I was invited by the nice folks at myVillage at Serangoon Garden for a food and fashion tour some weeks back. It was a great opportunity to review some of the restaurants at myVillage; I usually only have ice cream at Udders and macarons from Obolo and tiramisu from Da Paolo. It was the first time I tried the Peranakan food at Chinta Manis. If it weren't for the invitation, i think i would have missed out on this hidden gem.  

Serangoon Gardens is well known for the Singapore hawker centre Chomp Chomp, a supper haunt of many north-eastalites. Of all the cuisines available, I believe Chinta Manis is the only Peranakan offering in the immediate area. Located at Basement 1 of myVillage (just opposite Subway), Chinta Manis serves a variety of hot food as well as Kuehs (Malay cakes and desserts). Previously, CM was only a little kiosk selling kuehs but due to the overwhelming demand for more of Bibik's delectable cooking, they have taken over the next stall and now there's a small dining area for yummy Pernankan dishes.

I'm a Roti Prata fan and i've never eaten Roti Jala until sometime early this year. I still wasn't a fan but that's probably because the first one i tried wasn't impressive. So what's the difference? Roti Jala is more delicate and definitely healthier than Prata. The egg and flour batter is drizzled in the form of a lattice pattern over a hot grill and then rolled into a spring roll form. Texture wise, it is like a crepe, airy, spongy and slightly chewy as well. 

I really fell in love with Roti Jala after trying it at Chinta Manis. This is a perfect tea time snack in my opinion. For $3, you will get 3 rolls served with curry, half a boiled egg with sambal and Bibik Nyo's hash browns. All of the bloggers and our friends were raving about the chilli! Like any decent establishment, Chinta Manis makes their own rempah, which is a delicious and devilishly spicy mix of spices that is used in the curry. SO DAMN GOOD. The hashbrowns are slightly starchy and soft and have absorbed all the goodness of the rempah. The sambal chilli is very fragrant, you can taste the sweetness of the dried shrimps in this one. Of course, we were all scrambling for our cold drinks to douse the fire in our mouths. This snack is only available after 2pm but not to worry, there are other hot food available throughout the day.

Other savory hot meals includes their Signature Nyonya Dry Mee Siam as well as the Spicy, Sour and simply Sedap Assam Laksa ($4.80 each). Since my last adventure to Malacca (read about it here), my eyes would light up everything i see Assam Laksa. I'll definitely be back to try this one!

To cool our burning tongues, we had the Chinta Manis' specialty drinks. Lovingly prepared at the Chinta Manis central kitchen and bottled. There are no added preservatives and they are not very sweet as well. From left to right- Chrysanthemum Wolfberry ($2), Barley ($1.80) and Tamarind Lemongrass ($2). The Chrysanthemum reminded me of my primary school days where my mama would buy us those brewed teas at the old school Chinese medical hall. Fond memories..

I love the Pandan Chiffon Cake ($5.80) because i love to play with them. They are so squishy and spongy and you can just mould them into any shape you want. As a kid, i love to soak my cake in milo. Interesting flavor i must say. Anyway, this pandan cake is fluffy, firm and and slightly moist. Very fragrant pandan and coconut taste because it is baked with fresh Pandan juice to give it the naturally green colour and aromatic taste. There is a nice buttery saltiness to it which i simply adore. W says that they probably glazed the tin with salted butter. Love!

Just look at how airy it is, all that little pockets of air. The colour is not very uniform and according to W the baking expert, it is not that perfectly cooked. It is indeed a little drier on the edges but it is still an awesome cake. My other blogger friend Aimakan was telling me about the Chocolate Ecstasy cake which is dense and very rich. Make sure you reserve yourself a slice. I didn't even get to try it because all the cakes were reserved already! :((

Verdict- Recommended!

Food: 4/5

Ambience: 3.5/5 Good for a quick bite or drink. Comfortable and clean.

Chinta Manis

Basement 1, myVillage, Serangoon

1 Maju Avenue, Singapore 556679
Tel: +65 6634 5424
Weekdays: 11am - 9pm
Weekends: 10am - 9pm

On the eastern side of Singapore, lies a famed hawker centre called Bedok Interchange Food Centre. This is the best place to go for cheap and delicious local dishes. Today i'm introducing the usual stall i eat from whenever i visit the place- Hock Hai Curry Chicken Noodles.

