Simply Mel’s & S’mores @ Bangsar South

I finally made it to Simply Mel’s at Bangsar South.. and I am glad I did!

I recently read Geraldo Alfonso Muzzi’s book called ‘The Portuguese in Malay Land’, where he wrote that it would be something like 500 years since the arrival of the Portuguese in Malacca, and he worried about the insidious loss of such a rich and deep culture. He also wrote that the time had come to rescue the community’s creole Kristang language of the Portuguese descendants and teach them how to speak it. In a word, to assure them and their children that their identity is going to survive 500 years more.

And when I stepped into Simply Mel’s flipped open the menu, and saw that it was part written in English, and part in that old Kristang language, my heart leapt. There was hope yet that in this cosy, unassuming restaurant, that rich Portuguese culture, still lives on. Heart-warming indeed.

Onion Fritters

We start with some tasty comfort food, called the onion fritters. We wanted the cincalok fritters but I think they were out that day. No matter – these were supremely delicious, crispy on the outside, with a nice fluffy interior bursting with flavours of onions and that secret Mel recipe.

buah keluak sambal

One of my all time favourite dishes at Mel’s is an intense sambal made with the filling of the keluak nut. Mel carefully scrapes out the insides and makes this insanely aromatic paste of prawn sambal with it. It’s as addictive as an opiate.. in other words textbook keluak – killer delicious.

Foler Sabola Kung Tao

Called Foler Sabola Kung Tao in that old Kristang language, we quickly deciphered that the dish was in fact a simple vegetable dish of stir-fried leeks, spring onions with tau kwa bean curd, carrots, deep fried crispy shallots in a lovely garlic sauce.

Corn beef meatball Stiu

Another terrific dish at Mel’s is a piping hot bowl of meatball soup – the balls are made of corned beef & chicken, and served in a hearty stewed of carrots, cabbage, macaroni & potatoes, scented with cinnamon & cloves. Great for a rainy day.. great for any day:)

Chorka Devil

You’ve got to love the name Chorka Devil! And what it is, is Squid simmered in a Malaccan Portuguese Debel Curry.. spicy and full of pungent flavour. I mopped the sauce up with my rice – could not get enough of its delicious heat!

Mama Rosa’s Curry Singgang

I’m not a big fan of white pomfret because it always has this smell about it, and not many people cook it right – not even the chinese restaurants. Here at Mel’s the white pomfret is deeply flavoured with an addictive sour singgang curry which totally masks any fishy smells anyway. Rather well done, we thought.

Kaldu Galinhia Kristang

This is a flavourful homemade chicken soup, to which we add croutons for some crunch. Chicken soup for the soul I say!

Kari Seccu

This was a melt in your mouth beef with potatoes cooked in a thick spiced seccu gravy. I’m not sure what goes into a Seccu but it sure is tasty.

Cendol and Pulut rice with Homemade Kaya

Finally, we concluded our meal with 2 desserts – one was a blue pulut that went smashingly well with Mel’s homemade kaya. The other was Mel’s cendol – so thick was the coconut santan, you could stand a spoon in it. Awesome stuff!

They have a nice selection of wines at Mel’s and if you choose to bring your own bottle, there is a minimal corkage fee of RM20 only.

A gorgeous historical mural at Mel’s, about traders who came to Malacca back in the day

And the lovely Mel herself … accomplished wife, mother and awesome cook!

and since I was in fine company, we decided to head on down to S’mores for some cocktails ..

As luck would have it, S’Mores, had a cool happy hour promotion on for cocktail lovers – three cocktails for RM50 nett before 9pm.

Any three at all, and we soon decided on the 3M’s. The Margarita, the Martini and the Mojito!

Here is S’mores Sunny Peach Margarita.. potent, icy and super tart. I cannot fault the cocktails at S’mores. They do pack a punch – makes a change from places that try to con you out of your buck with watered down alcoholic beverages.

Anti-Freeze Martini..

Probably named as such, due to the color. It had vodka, blue curacao, midori and passion fruit in it. Awesome stuff, but a little too sweet for me.

Passion fruit Mojito.. for those who have lost their passion.. drink this! It will ignite the flames once more 😛

strange deco at S’mores

What a great night out.. can’t wait to go back for more Kristang delights real soon at Mel’s ..and also for s’more S’mores!

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