Located on the very lower end of Bourke Street, technically in the Docklands district of Melbourne, and facing the waterfront, is the quaint Little Nyonya. Serving up some traditional and not so traditional Malaysian fare in well designed surrounds, I wasn't even aware that this place existed until the lovely wife directed me here after I picked her up from work one afternoon and when I told her that I'd cook dinner her face took a turn for the shocked, and thusly, this is where we ended up.
First off, we both partook in a large glass of Cham. Cham is technically half coffee and half tea, and the combination here was quite even, and not too sweet. It must have had a kick of caffeine, as it took me a while to get to sleep that night!
Here we have a generous portion of Tok Tok Mee, a curry based soup noodle with pork and prawns. Not too strong, but with a heavier hint of coconut. Don't get this confused with a Laksa, it's quite a different base flavour. Still, the wife enjoyed it, although she said the saltiness was a bit much, she became incredibly thirsty at night.
What I decided to eat, was your stock standard Hokkien Mee. What made this dish stand out was the fact the chef was quite generous with the small pork crackling bits that seem to be very common in Malaysia, but hardly make an appearance at all here in Melbourne. All up, it was a good dish, but still, as the problem is with every Malaysian restaurant here in Melbourne, they just can't seem to get the flavours correct. It's not that authentic. In the end, it's all about what ingredients are available here, and they aren't the same as what is commonly used at Malaysian hawker stops.
'Little Nyonya' is honestly quite a nice Malaysian eatery. It's interior design is especially catching, bringing back some of that Melaka style. Supposedly the lunch time menu differs from dinner, so I'd have to give that a gander next time we're in the area. I'll have to give it a couple more goes to really give a definitive answer to whether this is a stand out Malaysian restaurant or not.
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