Here are some restaurant recommendations I have tried and liked best in Malacca, as well as street food options.
The Baboon House
One place not to miss in Malacca. We stumbled upon this restaurant thanks to TripAdvisor reviews, and I’m glad we did because the place is unlike anything I’ve seen before. It transports you to an enchanted world. You enter through what appears to be a traditional Malaccan house, but you’d never guess you’d find yourself in a jungle that has taken over the various inner courtyards of the restaurant.
The menu consists mainly of burgers, which are delicious.
Note that the restaurant/burger shop closes at 5pm, so best to plan your visit for brunch or lunch.
Also, take a look the glass-topped vases that serve as tables, with water and fish inside, like an aquarium. You can find The Baboon House’s contact details here.
Peranakan Mansion
This restaurant was recommended by my friend Ana, who had been to Malacca a few weeks earlier.
The restaurant is located in a Peranakan house, which was once a museum. Like typical Peranakan houses, it has several small dining rooms, all of which maintain the beautiful Peranakan character that I love with unique porcelain, vases, and other pieces of furniture.
The restaurant serves food….. guess…. Peranakan 😊 Click here to learn more about the Peranakan culture in Malacca.
As we weren’t familiar with this cuisine, we asked the waiter for help, and he suggested one of the daily specials, trotters in spicy tamarind sauce. No-one at the table knew the Portuguese translation of “trotters” meant in English, and the waiter said it was pork leg, so we decided to give it a go. We also ordered other dishes, including non-spicy options for Maria Rita. When the trotters arrived at the table, we realized they were nothing more than pig’s feet! They were actually quite tasty, and we were glad we didn’t know what they were, or we might not have ordered them. It’s a shame we didn’t order another portion, because one wasn’t enough for four adults.
Pig’s feet aside, the food was all good and I highly recommend a visit to the Peranakan Mansion. You can find more details about the restaurant here or visit their Facebook page here.
Both The Baboon House and Peranakan Mansion are on the same street as the hotel where we stayed. For more information on where to stay in Malacca click here.
Geographer Cafe
Geographer Cafe is located on the corner of one of the busiest streets in Melaka’s old town, also known as Chinatown, so it’s super central, and at weekends it has direct access to the night market on the same street.
The café offers a variety of Asian and Western food, and while it’s not extraordinary, the food is quite decent and reasonably priced.
Definitely worth a visit for the location and atmosphere. Read more about Geographer Cafe here.
Street Food
Jonker Street is brimming with street food stalls offering a variety of local specialties such as chicken rice balls or cendol (a sweet ice dessert with green rice flour jelly, coconut milk, sugar and red beans, also popular in Singapore).
On weekends, Jonker Street closes to traffic from 6pm, turning into the Jonker Walk Night Market with even more food and drink options such as coconut milkshakes, smoothies, and coconut ice cream.
Don’t miss the famous homemade pineapple tarts available at various stalls.
The Daily Fix Café
Although we didn’t visit this restaurant/café, it’s highly recommended for breakfast or brunch. The only downside is that it tends to have long waiting queues. Here’s the link to find out more.
