Makantrip.com

I was on a MAS flight and while reading through the in-flight magazine, I read this article about a Calanthe Art Cafe at Jonker Street in Melaka that serves all 13 types of coffee from states across Malaysia. I thought its very interesting and told myself to check it out on my next trip there.

Finally when Nicole & Loy came to KL from Perth, they wanted to visit Melaka and while touring Jonker Street we decided to stop there for a coffee break.

This cafe is located at Jalan Hang Kasturi, if you are on the main Jonker Street (Jalan Hang Jebat), turn in at Farmosa Chicken Rice and its along the narrow Jalan Hang Kasturi. Advise is to park somewhere easy and walk there as parking and driving in these small lanes is a challenge, for my truck at least

The cafe have 2 entrance, one is the cafe and the other is a small souvenir shop that sells t-shirts, traditional coffee cup as well as the coffee of the 13 states in a nice box.

The interior is very cosy and unique, recycling various items and decors from the olden days. The cafe gives me a nostalgia feeling that I am back in time to the 70-80′s when I was still staying in the wooden house in PJ Oldtown.

There’s a lot of food and drinks you can select from the menu, but the highlight to me is their 13 states coffee. I asked for recommendation and the waiter said if I wanted Kopi-O Ice, the best seller is Johor and I had a go with that. At first when the ice coffee arrived, its doesn’t look O (without milk) but then I realised its the foam that makes it looks lighter in color. The coffee is good and does reminds me of the flavours I had in Johor.

Mouth being itchy, we also tried some fried durian which are fresh durian, dipped in batter and deep fried and the result, it is just superb!

Calanthe looks like a very nice place to return just to relax for a nice cup of cuppa and maybe some snacks .

Calanthe Art Cafe @ Jalan Hang Kasturi
GPS: N2 11.721 E102 14.837

We are celebrating four of our dudes’ birthdays and we head on to Munich at IOI Boulevard for dinner. This place is recommended by twentyplus, our local Puchong guy.

The nice thing is that they have Erdinger draft here besides Hoegaarden and Franziskaner. They a current promotion of 1 + 1/2 pints of beer for RM32 but unfortunately only Mon to Thurs and we went there on a weekend .

We sat inside at the end of the restaurant and everyone is out of phone reception, those seats outside looks a lot better, think I will prefer to sit outdoor next time.

Anyway, we got drowned ourselves with beers and order sausage platters, pork knuckles to share, me and Miharu shared a plate of pork chop. Food itself is not bad and pricing is almost similar to other German type of bistro around town.

The total bill came up to a whopping 800++ for 12 of us no thanks to normal priced draft german and belgium beer. Overall food is ok but I would really come back for their happy hour promotion the next time .

Munich Gastro Bierhaus @ IOI Boulevard, Puchong
GPS: N3 02.787 E101 37.302

I was out in Taman Megah for lunch and we saw this new restaurant opened up next to Restoran Fu Kua that’s specialising in Roast Pork and the name of the place says it all Restoran Siew Yok!

This bright red sign board restaurant offers roast pork (siew yok) in a few varieties, they have the Yellow Gold which is the crispy version, Melting Gold which is less crispy but inside is softer and tender and the last is Black Gold which the skin is black in color as a result of a black vinegar being applied on it while roasting.

They also offers 3 types of char siew (bbq pork) which is the sweet (hint of chinese wine), sweet savoury (classic dark look) and spicy (tangy, sweet with a kick) variants. They also have a list of other special orders as well from big slap of roast pork to ribs, roast duck, goose, etc.

Both the siew yok ad char siew are offer at RM13.50 for a small plate, RM25.00 for medium and RM 35.00 for a big plate. I must say, pork is getting really expensive these days!

We ordered a large Trifecta (RM35.00) on the menu, which is a mixture of all the 3 types of siew yok offered and a small plate of the sweet char siew.

The yellow gold is crispy as promised, the melting gold is softer and black gold, can’t taste too much of the vinegar but quiet unique, overall its not bad but a bit costly in my opinion. The sweet char siew’s wine flavouring is a bit too strong but quite tasty.

Overall food is ok (its siew yok after all) but pricing is a bit on the high side on my opinion.

Restoran Siew Yok
25, Jalan SS23/15 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: N3 06.994 E101 36.767