Portuguese Debal Chicken at Eleven Bistro and Restaurant
It is going to be very busy here in Chinatown so I will need the strength to go through what is coming. First things first, after an afternoon of walking I was famished. There was a large choice of food in Melaka, since there have been varying levels of influence by the local and western cultures that have interacted with Melaka. Local food, more specifically, Peranakan food, is already quite familiar to me since this is quite common in Singapore. So is Malay and Indian food. One of the cuisines that caught my fancy was Portuguese food.
Row of Restaurants in Melaka
Hmm… up until now, the only food that I can even remotely associate with being Portuguese are Portuguese egg tarts. And I’m not even too sure about that one. My impression of Portuguese food is what I know from Macau. I would imagine most stuff to be baked and come with cheese. I guess I really wanted to try something new. So Portuguese food it is. One of the streets with a lot of restaurants had a rather fancy Portuguese restaurant. It seemed to be beyond my budget but then upon going through the menu, it didn’t seem that expensive after all, besides, I don’t come here very often either.
Inside the Eleven Bistro and Restaurant
The Eleven Bistro and Restaurant served Portuguese food, the interiors looked more posh than the normal places I go to, which made me a little uncomfortable. However, the nice music made me relax and focus on what I came here for – food. The menu has a large variety of food to choose from. I did notice that a large portion of the menu is dedicated to seafood. Having seafood here, though much cheaper than Singapore will be beyond my budget, so I just focused on the ones which I can afford.
Portuguese Debal Chicken looked much like Malay or Indian curry, little surprise since these cuisine are well known for their curry. Thus it is suspected that this dish was adopted by the Portuguese from India and brought here to Melaka during their occupation. It was then enhanced over the years by adding local ingredients. For me, the Debal Chicken wasn’t that great. It was just curry and contrary to what its name may suggest, it is not that spicy either. It wasn’t Indian curry nor was it Malay curry either, it was a completely different style after all.
Fried Calamari at Eleven Bistro and Restaurant
I asked for a recommendation on what my second dish would be. The waiter recommended some fried calamari. I hesitated a bit since I can easily get this elsewhere, however since the waiter recommended it maybe it is good. Besides, I always loved calamari. Unfortunately, just like the Debal Chicken, the Friend Calamari tasted just like it looked. There was nothing new about the fried calamari. The batter was supposedly a special mixture, but I didn’t really see the difference.
Perhaps I was expecting something radically different. Eleven Bistro and Restaurant was not a bad place to eat at, in fact, it was quite pleasant. The prices were reasonable and the service was excellent too. Perhaps it was just a matter setting my expectations right. At least now that I have eaten here, I can probably use Eleven Bistro and Restaurant as a yardstick in case I come back here.
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