Hock Hai Curry Chicken Noodles has been around for a while. I'm not sure if it's the same one as the Hock Hai (Hong Lim) brand available at Maxwell Food Centre (another great hawker centre). Anyway, there are 2 curry chicken noodles stalls at Bedok Interchange. 1 face the interchange and Hock Hai is the one that faces the car park behind the bus terminal. The former's curry chicken noodles has an herbal taste to it which doesn't sit well with me. Hock Hai's has a richer coconut milk flavor which is fragrant and flavorful.

You may wonder how is this different from our famous Laksa dish. Well, i like this better because it has more meat (i'm such a carnivore). Chunky pieces of succulent steamed white chicken meat, which has been deboned for ease of eating, will be placed on top the noodles of your choice and generously drenched with the lightly spiced curry (IMO). As you can see from the picture above, there are other ingredients such as fish cake, tau pok (fried beancurd skin) and pig skin (eeeww) that are stewed in the pot of curry before being served. Oh yums.

Obviously you can tell i'm too much of a health freak to be eating this too often but i simply gotta have this whenever i drop by Bedok Interchange. Funny thing is, i thought the fried pig skin was a different kind of fried beancurd skin for the longest time. The texture is pretty much the same but it has a slightly chewy bite to it. That was till my mama told me the truth. I remember being quite insistent of the beancurd origins of that piece of thing. :/ Anyway, ever since i knew about it, i would request the store owner to remove that from my dish, along with my most hated bean sprouts.

Tau Poks are the best sides to this dish because it soaks up the curry gravy in its porous center. I try not to drink the gravy consciously so i kinda cheat by eating the tau poks.

If you are worried about the spiciness, fret not for it's quite mild. I usually add more of that homemade chilli paste that is available at the counter for that additional kick. Prices start at $3.

Food: 4/5

Service: 3.5/5 Adequate and efficient

Ambience: 4/5 Local experience guaranteed (which also means it's a little hot, and you gotta share a table with strangers). I think it's a lot better after the food centre was renovated. There are more fans now!

Hock Hai Curry Chicken Noodles
Blk 207 New Upper Changi Road, Stall #37

Bedok Interchange Food Centre, Singapore
Daily: 10am – 11.30pm

Z, my skinnyfat twin, finally came back from another of her month long Europe trip and of course an overdue pigging out session was planned! Since our tummies often crave for the same foods, it's not too hard coming to a consensus on what to eat but our temperamental taste buds also meant that we only decide on a particular cuisine on the morning of our date. We are particular that way. :P For our ladies' night out, we decided that tapas was the way to go- wide variety of food and plenty of sangria! 

We headed down to Australian celebrity chef Luke Mangan's Salt Tapas & Bar at Raffles City Shopping Centre for our catch up session. Luke is also behind the Salt Grill at Ion Orchard (which has an awesome view) but Salt tapas definitely has a more relaxed atmosphere. The mix of warm lights, raw brick walls, Spanish tiles and wooden table tops radiates a laid-back ambience. We decided to sit at the alfresco section where we had a barrel for a tabletop and high stools for our bums. That gave us a good view of the Raffles hotel minus all that Cityhall crowd. 

The food is an Australian style tapas with Middle Eastern and North African influence. There are only a few dishes reminded us of Spanish tapas e.g. Chorizo and Iberico ham. That was pretty fine with us since our main course was in fact the sangria and the food was just to prep our tummies for the drinking ahead. :)

For starters, we had the Oyster in chickpea cumin batter and tzatziki ($5 each). I must say that the oysters are really puny. I could hardly taste much of it but the chickpea tempura batter was light and buttery. The tzatziki at the end was refreshing even though the taste was a little bland. We kinda like this but wished it the oysters were bigger.

We also had the truffle fries which were a miss ($10). Could hardly taste the truffle oil and the fries were soggy after a while. I must say PS cafe still has one of the better shoestring truffle fries. The Coastal Settlement also has yummy truffle fries.

