Today the yu tiao is commonly eaten together with the Bah Kut Teh in Malaysia, the two is almost the best combination one can think of. Other ways to enjoy this is to pair it with rice congee or porridges, rojak, desserts, hot soya bean, hot coffee or my personal favourite, with Milo.Anyway, the youtiaos are lightly salted and conventionally made in such so it can be torn lengthwise in two. The ingredients to making this generally comprises of flour, water, yeast, baking soda, sugar, salt, vegetable oil, alum and ammonia. One might be interested to know that the youtiao tasted very different when they ammonia were omitted. The only one stall which I reckon not having ammonia (and already popular amongst the locals) would be this particular stall called the Nine Floor Chak kuay. Reason being, they have been operating for many years next to the9Floor Flat along Jalan Bendahara. Today, they have moved to a tiny corner right next to the Famosa Chicken Rice Ball’s car park along Jalan Munshi Abdullah. (Just keep to the left after the left turn at the Famosa Chicken Rice ball and you would see a tiny stall hidden at a tiny space along the shop lots)This experienced uncle is skillfully making the youtiao on the spot so take a moment to appreciate the artful technique while you are waiting for those delicious youtiao to be prepared. The dough are flattened and cut in long rectangular sticks and the swift and quick skill of the uncle would quickly transform this sticky dough to crispy youtiao.A skewer is dipped in water and quickly streaked through the cut pieces of dough and later stacked in pairs for that conventional shape.Pull to elongate the dough while deep frying it in that huge wok of hot frying oil. The youtiao cooks in almost instant and these golden brown youtiao sells at RM 0.80 each. Take note that the size of it is generously suitable for sharing. It disgustingly tasted different from the usual so it was worth a try at least for one time. The texture is slightly more solid and dense compared to the usual. Other varieties include the Ham Cin Peng with red bean paste fillings and the Butterfly bun. They even have these mini versions which are delighted to look at but slightly hard in texture when it is no longer hot.These fresh and chrunchy youtiao is located along Jalan Munshi Abdullah right next to the Famosa Chicken rice ball. Note that they are not open during daytime. Locate them at:
GPS coordinate 2.200142, 102.252027

Baboon House freezes time and allows the calm and quaint surrounding to engage dinners with serene and lots of greens and natural sunlight. Upon entering the narrow façade, this restored heritage is not only arty and filled with serenity but at the same time mesmerizing visitors through a time tunnel tracking back to the heritage of this building from its décor. Sit back and venture great gastronomical contentment with some furry friends roaming freely around the open space.
Carefully indulge in every piece of decorative item in this art gallery while embracing the fabulous and almost natural elements along the way. The tranquility is the relaxing diversity when you experience beautiful natural lights as well as water tanks with fishes swimming freely in it.The only thing tempering my focus at the ambiance was my hunger. Looking at the menu, their best are the gourmet burgers. It was certainly not the best I’ve had but I vouched this as the best in Malacca. It is no doubt that this place ranks #1 on tripadvisor for the entire package prevails to be on top in virtual and spiritual satisfaction of both gastronomic and sight.
The Oriental Chicken Burger (RM 13.80) was carefully prepared and stacked with fine qualities of ingredients, and served with some wedges, and onion rings at the side. I absolutely love the thought of diverse choices instead of the usual wedges or fries options. Baking their own buns, they have one of the best burger buns I’ve had in my gourmet burger voyages so far.The patty was relevantly good in texture but the use of good and fresh ingredients prepared upon ordering is worth admiration. The freshly cut slices of cucumber and tomato is a very touching gesture. They might not have prepared their sauce right from scratch but the right ratio of sauce in it made the burger divine.Wedges are seriously good when I had mine. It was almost the best wedges I have ever had, but the onion ring really needs drastic improvisation. It was soft, slightly mushy and not very attractive looking even though the prices for the burger range are unbelievably reasonable.The Baboon Green Salad is yet another ambrosial indulgence sinfully topped with streaks of pork bacon and chicken pop corn. With options to include feta cheese (RM 16) or without feta cheese for those selective on cheeses (RM 13.50). Alas, it was out of feta cheese when I visit.I solemnly swear that I would prefer no one picking anything from my plate if I’m ordering this for solo consumption. It was sinfully amazing and pork lovers would go berserk over this plate of salad. I should confess that I would greedily and selfishly want to whack it all by myself and not sharing this with anyone. And to be very honest, there were more meats than vegetables in it. So note to vege lovers, the plants are mostly just simple cucumber and tomato so the rich poultry is solely the pull factor in this one. Tossed with vinaigrette dressing and accompanied by simple toasted bread slice, the serving portion for this one was rather generous.The Lemonade was indeed perfect in every way including the serving size. The solid ingredient for lemonade was generously permeated into this glass of solution to thirst. It was absolutely perfect during mid day.Coffee range appeared sufficiently satisfying when it comes to the choices and varieties offered. Alas, my usual tea didn’t appeal to be extravagant, instead just ordinarily decent while showcasing our Cameron Highland tea bags.The hot tea and coffee uniquely comes with a piece of Klassiske Vaniljekranse (Danish butter cookies) which I doubt is baked by them. Nevertheless it is still a novelty combination amongst most cafes.Believe me when I vouched this as a must visit place in Melaka. The food is decent; burgers are the best in town, ample extent of coffee choices, and most importantly amazing tranquility from the surrounding. On weekends, aroma of freshly baked on the spot muffins waft in the entire café and would be one amazing experience. Should anyone is interested with the ambiance of this beautiful gallery café; feel free to browse through the internet as there are many which showcased many angles and corners in this café.Note that this gallery café strictly prohibits photography but is nice enough to still allow visitors taking pictures with them in it of course. Photos taken with no permission are no different from act of stealing and hence I must proclaim that all photos in this post are taken with consent from Roger Soong (the owner) and I hereby thank him for the warm hospitality from his café.

Cincau cendol soya bean here sells at RM 6.90. I could not remember since when but this becomes a Malaysian thingy where cincau becomes a good partner in crime with the soya bean. Nevertheless, here in Hailam Kopitiam, things are a little more fancy. On top of cincau and soya mix, they also include some cendol in it. Honestly, I can't really taste the cendol since the cincau's texture obviously would speak louder in terms of texture.

It was a great shame of them to be serving this in Melaka and a bigger shame of me to order it here when there are so many other places with decent cendol in Melaka (at any corner on the street and any other alley). To justify that, I had the sudden crave for cendol when browsing through the menu. The santan used were not fresh and it instantly ruined the entire thing. First rule to good cendol, fresh coconut milk. They really need to have a better management for ingredient quality.

Certain outlets with lower traffic tend to serve ingredients that are not too fresh resulting in the lack of quality in their sushi. Reason being, they would have to store their stocks a little longer hence most of the time, their sushi is not that impressive compared to those with higher traffic of customers. The envelopes of sweet bean curd with egg mayo on it is fresh and delicious. Although huge and difficult to eat, I love this one.