Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Marvelous Malacca - Part 1

Setting off early morning and having made a stopover in Seremban for the beef noodles, we arrived in Malacca almost noon time. We decided to check into The Baba House and found the place easily with YSF's navigation as she's a regular Malacca visitor. It's my first time staying here and I like this heritage house, transporting me back to the old days . That's how it is with Malacca when one is there, one feels like they have taken a step back in time. Thanks TML for doing the reservation! At RM95 a night, the room was simple, however, the RM25 for the extra bed YSF slept on has long passed its "shelf" life. The mattress was thin but on the other hand, one can't expect much. Would I come back and stay at The Baba House? I would as it's smack in the middle of town and it was so convenient getting around on foot. But don't get the extra bed! :o)
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The garden area of The Baba House
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Oh, I got to see this colorful trishaw AGAIN! There were more during my earlier trip before.

After checking in and dropping off our bags, we decided to look for Hoe Kee to have chicken rice balls. Located nearby, we walked about 10 minutes and waited in line for our table.
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4, Jalan Hang Jebat (Jonker St). 7.30am-4pm, closes last Wednesday of the month.
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I definitely enjoy the rice balls here at Hoe Kee as compared to Famosa Chicken Rice Ball. The rice balls here were more fragrant. You can taste the chicken stock with a slight hint of ginger and garlic. The chicken was tender and tasted good with the chilli sauce and thick soya sauce albeit the chilli sauce was a bit on the watery side.

For desserts, YSF said that she wanted to go to Donald & Lily's Corner for a bowl of Cendol. She told us that it was nice and simple and not too rich. Located about two blocks away, it didn't take us long before we treated ourselves to this cold icy treat.
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Behind No. 31, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (Tel No : 06-2848907)

There's actually a sitting area upstairs for those who order their food. For customers who are just having cendol, they can only sit at this one and only small table at the back of the stall (or stand around). I felt a bit uncomfortable and claustrophobic but the sun was out in full force and I didn't feel like getting burn that day.
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My view of the stall from where I sat.....
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I found the cendol pretty normal though the Gula Melaka (Palm sugar) was nice. I suppose all Gula Melaka, especially eaten in Melaka would be nice! :o) There were quite a number of people ordering the cendol; I suppose Donald & Lily have their own fans.


To be continued : The original Mille Crepe


41 comments:

Precious Pea said...

Why not Donald & Daisy geh?? LOL! Aiyooo...sista, cepat cepat post all can ar? Me going Melaka end of the month, need to jot down notes on where to eat.

Tummythoz said...

Visited Baba's House before. They do have a very interesting reception area & located just a road away from Jonker's Street. Nice.
So how many parts m I to 'suffer' this time around? *note to self:- buy bibs in bulk*

Rarebeet said...

I miss Hoe Kee. Those rice balls are lethal. Before I know it, I would've eaten the equivalent of two heaped plates of rice! Scary but soooo good. The asam fish is very nice too. Mouth-puckeringly tangy!

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

eh too much la sista..1st thing morning..i c boo laksa..i feel like dying because i cooked way too little sphagetti dis morning..then 2nd i c food4tot porridge..then i fainted..now i wake up to see this..aiyoh spare me out of my misery..now watever i eat also no taste

Anonymous said...

I just came back from Malacca, ate at Donald & Lily's. Their mee siam and nasi lemak with chicken rendang is really good. The rice has the rich smell (taste?) of santan, very fragrant. Nasi lemak only served on Fridays though. They also have rojak, which is popular, but it's not the thick prawn paste like the Penang style. Ok la. The cendol I liked very much, 'cos of the Gula Melaka.

Also, around the corner from there, there's a shop call LW Nyonya Pineapple Tarts House, where I really loved the pineapple tarts. This is the one where the jam(?) sits on the pastry, not the rolled up one, although they sell that version as well. I like it 'cos the pastry is buttery and the jam not too sweet.

boo_licious said...

LOL on Precious Pea's comment - I thought no need since you have walking food guide already.

Donald and Lily's cendol quite simple. When we first discovered it, there was no restaurant, just eat at the side stall.

Anonymous said...

Note to self, must go stay in Malacca dis time and eat the food there. I love nyonyababa stuff.

Anonymous said...