Tapas- Soft shell prawns with chilli and garlic aioli ($15). Crispy fried shrimps tossed with a salt and spice mix, Chinese Canto style. Perfect savory snack to go with beer or in our case, sangria. I'm usually uncomfortable about eating the entire prawn with head and all but these were crispy enough to eat and the meat were still juicy. The aioli dip is a tad heavy and kinda masks the taste of the prawns but it's nice if you just add a dash.

We love the chewy, sinewy texture of the BBQ spiced beef tongue with fried cauliflower, pistachio tabbouleh and harissa yogurt ($14). Tongue can be kinda iffy but trust me you will fall in love after eating it. The chewy texture is kinda like pig's liver (another iffy thingy) but liver is a little more powdery. This is chunky, moist and somewhat tender. This dish is definitely Moroccan inspired. Love the mix of pistachio tabbouleh with the yogurt but the sourish cream kinda overpowers the meat. The pistachio tabbouleh reminded me of my favorite Walnut cake at Pasha (read about it here). Nevertheless, it's definitely a healthier substitute for mayonnaise. Really interesting dish.

More meat coming your way. The Wagyu sausage with soft polenta, capers and tomato ($14 for a small portion- 1 sausage; $25 for large portion) is well seasoned and tender. Did i mention super juicy as well? I love the use of polenta as a replacement for mash because it isn't too very starchy or heavy; it has a light powdery style that is slightly grainy.

The highlight of the night was obviously the Sangria! How can you do Ladies' night without drinks right? The economists in us decided to go for the Punch Bowl ($70) because 2 glasses per pax ($17/glass) would already cover the cost of the Bowl. That was despite knowing that we could never ever finish it. 4 freaking litres of Sangria! I had 5 glasses and Z another 4 and it was still half full/half empty. Ethan (or was it Ian?) offered us free drinks in replacement of the unfinished drinks the next time we head back. How nice. The servers were so patient with us despite us holding them back from closing. Must have the Luke's very own Sangria concoction. This is definitely our happy juice. Sangria Challenge accepted! Must finish the entire bowl next time. 

Despite being stuffed and all, we still needed desserts to conclude our meal. Gooey Hot Chocolate Tart with Caramelized Banana and Salted Caramel Ice Cream ($14) was our choice and i would say their desserts are not that impressive. The chocolate wasn't dark/dense enough and i found it too sweet. The tart was bland too. I am almost certain that quality chocolate isn't used. :/ The ice cream was way too salty! I was literally eating salt flakes. Not the best execution. 

The really happy us! Surprisingly i wasn't red! I think my alcohol tolerance has been raised. Now now, who is up for the Sangria Challenge? :))

Verdict- Recommended!
Food: 4/5 (skip the desserts and go for the sangria!)
Service: 5/5 The servers were ever patient and friendly. They gave great recommendations too!
Atmosphere: 5/5 Laid back and chillaxing. Great place to hang out with friends over drinks!

Salt Tapas & Bar
#01-22A, Raffles City Shopping Centre
+65 6837 0995
Daily: 11.30am - 10pm

Explored the Singapore Stadium Walk with the Stupidgirl just the other day to review French restaurant Le Bistrot because our original dinner plan at Open Door Policy failed (our fault for not making reservations earlier). I've never really reviewed the restaurants here partly because it is so out of the way (even though the Stadium mrt station is just a stone's throw away). Anyway, it's a great place to chill out because it's pretty quiet and there are quite a couple of dining options such as Mushroom Pot, Brewerkz and Vansh! 

I was starving by the time we met. It was a deliberate attempt because we heard the servings here are HUMONGOUS. So yes, 2h of yoga prior to dinner in order amplify my current puny and pathetic appetite.

I love the atmosphere at Le Bistrot. There is none of that snooty French attitude. Instead, the servers' pleasant demeanor are a reflection of the cheerful and cosy ambience. They were really helpful with recommendations and were very attentive and friendly. The whimsical decor- think grass carpeted walls, picture-framed hallways, colorful cushions and tea-cosy styled seatee- puts one at home immediately.

