Peranakan all the way through: food of Melaka

Part of the plan of venturing to Melaka was to partake in Peranakan food early and often. We did just that, over the three meals we had in the town.

First up was lunch after our arrival at the Restoran Peranakan. Recommended by our hotel's local map, this place turned out a decent lunch but lacked some in ambiance. It seemed crafted for the tour bus set.

All dishes were served family style with a large lazy Susan in the middle. One dish was fried bee hoon. This noodle dish came with a lot of fixings, including seafood, scallions, and bean sprouts. It served to sate our appetites.

Another was a spicy prawn curry consisting largely of prawns, potatoes, and red curry. Very very spicy, with the plain curry on rice being my favorite way to eat the dish. The prawns were very overcooked and quite mushy.

A third was brinjal with vegetables, a stir-fried eggplant dish. Totally ok.

The best of the bunch was the chicken rendang, a fried chicken that was stewed in spices as well. The sauce really packed a punch and kept the chicken from getting too dry.

Finally, there was sauteed kangkong. The water spinach here was a welcome green addition to our table. All said, a filling lunch but we were hopeful that Melaka could do better.

Our second meal was dinner at Nancy's Kitchen. Despite the anglicized name, this place was locally owned and run.

As starter we had some more popiah and kueh pieti. Both were the best I've had on the trip so far. The popiah was so rich with different flavors and textures. The kueh pieti packed a mini punch, with more chilli than I expected.

The first main was pork with tamarind sauce. This was scrumptious. The pork was a mix of pork belly and pork slices and had been slow-cooked for some time. The tamarind marinade added a sweet contrast to the meat. Yum.

The next main was the restaurant's signature dish, Nancy's chicken candlenut curry. Candlenut is very close to a macadamia without as much flavor. This curry was good, though other dishes were clearly better.

Sahana's favorite is next. Deep fried soft shell crab that was lightly done and with good batter. She kept having more and more until it was all gone. I tried a bit too and it was nice.

Final dish was brinjal with chillies, more eggplant. Like the eggplant for lunch, this was cut too thickly and so remained underdone with the bitter notes sometimes lurking in eggplant.

For Nancy's, the starters, the pork, and the crab were a cut above the rest.

Our final meal in Melaka was a lunch at Jonker 88. Jonker is the colonial name of the shopping street. This restaurant was neat because it functioned like a Singaporean coffeeshop. There were a handful of different vendors from whom you order directly. Your food then comes on a tray and there is open seating for your meal.

We shared three noodle dishes so the whole gamut could be explored. Front and center is baba laksa (baba is the word for man in Peranakan). This laksa was tremendous, with rich notes of coconut milk balanced by chilli and bean sprouts. There were also large balls of tofu that soaked up the delicious broth.

The second laksa in the back right is nonya laksa. This laksa was not coconut milk based but rather vinegar based with a strong sour note. Initially a bit hard to take, it grew on me and by meal's end I was a fan.

The third dish was a wanton noodle dish. This was also excellent, with a long sheet of thin beancurd complementing the noodles.

As a nibble with the meal we had a set of fishballs, which were great. Not too fishy and with an intriguing sweet, sour, and seafood sauce, these did not last long.

And the dessert round brought us home with a nata de coco ice kacang and a durian chendol. These were nice given the heat but just ok versions as the ice was very grainy and re-froze to itself, rather than being like fine snow. The chendol and grass jelly were delicious, however.

A final walking around treat were some of the ubiquitous pineapple tarts. These were tasty, flaky and filled with not too sweet pineapple, especially when they were warm.

Such was our tour through the Peranakan cuisine of Melaka. Each meal was better than the last, with the laksas of meal three rating high on a trip-wide scale.