Teo Soon Loong Chan Famous Teochew Restaurant in Melaka

When planning for this Melaka trip, my research on the net threw up repeatedly the name of this restaurant - Teo Soon Loong Chan Teo Chew Restaurant (TSLC). The restaurant even has a website which I visited and learnt that it was advisable to make reservations in advance. So I did on a Thurs afternoon and managed to get a reservation for the 4 of us at 6pm on Sat evening - the only time slot available. About 2.30pm after our lunch at Ole Sayang, TSLC called my msian hp number and emphasized that I had to turn up at 6pm or else the table would be forfeit. I assured the caller that I had driven the 2-3hrs up to Melaka and would not miss a meal at his renowned restaurant.

So after checking into the hotel about 3+pm, I arranged with the hotel to have a taxi come at 5.20pm to send us to the restaurant because I was paranoid I wouldn't be able to find the place or find parking - either of which would result us in missing a meal here. The cost of the taxi ride from The Majestic to Jonker Street was RM15 and we had to walk in still because most of Jonker Street was closed for the weekend night markets. I hadn't seen pics of the exterior of the restaurant but read that it was really erm, simple, and indeed it was. If I hadn't been looking out specifically for the restaurant, I wouldn't have known it was there.

The first point of contact was with the chef himself in a dirty apron (the dirtier the apron the better the food no?) at the open-air cooking area on the front left of the pic above. We asked whether we could take a pic of him and he was most obliging .

This is how the interior of the restaurant looks like. I counted the number of tables - 6 only. And there wasn't any space whatsoever for any additional tables to be set up.

On each table were condiments - sambal belachan (to go with their famous oyster mee), garlic and sliced red chilli in bean sauce.

Some of the dishes available are laid out along the far wall of the restaurant and the "rep" of each table goes there to discuss the dishes with the older boss. Initially we ordered soft shell crab, green veg and ngoh hiang from the array of food laid out in addition to their famous promfret dish, oyster mee, orni dessert.

However, I saw this tray laid out on the table next to the food counter and asked the elderly boss if we could have a bowl of tian ji (chicken in herbs). He said no at first on the basis that we had ordered too much. I promised him we would finish everything and he reluctantly agreed to sell us one bowl of chicken. However, 2 mins later he was back at our table telling us we really had ordered too much for 4 pp. So we asked him which dish he would recommend that we not have and he said the ngoh hiang.

The food was served pretty quickly - about a 10-15 mins wait. First, the the tian ji (chicken in herb-like sauce) I had to literally persuade the restaurant to sell to us. The Slog Reviews: 9/10. Everyone agreed that the gravy/sauce was tasty without being too salty and the chicken meat had absorbed most of the herbal taste which made for good eating. From the pic above, I gather that the restaurant had marinated the chicken for quite some time which explains why the meat was so full of flavor.

Second, the oyster mee dish with rich thick dark gravy. The Slog Reviews: 10/10. I don't take oysters but my colleagues who do said the oysters were very fresh and sweet. I think that this dish is the must-have item from this restaurant, if not anything else. The restaurant owner was very helpful in helping to distribute the rest if the noodles amongst the 4 of us and advising us to eat it with more of the belachan sambal paste.

The deep fried soft shell crab which was cut into many small pieces looked and tasted pretty ordinary when it was first served. The Slog Reviews: 8/10. That being said, we found ourselves picking at the pieces and eating the crunchy bits till the plate was bare. It's the kind of dish that doesn't impress the senses at first but tastes better the longer it is left on the table.

As for the veg, although it tasted fresh (which we all agreed tends to be the case for veg eaten in Msia), it really was nothing remarkable. The Slog Reviews: 7/10. If I had to order a veg dish again, based on the research of the net, the cabbage dish comes highly recommended and not ordinary greens like the one below.

This is how the promfret dish steamed with mushrooms and preserved plums looked like when it was first served. The fish wasn't remarkably big but the price was remarkable to me by Msia standards - RM 40! I believe that the fish itself is less than half the cost as this is one of my favourite fishes and I'd been eating it quite often last year...

1 of the restaurant owners, Ah Joo, was again most helpful and came over to help us dissect/debone the fish for easy eating. Good, polite and helpful service I must say!

I suppose Ah Joo must have lots of experience with fish becaue in less than one minute, the fish dish looked like this. The Slog Reviews: 8/10. Everyone agreed that the fish meat was fresh and that it had been cooked to perfection which is not easy for this particular type of fish - too long and the meat turns hard. Even though the price of the fish is rather steep, I think that if one drives all the way up to Melaka and manages to get a reservation at this renowned restaurant, one shouldn't forgo 1 of their signature dishes.


We also had the local mangoes (yellow skinned) which the "elderly" boss had recommended. The Slog Reviews: 6/10. Ripe but not exceptionally sweet or tasty. One should save one's stomach for more of the next dish.

The absolutely best orh-ni (yam paste) dessert that I've ever had in my own life. I love this dessert which is very very bad for the waistline and have tried many variations of the dessert at almost every Chinese restaurant I've been to. And none of all that I 've tried comes even close to the perfection of this dish served at TSLC.


The Slog Reviews: 10/10. How do I even start describing the silky smooth melt-in-the-mouth not too sweet yet just sweet enough yam paste?! This dish is a MUST HAVE if you are at TSLC. Do not, absolutely do not compromise forgoing this dish for any others served by the restaurant!

The Slog Reviews: 8/10 for the overall experience. It was a pity that they only had the 6pm slot for us to have dinner because we were rather stuffed from Ole Sayang in the afternoon. Contrary to reviews I have read on the net, the service was in fact rather good with Ah Joo and the others being helpful and friendly. However, maybe because I am not Teochew, the dishes didn't really hit the spot for me and I am not minded to give up going for satay celup for a meal here the next time I go to Melaka. Also, the cost of the dishes was rather steep by Msia standards - RM150 for the 4 of us. I would conclude that one should try the food at this restaurant at least once though - the orh ni dessert is really quite out of this world smooth. Slurp!