Most people would go for the Prix Fixe menu; 2 course for $50 and 3 course for $60. It is quite a good deal considering  that entree and desserts are $18 each and mains are $40. Definitely perfect for sharing IMO, bearing in mind that the portions are huge. Stupidgirl and i decided to get 1 entree, 2 mains and a desserts for sharing and we had to stop ourselves from over-ordering at the start.

For starters, we had the Oignon Farci aux Noix de Saint-Jacques Grillées et son Velouté de Maïs - char grilled Hokkaido scallops served in a salt-baked onion, with a corn velouté and toasted pine nuts. (+$8). The scallops are lightly seared and their juiciness and sweetness were locked into the succulent centre. Love the sweetness of the creamed corn. It is a perfect topping for the warm and crusty bread basket which was served. I'm not an onion fan but it wasn't too funky and had a light sweetness to it. Great dish!

Other recommendations for starters: Soupe à l'Oignon Gratinée- a traditional caramelized onion soup gratinated with Emmenthal cheese. It is more like a pot of soup than a small bowl. If you like salmon, go for their raw salmon fillet homecured with dill and gin, drizzled with white truffle oil, and served with a deep-fried soft boiled egg, mint crème fraîche and mesclun salad.

I had a hard time choosing my mains, couldn't decide which beefy dish i wanted. Bœuf Stroganoff and Bœuf à la Bourguignonne all sounded pretty good. In the end I went with the Crumble à la Joue de Bœuf Wagyu, Pommes Sarladaises (+ $8), which is a crumble of braised Wagyu beef cheek served with duck fat potatoes and mesclun salad. The meat is so tender after being braised for hours in a red wine sauce. All the fats have melted and each mouthful was collagen filled. The creamy crumble was a good balance to the savory meat. Even though the dish looked small, it was extremely filling. And Hello duck fat fried potatoes which were crispy as hell. :))

The Confit de Cuisses de Canard-duck leg confit with honey-mustard vinaigrette and creamy potato purée- was GINORMOUS. I have never been served 2 duck legs on a single plate in a restaurant setting. The skin was delicately crispy and the meat was moist and savory. Amazeballs. It didn't taste particularly salty but the both of us were really thirsty afterwards. Stupidgirl was stuffed after eating 1 leg and then she insisted the other leg belongs to me. If you are a small eater, share this dish.

For desserts we had the trio of Crème Brulée. Flavors include: bourbon vanilla bean, amaretto-griottine, bergamot (Earl Grey tea), mocha, dark chocolate, pistachio-raspberry and chestnut. We felt that the Chestnut had the best texture and taste. DO NOT get the amaretto-griottine (brandied cherries); it tasted like cough syrup. URGH. We only ordered that because the pistachio wasn't available. Earl grey was alright but it was more citrusy.

All in all, we really enjoyed our dinner. We left the place terribly stuffed but extremely satisfied. I have recommended this place to some friends and they love it too! :)) Will definitely be back on an empty stomach to try more of their dishes.

Verdict- Recommended!

Food- 4.5/5 Desserts weren't that great but the food is hearty and deli!

Service- 4/5

Atmosphere- 4/5 Perfect hangout location. It feels comfortable enough to sit cross legged on the bench (but i didn't of course).

Le Bistrot
2 Stadium Walk #01-03
Singapore Indoor Stadium
Tel : +65 6447 0018
Thu-Sun: 12pm -2.30pm
Tue-Sun: 6.30pm-11pm
(Closed on Mon & PH)

Roadhouse is a cafe-ish American diner in Dempsey and one can expect hearty and quintessential American food at this upmarket offering by The Privé Group. 

We were the first customers of the day so i had the opportunity to roam around and take pictures without having random people in them. :P I like the simple decor which is kinda comfortable as well. Definitely more cafe-ish than the typical greasy retro American diner feel. Exactly that kinda place i wanna hang out over breakfast on weekends. And you know what? You can do just that because they have ALL DAY BREAKFAST from 9am - 4pm on weekends. YAY!

Roadhouse does a great lunch deal on weekdays from 11.30am - 2.30pm. You can go for a 2 course at $22 or a 3 course meal for $25. Take your pick from 4 Starters, 7 Mains and 4 Desserts which includes some of their chef recommendations. It's quite a good deal and their portions are quite big as well.

