The beautiful table setting of fabric rose petals, real daisies, and tea candles had us all in the romantic mood

Rempah Udang sweet (candied melon) and savoury ( pepper and coriander dried  prawns) Glutinous Rice Wrapped in Banana Leaf

Chicken Lobak (5 Spiced Chicken Wrapped in Bean Curd Skin)

Kueh Pai Ti (top hat) (Shredded Vegetable in Crisp Thin Pastry Cup)

Mains

Penang Otak-Otak (Northern Style Steam Spicy Fish Mousse [used baby snapper fillets])

Achat Fish (Tumeric Pickled Small Whiting Fish)

Ayam Pong Tay (Stewed Chicken with Ground Coriander Seeds, Pepper and Bean Paste)

Sambal Udang Petai (Sambal Prawns with Petai Beans)

PETAI!! Was what I was excitedly saying over and over. R&H from Pepper, Salt, Sugar and Spice and myself were absolutely ecstatic with stinking up the air around us. Already on a high from cincaluk, we happily devoured this dish.


Luckily for those around, the petai (stink bean) was probably not fresh from the pod and the flavour wasn’t as strong as you could probably get it when fresh 😛

Nyonya Chap Chai (Mixed Stir-Fry with Nam Yee Fermented Bean Curd)

By this stage, we were loosening our belts and unbuttoning our pants to fit in the other dishes that seemed to flow endlessly from the kitchen.


A simple mixed vegetable dish which due to the fermented bean curd, again brought back memories of home and vegetarian dishes. This dish also included glass noodles.

Ikan Assam Pedas (Tamarind Fish with Ginger Flower [used harpuka and parrot fish])

My second favourite dish.. another fish dish, was the Ikan Assam Pedas. The Ginger Flower (Bunga Kantan) that adorned it was magnificent and although not fresh, it was still very aromatic and I naughtily ate a spoonful of it (tee hee hee)

Inche Kabin (Deep Fried Chicken with Spicy Worcestershire sauce [colonial influenced])

The Inche/Enche Kabin dish was good, but again (could just be me), there seemed to be something missing. The worcestershire sauce however, was spot on! Go Lea & Perrins!!

I remember asking my mother once (as she hails from Penang) why quite a few dishes seemed anglo-cised and she explained that most of these recipes were created to appease tastebuds of the then British Masters.

Hence, dishes like macaroni pie (it’s a Penang thing), Inche Kabin, Hainanese Chicken Chop, etc became such popular dishes not only to the British people occupying Malaya, but also to the locals.

Ju Hu Char (Shredded Vegetable with Shredded Cuttlefish)

The Ju Hu Char was really quite good, but it was missing lettuce leaves (for me). I would usually wrap the ju hu char in lettuce leaves and have it a la spring-roll.

Kari Kapitan Curry with Lime Juice and Lime Leaf and Served with Croutons and Crispy Shallots (another Colonial influenced dish)

Gulai Ayam (Nyonya Curry Chicken)

This curry chicken dish was a normal chicken curry to me. It wasn’t bad or anything, just normal good curry chicken.

Kerabu Boknee shredded woodear mushroom,red onions, Ginger flower, chicken meat, prawn, grated coconut, lime juice and sambal belacan

I’ve never had this type of Kerabu (salad) before. It’s very much a northern Malaysian cuisine, influenced by the close proximity to Thailand. Pretty much anything can be a kerabu and this was delicious!

Kobis Lemak Vegetables Cooked with Sambal Dried Prawns and Coconut Milk

This dish had us all comparing it to the Indonesian dish, Lodeh. Vegetables in a creamy coconut gravy, this was also quite good.

Desserts

Leng Chee Kang

I think this was a Leng Chee Kang, a cold dessert usually served with dried longans and white fungus, red dates, gingko and anything sweet.


I wasn’t a fan of this as it had goji berries in it, and it reminded me more of a soup than a dessert.

Bubur Cha Cha

I really liked this, on account of it being sweet! Boiled sweet potatoes and yams in a sweet coconut milk broth, the only thing missing from this was SAGO!

Kueh Bingka (Bengkang)

This sweet and dense tapioca and coconut cream kueh (kuih) or cake was a pretty similar version of what you would get in Malaysia, so it gets points for authenticity. I didn’t actually eat this, as I’m not a massive fan of kueh, but the Boy said it was good 🙂

Teh Tarik (Milk Tea Malysian Style!)

*Disclaimer: All food ratings are purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality

Food/ Cuisine: Nyonya (Malaysian)
Dining Style: Restaurant


Address:
Shop OE7
Menzies Alley (Melbourne Central) right next to Max Brenner
Cnr of Little Bourke Street and Elizabeth Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

Tel:(03) 9663 5688

Website: http://www.chillipadi.com.au

Chillipad is open
Sunday – Wednesdays from 10am til late and
Thursday – Saturdays from 10am til 5am

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