Makan Nyonya, Estadia Hotel Melaka

Nyonya cooking is the amalgamation of  Chinese ingredients with various distinct spices and cooking techniques used by the Malay community. In Melaka, you will be able to sample a myriad of delicious Peranakan cuisine.

During our recent stay at Estadia Hotel Melaka, our family enjoyed a lovely Peranakan meal at Makan Nyonya. Located on Level 3 of the hotel, the a la carte menu showcases Western delights as well as prominent pork-free Nyonya dishes such as ayam buah keluak, otak-otak, ikan goreng cili garam, Nyonya laksa, telur dadar cincaluk, chap chye, sambal bendi and much more.

Colorful tiffin carriers line the front of the restaurant, exuding a vibrant yet relaxed ambiance. Fresh herbs such as pandan, lemongrass and curry leaves can also be found in planters around the restaurant. There is also an al fresco dining area, where you can also catch the sunset while enjoying your meal.

To start, we had the Pie Tee (RM18), a popular Peranakan appetizer of crispy top hat shells stuffed with sweet turnip, egg, shallot oil, Chinese parsley, served with homemade chilli sauce for a spicy kick.

The restaurant's signature dish is the Nyonya Fish Head, which you can have cooked with either curry or assam broth. Melaka is famous for its asam pedas, so that's what we opted for. You can have half a fish head for RM42 or a whole fish head for RM78. Served in a large claypot, the broth was tangy, spicy and appetizing and comes with a whole load of vegetables such as lady's fingers, tomatoes, onions, long beans, brinjal and dried beancurd. They use red snapper, and it was pretty meaty. Overall very enjoyable and you'd definitely want a lot of rice to go with the assam broth/sauce.

Since the Nyonya fish head was pretty spicy, we also ordered a couple of non-spicy / less spicy dishes for the kids, ie the ayam pongteh (RM25) and udang masak lemak nenas (RM35). The ayam pongteh dish comes with tender chicken, potatoes and black mushrooms, cooked with salted bean paste (taucu), resulting in a delicious flavorful sauce - excellent for drenching your rice in. The prawn dish which was mildly spicy and creamy, features large prawns cooked with pineapple and coconut milk. We also had the acar nyonya (RM18), however we found this to be pretty mediocre.

Melaka is also well-known for its coconut shake (RM16), and the adjoining Baba Lounge does a fantastic version, which contains fresh coconut water and coconut flesh blended with ice cream and topped with another large scoop of vanilla ice cream. For mango lovers, the Nyonya Mango (RM15.90) is pure mango indulgence.

For a sweet end to our meal, we also had the Nyonya Cendol (RM12), shaved ice topped with coconut milk, gula melaka, green jelly and kidney beans. This was a pretty good version with the right balance of coconut milk and gula melaka.

Click here to read about the Jom Makan promotion.
Click here to read our review of Estadia Hotel Melaka.


Opening hours: Lunch 12pm - 4pm; Dinner 6.30pm - 10.30pm.

Halal/ Pork-free.

Location: Makan Nyonya, Estadia Hotel, Jalan Merdeka, Bandar Hilir, 75000 Melaka, Malaysia (Parking in hotel).

Tel: 06-2279 600

Website: https://www.estadiahotel.com/dine




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