Waaa.. I din know u so good in taking pics :D

Big Boys Oven said...

wmw: Wah sounds like you had a good time in Melaka. Hmmm so did we but that was many months ago. On the way back we alway stop by kampong cina, port dickson for really fantastic, fresh, delicious and money worth seafood. Their paku is so crunchy and marvellous. The restaraunt is situated out of no where.
I amtrying to arrange a food tasting for food bloggers hopeful in july if the sponsor is OK with it.

MeiyeN said...

hoekee chicken rice, our favourite! i tell ya... da assam fish really mouthwatering! :D

Kenny Mah said...

Oooo... this is uber helpful, since I plan to take my newlywed pals down to Malacca later this month, and I'd appreciate all the suggestions & recommendations.

And what did you guys do to Joe? Walau... floggers kinky by name, kinky by nature? LOL

wmw said...

Precious Pea : You still can't get enough of Disney? ha ha ha...Eh, thought you have someone bringing you around? Hope to be able to meet your request.

tummythoz : Haven't figured out how many parts left, but anyway to prepare your bibs!

paprika : Well, I loved the rice balls from Hoe Kee too! We weren't fans of fish...I might drink the assam gravy up though! :o)

joe : Aiyoh, go out aand eat whatever you want to your heart's content today!

barbie : Hi there! Are you LLemongrass' friend? Wow! Reading your description of the food from Donald & Lily, I must go and eat there the next time I'm in Malacca. Thanks!

boo_licious : I guess they expanded their business. When did they first started their cendol business? Need more tables for people to sit and eat their cendol though.

wmw said...

firehorse : Stay tuned for more food escapades in Malacca! Hee hee....

Ellie : Hi there! Thanks for the compliment! See you around here in my blog more or else I'll see you in Penang! :o)

BBK : Exploring your other kitchen appliances than just your oven? (hence, kitchen rather than oven! LOL) I have not been to that area in PD. I love paku though...eh, how to go there? Ha ha ha....Food tasting in July sounds good. Keep us updated!

meiyen : Hoe Kee! Hoe Kee! I wonder how's the other one, Chung Hwa or something like that?

kenny : You need this to give you ideas on where to eat? I'm sure your parents can do a fantastic and better job at it! Stay tuned...

Hengster said...

Do you know of a restaurant which serve Char siew/ Siew Yok after midnight in Malacca? been wanting to try it.. but dunno where

Precious Pea said...

boo and wmw, got guide oledi...but also want to know what else nice there. Might as well conquer whole Melaka than making few trips there. Am bringing ENO!

Lee Ping said...

This is probably my nth time visiting your blog! Today is the first day in our home remodeling project. It was tough to blog (or at least trying to).

I have had fish balls, shrimp balls and even cuttlefish balls but I have never had rice balls. Chicken rice balls, perhaps made out of rice powder, ground chicken, chicken stock that is flavored with garlic and ginger?

Could you request some chendol in your gula melaka's ice?

Lee Ping said...

I noticed there is no quote in this article... I do enjoy reading them.

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

aiyoh.. at the look of it..if i were to follow you guys to a food crawl..i need to go a day ahead..and jog there!

wmw said...

hengster : After midnight? Got ah? Ha ha ...I myself would like to know too! Sorry...

precious pea : Wah lau! Luckily Malacca isn't that big...or else you would need to buy a few cartons of Eno! LOL...

Lee Ping :It's not made out of rice powder but soft rice rolled into a ball shape. Read this :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Rice_Ball
If you check, I usually don't put a quote at the end of post that is to be continued.

joe : Walking around Malacca will suffice, the heat is enough to make you perspire non stop!

Lee Ping said...

Wow, it's in Wikipedia. I just checked. Rice ball is like what the name says. Cooked rice (Hainan style) rolled by hand into a ball. I guess, my mind was on other kinds of balls, .....seafood balls, I mean.

Rasa Malaysia said...

The baba hotel looks very cool...the kind of place I would appreciate.

tankiasu said...

Went to Malacca last month. I susah payah walk all the way to find the Donald and Lily's, only to see them packing their stalls. Grrr...must go there again soon!

SteamyKitchen said...

I love the chicken dish....YUM

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

Wahhh...I see the President of Precious Pea's fan club has been visiting? :-P hehehe. Ya lor...dat Barbie woman is my friend. Anyway, can't wait to go makan in Malacca...woohooo!!

Anonymous said...

