Calanthe Art Cafe — Restaurant in Malacca

Visited many times back in Feb and March. I came in here a few times for coffee and snacks.

The entrance to the cafe can be a bit hidden because of all the vines hanging from the roof and support beams of the front porch. Were it not for customers and/or staff sitting/standing on the porch, I’d easily walk past the cafe. Inside, the decorations have the look of an art class with paintings, beat up utensils and elements of beach and maritime theme in keeping with the history of Melaka.

The menu is larger than average for a cafe, but nothing to complain about. One of the most unique items on the menu I’ve ever seen is salted egg croissant. Being a good old classic Chinese dish, I love a good salted egg. So obviously I had to try that. I also ordered a hot mocha with that.

First the croissant. It came on a plate with walnuts and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I took a slice of the croissant from one of the ends. It tasted brilliant with a hint of salted egg taste and aroma. As I cut and ate more of the croissant and I realised that it was actually a filling of egg yolk of a salted egg. Possibly even more than one egg yolk given how much filling there was. Sadly, the more I ate, the more I thought that the croissant would’ve tasted much better with less of the salted egg. There is such a thing as too much salt. So that was the one and only time I’d ordered this dish.

One snack that I do like here is the little pineapple tarts, a soft pastry with not too tart pineapple flavoured centre that's served warm.

Every time I’ve ordered a coffee it has tasted great and beautifully presented. The ambience of the place varies with the crowd. As Melaka is a very touristy place, expect excited crowds. But generally, the ambience is one of a relaxed and chilled out...

Hi! These are my experiences after coming here 4 times, with families and friends!! :D

Before that, this shop serves alcohol but there's NO PROK NO LARD and a lot of muslim customers eat here. If you're unsure, don't eat here. End of story.

Order by scanning qr. You can ask the waiter if you're unsure or have questions. They are all friendly and professional. I started coming here from 2022 until 2025. Not much has changed, but come on weekdays on noon/afternoon for less crowd (there will still be crowd sometimes so it depends on your luck, really).

The Claypot Asam Pedas Fish with rice is SO GOOD! I ordered it every time I came here. Throughout the years, the quality stays the same, but I feel like they had increased the portion, which was pleasant. The buttermilk chicken's sauce is so thick! The Nyonya Laksa is also goood! The chicken with cheese is also juicy, the meat was not dry, and the fries were so filling! Price is also very reasonable.

Unfortunately, I am not a fan of coffee, so I couldn't really rate their caffeine drinks.

Parking was hard. Weekdays or weekends, you'll get lucky to even get a parking near there. I usually park futher away, walking around 5 - 10 minutes to reach the cafe. It's still worth it. I wouldn't say it is wheelchair accessible since we had to climb some stairs to enter the cafe. I'm not sure if there are ramps, sorry.

The interior design is so nice, me and my friends always take pictures at the back. The ambience, the music, and the atmosphere are so calm. Love every second of it.

That is all...

The nyonya laksa was just CHEF KISS I love it! Never tried something like that but I'm very glad that I tried it here. Tomyum on the other hand, was just okay/ordinary. (It's not bad by any means!) Initially I hesitated to come because I thought that it will be very expensive judging from the premise's eclectic design/vibe, but turns out it's quite affordable actually. I mean, if this was in KL, it will probably double the price. So that's another advantage to eat here.

↑wrote this review during jan 2021, today (4th june 2023, at 4pm, so no, they're not closing yet) was planning to visit again, but when we arrived, there's a rope blocking the front entrance & a sign that says “please wait to be seated”. and so we waited. there's a staff that saw us - he did nothing, just pretended like we're not outside waiting in the heat. i thought that's only one staff that's rude, but then more other staffs literally just saw us and NONE OF THEM came forward to serve, they all just plainly IGNORED. and literally there's a bunch of customers already on their way out & the outside table is literally empty, yet all the staffs didn't bothered to let us in. at least they can do is come & tell us the waiting time is too long or something. i guess they really don't want customer to patronize here 😊😊😊😊😊 i won't edit or delete the previous positive comment, but no more 5 stars after the bad & non-existance...