis concert last Sunday (which was awesome!), we made a pit stop by the historical town that is Melaka to refuel our stomachs.

When it comes to Melaka, there are a few types of food unique to the town: chicken rice balls, satey celup, popiah with lard, and cendol with gula melaka. We planned to make the most of this very short stopover by stuffing ourselves with as much as possible.

there’s a perpetual queue in front of the restaurant

I have previously tried two other chicken rice ball places in Melaka (all within walking distance), Chung Wah was the first I went, and while tasty, the place rather warm and a little too busy. On the other hand, my experience at Famosa Chicken Rice Ball was just not really good enough for me to write an entry about the restaurant.

Among the 3 places, Hoe Kee has the best and most comfortable seating areas (some sections air conditioned). While we had to wait for some 10 minutes to get a table, food was served within 5 minutes, so the overall waiting time wasn’t long at all.

chicken rice balls, cabbage, asam fish

Since it was already 1pm and we haven’t even had breakfast, we basically ordered everything the server suggested. Chicken rice balls for 5 person, asam fish, vegetable, 4 coconuts, and extra 15 rice balls (RM 6).

The half a chicken (RM 16) we got was very smooth and the meat really tasty, there were also plenty of chicken gizzards and liver which provided a different flavor to the chicken that goes very well with the soft but firm rice balls. Poor man’s pate, anyone?

Kim, Gareth, Horng, Amanda, KY

The Asam Fish (RM 30) came quite a bit later, which proved to be a nice timing since the very strong tasting curry wouldn’t work well with the milder flavored chicken if you have them in that order. The hardcore sourness and spicy nature of the dish might not suit everyone, but I really liked it.

Hoe Kee Chicken Rice is located at Jonker Street (Jalan Hang Jebat)

We ate so fast and so much that there wasn’t any stomach space left except for a bowl of cendol at Jonker88. It was dilemma looking at the popiah stall while being absolutely full, but alas, we made the decision not to have the possibility to puke in the car on the way to Singapore.

Lunch came to RM 77.20 in total, including the 4 coconuts (RM 16). That works out to be around RM 15.50 per person, pretty decent price for a very satisfying lunch at a comfortable environment.

Address:
Hoe Kee Chicken Rice
4, 6, 8 Jalan Hang Jebat,
75200, Melaka
GPS: 2.195441,102.247943
Tel: 06-283 4751 / 012-623 8431

Tags:  amanda,  asam fish,  chicken,  gareth,  horng,  kimberly,  Melaka

Posted by KY | 39 Comments »

After watching the Astro AEC program (channel 19) “Our Root” on the Baba and Nyonya cultures featuring Kelvin the noob on Sunday. We decided that it would be fitting to have some Nyonya food for dinner to celebrate his success in dodging the grandmother’s “got bring gf back or not?” question on satellite TV. So we headed to Ah Tuan Ee’s Place in SS2.

“jiu hu char” or fried mengkuang with dried cuttle fish

There are actually no less than 4 Nyonya restaurants in SS2. The others are Restaurant Bibichick, Melaka Street, and well, Nyona Restaurant. I have sampled them and they were all pretty decent.

Ah Tuan Ee’s Place has a much more refined interior decoration and a nicer ambiance comparing to it’s counterparts. The illustrated menu is especially helpful if you are not familiar with traditional Nyonya food.

nice ambiance and illustrated menu

For the three of us, we ordered a “jiu hu char” (fried mengkuang with dried cuttle fish), sambal salted fish, egg plant with sambal, and fried asam prawn to go with steamed rice.

“jiu hu char”, sambal salted fish, egg plant with sambal, fried asam prawn

The food were pretty good, especially the super simple dish that is the salted fish sambal that goes very well with white rice. The egg plant was a little too oily, but the prawn and “jiu hu char” dishes reminded me of my mom’s cooking, it was great. (My mom isn’t a Nyonya, but Penang Chinese cooking is similar in many ways). It was a pretty good meal.

Ah Tuan Ee’s Place is just a block from SS2 Square

The food were good, however, the price isn’t very economical. I guess you do have to pay for the nice ambiance after all. The meal for 3 costs us RM 77, that includes a 10% service charge and the 5% government tax.