Starter: Bacon wrapped Corn Dog with mesclun salad. Typical American carnival snack! Love the lightness of the batter which is not too too floury. It's almost like tempura batter with a little more starch. Good batter to dog ratio. The sausage was juicy and savory and i love the smokiness of the bacon which gives it the additional saltiness.

Main: Forest Mushroom Burger- Josper-grilled wagyu patty with forest mushrooms, caramelized onions and shallot cream sauce (+$2). The famed Josper grill seals in the juices of the Wagyu Rump patties and gives it a nice char-grilled appearance and smoky aroma. The meat is just so flavorful and juicy and the blend of sauce and onions together with the natural flavors of the meat is just perfect. The light sweetness of the soft bun complements the savory centre. I must say it's one of the best burgers i've had in Singapore. 

I had their signature Eggs Benedict in replacement of the Eggs Royale for the lunch set. They were more than happy to accommodate my request. Was struggling to decide between this and the Chicken & Sweet Corn Quesadilla (another Chef's recommendation) but this was a great choice. Nicely buttered and toasted English Muffin with chunky slices of ham and smoky bacon. The meats aren't that salty though i have a feeling i've maxing out my daily sodium intake with all the cured meats. The gratinated hollandaise sauce isn't too sourish and had a slight cheesy taste to it. It's a little bland for me but it kinda goes ok with the saltiness of the meat. Would be nice if it has a little more tang to it.

Heard that the prawns wrapped in bacon with Maple syrup dressing is a great starter item. Americans do the sweet & savory thing so well e.g. Chicken with waffles, gravy and biscuits. Shall try it the next time. 

For desserts we had the Cheery Cherry Pie- red wine cherry compote with a dollop of fresh cream. The tart isn't fantastic. It wasn't crisp enough for me and the cherries were kinda bland. The highlight of this dish is the cream, which i happily ate on its own. Just look at the stiffness and the height of the peaks. Fresh cream is my nemesis. 

The S'mores ice cream cake was very blah. It's just an ice cream cake with some little marshmallows (not even toasted IMO). Kinda icy as well. :/

Roadhouse is also known for its Terminator Challenge ($58), which consists of 6 Wagyu patties, 6 slices of cheese, streaky bacon, jalapenos chillis and a home made bun. Finish the monster burger in 20mins, along with its sides, and you get a free meal plus have your face on their Hall of Fame! There's no sharing with your friends even if you don't finish it though. It's quite a good deal considering that a single patty costs about $24. :)) Eat at your own risk or maybe have a friend who can administer CPR in case your heart goes into overdrive. Sadly, despite our initial encouragement and subsequent taunting, we failed to get Ben to do the Terminator. Damn! So fun to watch people stuff themselves. Haha. 

Roadhouse

#01-07, Block 13, Dempsey Road
(Opp PS Cafe)
Tel: +65 6476 2922
Mon–Fri: 10.30am–2.30pm, 6.30pm–10pm
Sat–Sun: 9am–4pm, 6.30pm–10pm
Sat–Sun & PH: 9am–4pm [Brunch]

As you guys know, i hang around Town very often since i go for yoga all the time. The lack of good food in town is one of my main complains after class. It's so hard to find a nice healthy option (which is not cold ie sandwiches and salads) and there is only that many times i can do Simon & Garfunkel. Anyway, i recently discovered Mushroom Pot at OG Orchard Point and it's quite the perfect meal after yoga or for any meal. 

Mushroom Pot does a mushroom steamboat but no worries, it's not ONLY mushrooms here (else i wouldn't be there). They do however feature mushrooms quite prominently, there are plenty of mushroom based dishes (along with meat :)) and i have never even heard of some of the mushrooms they use e.g. Monkey Head Mushrooms. They use Wild Mushrooms as a basic soup base but they also do have a Ma La (Spicy) soup for the hot pot. I was quite apprehensive about eating here because i don't particularly dig those dried Chinese Mushrooms (they have a very strong taste) and i thought the restaurant would be serving a lot of that in my broth. Surprisingly it wasn't the case. 

Other than just steamboat, the Orchard Point outlet also has a set meal menu which is perfect for those who are uninterested in overeating. The prices are really reasonable. The individual set menu ranges from $10-17 while the Deluxe Sets are in the $18-24 range. A fairly extensive selection of ramen and paper pots (kaminabe style) are available. That was exactly what S and i had after my yoga class.

