Nyonya Lin's Kitchen by Baba Ricky — Restaurant in Malacca

Had a wonderful dinner at Nyonya Lin’s Kitchen by Baba Ricky in Melaka. The Nyonya dishes were all flavourful and authentic. The Ayam Pongteh was particularly delicious, with tender chicken in a rich and savoury sauce. The Lemak Nenas Udang was also great, with succulent prawns in a creamy and aromatic sauce, just the right spicy level. We also enjoyed the Chili Garam Ikan, Tenggiri cooked to perfection. The chili garam sauce had a depth of flavour that was amazing. The level of spiciness was just right. The Bendi rebus (okra) was blanched just right topped with a sambal with crushed peanuts, truly tasty. We also wanted to try the sambal belachan. This was served with a whole lime and with a sprinkling of toasted belachan tiny granules. This allows you to mix the granules in to enrich and enhance the belachan taste. And you could squeeze just the right amount of lime sauce according to your taste and consistency of the sambal belachan, really mouth watering! Then came the dessert, the popular nyonya cendol. Only after dinner did i discover that Chef Baba Ricky had won a Certificate of Award for an honorable achievement in Gold Malaysian Cendol at the World Chefs Championship 2024 ! I also realised that all my life i had not been eating cendol correctly as i used to stir and mix all the ingredients together. Chef Baba Ricky told me to scoop up the cendol without mixing so as to enjoy the taste of the creamy slightly salty coconut milk , the gula melaka that was thick and caramelised to perfection, the green rice flour jelly was 100% natural using pandan leaves without any artificial colouring. It is really not ‘sugar’ sweet and is the best cendol i had ever tasted in my life ! Service was excellent and Ida who served us dropped by to check on how the meal was and gave us good insights on Nyonya cooking and spices. For those of you who love Nyona Cuisine and Cendol, you must dine at Nyonya Lin’s when visiting Melaka. I must return and try the other dishes like the Ayam Buah Keluak. Highly recommended! It is advisable to call up to make reservations and book your cendol before...

Date of visit: 14 Dec 2021

One of the best nyonya food I’ve ever tasted and I’ve tasted many AND my mum is a nyonya! 😆

We ordered their lunch sets which were all priced at RM13.80 and came with a dish, rice, fried egg and vege. We ordered:

Chicken ponteh Stingray with kuah lada Stingray with gerang assam Brinjal with chili garam (ala carte RM15)

All the dishes tasted so authentic and like what my grandma would make 🥺 Can be a tad too flavourful for some people but when eaten with rice, it’s just nice. Stingrays were pretty bone-y and we barely had any flesh but the sauces were so delicious, we didn’t mind 😅 The chicken ponteh is how I like my ponteh to be - well balanced of salty and sweet and thick in consistency!

On the down side, it was quite a wait as their food serving was very slow. Even without any orders ahead of us, we had to wait for 30mins. There’s also limited tables so you might wanna call to reserve if you’re planning to visit during peak periods. (Pork-free)

The restaurant is situated inside Kapitan Kongsi Hotel. While waiting for your food, you can walk around the hotel to enjoy the beautifully and tastefully decorated ground floor! 😍 It’s filled with the peranakan decors and so many picture worthy spots to kill time. Haha. This whole area is also really pretty with the shop lots carrying traditional melakan...

We are very disappointed with the food & service here :-

1. staff overheard our orders wrongly & when served to us , the waitress practically “ jeling” at us like we were in the wrong instead! They also simply pin point and said it’s our mistake.
2. we were kept waiting for an hour & when ask why the food was taking so long , they said they had to serve those “ who pre-ordered first” so we had to wait ( we were not informed earlier )
3. both the lady boss ( Nyonya Lin I guess ) & her waiter / waitress was rude to the core , never apologise their mistake & even gossip and stared at us from their counter table ( which I saw )
4. fish & chicken was not fresh & cooked properly.Overall food was horrible , not Nyonya authentic at all.
5. Even when we paid for the bills , none of them even want to apologise for all the mistakes they’ve done which was obvious ( really bad customer service ) .

Pls bear in mind , you’re not the only Nyonya restaurant in Melaka or Malaysia. Being a biz owner , u should know & adhere to basic customer service . You have no respect to your customers & you expect customers to flock to your place to dine in ? Better send your staff & yourself for more training instead before u put the food...