Address:
74, Jalan SS2/72
Petaling Jaya
47300 Selangor
GPS: 3.118673, 101.625810
Tel: 03-7957 2915

Tags:  eggplant,  Melaka,  nyonya,  SS2 SS3 SS4

Posted by KY | 8 Comments »

When it comes to food in the historical town that is Melaka, there are a few items that you must never miss. Kinda like the Char Kueh Teow and Laksa in Penang, the must-eat items in Melaka are Satey Celup (video!), Chendol, Poh Piah, and of course, perhaps the most famous of all, the Chicken Rice Ball.

very old school set up, with marble table

Chung Wah restaurant (中华茶室) is one of the very first, and regarded by many, the best chicken rice ball restaurant in Melaka. It is also perhaps the most accessible one, with a paid car park just right beside the building, across from the St. Paul’s church (another must visit place in Melaka).

The place is always packed during weekends, and almost impossible to get in during festive seasons. After fighting through a small crowd to get our table, we ordered a middle portion chicken meat with 2 plates of chicken rice balls (5 balls per plate)

chicken, rice balls, and chili, we’re all set

The chicken came with only one style, white chicken, since this is a pure Hainanese restaurant, no roasted or BBQ variety. The meat was smooth and tasted rather good, with sufficient flavor in all departments. The chili that is so important to any chicken rice dish was actually very good, has a kick in it while retaining a savory pepper aroma, addictive. The main attraction, the rice balls themselves, were somehow rather cold, but otherwise tasted pretty good. It is like having Bak Chang made of chicken rice, an interesting experience if you haven’t tried it.

Chung Wah restaurant is right at the end/beginning of Jonker Walk

The meal for two was about RM 13-14, RM 8 for the chicken, and RM 1.50 for a plate of 5 rice balls.

Address:
Kedai Kopi Chung Wah
18, Jalan Hang Jebat,
75200 Melaka
GPS: 2.194969,102.248576

Tags:  dining,  eats,  food,  hawker,  melacca,  Melaka,  white-chicken

Posted by KY | 25 Comments »

This is the very first KY tv post, my very own fake plan food review “TV” show!

Now this is not the first time I wrote about Satay Celup at this particular place in Melaka. The previous entry on Ban Lee Siang Satay Celup includes the review in text, as well as pictures, contact number, address, and map. Then again, nothing beats the video, especially with hot chick (who is also my camera girl and chief editor) in it too.

It was 5pm and we were the very first customer in the restaurant. Trust me, by sunset the place will be busier than a beehive.

Tell me it’s awesome!

Tags:  ban-lee-siang,  dining,  eats,  food,  ky,  lok-lok,  Melaka,  satay-celup,  tv,  video

Posted by KY | 31 Comments »

Since my mom and siblings have never been to the historical town that is Melaka, I decided to bring the family down for a short day trip during their brief visit to KL for Chinese New Year. We drove down there during the 3rd day of CNY.

St Francis Xavier with his missing right arm at St Paul’s church

After arriving there, we had a quick brunch at Donald and Lily’s corner (another post on another time) and then proceeded to the must-visit spot that is the old St. Paul’s church. You might have noticed that the statue of St Francis Xavier has a missing right arm, this is not an act of vandalism but rather sculptured on purpose to show that the body does lack the right arm. Apparently the pope requested that the arm be severed from the corpse of St Francis 62 years after he died.

Inside St Paul’s Church

After that we walk to Jonker Street (Jalan Hang Jebat), where my sister bought some souvenirs. We also stopped by the same Chendol place I visited last time around, Jonker88. Can’t get enough of that gula Melaka.

Jonker Street (Jalan Hang Jebat)

There’s still quite a lot of trishaws in Melaka. Over here, they are decorated heavily with plenty of fake flowers, and many of them come equipped with loud stereo systems churning out the latest Fifty Cent’s tune. Unlike the trishaw in Penang where the passenger is seated in front, the trishaws here have the side by side configuration. Slightly less thrilling I think.

There isn’t really anything much at mini Malaysia

Before heading back to KL, the four of us then went to Mini Malaysia at Ayer Keroh, just a few kilometers from the heart of town. Initially I had though that the park has many miniature buildings and landscape representing the whole of Malaysia, but it turned out that there were merely 13 traditional houses representing the different states. Not exactly worth the RM 12 per person we had to pay to get in, and miles away from the value for money you’d get visiting KL’s bird park.

worst costume ever

However, we did get there just in time for their cultural performance. Basically it was just a lot of traditional dance routines. It wasn’t half bad, but the costume was something else.

Overall it was a relaxing trip, though we did not manage to go to many eating places nor were the tourist attractions that great.

Tags:  jonker,  melacca,  Melaka,  st-pauls-church,  trip,  visit

Posted by KY | 4 Comments »