Wild Coriander Melaka — Restaurant in Malacca

The restaurant was busy when we arrived which made us hopeful that the food was going to be good. We are vegetarian and we decided to opt for the wild coriander special Nyonya chap chai vegetarian and Nyonya chap chye / mixed vegetables along with 2 iced lemon teas. The drinks came pretty quickly but we had about a 25 minute wait for the food. The waiters were OTT on the niceness where it was verging on being sarcastic. It was quite uncomfortable and off putting. The food arrived and the Nyonya chap chai is rice cooked 4 ways with Sambal, half a boiled egg, cucumber, a slice of pineapple, Nyonya pickles and chap chye. The chap chye is mixed vegs with carrots, cabbage, tofu puff, tofu, bean curd strips, black fungus, dried lily flowers and vermicelli. It sounded quite nice! Then we tasted it and I have to say it’s the worst meal I have ever tasted. The chap chye tasted like it was cooked in dishwater and everything was just soggy, there was no texture to it at all and the noodles were like gloop. The rice cooked four ways is just the same rice with different colours, 2 white, 1 yellow and 1 blue. Blindfolded you wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference apart from the yellow one. If you threw that in one piece to a wall it would have stuck. The rice wasn’t fluffy as you might expect all of the rice was welded together and no wonder they give you a knife! Needed it to cut the rice. The sambal was mediocre and was very oily and it had a bitterness to it. The nicest bit on the plate was the Nyonya pickles, it was a tiny bit but tasty at least. Altogether very disappointing and pricy for what you got. It is near Jonker Street and the river so prices are higher. If you are a vegetarian AVOID this place. The non vegetarian options may have been very nice but we cannot comment on that. We have eaten out at other restaurants all over Malaysia (35 in total ) and this place was just awful. We will stick to just vegetarian restaurants...

There's something special about eating at Wild Coriander. From the ambience (a colourful shophouse, mindfully decorated, along the Malacca River) to the impeccable service (Carson was a standout) to the food (a restaurant open for more than 5 years, using family recipes, and consistently cited as being a joint for one of the best Nyonya restaurants in Malacca).

No pork is served at this restaurant. The food is of the Malay kind. It is no mean feat to be one of the best Nyonya restaurants and not use pork in your dishes.

Carson will be your host. He facilitates the introduction of his guests into his house. The other front of house staff dutifully listen and work with him. I believe he is of 3rd generation Nyonya heritage. He told us he personally tastes the food samples every morning. I can tell. Every sauce and spice mix needs to pass his muster before they go on to his guests. Trying the food - his food - is like seeing the world of Nyonya through his eyes.

Carson would tell you when his beef rendang comes out a little dry because the brisket isn't particularly fatty that morning. He would say whether his Ayam Ponteh meets the mark. He would always recommend the Lamb Shank because you can never really go wrong with that dish. He would proudly recommend dishes from his kitchen, from the traditional to the experimental (a salted egg pandan cake, which is not made everyday. I liked the pandan, not the salted egg, but overall I appreciated the effort and thinking behind the entire dish). If you ask nicely, he might tell you where to go to walk off your full stomach and have a relaxing evening.

The world is made a little more special by this restaurant, tucked in a quiet corner of Malaysia, flying the Nyonya flag quietly and...

Melaka is a location famous for its nyonya food due to its peranakan roots. A visit to this historical town is never complete without trying out their traditional peranakan fare. One can find numerous nyonya restaurants in melaka, but as the quaint little town grew in tourists visits, somehow, to find a good one among the many on offer here is getting more and more difficult.

Thankful to have found this little small restaurant while I’m in melaka this time. Dining at this restaurant was really an experience. From the deco inside the restaurant, the utensils used and the food itself, i was soaked thoroughly in the peranakan culture, in a good way of course.

The restaurant is housed in a traditional house. The owners really make an effort to introduced the peranakan culture into the dining experience. I was very impressed. To top that up, the food was simply amazing.

The family was served by Carson, who impressed us so much with his hospitality that we felt really grateful. He’s not someone who simply hand over the menu, but explained the dishes found within the menu. He made some wonderful recommendation and was attentive throughout the meal. He was really genuine and forthcoming which made our entire meal, a totally enjoyable one!

Please do yourself a favour and try their nyonya kuays when you are there and you wouldn’t regret it! I was very sad after tasting their kuays truly. Why you may ask and the answer is that I will have a very hard time trying to find kuays in Singapore with similar taste and texture.

Thank you Carson for the wonderful experience that we had at wild coriander. Please stay the...