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Some call it “thor kar mee” (floor noodles) and some called it ajinomoto noodles (cause of the MSG) but I just found out that this is a very famous noodles in Melaka. The name “thor kar mee” came about as I was told by Tien Soon is because there were no tables when they starting selling this noodles at Tengkera and everyone just hold the bowl and squatted on the floor to eat. This was verified by Miharu’s dad whom said that was how it was served and all you had were the little stool to sit on.

Anyhow the original stall is still in Tengkera but there is another one in Batu Berendam. After asking around at Restoran Wo Wat on the stall selling this that used to be here, we were given directions on where exactly is the stall at Batu Berendam from the aunty selling siah ping there whom happens to be related to the Batu Berendam stall, small world .

So this morning me and Miharu tried our luck and after an u-turn, we managed to find this shop. Its actually a house converted to coffeeshop style, blue in color just next to the vermicelli factory in Batu Berendam.

The name of the coffeeshop is Kim Seng if I remembered correctly but there is no signboard outside, just a small one inside.

We ordered our noodles and it came in soup topped with fishballs, slices of fish cake and most important of all the deep fried prawn crackers. The soup is tasty and sweet (thanks to the MSG), so didn’t take too much of that but the prawn crackers really makes a bit difference to what looks like an ordinary bowl of fishball noodles.

Each bite is crispy and crunchy with the prawn crackers and it was really good! I really enjoy the noodles, something new to me but just gotta be careful on the soup, don’t want to lose so much hair

Each bowl cost RM3.50 for small and RM4.00 for big. The place open as early as 7am and close at 2pm.

Prawn Crackers Fishball Noodles @ Batu Berendam
GPS: N02 14.861 E102 15.061

In the much quiet part of Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock away from the hustle and bustle of Jonker Walk lies a row of old shop near the old site of Tung Fang cinema. I was told by Miharu that Oriental Cafe’s stalls used to be in front of the old cinema until its being thorned down that all the stalls move opposite.

Oriental Cafe is a narrow but very long shop with 2 stalls right in front, one selling hee kiaw mee and another one selling popiah. The shop is clean and quite cooling as well although Melaka is superbly hot these few days.

We order our hee kiaw noodles and we usually preferred the dry version. The noodles cost RM3.00 each and it comes with the standard topping of hee kiaw of white and orange (fish paste), slices of bbq pork (char siew), fishballs and some taugeh at the bottom plus yummy pieces of fried pork lard. Chili sauce here is DIY, so bottles are available at the table for you to help yourself.

Noodles is pretty good, soup given is not too salty or oily plus great value at RM3.00 (for KL folks, for Melaka folks, its getting expensive already).

I saw the popiah stall as I walked in and told myself that I should not be greedy but as we got seated, Miharu’s neighbour was there at the same shop to da bao the popiah and she recommends highly on it. So we order one to try, the price per piece is RM2.00 which is standard anywhere in Melaka which I thought is pretty expensive.

Anyway, as per most popiah here, pork lard is a must and the one here is full of crispy fried pork lard as you bite into it! The aroma is good but not too overwhelming but I thought its just a bit dry, if there were slightly more sauce in it.

The food here is good and nice and we found out that the wan tan mee and chicken wings stalls from old Tung Fang cinema is just next door, so maybe we will be back for those the next round .

Hee Kiaw Mee & Popiah at Oriental Cafe
Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Melaka
GPS: N2 11.920 E102 14.532

Along the main road of Jalan Bendehara lies a small and humble old coffeeshop known as Seu Lean Fung. Most motorist would not notice it when passing but a visit there shows that it is quite popular and Miharu told me this place have been around since she was young.

There are two stalls selling noodles right up front, one is yong tau foo and another have hee kiaw mee, wantan mee and curry too. I went for the hee kiaw noodles while Miharu took the wantan noodles.

The hee kiaw noodles is not bad, I took the dry out, not too oily, the chili is a little spicy but after a few mouth full, start to taste pretty good. The wantan noodles is somewhat the south style, no black sauce, just some chili which you can get in quite a few places in Melaka too and its not too bad. Best part is for 2 bowls is RM5.60, which means per bowl is just RM2.80.

The coffeeshop itself is known for their kaya, which they made on their own to sell and it cost RM2.70 each. I had a bottle a month back and its very good and can last quite long keeping it in the fridge. I ordered a toast bun with kaya and butter just to try costing RM1. The bun is first toasted on a small stove with charcoal under and top with butter and kaya when done.

The only comment is that the tea is too light for my liking, maybe I should had ordered coffee instead since Melaka is famous for it. Overall, its a nice authentic coffeeshop to eat that still maintains affordable prices.

Seu Lean Fung Coffeeshop
Jalan Bendehara, Melaka
GPS: N2 11.844 E102 15.107