Food And Drink In Malacca – Budget Travel In Malaysia

Malacca offers great Malaysian food and some of the dishes can only be found in this area.

I had been so impressed with the food in Malaysia. The street food was possibly the best and cheapest I had experienced so far on my trip. Kuala Lumper had some wonderful choice and I was looking forward to trying some unique dishes in Malacca.

BEST HOSTELS IN MALACCA | THINGS TO DO IN MALACCA

Food And Drink In Malacca

You will find many local Malacca restaurants serving traditional Malaysian food. A very popular dish here is the ‘chicken rice ball’ which you will see advertised all over town. The food can be very cheap; look out for for the hawker food centre type places for the best prices.

Alcohol is cheaper here than in Kuala Lumpur if you go to the right places. Check out the riverside bars for special deals.

Backlane Coffee

We came here on our final morning for coffee before moving on. It is a nice, modern cafe with some interesting artifacts scattered around; I enjoyed flicking through the vinyl. The coffee was good and it is certainly worth a visit. Can be accessed from Jonker Street. Map.

Boss Curry House

On our first night, we had a couple of beers on the riverside and then walked into the little India district. There were a couple of restaurants to choose from and we ended up at ‘Boss Curry House’ (map). The food was served immediately as they do certain meals on certain days. It was spicy but not overpowering. Good choices for vegetarian and non-vegetarian and reasonably priced too.

Daily Fix Cafe

You’ll have to look out for this one as it is located in the back of a shop on Jonker Street. It is split over two floors and I had a balcony seat which was ideal for chilling out with a very good morning coffee and a mango chicken wrap with roasted potatoes and salad. Map.

Jonker Street Hawker Centre

Not on Jonker Street at all but near our accommodation. It’s a typical hawker centre, meaning there are a number of street food vendors to choose from. Order what you want, tell them your table number and pay when your meal arrives. They also sell beer in here for 17 MYR (big bottle). Map.

Lim Jit

I came here to try the local favourite dish, chicken with rice balls. It had very good reviews and my food was OK but, I just found it a bit bland. I am not sure whether this place does a best chicken ball rice in Malacca or whether the dish itself is bland. Map.

Joanna had a vegetarian version of this dish at ‘Shui Xian Su Shi Vegetarian’ (map).

Melipoly Honey

An organic honey producer, this was one of the first places that caught our eye on our first wander around the city. One of the staff saw us looking in and wasted no time in inviting us in to see the beehive in the back. We were a bit reluctant to get so close until we learned they were stingless bees! We promised to return the next day to try the honey coffee and we did and it was very nice; not as sweet as we had expected. Every time we walked past, we were greeted by the staff, without any hassling to get us back in. Map.

Nyonya Suan

Located a short walk away from the main tourist area and near the malls, this restaurant serves traditional Malay food. We came here as it was pretty much the only place we could find in the area that was open in the daytime. The food arrived fast and it was pretty good. I had ‘ayam pongteh’ which is a chicken and potato stew cooking with fermented bean paste. Map.

Pak Putra

Very popular with the locals, mainly for their tandoori chicken, and it’s easy to see why. For just 12 MYR, I received two pieces of delicious, tender chicken, perfectly spiced and cooked in the tandoor over. The triple cheese naan bread is also a must! This place gets busy so it might be best to get here around 5-6 pm to get served quickly. Map.

Riverside Bars

I got chatting to a Canadian couple on our last night in Malacca. The woman approached me and said, “Excuse me, you look like you might know where we can get a beer.” Err, thanks for that! It did make me realise how easy it might be to miss some of the best small bars; we found them by accident!

Walk away from Jonker Street and once you pass the Hard Rock Cafe, turn left along the riverside. After about 50 yards you will come across the first of many bars. They are all pretty small but offer good deals on beers and most do food. They are all super friendly and it’s a great place to sit and enjoy a cold beer by the river, looking at the street art on the opposite side and waving to the passing boats.

Stolen Cup

Ideally located on Jonker Street, this is a very cool, modern cafe. They have an alcohol license too but the beer was pricey. We came here for coffee. The ambiance was very good but it wasn’t the greatest coffee in the world. Map.

Tipsy Bridge

We came across this pace by accident on our first night and then returned a couple of days later as their Facebook page stated all cocktails for 10 MYR (check for daily offers). After warming up with a couple of beers elsewhere, we arrived to find it closed. We went for another beer and came back to find it open. Their advertised opening times are not accurate so best come around 8 pm, not 7.

They play 50’s and 60’s music and the cocktails were both delicious and strong. We kept thinking we were having our last one but somehow we just kept ordering more! Great fun! Map.

Tofu Cafe

An interesting place this. It doesn’t sell tofu. In fact, it’s not even a cafe. It does sell beer though, the cheapest I found, which was the reason I went in. On both nights I visited, there were three old women sat outside with a poodle, an old guy with deformed toes smoking endless cigarettes and another guy doing the most bizarre exercise/self-massage routine. None of them had anything at all to drink. As local as you will find in Malacca, but always very friendly. Map.

Tofu Street Soya Bean

I had tried ‘tau fu fah’ in Ipoh and found it a bit odd. Here, it came in ginger syrup so I thought I’d try it again. This time, I found it a bit odd but with ginger. If you like ‘tau fu fah’, this is the place for you. Map.