Justin and I had a short weekend trip to Malaysia’s Melaka (or Malacca) UNESCO World Heritage area and were impressed with the food options here.
We experienced a mix of street food, local cuisine, durian dessert, and even a dish that we’d never heard of before – cheesy shrimp mee hoon.
In this post, we’re sharing our recommendations for the most delicious places to eat when you’re in Melaka. Many are budget-friendly options, so you have extra money to spend on more food!
As a heads up, we paid for our meals so there aren’t any sponsored reviews in this post. So, you have our full transparency with our food recommendations.
Since we had a limited time in this city, we recommend that you check out this one-day Melaka itinerary that our travel blogging friend wrote for additional food places to try.
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Map of Where to Eat in Melaka
Click on the map to see the exact locations of the food places we’re recommending. Credit: Map data: Google
Note: While most of these restaurants are located in the UNESCO area, there are a few restaurants that are further away. You can use the Grab travel app to hire a ride-hailing car (just like using the Uber app) or take a nice stroll outside of the main UNESCO area.
DeXingLung Kopitiam 德興隆 咖啡店
DeXingLung Kopitiam is a local shop selling handmade noodles with ground chicken and fried anchovies, so it’s halal.
It’s only open for breakfast and lunch and often has a long line, so it’s best to come early to try the delicious noodles. You can choose whether to eat inside or outside the restaurant.
We tried the shop’s recommended dish – mee hoon kueh dry. You can order either a small or large size. Small is the default.
What is also amazing about this place is that they can make the dish vegetarian by omitting the ground chicken and/or fried fish.
We received a beautiful bowl of handmade noodles with ground chicken and topped with fried onions and fried anchovies. The noodles were cooked perfectly as each strand had a chewy bite. The bottom of the bowl had a sweet and salty soy sauce concoction, similar to the tare that is used in Japanese ramen.
Justin had the regular noodles while I had the noodles without the ground chicken, so just noodles and fried anchovies.
We also received a small bowl of fragrant soup with chrysanthemum veggies and fried onions.
We loved the flavor of the noodles, so we ended up eating here two days in a row for breakfast.
We loved eating the noodles at DeXingLung Kopitiam for breakfast
If you don’t want noodles, the shop serves kaya toast with soft-boiled eggs. We tried the kaya toast with butter and without butter. I wish the toast had more kaya spread though. We didn’t try the soft-boiled eggs but they’re a popular item to order.
You can also order hot or cold coffee or tea with your meal.
Address: 16, Jalan Kampung Pantai, 75200 Melaka
Cost: A small bowl of noodles is 9 MYR ($1.90 USD). Kaya toast is 3 MYR ($.65).
Payment: Cash only
Additional Information: Facebook
Restoran Tong Sheng
Located south of the Melaka UNESCO area, Restoran Tong Sheng is a Chinese restaurant that created the cheesy shrimp mee hoon.
The story goes the chef’s father spoke with a Malaysian tour guide about the Hong Kong dish, cheesy lobster noodles, and how it was pricey. So, the father cooked a version of it with prawns and gave it to the tour guide to try. The tour guide gave his approval and said that the flavors would be suitable for local Malaysians. When the restaurant opened in 2008, the cheesy prawn dish was on the menu and is now the signature dish!
We had to try this special dish! There are three sizes – small, medium, and large. We ordered a small size and it was already a huge dish for two people to share.
Here is the cheesy prawn mee hoon and green beans
The dish came with mee hoon (thin rice noodles) in a watered-down cheesy sauce. We’re used to cheese sauce as a thick nacho cheese but the cheesy flavor is not overpowering. The taste buds will get shocked initially. It does need a few bites of noodles to appreciate the unique flavor.
The top of the dish was a prawn cut down in half. Unfortunately, it was a tad overcooked to our liking.
Otherwise, the dish is solid and we can see why there are many restaurants with copycat versions.
We also had a 900g steamed red snapper fish and green beans with dried shrimp. The steamed fish was delicious with the sweet soy sauce and cooked perfectly. It’s a good size for sharing. We ultimately finished it and were stuffed.
The steamed red snapper was a huge portion for 2 people
The green beans were on the saltier side with the dried shrimp, so we would choose a different vegetable on a return trip.
We’ve seen reviews that there is usually a long line to eat here. Luckily, it rained before we walked over to the restaurant so we could walk into the restaurant and get a table immediately.
If you want a family-style Chinese restaurant, then consider Tong Sheng. There are a lot of items on the menu such as crab. Portions are large too.
Address: 377 & 378, Jalan Melaka Raya 6, Taman Melaka Raya, 75000 Melaka
Cost: Cheesy prawn mee hoon starts at 55 MYR ($11.60) for a small. Vegetables are 18 MYR ($3.80) and up. A pricier place but worth it.
Payment: Cash and credit card accepted
Additional Information: Facebook
Cendol Kampung Hulu
Want to try durian cendol? Cendol is a sweet dessert with pandan jelly, coconut milk, palm sugar, beans, and other jellies.
