Fatpapa goes Malacca (III)

Chiak Ba Boh?

See that? Some of you ( u know who u are...) may remember these...yes its that lard bursting, cholesterol laden popiahs that FC made us all eat on our last lab outing. Managed to find it even though it was night time when she brought us there. If you can find "Madam Kings" departmental store in Malacca, u wouldn't miss it as the stall is usually parked right outside. Like all roadside stalls, don't let the look fool u. Not exactly "Michelin" class and certainly hygeine is not the order of the day, RM 1.50 gets you a thick, fat slab brimming with thick strips of "Bang Guang" (Turnip) cooked in lard and upon special request you can have chockful of lard rolled in....(health warning: too much lard may be harmful to you and your family). Sinfully delicious!

Fatpapa rating: 4 stars out of 5

Teochew "Hee Kiaw". Recommended by some foodie magazine, so just dropped by to try. Our stomachs were already full to the brim liao, but there was always space for a little more. This stall only opens at night after 6pm and can be found in a open air hawker centre near the City Bayview hotel. If travelling from the NSH toll towards Malacca town, it is on the left hand side of the road slightly before the City Bayview hotel. It is usually brightly lit at night, so should be hard to miss. The "Hee Kiaw" here are made fresh everyday and the skin is a lot more crunchier than the mass produced one you get here in Singapore. The fillings are flavourful, but a little too heavily seasoned in my opinion. Comes served with insipid looking noodles that you have to season yourself with dark soy sauce. Quite alright actually but nothing out of this world. The "Hee Kiaw" though fared better.

Fatpapa rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

This ends my short food review on Malacca. Back to Singapore then...

Fatpapa goes Malacca (II)

Chiak Ba Boh?

How to visit Malacca without having their famous Chicken rice balls? Eh...Fatpapa must have gotten it all wrong, that looked like a normal plate of Chicken rice..where got balls!? You see this place "He Ji" is so famous that the whole restaurant was packed when we visited. This one is a nicely renovated place a few shops away from the old shop at Jonker street opposite the OCBC bank next to the river. You wouldn't miss it. So we ordered a plate of chicken rice balls and sat down to wait. 5 mins went by.....10 mins went by....15 mins went by....eh...where got need so long to have a plate of chicken rice one? So we asked the waiters and found that they had problems churning out the rice balls so have to wait some more. If we want, we can just have the rice but not the balls....anyways since the balls are made from the rice...should taste sama sama lah...mebbe just imagine a bit can oredi...

So we had that miserable plate of chicken rice. I must say this - u wanna eat chicken rice no need to go Malacca....Singapore much much better....really nothing to crow about. Mebbe the rice is a lot more pungent than what you get in Singapore but the chicken is really only so so...Mebbe the balls make then really special but i guess the novelty wears off after a while. However, the shop is packed to the brim so mebbe Fatpapa is just bias.

Fatpapa rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

Next up...Nonya kuehs and Mee Siam. This one comes strongly recommended by my parents. The Mee Siam I heard is legendary...and the nonya kuehs are not to be missed. However u have got to reach their house (yes...i really meant house!) by 4pm otherwise their stuffs will be transported to nearby pasar malam for sale. We only managed to try the nonya kuehs...cos the mee siam was oredi packed smacked under trays of nonya kueh in the van when we arrived. So I had "Onde Onde" instead.....wah lau eh....steams sia....coated with thick fluffy coconut shavins (see pic above)...one bite would send the "gula melaka" smashing into every orifice in your mouth, complete with a sugar like core that breaks up upon impact...."lau chup" ah....

You can find this place if you travel on Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock from Jonker street. Drive all the way until u see a Walls (or Kings) ice cream factory on your left and turn into this small lane. Drive all the way in till you hit the sea and turn left. There should be a small courtyard immediately on your left, just park your car there and walk into the house. You should enter their kitchen. I have attached a map for reference.

Fatpapa rating: 4 stars out of 5

Fatpapa goes Malacca (I)

Chiak Ba Boh?

Fatpapa has went international wor! These are a series of ground breaking reviews done on a recent trip (food expedition in fact :P) up north to our friendly neighbours in Malacca. Left Singapore around 10am and reached Malaccca just in time for lunch at around 12:30pm. First stop comes highly recommeded by my parents, a nice swanky restaurant near Century Mahkota (see map below - at Melaka Raya) by the name of 北栈 (Bei Zhan - North Resthouse). Saw reviews of this restaurant in some local food magazine, so the food must be quite good.

The food didn't disappoint. We had sambal fish (whole fish!), 扣肉包, ee fu noodles, sambal kangkong, prawns (or tou fu i tink)...all for around $90 malaysian ringgit. That's around $45 singapre dollars....super cheap for 4 ah! And considering that this is a pretty upmarket place in Malacca - heard u need to make reservations for dinner on weekends, very good value for money! The fish is super fresh, the meat sweet and got 海的味道...excellent quality. The 扣肉包 - yummy! comparable if not better to 西湖's (see earlier review). The ee fu noodles are 招牌菜 and lived up to its name. Sambal Kangkong - spicy belacan with a nice wok hei....woah salivating as i am writing this...

Next time in Malacca, do go try....this one comes highly recommended!

Fatpapa rating: 4 stars out of 5