Price: $$
Cravingness: ★★★★☆
Cafe Malacca is a hotel restaurant at Traders Hotel by Shangri-la at West District offering authentic Malaysian Cuisine. Cafe Malacca was named after the Strates Malacca where traders from Middle East, India, China and Indonesia passed by and also brought in spices and cuisines to Malaysian as Early as in 18th Century. Influenced by a rich multicultural heritage of Chinese, Malaysian and Indian, the dishes offer at Cafe Malacca are diverse but keep very authentic.
The restaurant is spacious with two compartments, where one compartment is in a more causal settings with long wooden tables and padded rectangle chairs; the other compartment is a more formal dining area with individual tables and chairs.
The menu was extended where Malaysian, Singaporean, Indian dishes can be found, Western dishes were also provide to hotel guests in case they miss their home food. There is also a special menu on top of the al la carte menu right now which we picked some to try!
The colourful mutton satay dish consists of 6 grilled mutton skewers, raw purple onions, cucumber and rice cake, served with sweet peanut butter satay sauce. Everything on the banana leaf were meant to go with the satay sauce. The mutton skewer did not have the gamey taste that I expected but was tender and aromatic with smokey aroma. I love the raw purple onion the most on the plate, soooooooo spicy!
A totally unknown dish to me, Rojak is a very Malaysian homey appetiser. This glossy brown sauced dish was actually seasonal fresh fruits, vegetables and Chinese cruller (Yao Tiao) mixed with a house made sauce of Malacca palm sugar and Penang shrimp paste. The dish was very sweet with strong shrimp paste taste and a hint of sesame taste. The first taste was kind of funny, but I got used to it soon. Not a bad dish but not my cup of tea.
This flavourful dish is mashed pacu fish mixed with yellow ginger, wrapped and grilled in banana leaf. With a smooth and creamy texture, this dish is named Otak-Otak, sadly means brain in English because the Singaporean thinks it looks like brain... Anyway, the mashed pacu was extremely delicious and quite spicy in taste. Yum!
The cabbage sprouts were supposed to be pretty spicy from a broth of sambas and red chili, but not really as it was overly watery. The flavour was not too strong either due to the same reason.
This fat looking bean sprouts is on the special menu and was imported directly from Ipoh, Malaysia. I have never tried Ipoh's bean sprouts before so I was very excited. The bean sprouts were fat, crisp and had good water content. Loved it!
The Char Koay Teow is a signature Penang hawker dish that you can find easily on the street in Malaysia. The flat rice noodles were quite thin and were stir-fried with amazing aroma from the wok. It was crazily spicy and was mildly sweet from a mix of samba sauce and spices. The Chinese sausage made the dish much yummier!
This Singaporean Laksa was served in a coconutty fish broth, garnished with fresh pineapple, mint, cucumber, onion, ginger flower and black shrimp paste. The thick rice noodles was a bit soft in texture but we left it for a while before tasting it. The shrimp was big but too mushy in texture. The fish cake was delicious with a bouncy texture. The Tofu puff was fat with puffy body and slightly crispy crust. The bean sprouts were from Thailand and were crisp. The broth was tangy with a strong shrimp paste taste but was a bit too sweet for my liking.
Durian is not everyone's thing but this Durian Pudding is a must try! The pudding was strongly fragranted with durian aroma and flavour. The pudding was smooth and bouncy. I love love love this!
The Kuih Dadar is another great dessert at Cafe Malacca. The rolled pandan-flavoured crepe was filled with grated coconut and Malacca palm sugar. Moist and sweet fillings with chewy crepes, this dessert was another favourite of mine.
Kaya toast is a traditional Singapore snack, the bread is usually pressed thin and toasted with a spread of kaya on it. The toast is similar at Cafe Malacca except the bread was not pressed before toasting. This result in softer texture toast but I like my crispy version.
The crushed ice is a off the menu item but you can request for it. The crushed ice was topped with a vanilla ice-cream with rose syrup and Sarsaparilla, below the crushed ice was homemade jelly, sweet corn and Attap Seeds. I do not really like the taste of Sarsaparilla, but the overall texture of this crushed ice was pretty good!
The Ginger Milk Tea was a very smoothing drink to end the night. The ginger was pretty spicy and I loved it!
I have tried lots of special traditional Singaporean & Malaysian dishes that I have never tried or even heard of before. I can see cafe Malacca does put a lot of effort in offering authentic food by making their own sauces and importing fresh ingredients directly from Malaysia etc. I would love to come back to try their Hainan Chicken Rice and But Kut Teh in the coming future.
The restaurant is spacious with two compartments, where one compartment is in a more causal settings with long wooden tables and padded rectangle chairs; the other compartment is a more formal dining area with individual tables and chairs.
The menu was extended where Malaysian, Singaporean, Indian dishes can be found, Western dishes were also provide to hotel guests in case they miss their home food. There is also a special menu on top of the al la carte menu right now which we picked some to try!