Saw the "fish-ball-like" rice-balls surrounding in tastespotting and cannot tahan must come by and "eat" liow! Sorry for the intrusion ;p

Anonymous said...

next time u might wanna check out hotel puri instead...i find it better:)

also u should try malacca's 'yu kwey - fish paste noodle' very different and delicous

lili

wmw said...

Lee Ping: Whatever you need info on, just google it! :o)

RM : Yeah, it's those places that I appreciate too.

tankiasu : Next time call and find out if they are still open or closing!

SteamyKitchen : Welcome to my humble blog! :o) Hope to see you around more. Just got to know about your blog from Hipfood. Will be a regular visitor of yours.

Lyrical Lemongrass : Hey, you back here yet? When are you going to Malacca?

tigerfish : Hi there! Thanks for dropping by, no intrusion at all. Make yourself at home ;O)

lili : I saw Hotel Puri, it's near to The Baba House. Yes, it looks newer. Will check it out. Thanks for the info.

MeiyeN said...

actually chung hwa was da only famous rest selling chicken rice ball back in malacca many years ago, da only place visitors dropped by and business was superbly good! believe it or not, you got to queue for tables and items there were selling like hot cakes! tried few times and it was quite good back then... but since da opening of new rests nearby, things changed and their business went down da hill :| anyways, we still continued to visit chung hwa despite da opening of new nearby chic rice rest and found out that da chickens no longer tastes da same.. and da rice balls were too sticky and not that fragrant anymore! i did tried famosa rest too and find da stuff there darn oily so don't like it... best still, hoekee! :D

backStreetGluttons said...

omg shud V change your title again ah ? Infact many years ( sorry months ) ago yr Malacca post was the 7th or 8th food ( Blog ) posts V first visited , while RM 5th or 6th.now u know
(( that time yr Malacca ( Romantic City, go check our comments then )eat and eats got music one ))

Anonymous said...

Sobs... My plan to Malacca was postponed ler.. :(

boo_licious said...

Can't remember when they started business but we discovered them long ago during one of our work trips to Melaka.

wow - Precious Pea even bringing eno. We once went to Melaka specially for the food - ate non stop the whole time. Kinda like in Penang with my family esp since my brother in law is from there.

teckiee said...

wahh i like the beca. so romanticccc

wmw said...

meiyen : Looks like we pick the right place for Chicken Rice Balls then!

team bsg : Yah! I remembered that was the time you started visitng my blog...Yah, music...those were the days :o)

jason : Just make sure that there is a next time! I come along with you?

boo_licious : Ahh...Penang, my next destination soon!

teckiee : Romantic...ok, on your wedding day, you can have a convoy of becas! LOL!

Lee Ping said...

WMW,

Yeah, I remember what you told me before. Just google. Thanks.

p/s You are so humble. Your blog is great and I am sure that Steamy Kitchen will be back soon. Isn't Jaden hot? She is as hot as the food you post. :) Now, all the guys with hot abs is going to flock her blog.

Anonymous said...

Okie, plan another food hunt in Melaka as well. ;)

Anonymous said...

my personal fav is still chung hwa:)

tried formosa and hoe kee*chicken not as juicy and fragrant*

who says chung hwa business down the hill? hmmm...
apparently, their business is still very good..always packed..can't even find a table...kekeke

lili

Kenny Mah said...

Heh, that they can. But as locals my parents also avoid the more touristy places, which aren't always bad. Esp when they showcase some of the unique architecture that may interest my foreign friends.

Ha, I have your number on my speed-dial to call at a moment's notice for a makan emergency! Cheh, sounds like Batman & Robin commercial only... LOL

wmw said...

Lee Ping : hahaha...as hot as the food I post. That's so funny. Yeah, Jaden looks great, sure the guys reading this would go over to her blog and check her out!

jason : So little time....need more stomach space!

lili : We will surely have our own opinion on everything, food included. Will try Chung Hwa next time and find out myself. I definitely agree with you about Formosa's.

kenny : haha...Me on your speed dial? What an honour! Well, am sure your parents will make an exception for your guests and bring them round. I had earlier written on Malacca before this round. It's a nice place.

Lee Ping said...

I think BBO/BBK already started...

Anonymous said...

MY GOD, wmw ! :PP For now, I'll be throwing rice balls in the tenchu game hahaha :)Waiting for the real ones to reach my mouth s-o-o-n :)

Unknown said...

Thank you for patronizing my parent's makan place :)