Donald and Lily’s is a Malaccan institution. We order what this place is famous for, Nyonya Laksa and Cendol.

Nyonya, or Peranakan cuisine is the food of the Straits Chinese who intermarried with the local Malays, therefore intermingling ingredients and cooking techniques. Nonya laksa is more like the laksa that we know about in Australia (as opposed to the sour Assam Laksa in Penang), creamy with coconut milk and spicy, hot and flavourful and chockful of cucumber, blood cockles, beansprouts, two types of tofu, fish cake and noodles. And it is delicious, explosive with flavour, but smooth enough that we almost lick our bowls clean (except for the cockles, they are yet to grow on me).

Before our laksa arrived, Donald (not the original Donald, but his nephew), sits down to chat to us, which makes us feel even more as though we are sitting in someones living room.

We chat about Australia, Malacca, the weather, food, China and Malaysia. He tells us that Malaccan businesses survive off of tourism, and the weekend is where it is at. Tourists flock here for the Jonker Walk night market on Friday and Saturday nights, so we are lucky to visit mid-week. 

As we finish our laksa, Donald suggests that we have some Cendol, pronounced Chendul, and then we can have a tour of the house. Donald and Lily’s is at the back of a traditional style Baba-Nonya house. We trek through the kitchen, past a table full of people preparing food and a wok full of bubbling laksa sauce, through a courtyard to meet the master of the house, who is polishing candlesticks in preparation for Chinese New Year. There are antiques a-plenty and history is everywhere, but nothing compares to the Cendol.

I don’t really understand, but the tables around us seem to order their cendol with their main meals. They either consume it as a drink, or let it settle and melt, and slurp is down afterwards. We stick to the western style of main course and then dessert, but mostly because it is hot here. Boiling. Sweltering, even, so I need the fresh ice to cool me down.

Shaved ice, topped with a palm sugar syrup so real tasting is it amazing. Mix it up to reveal mung bean noodles, beans and sago. We have been eating cendol and ais kacang all over town, and they all have tasted like sno cones, so this real flavour of Gula Melaka is divine.

For a delicious and cheap lunch in a homely atmosphere, come here in Malacca. We even visited again for more of that cendol (and now, sitting in Sydney I wish that we had had more laksa, too) and Donald walked through, and sat and chatted to us again. He even offered to drive us to sample some other tempting delights of Malacca. 

Donald and Lily’s corner is very difficult to find. It is on the street parallel to Jalan Tan Tun Cheng on the corner of Jalan Laksmana 1.

We have only been in Penang for a few days yet I swear I have already eaten my weight in noodles and roti. I still have a heap of posts about Vietnam waiting in the wings, but have been busy updating my travel blog, and falling in love with Malaysian food.

Tiny wax jambu inside a rojak stall (one dish I haven’t tried because of the peanuts).

I wish food courts in Australia were like the hawker centers found here. Delicious fresh food cooked to order from stalls that make only a few items, but concentrate on making those dishes really well. Pick a table number, order, sit down and wait. Someone will take your drink order, pay when everything arrives (you won’t be waiting long.

Wan Than Mee

The famous hawker centre on gurney drive is the busiest we have visited, the delicious wan than mee pictured above came from there. I thought I disliked yellow noodles before I tried this simple but divine dish where they are paired with fried wontons, bbq pork, jalepeno’s and vegies in a soy and sesame oil sauce. I had this again in a coffee shop in George Town for my first lunch today. That’s right, I am doubling up on meals, eating more than my fill, because I just don’t want to miss anything.

ABC

I love these sweet, salty, chewy and cold desserts. Flavoured shaved ice (like a snow cone) topped with mung bean noodles, red bean, grass jelly, salty sweet corn, this one even had delicious tiny raisins throughout. Cooling and interesting, but very sweet, perfect for dessert.

Hawker Centers in Penang
(I know I have missed out on lots of places here, but here is an overview of where we did go).

Gurney Drive Hawker Center
Dinner
Take a cab from the center of George Town for delicious char kway teow, wan than mee, ABC, apong and more. Situated across the road from the water, and right next to an upmarket shopping center.

Red Garden Food Paradise
Dinner
Right in the centre of town, this ‘food paradise’ is aimed at the foreigners, so is easy to deal with for the uninitiated, but also attracts locals. The Curry Mee and fried noodles are delicious, as are the dessert waffles, try one with Kaya and ice cream for 4 RM.

New World Park Penang
Lunch and Dinner
We visited for lunch, and weren’t terribly hungry or impressed with the spread here, though we did get a fish pedicure after our popiah and chee cheong fun.

Esplanade Food Center (Near Fort Cornwallis, on the water)
Dinner
Great sea views, but most of the stalls were closed when we visited (twice). Lots of Rojak and Pasembor, great sea views, lots of locals fishing and playing. We didn’t eat anything here.