4 naughty peeps pulled a great surprise on me!
Stank is gonna love this post because I cried on MY birthday! Was cheated by Cablenazi as usual. Oh he does that very well. Whisked me away to Kim Choo Kitchen, a pretty peranakan restaurant right in the Peranakan enclave of Joo Chiat and kept me wondering what is he up to.
At Kim Choo Kitchen, the colourful patterned tiles and attractive floral porcelain dining ware caught my eye. Beautiful. Totally embodies the distinctive Asian culture of Peranakan culture. This place really gave me the vibe of a humble Peranakan home.
Just when I was admiring the decor, he almost gaveaway his act when the waitress mentioned ‘table for 5 right?’ and when I was about to tweet about his suspicious behavious, Winnie popped into the seat next to him without a sound. The next second when I lifted up my head, I was extremely shocked! But what comes after made my nose turned red. Never expected Stank and Elaine to appear from the stairs! Shockers!
lol. And here are my two lovely ladies.
A ghastly face Stank pulled.
And this, the smug-looking sly mastermind.
Of course will cry la . Never expect Cablenazi to surprise me with these three unexpected guests during dinner! Stank, Winnz and Elaine! Oh my goodness. They actually came all the way from JB for me? Such sweeties! After all the drama, We enjoyed peranakan food at a restaurant and mm the Kueh Chang was very very good. Yum yum. Must eat while its still warm!
Here’s some pictures of the peranakan fare we had that evening. Well, food was passable probably because I’ve tasted better peranakan food. Remember Restoran Nyonya Suan? Anyway what you must-try here is definately the Kueh Chang, beef/chicken rendang and probably the cendol.
Anyway good food is just secondary. The company is what that matters and this year was perfect! Don’t you love surprises! I do! Especially when it happens on 8 Jan. Definately a birthday I will never forget.
Thanks loves. xoxo, C
Pa insisted to grab lunch here when we were at Malacca 2 weeks ago. Well, he and ma dined here once with a few of their friends. But all they could remember was how yummy the food was. Yeah they even forgot the name of the restaurant! The only clue we had was roughly how the shop front looked like. Nevertheless, pa’s persistence to hunt down this restaurant tells me that lunch is going to be very good.
Thank goodness Bro got one of his university mate who happened to be around the area to help. His task was to bring us to an unidentified nyonya restaurant located next to a half-shop selling cendol and local snacks. He’s a very smart lad. He found Restoran Nyonya Suan in less than 10 minutes.
Everyone was HUNGRY! Our orders were taken to the kitchen even before our seats turned warm. Our first dish, the Assam Fish (RM30) was served in less than 15 minutes. Goodness. Spicy tamarind fish never tasted so good. I love my white rice with dishes like this! The fish was very fresh and was accompanied ladies fingers, eggplants, onions and tomatoes. I really love the tangy spicy gravy that had a slight creamy taste of coconut milk. It was more sourish than spicy and that really perks up the dish. It went so well with the steamed white rice that all of us got extra serving of rice.
Then we had the Ayam Rendang (RM9) which was awesome! This Nyonya flavoured chicken was hot, spicy, sweet and had a distinct coconut flavour! This dish was so good my tastebuds are still dancing with joy. Do you now that Rendang is a dish which originated from the Minangkabau ethnic group of Indonesia ? Apparently Nyonya cooking in the South (Malacca and Singapore) has an Indonesian influence. Thus, the Nyonya food is generally sweeter, richer with liberal use of coconut milk and traditional Malay spices. That explains the richly pep up chicken chunks that had thoroughly absorbed the spicy condiments. Ah fusion food at its best.
Ma loovess sotong/squid so we got the Sotong Kunyit (RM10). Other than the kunyit/tumeric, the dish was laced with lots of fresh aromatic herbs that made the scrumptious dry sauce. My guess, the sotong was stir fried with a blend of chilies, shallots, lemongrass and belachan (dried shrimp paste). Nonetheless, the main ingredient, turmeric did gave an essential earthiness to the dish and I can taste a tinge of lime which left a pleasing soft citrus tang. Mm delicious!
The Telur Dadar Cincalok (RM8) was probably the only dish there I couldn’t appreciate. Though the addition of Cincalok (fermented small shrimps usually served as a condiment together with chillis, shallots and lime juice) gave the typical omelette an exotic twist, I thought that it was a tad too salty.
My favourite! Brinjals! That’s the Terung Sambal Cili (RM8). Mouthwatering. I love the combination of sambal prawn on top of brinjals. These purple delights carried a peculiar pungent-spicy taste when accompanied by fragrant curry and fiery sambal. Am really puzzled why Cablenazi hates this tasty vegetable so much. Tsk Tsk Tsk
Oh one thing you must must must get here is the nyonya cendol, shaved ice with tiny green starch noodles, red beans and syrup! Mmm the taste of fresh coconut and gula Melaka/palm sugar charmed me and by the way a bowl cost RM2 only!
A trip to Malacca is nothing without a bowl of cendol. It’s a excellent choice to quench your thirst after all that well-seasoned Nyonya food.
Pss you know, thanks to MediaCorp mass advertisement of peranakan culture, I used to secretly thought that Peranakan cuisine is overrated. Not anymore. The peranakan lunch I had at Restoran Nyonya Suan has exceeded my expectation.
Dear Gilbert Nyam, I will be back.
Restoran Nyonya Suan
No G12 & G14, Jalan PM 3,
Plaza Mahkota, Bandar Hilir,
75000 Melaka.
Tel: 06- 286 4252