Melaka: Bunga Raya Pork Porridge @ Plaza Mahkota

Located at one of the alleys at Plaza Mahkota, and quite near to the hotel when I was in Melaka recently. Lunched there and to pass time while waiting for check-in time.

inside of the shop

Order and pay at the counter, then sit down and wait for food and drink to be served.

lone newspaper clipping

To tell the truth, the shop does have a dated feel to it. Apparently, it's now run by the 4th generation, so ordered pork porridge to try. The lady at the counter asked if I'd eat internal organs and I said yes, so they did a mixed parts pork porridge.

pork porridge (small)

small intestine, minced pork balls, sliced lean pork and liver

On first sip of the porridge, it tasted predominantly of soya sauce. It lacked flavour. The liver and lean meat were very overcooked. Fortunately, the small intestine was soft and tender. And the best tasting ingredient, was the minced meat balls. It has bits of salted vege (was it chye poh?) in it. Kind of something that ah ma (grandma) would make at home. Retro.

Somehow, this bowl of light tasting porridge kind of grew on me as I was eating it. Perhaps, it evoked a sense of nostalgia.

sour plum

The sour plum drink tasted like sour plum, but the sour plum didn't look like the kind of sour plum that I know.

sour plum

This meal costs RM5.50 in total.

Chye Seng Huat Hardware @ Tyrwhitt Road

Finally visited this place. It sure was busy! The entrance had a partially opened steel door, so we slipped past it and into the alfresco area of the shop. Was surprised to see that much of unused space in the compound. Order and pay inside the shop. NETs and cash only.

view of the entrance from our seats

Had latte and a piece of tea cake to go with it.

latte

pistachio tea cake

Liked the coffee. Smooth and not too acidic. The tea cake ($3 per piece) was dense, and sweeter than expected.

there's something on my saucer

satisfied with this cuppa

It rained while we were seated outside, and our table being right at the edge of the awning wasn't spared from the rain. Even so, customers can still be seen coming in at a steady pace, no matter rain or shine.

Sarang - Modern Korean Dining @ Orchard Central (Part II)

Located at Level 7 of Orchard Central. Second visit and this time round for dinner. Chose indoor seats and thankfully, the music wasn't that loud. At one glance, its patrons were made up of mainly young adults. We were the oldies there.

drinks menu

indoor seats

For drinks, we tried the Makgeolli Mojito, Makgeolli Orange and Maesil Cha (plum tea). The makgeolli drinks were $10++ each, while maesil cha was $4++. The makgeolli drinks were very very mild. One would be inclined to think these were mocktails instead of it being a cocktail!

Makgeolli Mojito

Makgeolli Orange

Its food menu had undergone some changes. For example, chicken bong bong and ginseng porridge are no longer available. Anyway, we ordered the Sarang Japchae (@$9.80++), Modeum Pajeon (pancake with seafood and bacon @ $13.80++), Dak Gangjeong (tangy fried chicken @$12.80++) and a Kimchi Jjim (braised kimchi and pork @$15.80++). And two bowls of rice to share amongst the three of us.

This place doesn't serve complimentary banchans. Nope. But if you order a bowl of rice (@$1.80++), then that does come with three types of banchan (two types of kimchi and one peanuts). Unfortunately, this was the first time that I didn't like any of the banchans. There was one hard and crunchy strips that tasted like chye poh, the cabbage kimchi was nicely soft but it was shredded and overly salty. The peanuts were the crunchy type.

chye poh radish? No idea, but it was hard and crunchy

kimchi and peanuts (crunchy)

Sarang Japchae

The Japchae was very tasty and oily but nevertheless, we slurped it all.

yums chewy strands

Kimchi Jjim, or kimchi boiled marinated pork belly in sauce. There was only little bit of sauce but enough to slather some over the rice. Nice.

Kimchi Jjim

layered with shredded eggs, tofu, pork and kimchi

braised pork belly on rice

tap water

Watch out for the super salty kimchi at the bottom of the bowl. The meat wasn't cooked till tender soft. In fact, it was rather chewy.

Supreme pancake or modeum pajeon, was served in an elongated plate. The seafood ingredients seemed to be just squid. Liked the vege in the pancake!

Modeum Pajeon (Supreme Pancake)

closer view

The Dak Gangjeong was five pieces of deep fried drumlets in tangy sauce. Crunchy batter and well-seasoned.

Dak Gangjeong

Service was friendly and the meal costs about $32 per pax.