Samfu, Malacca

Samfu is a striking space, but its appeal is more than skin-deep: Its Nyonya specialities include pongteh that comprises both pork and chicken instead of forcing customers to choose only one, plus a stirringly spicy babi cili garam that showcases beautifully tender pork with plenty of heat. The pai tee is less noteworthy, but the cooking is capable throughout. An appetiser of tangy-juicy acar and a lovely lemongrass-ginger hot beverage round out some of Samfu's pleasures.

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

HomeTaste, Malacca

Scarcely a year old, HomeTaste has cultivated a reliable reputation for Nyonya fare in the city where this cooking is most cherished. The Nyonya laksa is worthwhile, lightly aromatic, while the chicken includes interesting recipes like wings glazed in gula Melaka, as well as soothing staples like pongteh and regular specials such as kaffir lime chicken, deliciously zesty.

With Malacca being a coastal state, seafood shines, naturally: Ikan cili garam is irresistibly spicy and savoury, as its name suggests, while pineapple prawns in coconut milk is a can't-fail classic. Cincalok-laced omelettes, kangkung belacan and fried rice round out the usual suspects of a Nyonya restaurant, each respectably rendered, while a hearty bowl of cendol makes for the most fitting conclusion.

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

River Grill @ Casa del Rio, Malacca

Malacca’s now-thriving F&B landscape is luring veteran chefs like Ghazali Hassan, who became the executive chef at Casa del Rio, a top boutique hotel, in March 2015 after two decades of working in other cities in Malaysia and the Maldives.

Casa Del Rio showcases one of Malacca’s most distinctively romantic sites at its flagship restaurant, River Grill, perched beside the state’s main river.

Diners can watch small, tourist-filled boats leisurely cruise by, sometimes followed by rowers in racing vessels, while they feast on River Grill’s upmarket offerings of Black Angus steaks, tuna tataki with ginger shoyu dressing, and smoked salmon sliced at the customer’s tableside.

“Malacca is a special state,” Ghazali says. “I’ve visited and eaten at many places here, and I can assure travellers that their experience in Malacca will be genuinely memorable.”

This spotlight on River Grill is an excerpt of a feature on six of Malacca's soulful eateries; read the full feature in the August 2015 issue of Going Places, Malaysia Airlines' in-flight magazine.

River Grill, Casa del Rio, Malacca

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Check out the latest edition of Eat Drink KL: 100 Favourites, with 100 recommended restaurants for May-August 2015. This eBook is available to read or download at this link: http://eatdrinkkl.cld.bz/2015 

Buckle your seatbelts: Eat Drink KL is partnering with Uber to take restaurant lovers on new adventures across KL & Selangor!

If you haven't used Uber yet, it's time to begin! For new users, just follow the steps below to redeem free rides:

1. Download the Uber app from the App Store, Play Store or Windows Store - and register your Uber account.

2. Apply the code EATDRINKKL as your first promotional code & you'll receive 2 Free Rides worth RM30 each.

3. Request a ride through the app and ride for free to any destination (with two ride values of up to RM30 each).

Calanthe Art Cafe & Kaya-Kaya @ Malacca

The current boom in Malacca’s café business emerged in 2014, but the trickle of tourists has steadily swelled ever since UNESCO declared the state capital a World Heritage Site in 2008, according to the founders of Calanthe Art Café.

Calanthe is a hugely respected pioneering café, having recently marked its 10th anniversary. Opened by a band of close-knit friends who went to school together, Calanthe remains one of Malacca’s warmest and most welcoming hangouts, specialising in different types of coffee roasted in each of Malaysia’s 13 states.

“Our main objective is to promote an appreciation for our own Malaysian coffee,” Calanthe's Joseph Chia says, noting that some Malaysian states have unique blends of coffee mixed with margarine, salt or even wheat flour. Calanthe is also the ideal stop to refuel with a lunch of deliciously hearty local recipes like turmeric-tinged nasi lemak (coconut milk rice with a yellow hue) and laksa, a bowl of thin noodles in a mildly spicy coconut milk gravy with tofu puffs, fishcakes and beansprouts.

The story of a much newer venue, Kaya-Kaya Café, is a tribute to Malacca’s allure. Kuala Lumpur resident K.C. Choong had long been a frequent visitor to Malacca when he stayed last year at a Jonker Walk guesthouse whose owners had a vacant space nearby. K.C. found out and decided to collaborate with them to create Kaya-Kaya, a cavernous café where customers can relax on rattan chairs and recycled wood-and-metal furniture while marvelling at a two-storey-high mural of multilingual definitions for the word kaya.

Kaya means ‘wealth’ in Malay, and the café’s name is meant to convey a feeling of richness in its patrons’ lives, relationships and food. For a dose of decadence, Kaya-Kaya offers salmon-&-egg open sandwiches & a one-of-a-kind ‘Malacca Elvis’ – a pancake stack that combines Elvis Presley’s favourite ingredients of bananas and peanut butter with Malacca’s kaya, a sugary jam thickened with coconut milk and egg yolks.

 “We want customers to come here for a getaway, to eat and drink and feel like they’ve escaped from the world outside for a few hours,” K.C. says.

This spotlight on Calanthe & Kaya-Kaya is an excerpt of a feature on six of Malacca's soulful new cafes; read the full feature in the August 2015 issue of Going Places, Malaysia Airlines' in-flight magazine.

 Calanthe Art Cafe, Jalan Hang Kasturi, Melaka. Tel: 06-292-2960

Kaya-Kaya Cafe, 32, Jalan Tukang Besi, Melaka

The Eat Drink KL mobile app is now available, connecting restaurants & customers to promote a positive spirit of community.

For iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/my/app/eat-drink-kl/id958657326?mt=8

For Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eatdrinkkl.EatDrinkKL

Every restaurant on this app rewards users with a 6 percent discount, instantly & conveniently, everyday, all day long. 

In return, users share photos of their experiences at these eateries, creating a new community of restaurant lovers.

For every transaction, at least RM0.20 will be channelled to a charity of the month.

Stay up to date: The Eat Drink KL newsletter is sent by email to subscribers every Monday; it's the Klang Valley's foremost weekly round-up of new restaurant openings, F&B promotions & other tasty tidbits.

Subscribe to Eat Drink KL Weekly for free via this following link: 

https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/5106C196432BB23D

Note to subscribers on Gmail: The newsletter will be in the Promotions folder of your inbox.

Check out the latest edition of Eat Drink KL: 100 Favourites, with 100 recommended restaurants for May-August 2015. This eBook is available to read or download at this link: http://eatdrinkkl.cld.bz/2015 

Buckle your seatbelts: Eat Drink KL is partnering with Uber to take restaurant lovers on new adventures across KL & Selangor!

If you haven't used Uber yet, it's time to begin! For new users, just follow the steps below to redeem free rides:

1. Download the Uber app from the App Store, Play Store or Windows Store - and register your Uber account.

2. Apply the code EATDRINKKL as your first promotional code & you'll receive 2 Free Rides worth RM30 each.

3. Request a ride through the app and ride for free to any destination (with two ride values of up to RM30 each).