Baba Charlie Cafe — Restaurant in Malacca

I was thoroughly disappointed with my experience at this restaurant. Upon arrival (as a party of two), none of the waiters acknowledged us or made any effort to assist, quite possibly because they assumed our small group wasn’t worth their time. The restaurant was fully packed, but there was still a table (not fully seated) that could have accommodated us. Despite this, the waiters ignored us entirely.

To make matters worse, an inconsiderate family who had already finished their meal refused to vacate their table, even as I stood nearby looking for a place to sit. I noticed there were stairs leading to an upstairs area and asked a waiter if we could move there. Only then, after standing unnoticed for several minutes, did anyone take notice of us. A waiter (an elderly uncle) informed me that the upstairs seating wasn’t available for two-person groups and suggested we share a table instead, which I accepted.

However, once seated, no one brought us menus or offered to take our order. I had to get up and approach a waiter, who simply handed me a menu and walked away even after I said I want to order (as I had already read the menu online and know what to order )Frustrated, I went to the counter to place my order, where the elderly cashier (presumably the owner) finally instructed someone to serve us. The same elderly uncle waiter served us but seems dissatisfied as he is punching his keypad forcefully which I presumed he is not happy that I complained to the cashier.

The overall service was appalling. The waitstaff showed no regard for smaller groups and appeared unconcerned about losing our business. The food, unfortunately, did not make up for the poor service. It was mediocre at best, and the chendol lacked the expected red beans, consisting only of green jelly and ice.

I will not be returning to this establishment and cannot recommend it to others. The lack of attentiveness and professionalism from the staff, combined with subpar food, made this visit a thoroughly super...

It was a pleasing brunch with my parents once again.

Visit Baba Charlie for the first time, and it met our expectations. Managed to get parking quite easily, and you'll never miss this bright yellow painted shop.

Once we entered, we were immediately seated. The place is air conditioned, but probably my comment is the seating arrangement is quite congested and the arrangement of the furniture and displays was a bit chaotic. Movement was a bit restricted.

They had a wide array of menu, and it's cool that they do have sets recommended based on the number of pax, it simplifies our choice and also gives us a chance to try more dishes. Minimum starts at RM100 for 4-5 pax.

We picked set A which came with the following, and this is our honest opinion:

1. Asam Rebus Seafood the soup was delicious, flavorful with hints of asam and daun limau purut. It was filled with seafood mainly prawns, slices of squid, crab sticks, and fish balls, it is really suitable for a rainy day

2. Cincalok Fried Omelette I didn't really get the taste of cincalok from the omelette. I know it's supposed to be a prawny salty sort of taste, but it wasn't present. Just an average omelette.

3. Brinjal Udang Kering this was yummy, the sambal was made nicely ("pecah minyak" as you can see in the pic), brinjal not over cooked and still holds its texture. We could taste the dried prawns in here, so it's as per the name.

4. Ponteh Chicken it's a chicken style made like kicap style but it has a vinegary taste to it. Normally made with chicken, potatoes and sometimes it has buah keluak in it, but this one didn't. But it tasted average, I would say not much different from ordinary chicken kicap.

We ordered Chinese Tea which costs RM1/glass. Nice to wash down the oiliness.

Overall, the bill came to RM112 for 3ppl with some additional Nyonya kuih we bought. Their Nyonya kuihs are delicious, come in many...

This is a big disappointment, the onli reason for 2 star r the pre-packed nasi lemak & deep fried sotong. After reading a few articles promotiog Baba Charlie, our family decided to give this place a try only to find out it's on the level of those Paranakan restaurants along Malacca river, fit for western tourist only 😠

The meal - fish maw soup which doesn't have any taste of the fish maw, chicken ponteh was dessert sweet & the chap chai was bland...only the deep fried sotong was good.

The 2 plate full of keuh we had was also sad. Coconut, the soul of Paranakan kueh, must be too expensive for Baba Charlie he is so stingy with it that the kuek without coconut flavour taste like lumps of sugary starch 😣 the onli 1 thing that tasted good was the sambal in the small packet of nasi lemak. 1st time there & never again.

We r Singaporeans & over the years we visited Malacca 2~7 times yearly, tried many 'famous' Paranakan restaurants in Malacca & surprisingly it was the smaller, less known 1s that tasted authentic. Restaurants like Nancy's kitchen, Aunty Lee, Amy Heritage, Manis J etc was disappointing but at least they use proper spices. Places like Ole Sayang & Far East cafe serve more authentic nyonya dishes & my favourite is Our kitchen nyonya restaurant, for it's tasty beef rendang...