Mutton Satay - HKD92
The colourful mutton satay dish consists of 6 grilled mutton skewers, raw purple onions, cucumber and rice cake, served with sweet peanut butter satay sauce. Everything on the banana leaf were meant to go with the satay sauce. The mutton skewer did not have the gamey taste that I expected but was tender and aromatic with smokey aroma. I love the raw purple onion the most on the plate, soooooooo spicy!
Rojak - HKD53
A totally unknown dish to me, Rojak is a very Malaysian homey appetiser. This glossy brown sauced dish was actually seasonal fresh fruits, vegetables and Chinese cruller (Yao Tiao) mixed with a house made sauce of Malacca palm sugar and Penang shrimp paste. The dish was very sweet with strong shrimp paste taste and a hint of sesame taste. The first taste was kind of funny, but I got used to it soon. Not a bad dish but not my cup of tea.
Singapore Otak-Otak - HKD32
This flavourful dish is mashed pacu fish mixed with yellow ginger, wrapped and grilled in banana leaf. With a smooth and creamy texture, this dish is named Otak-Otak, sadly means brain in English because the Singaporean thinks it looks like brain... Anyway, the mashed pacu was extremely delicious and quite spicy in taste. Yum!
Sambal Cabbage Sprouts - HKD56
The cabbage sprouts were supposed to be pretty spicy from a broth of sambas and red chili, but not really as it was overly watery. The flavour was not too strong either due to the same reason.
Ipoh Bean Sprouts - HKD56
This fat looking bean sprouts is on the special menu and was imported directly from Ipoh, Malaysia. I have never tried Ipoh's bean sprouts before so I was very excited. The bean sprouts were fat, crisp and had good water content. Loved it!
Penang Char Koay Teow - HKD85
The Char Koay Teow is a signature Penang hawker dish that you can find easily on the street in Malaysia. The flat rice noodles were quite thin and were stir-fried with amazing aroma from the wok. It was crazily spicy and was mildly sweet from a mix of samba sauce and spices. The Chinese sausage made the dish much yummier!
Penang Assam Laksa - HKD82
This Singaporean Laksa was served in a coconutty fish broth, garnished with fresh pineapple, mint, cucumber, onion, ginger flower and black shrimp paste. The thick rice noodles was a bit soft in texture but we left it for a while before tasting it. The shrimp was big but too mushy in texture. The fish cake was delicious with a bouncy texture. The Tofu puff was fat with puffy body and slightly crispy crust. The bean sprouts were from Thailand and were crisp. The broth was tangy with a strong shrimp paste taste but was a bit too sweet for my liking.
Nasi Lemak - HKD82
The Nasi Lemak is a traditional breakfast fond in Malaysia. The rice was made with coconut cream in a portion of 1:1, no water is used for cooking! The rice was creamy with a hint of coconut taste but slightly soggy. The fragrant rice was served with crispy fish, fried egg, chicken and samba sauce. The deep fried chicken had a crispy crust with savoury and tender inner. The dish was multi-textured with a mix of creamy rice, crispy fish, tangy chicken and bouncy egg, with the additional of samba sauce, the dish was delectable!
Durian Pudding - HKD38
Durian is not everyone's thing but this Durian Pudding is a must try! The pudding was strongly fragranted with durian aroma and flavour. The pudding was smooth and bouncy. I love love love this!
Kuih Dadar - HKD28
The Kuih Dadar is another great dessert at Cafe Malacca. The rolled pandan-flavoured crepe was filled with grated coconut and Malacca palm sugar. Moist and sweet fillings with chewy crepes, this dessert was another favourite of mine.
Kaya Toast - HKD22
Kaya toast is a traditional Singapore snack, the bread is usually pressed thin and toasted with a spread of kaya on it. The toast is similar at Cafe Malacca except the bread was not pressed before toasting. This result in softer texture toast but I like my crispy version.
Crushed ice
The crushed ice is a off the menu item but you can request for it. The crushed ice was topped with a vanilla ice-cream with rose syrup and Sarsaparilla, below the crushed ice was homemade jelly, sweet corn and Attap Seeds. I do not really like the taste of Sarsaparilla, but the overall texture of this crushed ice was pretty good!
Ginger Milk Tea
The Ginger Milk Tea was a very smoothing drink to end the night. The ginger was pretty spicy and I loved it!
I have tried lots of special traditional Singaporean & Malaysian dishes that I have never tried or even heard of before. I can see cafe Malacca does put a lot of effort in offering authentic food by making their own sauces and importing fresh ingredients directly from Malaysia etc. I would love to come back to try their Hainan Chicken Rice and But Kut Teh in the coming future.
Rating
Food - ★★★★☆
Service - ★★★☆☆
Ambience - ★★★☆☆
Overall - ★★★★☆
Cafe Malacca
Level 2, Traders Hotel, 508 Queen's Road West, Western District, Hong Kong
香港西環皇后大道西508號香港盛貿飯店2樓
☏ 2213 6613
Opening Hours: Mon - Sun: 6am - 11pm
Reservation Available?: Yes
Walk In Possible?: Yes
oooo the mutton satay looks like something i need to try! <3 this place ;)
ReplyDeleteI have got a 15% discount card, lets go together later? I wanna try their hainan chicken and but guk teh :D
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