S ordered the Beef Paper Pot set ($13.80) which came with a spicy mushroom salad, rice and fruits. The soup is very light, no weird or strong mushroom taste (thank god) and there is a slight sweetness to it. The tender meat was lightly marinated and as you can see it's not very fatty. There are plenty of mushrooms in this pot as well. Quite fun fishing all the little heads out of the soup. 

I had the Prawn Ramen Set ($15.80) because i was greedy and wanted to try more of the mushroom side dishes. Mine came with Prawn ramen (with more mushrooms), Beef and golden mushroom rolls, fried mushroom rolls and fruits. Variety ftw! 

The ramen was quite soft. It's more the chinese ramen than the Japanese sort. I'm not usually into soft noodles but this worked pretty well for me. Can you identify the different mushrooms? I counted 5 prawns in my noodles and they were pretty fresh and sweet though a little more the powdery sort. Even though the soup base is the same, mine has a stronger seafood taste while the beef pot soup was slightly more bland. 

The beef rolls were nicely cooked though i felt that the meat was very slightly over grilled. The combination with the enoki mushrooms was perfect. I had a hard time putting the whole piece into my mouth because it's quite huge and we all know how long it takes to chew enoki. You could request for the rolls to be cut into halves for easy eating. 

The mushroom roll is packed with all sorts of minced mushrooms wrapped in a seaweed then battered and fried. Goes well with the thai chili sauce that is provided.

If you are the bigger eater, go for the buffet lunch or dinner or high tea(3-5pm). Prices range from $20-30. My colleagues absolutely love Mushroom Pot though they were complaining about the prices. I think it's quite reasonable though.

Verdict- Recommended!
Food: 4/5 Guilt free eating because it gives you the impression that it's healthy food.
Service: 4/5 Quite attentive and friendly but that may be because
Ambience: 3.5/5 Clean and comfortable.

The Mushroom Pot 长寿锅 (Orchard Point)
#04-00 Orchard Point
Tel: +65 6733 9910
Daily 11am – 9.30pm

2 Stadium Walk
#01-02 Singapore Indoor Stadium
Tel: +65 6342 3320
Daily: 12pm–2.30pm, 6pm–10.30pm

Happy Vesak day my friends! I was under the impression that everyone will get a day off on Monday but i realized it's not the case! How can?!! It's ok. It is still possible to have some fun on regular weekends and i'm gonna share with you what i did a couple of weeks back. 

S and i were trying to decide on a place for lunch on a Sunday. We decided to be spontaneous and drove to JB in hope of finding some good food and adventure. Predictability is obviously neither of our strong suit and his random chicken rice craving resulted in us driving up to Malacca (at 1pm!!) just to have some chicken rice balls! Like Seriously?? Sometimes i swear he's like a pregnant lady. Anyway, i didn't complain since i'm not the one doing the driving. As long as the boy is happy, i'm good. :)

The drive to Malacca takes about 3-3.5h. It's easy cruising on the highway but the troublesome part is obviously getting to the town centre (Jonker Street to be specific) where the food is. I reckon it took us at least 30mins to get from the border of Malacca to the Heritage centre. 

I've been to Malacca a couple of times in recent years. There is absolutely nothing to do except to eat. The mission was simple- have as much food as we possibly can and then head back to JB for supper before hitting the sack and getting ready for work the next day. Obviously at 4.30pm in the afternoon, Chung Wah has already closed for the day (they close at 3pm). I was so thankful that Hoe Kee was still opened at that time. If you wanna have chicken rice balls, only eat from these 2 stalls. 

The crowd at Hoe Kee. Love the shophouses in Malacca.

I've always been fascinated with chicken rice balls. I have no idea why. I guess it's just cuter presentation and greater convenience when it comes to eating? Definitely less messy too since the grains wouldn't fall all over the place. Child proofed. These balls are the size of regular fishballs. I like my rice a little starchy and sticky so these are perfect. The fragrant and fluffy rice grains have expanded and split nicely to give it the chewy and bouncy texture. I swear you can play ping pong with these.

