When it comes to food hunting in Melaka, the journey is never considered complete without Hainanese chicken rice ball. Personally, I prefer the Hainanese chicken rice at Kedai Kopi Chung Wah (中华茶室).
The Chung Wah chicken rice is not only popular among the local residents, but especially favorable by tourists as well. In fact, Chung Wah kopitiam (a popular word in Malaysia to describe a typical Hainanese coffee shop) is one of the earliest pioneers in Melaka to offer rice balls.
Chung Wah kopitiam occupies a relatively small business space, and food lovers often need to queue up during public holidays before securing a table. The interior is nothing fancy, but clean and neat. The wooden chair and stone-surfaced table which are typically seen in Chinese families during the olden days, are used in Chung Wah kopitiam to complement your meal.
A Simple Meal of Chicken and Rice Balls
Ordering at Chung Wah is simple; just tell the attendant the total number of people eating, and you’ll be served. Unless requested otherwise, each table is served with 5 rice balls per individual, and a plate of white chicken to be shared. If you are like me, of whom 5 rice balls are not sufficient, you can of course make an additional order.
The rice ball at Chung Wah is smooth and solid. If you use a chopstick to split the rice ball, the halves will still be staying intact in a solid structure, instead of scattering around as seen in some other places.
This is a plate of chicken for two. It’s tender and sufficiently oiled. Sorry but you should never expect roasted or stock chicken in a purely traditional Hainanese chicken rice shop. Some people prefer roasted chicken as they had “bad encounter” with white chicken. But believe me, the white chicken at Chung Wah is so good that, you will never bother to ask for roasted chicken here. Personally, I seldom enjoy white chicken as well, but this one at Chung Wah is good.
Though the white chicken and rice ball are good, but personally I think Chung Wah should be more generous with cucumber. In a plate of white chicken as shown above, there were only 2 pieces of cucumber covered at the bottom.
This type of chili source goes well with chicken rice.
Besides chicken rice, coffee is another flagship symbol of Hainanese kopitiam.
Where is Chung Wah Kopitiam?
Geographically specified, Chung Wah kopitiam is located at Lorong Hang Jebat. However, not many people know about the road name. The location can be alternatively described as follows:
- Opposite OCBC Bank
- At the corner of Tan Boon Seng Bridge
- Visibly seen at the beginning of Jonker Street
- 2 minutes walking distance from Hoe Kee Chicken Rice and Famosa Chicken Rice Ball
You may refer to the Melaka Chinatown map for a better idea on the location of Lorong Hang Jebat.
Among all these descriptions, Chung Wah is most often described as “the one opposite OCBC Bank”
Hoe Kee Chicken Rice
Famosa Chicken Rice Ball
Non-Halal
Chung Wah chicken rice is a non-Halal food. If you’re looking for Halal chicken rice, you may try the Nasi Ayam Bebola at Melaka Sentral.
Your Opinions Are Welcomed
Do you have any personal preference and experience on chicken rice ball to share? Feel free to comment and insert relevant link.
GPS Coordinate: N2.19497 E102.24845
November 27th, 2006
Ekspo Melaka 2006, so claimed so largest consumer fair in Malaysia, commences today at MITC (Melaka International Trade Centre). This consumer expo is scheduled for 9 days, till 26th Nov 2006, operating daily from 11am to 10pm.
The Ekspo Melaka 2006 is organized by Dunia Ekspo and hosted by Melaka government. Every year, the consumer expo in Melaka has never failed to attract a large number of exhibitors and visitors. In the perspective of an exhibitor, this event is a good chance to gain market appearance and promote new products. In the eyes of consumers and visitors, this expo is a good place to grab worthy bargains. On the other hand, Melaka government is endorsing importance on this annual consumer expo to promote tourism sector and stimulate economic growth.
There are hundreds of booths occupying the large exhibition hall in MITC. The variation of exhibiting products and services is ranging from household necessities, furniture, interior decorations, kitchen appliances, foods and snacks, telecommunication devices, pre-school education services, and etc.
Almost all the participating exhibitors are offering their products and services at special price or bundling with promotional packages to attract customers.
Following are some of the pictures I took today at Ekspo Melaka 2006.
The paper furniture, a unique range of products from Ornapaper Berhad, is displayed for visitors to enjoy their foods and beverages while experiencing the surprisingly solid tables and chairs made of corrugated papers.
Personally, I’m very much interested with the garden decorations showcased by Bali House.
Graduation ceremony of a pre-school institute is held during this public event too.
If you have visited this expo, and published some pictures in your blog as well, feel free to drop a comment here with your link.
November 18th, 2006
When you’re in Melaka and visiting around the heritage area like The Stadthuys and old Chinatown such as Jonker Street, remember to drop by at an unique Italian restaurant called Coconut House (椰子屋), for an endeavor of food indulgence.
Self-declared as the only Italian restaurant in Melaka, the Coconut House is undeniably well-known for its pizzas, which are baked in traditional style - woodfire.
Where is Coconut House?
The Coconut House is located at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (also known as Heeren Street), the place where Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum, Hotel Puri and Baba House are located. Coconut House is situated directly opposite the Baba House. Click here for location map of Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock and the landmarks mentioned. This Italian restaurant is housed in an old residence numbered 128 built during Dutch occupation. Don’t be fooled by the name; this restaurant is not specializing in coconut drink haha
The interior of Coconut House Melaka is still preserved with a flavour of old architecture assembling lifestyle of a traditional English-educated Chinese home (wow… what a complex description I’m making here haha).