Located in the Makan Avenue Halal Food Court, Cendol Kampung Hulu is one of the higher-rated places to eat durian cendol. Since it was hot on our trip, we wanted to cool down with cendol.
It can be a bit confusing on what to do when entering the food court, so here are the instructions:
1. Sit down at one of the open tables.
2. Use your phone to scan the QR code and place an order for durian cendol from Cendol Kampung Hulu. You can also order food from other kiosks if you’re hungry.
3. After submitting the order, someone will stop by and collect payment in cash.
4. Your food will be dropped off at your table when it’s ready.
Note: You will need to have data access to scan the QR code. We tried to order at the drink kiosk in the middle of the food court but they told us to sit at a table and order.
We ordered a durian cendol and a char kuey teow udang.
The durian cendol was the star with the layer of snow (instead of crushed ice), gula syrup, pandan jelly, and topped with two pieces of durian. It was absolutely delicious and worth trying. While durian has a strong smell, the pieces that we ate didn’t overpower the snow ice and the other jellies. We can see why many tables ordered this special cendol!
The durian cendol is worth a try when you’re in Melaka!
The char kuey teow udang was from another shop that we ordered from. We’re used to a stir fry noodle but this one was more soupy. It wasn’t what we expected so we wouldn’t order it again.
Address: 26, Jalan Kampung Hulu, Kampung Hulu, 75200 Melaka (Inside Makan Avenue Halal Food Court)
Cost: Durian cendol is 24.90 MYR ($5.30)
Payment: Cash only
Additional Information: Facebook | Instagram
Face to Face Noodle House 面对面
We tried the Face to Face Noodle House at the Kota Laksamana location. It’s located on the outskirts of the UNESCO area, but we had a nice walk over there.
This place is famous for the Sarawakian method of handmaking pan mee noodles. The method does not use preservatives or alkalis, so you get a springy and tastier noodle.
We arrived at the restaurant 30 minutes before closing and the workers cordially invited us to eat here.
Justin ordered a small traditional Sarawak noodles and white coffee. He said that the noodles were very springy and cooked perfectly. There was charsiu (roasted pork) but it was on the drier side since it was the end of the day. I didn’t order anything since I was full from our previous snack.
Face to Face Noodles has plenty of Sarawak style noodles to try
The table has chili sauces and sambal to add extra spice to your noodles.
Justin would be back to try other noodle options.
Address: Multiple locations, but we went to this one: 26, Jalan Kota Laksamana 3/7, Seksyen 3, Taman Kota Laksamana, 75200 Melaka
Cost: A small noodle cost 10.80 MYR ($2.30)
Payment: Cash only
Additional Information: Website | Facebook
Chop Tiang Bee Cafe
If you’re wandering around Melaka UNESCO World Heritage Area and want a cute place to relax and cool off from the heat, head to Chop Tiang Bee Cafe.
It’s a small cafe that serves delicious traditional Malaysian food and Western food such as pasta.
We tried the nasi goreng Kampung and the fried kuey teow.
The nasi goreng kampung is fried rice with fried tempeh, fried anchovies, a fried chicken wing, and an egg. We haven’t seen tempeh in a lot of Malaysian food as we normally eat it with Indonesian cuisine, so this was a must-try. The fried rice had a good flavor!
Nasi goreng kampung
The fried kuey teow is fried flat rice noodles with prawns, fish cake, egg, and veggies. This version is halal-friendly. The noodles had a lot of good wok hey (fire power in Cantonese).
Char kway teow
As a heads up, the food is made to order so it may take some time to get your food made.
As you know, we love wall murals and this restaurant has a beautiful artwork of a woman dressed in a red, white and white robe and holding a pair of chopsticks
You’re welcome to sit outside during the day time, but the air-conditioning is truly welcomed with the humidity.
Address: Lot 15, Jalan Hang Kasturi, 75200 Melaka, Malaysia
Cost: Meals start at 18.90 MYR ($4.00) and up
Payment: Cash only
Additional Information: Facebook
Precious Eye Store / Stinky Tofu 臭豆腐
When we visited the Jonker Street Night Market, our noses instantly recognized stinky tofu. While it may be an offputting smell, we think of it as a delectable treat.
We went to a corner shop, Precious Eye Store which sold the fried stinky tofu.
If you’ve eaten it from a night market in Taiwan, this place serves the same thing. There is a plate of fried stinky tofu cut in half (6 to 8 half pieces) with a side of pickled cabbage and carrots and topped with spicy soy sauce.
If you want to try stinky tofu for the first time, try it here!
The flavor and taste are just like what we’ve had in Taiwan.
While we saw complaints on Google Reviews about the amount of stinky tofu given, we thought it was a fair amount considering the price.
Address: 32, Jalan Hang Jebat, 75200 Melaka
Cost: 10 MYR ($2.10)
Payment: Cash only
Final Thoughts
Which of these restaurants in Melaka’s UNESCO area piqued your interest? We hope you get a chance to try one or more of these places on your next visit here. We can’t wait to return to this area and try more food places.
Happy eating!
If you need other posts related to Melaka, check out our posts below:
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