Restaurante San Pedro at Malacca Portuguese Settlement

Melaka, our nation's Historical City, which is rich in history and cultures, not to mention many types of great food too. This include Nyonya food, Satay Celup, Chicken Rice Ball and many other unique food, which only can be found in Melaka. However, I start off my first Melaka post with a less-traveled path, a visit to the one and only Portuguese Settlement, in search for some authentic Portuguese food.

1). This is the restaurant that I have been looking for, Restaurante San Pedro, which is the first ever Portuguese restaurant here, established since 1977.

2). This is the signboard located just outside of the restaurant.

3). It is located at D'Aranjo Road, where you see the Portuguese Square and turn right from the main road of Dalbuquerque Road. From the outside, it would never looks like a restaurant, more like a rundown shop lot. 

4). During my first visit, I was shocked to found the restaurant, which was empty house. Cold sweats start running down my spine and regret starts to kick in.

5). The most dominant religion of Portuguese is Roman Catholicism, as showed by the statue of Virgin Mary at the entrance of the restaurant.

6). A piece of 2-page menu is handed for ordering dishes. I was recommended to order 3 dishes for 2 person dinning in, can't be too greedy though. There are a few dishes can only be served, if you pre-ordered it, as showed in the menu under cakes, pies and pickles. However, you can cut the waiting time by ordering your dishes earlier, your food would have more time to be marinated and become tastier.

7). There are five juices to choose, however it subject to availability. All the juices are freshly squeezed and sugar water was add in. Both apple juice and lime juice are refreshing nonetheless and priced at RM2.50 each glass.

8). First to come is a plate of ordinary White Rice, priced at RM2.00 a plate, not the authentic Portuguese rice as I wished it would be ^_^

9). The first dish to come is the Portuguese Baked Fish, which is also their signatured dish, priced at RM22.00 (according to the weight of the fish). The type of fish they usually cook is Seabass or Red Snapper, where a layer of special chilli sauce is placed on top of the fish and baked together. Their fish is freshly caught locally, and you can taste the chilli getting hotter by every bite, until I have to order a second drink. Thumbs up for the fish!

10). The second dish to come is Curry Debal, a.k.a. Curry Devil, is a very spicy curry flavoured with candlenuts, galangal and vinegar. It is their traditional culinary and often served during special occasions. The dish looks like curry chicken to me, however the texture of the meat is the most tender I have ever eaten and the curry is very complimenting with rice too. This is certainly my favourite food of the day and considerably cheap at RM10.00!

11). The next dish is Portuguese Sauce Prawns. At first sight, the size of the prawns are huge! The prawns are slightly fried with a dark sauce, which I reckon is soy sauce. The prawns are fresh nonetheless, however I was expecting more from this dish though.

12). The fourth dish to come is Mixed Vegetables Soup (RM6.00). As the name suggested, variety of vegetables are added in, such as carrots, Chinese cabbages, Capsicum and anchovies. Grown up in vegetable family, this dish is nothing to be raved about, for me at least.

13). The next dish to come is another one of my favourite, the Chilli Crabs, priced at RM19.00 each. Don't let the colour of the chilli scares you off, it isn't spicy at all, tasted more like tomato crabs. The meat is fresh, as they purchased from nearby restaurant whenever orders are placed. Oh, how I wish there are breads to compliment the delicious sauce!

14). The last dish to come is everybody's favourite, the Black Pepper Crabs, also priced at RM19.00 each. As I mentioned earlier, if you pre-order the crabs, they have more time to marinate the crabs. Thus the flavours of black pepper penetrate through the meat, makes every bite is filled with black pepper. A satisfying meal indeed, with a total damage of around RM140, still is moderately priced. I'll make this a place to stop by every time I visit Melaka.
 

15). A little bit of history lesson, where the urban renewal of the Portuguese Settlement was given official orders by the Chief Minister of Melaka in 2004.

16). Is there anything else to see in the Portuguese Settlement? Well, there is a Portuguese Square at the end of the main road, where three other Portuguese restaurants are located inside, which I have never tried before.

17). The Lisbon Hotel, opened in 2008, where the rooms are overlooking the Straits of Malacca. However, it did not receive good reviews over the internet though. Hopefully, this place will be developed into another tourist hotspot soon, and I wish I could participate the annual Fiesta San Pedro, which will be held at 23-29 June 2011.

Restaurante San Pedro
Address : 4, D'Aranjo Road, Portuguese Settlement,
                Ujong Pasir, 75050 Melaka.
Tel. 06-2842170 (Willy)
Business hours : 5.30pm - 10.00pm daily.
                         Closes on Wednesday.



View Larger Map