The chicken is nicely steamed and extremely tender. I absolutely love the soy and sesame sauce that the chicken was sitting in. There's a tinge of sweetness from the sesame oil and light saltiness of the soy sauce which goes so well with the chicken rice. I drenched the rice with this sauce rather than the dark sauce provided along with the chili. Each rice ball is RM0.20. You can simply order the sets which includes chicken and some rice balls. They serve plates of chicken rice along with the balls on weekends to meet the demand. We paid RM13 for 2 person. 1 whole chicken merely costs RM32. I believe i can devour half a chicken easily. They also serve Assam Fish Head which is popular with the patrons! 

Our strategy was to eat a bit of everything so that we can taste as many dishes as we can possibly stomach. Took a walk down Jonker Street to our next eating destination to Jonker Dessert 88 aka Jonker88.com. Everyone  Next up is the famous Chendol of Malacca because it has the amazing sticky smoky caramelish Gula Melaka. I so love that thick sugary coconut syrup that they drench all over the shaved ice with more coconut milk, green jelly and red bean. Love this! And it only costs RM3. The durian chendol is famous as well so try that if you like durian. 

S decided to give the Nyonya Laksa (RM5) a try. The texture of the translucent noodles is amazing. It looks like mee tai mak but it has a chewier texture. Very smooth. It's quite unlike any kinda Chinese noodles that i've had. The gravy would scare any faint hearted non spicy eaters but the heat is not as strong as it appears to be. I would say it's a little similar to Tom Yum but it has the distinct Assam taste. There aren't a lot of ingredient in this dish- it's accompanied with a few pieces of fried yong tau foo (fish paste wrapped in beancurd skin). Very appetizing dish. After having a few mouthfuls of this, i felt like i was ready to eat everything Malacca has to offer.

Further down the street from Jonker88, we chanced upon a Chinese bakery that serves fresh and piping hot pastries. Traditional bakeries hold a dear place in my heart even though i am not a huge fan of the Chinese pastries (not all of them). They had my favorite Ma3 Ti2 Su1 aka Pong Pia aka Bei Tei Sor aka the pastry that has malt candy in it. :) It's simply amazing when it's warm. Trays and trays of pias greeted us as we stepped inside for a closer look. I simply had to buy a Lao Gong Bing (Husband biscuit) for S and a Lao Po Bing (Wife biscuit) for myself. :P  

The aunty kept encouraging me to taste everything so i happily helped myself to the samples. As a result, i left with a bag of baked goodies for the family. Each biscuit only costs RM1.20 or less. 

There is a little store in the main store that sells durian desserts. The durian puffs are sold at 3 for RM5 or 6 for RM8. The puff has a custard taste and slight airy texture to it. Once you bite into it, the rich golden liquid would flow and envelop your taste buds. The filling is a little wet and not as creamy as i would like it but taste wise it is pretty good. I like my durian bittersweet and this is just the right taste. 

More eats- Ondeh Ondeh. The ondeh ondeh are on the small side so there isn't enough of the gula melaka. Guess we are too spoilt by the Sg ones which are filled with coconut goodness. 

We spent 7-8h on the roads and only 2h was spent eating and exploring Malacca. It doesn't seem like a very smart choice mathematically but our stomachs disagree. It's always worth it to travel for good food. Our appetite for adventure was also satisfied when we made several wrong turns along the way. Googlemaps is simply not very reliable especially on Malaysian roads. 

If you have a little more time to spare, you could possibly explore the area better. There are old temples and Peranakan houses to check out. You could even stay in a Baba house for the night. 

Or take a ride on one of these floral trishaws. They are so adorable and cheerful. Would be awesome to ride one around town. :)

All food featured are along Jonker Street. Start walking from the bridge connecting the Main Square to Jonker and head straight down. Just keep your eyes wide open and eat whatever you feel like having. Come 630pm the Jonker Walk would be closed to vehicles and that's when the night market starts. :) To a great weekend, every weekend!

Hoe Kee Hainam Chicken Rice Ball
4, 6, 8 Jalan Hang Jebat
75200, Melaka

Jonker 88 Desserts

Jonker Street

Malaysia on Dwellable