Newton Food Court @ Melaka in Malaysia

The intention was to have McQuek's Satay Celup in Melaka for dinner but the queue was so insanely ridiculous; we made plans for nearby alternatives, that would offer a variety of food for our group of six persons, including two picky teenagers. 

Nearest for us would be Newton Food Court, which was just diagonally across! Food courts in Singapore usually refer to coffeeshops, albeit in comfortable air-conditioned setting; a cool respite for those living in the tropics.

However, this was non-air-conditioned although it has a high ceiling for better ventilation, and fans to cool down the bodies. p.s. this is newton food court in Melaka, and not newton hawker centre in Singapore. Same name, yet different. Anyway, here's what we had! 

Claypot Chicken Rice Special - Rice was mushy, parting ways from the usual claypot rice that I am more accustomed to. We opted for special which was a wrong choice as there were eggs, and canned mushrooms. Only the chicken meat seemed normal, and alright.

Cost - RM 12.00

Fried Oyster Omelette - this dish would be good for sharing but I wasn't the one ordering, and didn't realize they had a unique combo fried omelette that included, other than oysters, prawns and lala. 

Priced at RM 12.00, this was more egg than oysters. A yes for an egg lover, and a no for someone who was looking forward to more oysters and the richness of oyster flavour. 

Chicken and Pork Satay - for a satay lover, this would be one of the food items I would crave for on a pretty frequent basis! And if there's one meat that I find irresistible, it will have to be pork! Here at Newton food court, the satays were freshly skewered! 

A mix of pork and chicken satay at only RM 1.30 each.

I have had my fair share of unsatisfying pork satay in Malaysia, and this was a nice surprise with layer of deliciously sinful fats in between each piece of pork, with a delicious charr! Chicken was okay yet paled in comparison to pork. Gravy was a tad too watery. 

Ramly Beef Burger - long time ago, whenever I visited Malaysia, it's a must to order a ramly burger! The thought passed through my brain when I walked past the above burger stall, and it's time to rekindle the good, old childhood memory!

At RM 7.00, this was more your typical burger without the iconic taste of ramly, and it didn't help that there was no effort to lightly toast the burger bun for better satisfaction and texture. Disappointing max. 

Butterfly Bun and Hum Chim Peng - given the unsatisfying burger, I went all out to look for extra carbohydrates to placate the angry tummy that couldn't stand wasting calories on unworthy food! So, back to the stall we encountered when we first entered newton food court.

Honestly, I don't blame you for thinking the above was youtiao, albeit a shorter version. It's actually a taller version of butterfly bun and while it tasted not bad; nothing quite matched up to the epic ones from Kim Soon at Kovan hawker centre!

Hum Chim Peng isn't something I would order in normal circumstances, and I don't crave for it. Ordered simply because ordering a butterfly bun seemed very little. Turned out to be better than expected with red bean paste that didn't taste overly processed and sweetened. 

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Before and after.

Judge on the leftovers.

Address

277, Jln Parameswara, 

75000 Melaka, Malaysia

Map

As above.

Restoran Baba Kaya @ Melaka in Malaysia

My accommodation in Melaka back in 2023 was ibis Melaka and I did notice a pretty instagrammable cafe then known as Restoran Baba Kaya along Malacca River that appeared to be pretty new.

Fast forward to three years later and we were back again! And this time, we found Restoran Baba Kaya still standing and it appeared to be relatively popular on social media. Given its proximity to our hotel, we decided to check it out for breakfast!

Saturday morning at about 8.45 am; we were glad to have arrived then as any later would mean a nasty wait at the outdoors, and constant prayers that it would not get too humid, and wet.

Despite the cyan exterior, the inside was relatively sparse, with mismatched scratched tables and chairs, on cement screed flooring that had worn out with time. Well, does it matter to me? Not at all since my primary interest has always been food. 

Ordering the new-school way; QR code.

Local Nanyang Coffee - starting the morning with coffee is essential and I love the one served to me; richness in the good, old Malayan coffee flavour, without being overly sweet. 

BabaKaya Signature Toast - the most iconic dish for Restoran Baba Kaya, and featured heavily in social media whether through postings, reels with its captivating home-made tri-color pandan kaya dips. 

Problem was; I literally dislike deconstructed dishes even though in this case, I was glad the toasts were already buttered. Taste wise, the dips were oily, and didn't have that prominent notes of coconut and pandan aroma, with the bright green dip being a tad too bitter. 

Some might argue this would be as natural as you can but to me, there's still a need to have some decent pandan kaya flavour, for which many other competitors at Melaka would have done a better job.

Homemade Roti Jalan - another any instagrammable dish with the rolled-up web flatbreads having this beautiful, again-cyan colored sheen! p.s. I presume the coloring is artificial but you can't deny the aesthetic enhancement. 

