On a side note, fun fact about Melaka - we were not sure whether "Malacca" or "Melaka" was the right name, so we googled it - in 2017 Malaysian government officially changed the English/international name "Malacca" to "Melaka", so only the latter is the correct one to use nowadays. There you go, now you know too š
The fabulous dinner at the night market
The day we arrived to Melaka we were absolutely knackered since we had to get up at 4:30 AM that morning to catch our flight from Denpasar. Not to waste the whole day to traveling, we set out to explore the city in the evening. The first thing we noticed on our stroll was the fact that there were more pedestrian-friendly roads, however still without pedestrian crossings (thankfully, we had already mastered the street-crossing in Indonesia ). The city looked rather empty ā there were wide roads, way more traffic lights, shops, but nobody around - and we werenāt even far away from Chinatown nor tourist attractions! It felt a bit weird.
After a short walk we made to the famous Jonker Street Night Market. Now that looked promising ā the street was buzzing with people going through small stands selling all sorts of colourful stuff (the kind of stuff that appears cool until you take a closer look and realise you canāt find a single item you would actually buy). Hungry for food and new experiences, we tried a couple of things from various stands, not always knowing what exactly weād just ordered. But hey ā we said we would challenge ourselves to new flavours and tastes, so this was the opportunity to do so š
So here is the overview of our delicious surprise 6-course dinner:
Course #1.
The beginning of this oddly put-together dinner menu was a spicy sausage from a very friendly and smiling lady, just at the beginning of the market. (On a side note, if you havenāt picked up on that yet from our previous posts ā David is continuously hopefully trying out sausages wherever we go. If we ever move to Asia, we will need to find some solution for a constant sausage supply from Europe. Any ideas?). Not sure there are families or classes of sausages, but if I would need to classify this one, it would be a child of a chorizo and cervelat. A nice snack, the sausage was very juicy and a bit spicy, but hopelessly didnāt meet Davidās expectations, maybe because his mouth was on fire? Not sure š
Course #2.
The next item on the menu were Chinese dumplings (dim sum) ā you could get a selection of 5 of them for 4 RM (something like 80 eurocents). Although they were all pork, the selection was nevertheless interesting ā at least 12 different kinds with all sorts of dough colour and shape. Naturally, we just chose by colour as we had no idea what the differences beyond the colouring were. Frankly, we couldnāt tell much difference after tasting them either. The spicy sauce made the otherwise rather plain dumplings pretty ok. Would not go for a second portion though.
Course #3.
Fighting our way through the crowds we noticed a man in front of a pan with twelve little bowls frying something and masterfully flipping it using chopsticks. It was really entertaining to watch ā seems you need a lot of practice as you must be quick and precise at the same time. The mysterious thing was Takoyaki ā a Japanese snack. Translated into the foods we know, it is kind of a mini omelette with a filling (in our case ā octopus) in a shape of ball. The final product not only tasted deliciously (the absolute winner of tonight!), but it also had a great presentation! It was very soft on the inside with a yummy crust covered in sauces.
Can this be beaten?
Course #4.
The next item on the menu was a garlic-grilled scallop served on a shell (I guess they cook them separately and then put on the shell?). David had never tried one of those before and I havenāt had one for a very long time, so we couldnāt resist the temptation of having one at the market. It was delicious as expected, although not suitable for sharing. Looks like David will have to try the scallop some other time š
As the sun set down, the market became even busier. The little cafes and adjacent little streets were full of young people enjoying a drink listening to the sounds of street artist voices competing with the constant background noise of human chatter. Neon balloons, fumes, fire, colourful street facades and screens of smartphones made the scene very bright and vivid. Minus the occasional claustrophobic panic attacks, the evening was turning out to be exciting!
Course #5.
To be honest, we werenāt hungry anymore, but simply couldnāt pass the stand selling all sorts of grilled meat and fish without trying something (š¤lean breakfast tomorrow!).
There was beef, chicken, scallops, octopus, fish, various sausages ā just to name a few, so the struggle of choice was real. After a lengthy indecisiveness we went for duck. The right choice! Juicy and flavourful, with a hint of smoke from the grill. What a fantastic way to finish the main course part!
Course #6.
No proper dinner goes (or should go) without a dessert, so we ended the feast with a coconut shake sold at the very end of the street. There are a couple of stands just next to each other selling the same things and seemingly having fun trying to outcry each other while promoting their stands, albeit in a very amiable way. One of the benefits of traveling as a couple is that we can and often do share food so that we could try more and different things. This shake, however, was not easily shareable. Unlike the scallop, it was not due to its size but rather its yumminess. Almost fighting for the sips, we finished the dessert while watching a local coconut master entertaining the crowd juggling coconuts in the air. What a fun night at the market!
