Cendol Tan Kim Hock

I must admit that the last time I had the Tan Kim Hock cendol  was at least 10 years ago…and the impression that was imprinted in my mind was that the cendol was very good, to say the least.

This time around I was in Melaka once again and decided to stop by the Tan Kim Hock outlet near the famous Famosa Chicken Rice Ball along Jalan Munshi Abdullah.

The lady told me that I needed to buy coupon and then head over to the other side i.e near the huge parking lot for my cendol. I happily paid for the coupon and armed with it barged into the place serving cendol. Imagine my surprise when I found the entire place empty save for some tables and chairs. I could not even see any workers there ……

I waited and waited until someone appeared and then handed him my coupon. This is what I got within the next few minutes.

I must say it was rather disappointing…it was nowhere near  what I had a decade ago.

Banya Restaurant, Melaka

 We chanced upon Banya as we wanted an early dinner before heading back to KL for the night. It was just after 5.30pm and many shops were either not opened yet for dinner or simply empty. However, looking for a place to park seemed like a challenge. As we found a parking spot close to Banya, we decided to look no further.

The plain yet traditional signboard and red lanterns hanging outside were pull factors as well.  We could see that the staff were quite free as they were playing games on their mobile phones.

We chose our table and made up our minds to eat nyonya specialties.:-

This is omelette fried with cincalok  which is fermented shrimp (RM10.50)  -  one look and you may be deceived into believing that the simple looking dish would be quite plain and unitneresting…..but..the truth is just the opposite.  Cincalok gives the omelette a pungent taste and it is indeed a dish that’s will sweep you off your feet.

This is my must have dish whenever I dine in a nyonya restaurant – steamed okra with sambal (RM12.60) . Well, there’s really no ‘art’ or special skill required to steam the okra…..the success to this dish merely lies in the sambal. For the record, the sambal at Banya was heavenly.

Next up was chicken pongteh (RM16.80) – we ordered a small portion as there was only 2 of us. Well,  this is best described as a nyonya  style stewed chicken.  Pongteh  never fails to give me a sense of warmth and comfort and that was how I felt at Banya.

This was the last dish we ordered (RM9.50) – a simple tofu dish that honestly did fade in my memory.

Address : 154 Jalan Merdeka,

Taman Melaka Raya

Melaka

Tel : +606 282 8297

Mastercard & Visa accepted

Famosa Chicken Rice Ball, Melaka

I’ve made a promise to my son to take him to savour what we call the ORIGINAL chicken rice ball in Melaka as he did not want to have them in KL. He claims that the KL ones are not authentic. Hence, our journey to Melaka begin early this morning. All along the highway I was thinking that we’ll take a walk along the river and then have chicken rice ball for lunch.

 We arrived in Melaka just in time for breakfast. It was 9am….and the boy wanted CHICKEN RICE BALL for breakfast! Hmmm…I thought about it and gave in. After all I didn’t want a boy bugging me for what seemed like eternity before lunch time.

We found a parking spot right in front of the Tan Kim Hock shop and from there went to Famosa on foot. For the record, parking in Melaka is using the coupon system (yes, even on weekends) , so be sure to stock up on this as summons as efficiently slapped for non compliance.

The waitress gave us the menu…but the boy said “Chicken rice ball” to her without even bothering to look at the menu. He asked for 10 balls which worked out to be 30sen each. He also ordered roast chicken (RM10 for a quarter chicken) and roast pork (RM9) to accompany the rice balls…… all of which, he said was excellent. What a satisfied look there was on his face at the end of the meal!

These aren't fish balls, they are chicken rice balls!

I ordered a tofu soup (RM8) and a braised egg (RM1.50) for myself and a luo han guo drink (RM2.50). Well, the tofu soup was filled with lots of tofu, vegetables, tomatoes and it was filling.

As we were leaving a big group of tourist walked in. From the way they talked, I would safely say they were Singaporeans.

After our satiating meal, we paid and  headed for Jonker Street.

 Address :  124 Jalan Munshi Abdullah

75100 Melaka

Simply Nyonya Café, USJ 10

On both sides of the walls are pictures of various places of interest in Malacca such as the A Famosa and  the Stadthuys. As I walked in it gave me the impression that I had travelled all the way to Malacca. Music was playing in the background….and as I listen closely, I couldn’t resist myself from joining in the singing…they were playing lots of songs from yester-years.

We ordered our food and whilst waiting for food to arrive we tried out some nyonya kuih which were on sale. I was told that all kuih are made by the owner and as such are fresh. I tried the kuih talam and sago (RM2) as well as the yam cake (RM3.80). All were so yummy that we ordered some to be brought home for supper.

This is longan drink (RM5) which tasted alright.

The one drink on the menu that caught my attention was this drink called ayer longkang literally translated by yours truly as drain water! It costs RM4.50. It was tangy and had some black jelly in it as well as an asam boi. I don’t know what the main ingredient is but my guess is umbra.

Chicken pongteh (RM15) – this is the nyonya version of chicken and potato stew, a dish which I never fail to order in a Nyonya joint. Chicken is cooked with fermented soy bean sauce and gula Melaka. I love this dish as it always gives me a homey feeling.

Otak-otak (RM13) – this version is not spicy….well, suffice to say that I prefer the extra spicy version!

Sambal petai udang (RM20) – great dish. It was definitely spicy enough for me. The prawns were fresh and this was indeed a dish I enjoyed.

Chicken ball soup (RM13) – nothing spectacular,it was alright.

Kacang botol (RM13) – with sufficient chillies this was another dish that we savoured with great enthusiasm.

This is called Little Japs (RM15) which was a non spicy Japanese tofu dish. The gravy was delicious and the kids loved it.

Taugeh with salted fish (RM15) – I’ve never been a fan of salted fish, so I gave this dish a miss. But the people who tasted this loved it so much that they still talked about it on the drive home.

And if you are wondering whether we'll be back, the answer is a resounding YES. I simply adore the ambience and the food there. What I miss now, as I write is of course the kuih.

Address : 38 Jalan USJ 10/1B

47620 Subang Jaya

GPS Coordinates : N 03° 2.965'  E 101° 35.082

Opening hours : 11am to 10pm

Tel : +603 8011 3509

Mastercard & Visa accepted for a minimum transaction  of RM50