Came with curry chicken which had a milk rich flavour that the tough textured chicken didn't do justice to it. Acar was a bit dry but at least tasty whereas the sambal chilli was hot! I am happy with just the curry chicken and the roti jala.

Apom Balik - indicated as Malaysian's crepe, it was also explicitly mentioned on the menu that once it is ready, you would be informed and would have to proceed outside to pick up your order. First thing, you have to pull a rope nearby so that the basket as above would go up to the second level.

Honestly, this is another play for deconstructed food! I get it if I need to self-collect, self-pick-up, but I would need to do extra work to take my food? However, I do feel this was interesting and if you have family with kids, it would make for some cutesy moments.

I got Jovyn to do it since she is the youngest. Those who are too shy and/or dislike such activity can likely request for the food to be sent right to your table. 

Our basket of apom balik.

Wait, weren't these just pancakes?! 

Now, I love these kind of pancakes, and we ordered original (sugar with crushed peanuts) and coconut gula melaka (with shredded coconut, palm sugar and crushed peanuts)! 

Freshly made, these were thankfully not the biscuit-thin type that many pasar malams in Malaysia were selling. There was some texture although not extremely crisp. The crushed peanuts were so aromatic and between the two, the coconut gula melaka was better tasting; almost like eating nyonya kueh! 

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Thanks to the picking up of the apom balik, I finally noticed that there was a second floor and while my family was still finishing their food; I continued my exploration of Baba Kaya.

Upstairs were better! Seemed brighter, cleaner, less crowded and more relaxing. In addition, you do have an opportunity to dine next to the river, albeit with a better, elevated view! 

I bet kids nowadays wouldn't believe how TVs look like in the past.

Place where the apom baliks were made! Another benefit of sitting on level two? You get the delicious smell of apom baliks, and I guess you don't have to climb down the stairs and pull up the rope just to get the pancakes that were just made next to you! 

Would I be back again? Maybe. 

Address

13A, Jln. Bunga Raya, 

Melaka Tengah, 75100 Melaka, 

Malaysia

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Local Nanyang Coffee - RM 5.50

BabaKaya Signature Toast - RM 6.00

Homemade Roti Jalan - RM 13.00

Apom Balik Original - RM 5.00

Apom Balik Coconut Gula - RM 8.00

(NETT)

Dim Sum at 荣茂茶室 (Restoran Rong Mao) near Jonker Street in Melaka [Malaysia]

Before making our way home back to Singapore from Melaka, we decided to have dim sum for breakfast and my brother in law dropped us right in front of 荣茂茶室 (Restoran Rong Mao)! 

You can order direct from the large bamboo dim sum steamers or wait for the staff to bring along trays of dim sum items for you to choose from. p.s. not on trolleys though. 

As you can see, the whole place was crowded at about 9.30am and by the time we left, there was quite a long line right outside the eatery. Do note that it was a Sunday when we visited so I am guessing that weekdays would likely be less crowded. 

Menu pricing for reference; most expensive item was large dim sum item, which cost just RM6.00, less than S$2.00! The thing is that I am generally not very impressed with dim sum in Malaysia but I shouldn't be complaining given the pricing. 

Here's what we had; I am not going to go through every single item as the place felt so rushed and busy, and my family was so hungry; I didn't want to lengthen their non-stop salivating while I take pictures and slowly type down my review. 

Lo mai kai was good with tasty, flavourful rice although do be mindful that there would be bones in the chicken! Almost wanted to order seconds bu I need to control my carbohydrate intake.

Especially when we ordered quite a lot of buns, from pork bun, to char siew bun and large meat buns. While the meat filling was satisfying, the taste was either a bit on the bland side, or just plain savoury without the meaty sweetness that could have enhanced the palatability. 

So much carbohydrates! On usual days when my younger sister would join us on trip, she would be the one devouring all the "skin", ensuring that nothing was truly wasted. 

Xiaolongbao didn't look like much, and indeed, the meat was alright tasty. Key takeaway was the meat broth that had seeped out of its thin dough skin; amazingly juicy! Oily it was too but well; I don't eat xiaolongbao everyday. 

Salted egg bao was the last item sent to us as the person had forgotten our order! The yellow ball with a shiny sheen was almost a guarantee to order whenever I see it on the menu. 

Soft skin with yummy liquid sweetness! 

Too thick a dough; eat slowly and carefully! 

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I am unsure if I would be back given that there were so many other eateries to try in Melaka. And for me, I would prefer toast and nasi lemak over dim sum in Malaysia. 

Address

32, Jalan Tukang Emas,

75200 Melaka, Malaysia

Map

As above.

Pricing

Total - RM 80.30