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2014-01-29
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I had a large numbe of Singaporean classics last time I was in Singapore, but I've been on the lookout for a local place to offer up the same. Cafe Malacca is high-end street-food, not cooked on the street. The first dish that came was the Penang Char Koay Teow, stir fried flat rice noodles with prawns, chinese sausages, chives, and bean sprouts. Another reviewer described this as very spicy, but that is really not true; it will tingle your lips a bit, but there's no real spice to it. At the haw
The first dish that came was the Penang Char Koay Teow, stir fried flat rice noodles with prawns, chinese sausages, chives, and bean sprouts. Another reviewer described this as very spicy, but that is really not true; it will tingle your lips a bit, but there's no real spice to it. At the hawker stalls I visited in Singapore, they'd ask you about the spice level and there was chili sauce at the table; here, it's just one level of pretty mild spice. It's hard to get something so carb-y wrong. The shrimp were really well-cooked, and the veggies were still crisp and not overly wilty from the stir-fry. I'll say that the Chinese sausage is a net negative-- it's insanely sweet. Chinese candy meat. The noodles are good, but only stand out b/c Hong Kong Thai and Malaysian restaurants have such poor track-records with noodles. Good, B+.
After that came the Beef Rendang. This has no spice at all, so I'm not sure why it's indicated as being spicy on the menu. It's got "warming spices" like cloves and cardamom, but nobody would call it spicy. The beef is amazingly tender-- you can cut it with a spoon. There's very little sauce, and it comes with more rice than it needs to (rice not pictured). I definitely thought it was good, but not mind-blowing. B.
I won't say that I know every inch of Singapore, and I've never been to Malaysia, so maybe this is a thing. But I never noticed it before. It's just breaded and deep-fried pieces of eggplant. Oh, they're good. A little too salty, but nice and crisp, with juicy and tender eggplant within. This is on the "vegetables" section of the menu, and I really suggest not getting it if you want vegetables. I think we didn't realize "fried eggplant" meant "deep-fried eggplant." It was really heavy. Great tasting, just way too much fried stuff for a vegetable side. OK: C+.
The "carrot" cake (called "turnip" cake and really radish cake) was very similar to the Koay Teow noodles in terms of seasoning and ingredients. It wasn't spicy (and wasn't advertized as such on the menu). The menu said there were prawns, but I didn't see any. It was pretty good. I'd recommend not getting this AND a noodle dish, just because of the similarity. B+I liked the food at this place a lot. The prices were reasonable. Nothing blew me away but it was all very good. I fully think that something else on the menu might really catch my fancy. Everything struck me as being the equivalent of good street food, nothing amazing, but the sort of thing you'd buy all the time if it were cheap. Here it's not cheap, but it's at least affordable, and it's closer than Malaysia. I'll probably come back. Overall: B+
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