melaka: 88 jonker street

melaka is 2 hours south of kuala lumpur, probably the only state that has western influences. it was conquered by the portuguese in their quest of the spice islands, remember how magellan accidentally discovered the philippines because of the spice islands exploration? melaka has been declared as a world heritage site by unesco because of its rich history but of course what lured me to the place was the food. before i move on to that here's a picture of the church in the town square.

jonker street is the main street in melaka, lined up with restaurants, antique stores and even a temple. when you look up melaka, 88 jonker street would always popup. they say that you can get the best cendol at this place. cendol is made up of a green jelly like worms that's made from rice flour and coconut, beans, shaved ice, coconut milk and in melaka they use the famous gula melaka...it tastes like coco jam but darker and more syrupy.

definitely the best cendol i've ever had. fine shaved ice and the gula melaka is really to die for. this one costs around 3.50RM if i'm not mistaken, i had mine with sago. other varieties are available too like my friends' mango ais.

but before we had these luscious desserts we had some snacks first. my friends said this was called goreng-goreng which didn't make sense because goreng-goreng means fried fried? anyway, these are basically fried food items like bean curd sheets, dumplings and all sorts of things you can find in your typical shabu shabu or yang tau fu. this comes with a nice sweet brown sauce with peanuts.

also had noodles, mine was chicken rendang mee if i am not mistaken. basically, chicken curry with noodles. really spicy but has great flavors. forgot how much this was something around 5RM i reckon.

jonker street is an old house turned to a food court of some sort. the food stations mainly the desserts, noodles and the fried items are at the door of the establishment and you line up to order your food. the rest of your party can go inside and look for a table. the place is packed most of the time but i think it's worth the wait.

88 jonker street

melaka