FOOD QUEST: Cottage Spices Malacca

Cottage Spices Restaurant, Malacca

Malacca is one of my favourite states in Peninsula Malaysia, the others being Selangor and Penang. Selangor is home to me now and Penang is a nice island with the best hawker food in Malaysia. As for Malacca, it is well known for their nyonya cuisine. It is usually very rich and cooked with a lot of spices. You simply have to try nyonya cuisine when you are in Malacca. As for their hawker food, they suck big time! I have yet to explore the popular restaurants recommended by many in Malacca. Most of the time, I just end up in the touristy Jonker Street for a beer and some snacks. I am not a big fan of the so called Chicken Rice Ball. It is not such a big deal to me. So during my last trip there for a Church retreat, a few of us found this restaurant Cottage Spices, by chance.We tried it and found that it is quite decent.

The Food

House Specialty

Herbal Drinks

Sambal Petai Prawns

For a start we ordered Sambal Petai Prawns (Prawns with Petai cooked in chilli paste). This dish is a no-brainer as long as the prawns are fresh and the petai not over cooked. The key ingredient is of course he sambal (blended chilli paste). It's got everything we expected and the spicyness is just nice and not over powering. Great dish. Instead of having prawns, you can order the sotong (squid) version too.

Curry Fish Head

Fish head cooked in thick curry stew with vegetables like okra (lady's finger), brinjal and tomatoes. Although not amongst the best that we had, the taste was well balanced and the curry is not too thick. The viscosity of the curry is essential as it is a great dish to have with steam rice. I can just have this with rice.. thats it ! And also, the vegetables were cooked to perfection, not too raw.

Nyonya Chap Chai
Chap Chai or mixed vegetables, this dish is simple and straight forward, just like a typical home cooked dish with no frills whatsoever. The vegetables in the dish consist of sliced carrots, chinese mushroom, vermicelli, beancurd skin, cabbage and topped with coriander. You can't really go wrong with these combination.

Bean curd in shallot oil
Bean curd or tofu steamed and drenched with shallot oil (oil infused with the aroma and flavours of fried shallots) and soya sauce sprinkled with chopped chinese parsley or coriander. Well, one can tell that most of the dishes here are quite simple and this dish is very common in most chinese restaurant. This provides a refreshing break from the rich and heavy dishes like the sambal prawns and the curry fish head we had earlier.

Onion Omelette

Eggs with onions. Nothing more to say about this dish. I guess we just wanted something simple. Period!

Cendol

It is almost like a tradition to have cendol for dessert in Malacca after a hearty meal. The best dessert you can possibly have to compliment your meal. This dessert is made with shaved ice topped with rich coconut milk and sweetened by lovely gula melaka (brown palm sugar). Other ingredients include red beans and cendol (strands of dough made from green pea flour and flavoured with pandan leaves extract). For me the highlight of this dessert is the gula melaka...the more the merrier.

Ambience

Nice and cooling inside, it was like an oasis for us with the extremely hot weather in Malacca. Layout is simple and the lunch crowd was easy. Simple decoration with interesting pictures on the wall. One particular picture that kept us busy while we wait for our food was the picture of spices. It put our knowledge of spices to the test. Of course, no prizes for naming all the spices though!

Spices Pic

The Counter

Special Guests - SFX RCIA

Verdict

It was a 'no-fuss' lunch and everyone kinda enjoyed it. The portions were just right and the taste was acceptable to all considering such a big group. It is a place that we would return. Although for me, it didn't really hit the spot but it was simply just comfort food.

Location
Address:

G26, Jalan PM5, Plaza Mahkota,

Bandar Hilir 75000 Melaka

Malaysia

Tel: 06-2835040

H/P : 019-6679797

Map