Food Melaka ~ Day 2

Day 2 started with a Klebang Coconut Shake as I was curious to see what the fuss was about. I’ve seen multiple Foursquare and Facebook check-ins on my news feed so it peeked my interest to try.

The original stall is the one by the roadside – a small shack with a big ‘cage’ of coconuts.

This was the only line we encountered during our visit so it’s not as hyped as I expected.

All the drinks are made to order and come in 2 variations – with or without vanilla ice cream.

Overall, it wasn’t great. The vanilla ice cream made the drink taste cheap (the brand of the ice cream may have been the culprit) and the crushed ice and coconut made the entire drink very rough in texture. I would have liked the richness and creaminess of coconut milk but I got none of that. Instead, it was coconut water + coconut flesh + vanilla ice cream + crushed ice. Argh.

I still don’t understand what the hype is about.

We went for a drive and walk on the beach at Tanjung Kling before turning back for Duck Noodles at Jalan Tengkera. Unfortunately the stall and the coffee shop was closed for the day so our alternative was Baba Low nearby.

Baba Low’s stall is an open air extension of a bungalow (pictured below)

There are only a handful of items sold which you pay for at the counter and is then served to you.  The nasi lemak was apparently sold out but we continued to see them dish out plate after plate after we ordered – we were very irked.

The pai tee was crisp and fully loaded with veggies but was no big deal.

With the chilli sauce, it was better.

The best dish at Baba Low was the Nyonya Laksa. It was creamy and rich and the broth was flavorful.

The popiah was very different from what I was used too. Instead of a thin, almost translucent skin, I see a thick, solid white, floury-tasting skin.

The skin itself was quite tasteless but the filling (exactly the same as the pai tee) made it better. I was not too impressed by the thickness of the skin.

I read about Baba Low on other foodblogs and I don’t get what the gushing is about because everything tasted quite normal to me. And the ‘sold out but not sold out nasi lemak’ incident left a sour taste in my mouth. I will not come back.

To make up for my less than pleasant food mid-day, my brother recommended his favorite cendol in Melaka – Clocktower Cendol.

With perfect balance of sweetness and milkiness, this really perked me right up. They also use red beans instead of kidney beans so plus point right there. The cendol and gula melaka was good quality, the fragrance of the gula melaka really came through.

This food trip’s itinerary was made out of suggestions on other food blogs so Xiang Ji Pork Satay was on the list as well. This place is in a quiet area but the shop was bustling and quite happening!

Charcoal stoves sat in a semi-enclosed area with high-powered suction fans preventing the smell of cooking satay from wafting into and choking the dining area.

The standard condiments of peanut sauce, cubes of raw cucumbers and onions with ketupat.

The pork satay was cooked pretty well without excessive burn bits. The spice however was lacking in my opinion. No strong turmeric taste, no sweetness and caramelization of honey, no fragrant lemongrass and overall, the meat was not well seasoned. My parents thought the same.

The little snack at Xiang Ji gave us some time and stomach space to wander around in search of a duck noodles recommended by my uncle. We arrived at SS Food & Beverage Station while they were still setting up shop so there was a long wait at 5pm.

Duck soup kuey teow. The herbed soup and the meat was very gamey for me.  An acquired taste that may not appeal to everyone.

The dry version of the above duck kuey teow. The shredded meat went better with the dry-version of the flat noodles. Still as gamey though.

Braised pork noodles. This was the star of the show. Even though the shop specializes in duck noodles, I really liked the tender and spiced braised pork.

With that in mind, my mum ordered an additional braised pork dish with braised eggs and taufu. This was delicious! The eggs and taufu were well infused with the braising sauce so it was flavorful and almost smokey in flavor.

The shop also serves shaved ice among their other drinks. Not a big deal but good after the heavy meal.

—

Contact info and review links for all food mentioned in this post are as below:

Klebang Coconut Shake: Malaysia Most Wanted Food, Taufulo, Sixth Seal

Baba Low: EatMakanchi, Bangsar Babe, Foodspotting

Clocktower Cendol: GoGoMelaka, nickchan.net, emily2u

Xiang Ji Pork Satay: Motormouth from Ipoh, BroughtUp2Share, IvyAiwei, KYSpeaks

SS Food and Beverage Station Duck Noodles: Mdm Saw, Pixietail, Jenson