The best Melaka food spots worth a weekend visit

There are places one visits for adventure and a sense of discovery, and there are places whose appeal lies squarely in a fuss-free holiday.

Melaka falls squarely in the latter camp, making it a choice destination for a four-day family vacation in November. A five-hour bus ride with multiple toilet breaks is comfortable for my retiree parents, and from October, low-cost carrier Scoot began operating a 55-minute journey to the Malaysian city.

The city’s historical structures – such as Stadthuys, a former town hall built by Dutch occupiers in the 1650s – have changed little in recent decades. But around bustling Jonker Street, small updates refresh the urban landscape. New cafes have come up in recent years and boutique hotels have mushroomed in heritage shophouses.

Rest Collection RedHouse Melaka, where I pay around $100 a night for a cosy but well-appointed double room, opened in August 2024 and receives a steady stream of guests on weekends. The hotel also has rooms decked out with slides and bunk beds for families.

Having been to Melaka multiple times, there is no pressure to check tourist spots off a list. Instead, we spend mornings sleeping in and afternoons lingering over local eats and cosy cafes.

Here are my top picks for a foodie trip across the border.

1. Baba Ang: Solid Peranakan food

Peranakan restaurants abound in Melaka. It is hard to narrow down our choices based merely on internet reviews, so I follow the recommendation of a foodie friend and head to Restoran Baba Ang 

It does not disappoint. Portions are hearty and well executed – chunks of chicken in an ayam buah keluak dish (RM60 or S$18), for instance, are cooked perfectly so that even leaner fillet cuts remain tender. The well-stuffed buah keluak nuts are funky and earthy, and even a simple dish of sambal cili bendi (RM22), or steamed okra with sambal, is done well, with the vegetables vibrant and tender-crisp.

Some might say the belacan and chilli sauces have been watered down for tourists, but this allows me to hoover up all the punchy flavours without being bowled over by too much heat. If you need to cool off, the cendol (RM7) is fragrant and indulgent.

Other notable spots include the opulent Peranakan Mansion, where standout dishes include the pai tee and chilli garam pork, as well as the reservations-only modern Peranakan joint Bulldog Malacca.

2. Popiah Ta Chong: Lard-studded popiah

Whoever thought of adding lard to popiah must be an evil genius.

In Singapore, the vegetable-laden popiah is regarded as a relatively healthy hawker dish. Across the Causeway, however, it is studded with lard – enough freshly fried, chunky, deliciously unctuous cubes so the flavour of pork fat infuses every mouthful.

Every component in the tightly packed roll is well executed, including flavourful stewed jicama, fluffy strands of fried egg and fresh and spicy chilli sauce. But after the first couple of mouthfuls, I find myself picking out the remaining lard cubes. Cholesterol aside, the greasiness fast becomes cloying.

Still, this place is a favourite among locals, many of whom are turned away when the joint sells out by 12.15pm on a Friday.

I queue for 20 minutes for this sinful brunch that is worth trying at least once. There are only two tables in the small shop, so many customers choose takeaway, with some ordering 10 to 20 rolls.

To skip the queue, pre-order via WhatsApp (+60-019-657-5851) at least one day before or arrive at 10am when the joint opens.

Two other notable popiah stalls, which both also use copious amounts of pork lard, are Poh Piah Lwee and Bunga Raya Popiah.

3. Ba&Nya Heritage: Home-style Nonya fare

Melaka is a sleepy city in the first half of the week, with many stalls, including the night market in Jonker Street, springing to life only from Fridays to Sundays.

The family-run Ba&Nya Heritage, which serves pork-free Nonya cuisine, is one such joint. Opened in 2022 by a married couple – Mr Benson Lim, 41, and Mrs Lim Moi Jin, 42 – the casual eatery operates only on Saturdays and Sundays as the couple both have day jobs in sales.

Mr Lim, who helms the kitchen, says cooking is his passion. The restaurant is a bid to showcase Peranakan family recipes he picked up from his mother, and it shows.

This is comforting, home-style fare. The highlight of the deluxe laksa with seafood (RM25.90) is not the seafood, although the three medium-sized prawns are fresh and worth the effort to deshell. Instead, it is the rich and spicy gravy that coats each strand of thin bee hoon.

Skip the crab sticks and fish balls to make room for an additional serving of mee siam (RM6.90), a dry version of the dish elevated by flavourful sambal.

4. The Curious Bakers: Quality pastries

If you are going to visit only one cafe in Melaka, make it The Curious Bakers (@thecuriousbakers on Instagram). The cafe’s two branches serve an array of sweet and savoury pastries, and each one I order hits the mark.

Layers of raspberry and rose atop a basque cheesecake lighten the richness of the ubiquitous Spanish dessert; an ondeh ondeh cake is cloaked with featherlight cream; the chocolate filling of a choux pastry is deep, rich and not too sweet. And a loaf of walnut and raisin sourdough I take home keeps well in the freezer, pepping up my brunches up to a month later.

If you are a fan of doughnuts, online reviews fawn over seasonal flavours such as matcha, Thai milk tea, hojicha and passion fruit. Most pastries cost between RM6.50 and RM14.

The Kampung Jawa branch, which is located up a steep flight of stairs, offers a more aesthetic backdrop for photos with its breezy, minimalist decor, while the first-floor Jonker Street branch is larger and also sells souvenirs, such as T-shirts and tote bags featuring the brand’s adorable cat mascot.

5. Atlantic Nyonya HQ: Fresh fried fish

Ikan bilis is usually a sideshow, but at Atlantic Nyonya HQ, the salad of tiny fried anchovies tossed with raw onions, winged beans and petai beans in a tart, garlicky dressing is a star.

With so many polarising elements – the onions, bitter petai beans and surfeit of garlic – this is a love-it-or-hate-it dish and I am firmly in the former camp.

It is a moreish precursor to the rest of the dishes we order, which include crispy pie tee, a fluffy and well-balanced cincalok omelette, chunky mackerel otah and a large fried fish – all begging to be hoovered up with rice.

Travel tips

I travel to Melaka by coach, paying $33 a person for a one-way trip from Luxury Coach Service (luxurycoach.com.sg), which picks up passengers from Serangoon MRT station, Harbourfront Centre and Jurong East before crossing the Causeway.

The journey on a Thursday morning takes five hours – expect longer on weekends and during school holidays.

A round-trip flight on Scoot costs around $120 without checked baggage allowance during the March school holidays, based on checks by The Straits Times.

Reservations are recommended at most restaurants, usually via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Check their websites or social media platforms for contact details.

There is much to buy along Jonker Street, from traditional pastries to fast fashion.

Two shops worth checking out are art cafe Hygge (@hygge.812 on Instagram), which sells trinkets such as postcards, pins, earrings and stickers by Malaysian designers; and The Bendahari (@thebendahari on Instagram), a cultural centre that stocks homeware, bags and kebayas.

Most vendors, even street stalls, accept payments via the Touch ’n Go app (www.touchngo.com.my). Top up your e-wallet via credit card and scan QR codes to make payment.

This article was originally published in The Straits Times.