OK, enough of descriptions. I have yet to introduce the main attraction in this restaurant – food :p I have yet to try and evaluate every item in the menu (well, quite impossible right, unless the boss offer me a treat haha), but I shall gladly share a few of my top favourites, as follows.
Irish Coffee
I’m not really a coffee lover, but this Irish coffee definitely captured my drooling tongue. It’s almost a fantastic blend to deliver memorable taste. I’m not exaggerating here; I’m speaking from my real personal experience.
There are 4 visible layers of blend in the Irish coffee – begins with cream bubble on the top, following by coffee, whiskey (alcoholic of course), and finally boiled sugar. I’m sure the look itself as seen from this picture, has already won your heart 
The blend looks so nice that, I was hesitating whether to stir the drink hahaha.
My Pocket Pizza
The Coconut House is offering a wide variety of pizza menu items served in regular size. However, if you’ve already taken your meal, and just wanted some light bites, try the small pizza called My Pocket.
The skin is thin, and the ingredient filling is simply amazingly yummy! Two thumbs up! As mentioned above, Coconut House is known with its woodfire cooked pizzas. Baking in woodfire, though takes longer time, but surely delivers better taste comparing to the modern way of electronic oven cooking.
Rosemary Chicken
Roasted chickens are available everywhere. Though all the roasted chickens we’ve eaten are marinated; but usually, the marinating efforts are only seen on the skin, not the meat! Can’t really taste any special taste on the meat.
But, the rosemary chicken at Coconut House is special. When the waitress recommended this dish to me, I doubted if I should order an ordinary roasted chicken. However, impressively, it has not failed delivering satisfaction to me. The marinating rosemary taste could be gladly sensed on the meat, till the bone. No joke.
Homemade Ice Cream is Below Satisfaction
On a side note, the homemade ice cream doesn’t suit my personal preference. It’s like eating a frozen piece of ice ball, instead of smooth creamy dessert.
Pricing
Comparing to other alternatives of foods in Melaka, the pricing at Coconut House is considered a little bit higher than average. But, if you’re comparing the price in relative to Italian food, then it’s just normal.
Following are today’s prices for the 3 drooling menu items introduced and shown above:
Irish Coffee – RM 9.50
My Pocket Pizza – RM 8.00
Rosemary Chicken – RM 6.00
Environment
The Coconut House is not polluted with noisy environment. In fact, it’s quite a good place for a small group of pals to have a chit-chat session, or simply alone reading your favourite book, or taking a rest studying on map to plan your journey.
The attendants I met at Coconut House Melaka were friendly too. They were good at giving suggestions.
Future Plan
At the moment of this writing, the Coconut House Melaka is currently on the way of preparing a new menu set of vegetarian Italian foods. If you’re a vegetarian or simply sick of meats, perhaps you’ll be able to indulge yourself with vegetarian Italian course on your next visit.
Branch in Kuala Lumpur
The Coconut House is originated in Melaka, but there’s also a branch in Kuala Lumpur, located at Jalan Pudu Lama. But, personally, I’ve never tried the food at Coconut House Pudu, not sure my favourite menu items taste the same other there.
Revisited on 7th Jan 2007
Last 2 days, I revisited Coconut House with a famous Malaysian teen blogger, Jason Lioh, for his food review assignment.
The story first posted above was written based on a visit at night. Yesterday, we were there for lunch instead. All I can conclude, it’s better to visit Coconut House Melaka at night instead of noon We came across a few unfulfilled menu items (one of that was Rosemary Chicken), as they were sold off the night before. Besides, there weren’t enough chefs at noon, and thus orders took a long time to be fully served.
The My Pocket pizza introduced above is actually a “new breed” evolved from the most popular pizza at Coconut House – Calzone. We get to taste the legendary Calzone this time, a flopping pizza stuffed with Ricotta, Mozzarella and 3 types of cheese. Calzone is filled with sufficient fresh tomato cubes; hence it gives you plenty of natural juices in each bite. Thumbs up for Calzone, I like it. It costs RM12 for a regular size.
Since Rosemary Chicken wasn’t ready for order yet, we tried roasted marinated pork instead. Except its uneven meat tenderness (edges were particularly hard to be chewed), this roasted pork is worth trying for its deep marinating taste.
Italian food restaurant is never missing with pasta or spaghetti. We ordered the Baked Seafood Spaghetti. Though the main player of spaghetti - tomato source, is satisfyingly (satisfying only, but doesn’t mean excellent) tasted, but there weren’t sufficient variety of seafood for what we were paying. Despite being called seafood spaghetti, we only found a few pieces of thinly-cut squid and clams. Yet, it costs RM20. If I pay RM20 in Kuala Lumpur of Petaling Jaya for seafood pasta, I could easily get better portion with oyster and prawns.
Being adventurous, Jason ordered a special salad – Warm Rocket Salad, which is described as “fried bacon with red onion, thyme & pine nut, mixed with fresh Rocket and Balsamic Vinegar”. Hehe… I would say this Rocket Salad doesn’t appeal to Malaysian taste in general, as the smell of aged vinegar is too strong. If you’re adventurous into food, you may try it out though.
Though there are still a lot more dishes that I’ve not tried, but based on this post, I think you know it well of what are the foods recommended, and what otherwise, at Coconut House Melaka 
By the way, Jason actually visited Coconut House Melaka for twice in 2 days, to continue reviewing and evaluating the foods at wider perspective.
November 10th, 2006
