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Peranakan palates

The Seafarer offers Peranakan delicacies based on old family recipes.

Hard to please and easy-going... Mike Thien lets SHANTI GUNARATNAM in on the different types of customers in his restaurant as well as the secret of his success.

The Gardenview where weddings and corporate dinners are held.

BOAT builder, retailer and now restaurateur — that’s Mike Thien, owner of The Seafarer in Malacca. And he can tell you all about his customers.

After six years running his nonya cuisine restaurant, Thien can tell you which customers are the easiest to please and which are the most difficult.

He says the Chinese are the hardest to please because they like their food piping hot and oily, too.

“They want their food straight from the frying pan to their tables. If it’s slightly cold, they’ll not think twice about complaining,” says Thien.

The Malays want their food — be it ikan masak asam, ayam pongteh or any other dish — hot and spicy while the Indians like theirs cold and spicy.

Westerners are the easiest to please because all they ask is for their food to be simple yet tasty.

His regulars now include the boating community too. So what’s the secret of his success?

“One must serve good food and, at the same time, keep them affordable,” he says.

What’s Available

Fishermen come by the restaurant to drop off freshly-caught seafood which are quickly sent to the kitchen.

The choices are ample. Try the chili garam which comes with crispy fried fish. There’s also ayam pongteh, itik tim, prawns and pineapple cooked in coconut milk, bendi belacan, asam pedas, ikan cili garam, ikan bakar, Chinese seafood and also Western dishes.

The ayam pongteh and itik tim cost RM6 for two. As for the seafood, Thien says it costs RM3 to RM4 per kg more than the market price because it is so fresh.

The restaurant can also arrange for barbecue dinners, big corporate dinners and even wedding receptions.

Family business

“Our main priority here is to serve good food at affordable prices and almost 95 per cent of our customers are regulars,” says Thien.

“My two sisters are the chefs and they prepare the Peranakan food the way my late mother used to do. We often have customers who request for dishes that they ate in Malacca on a previous visit or when they were growing up. We try and oblige them all.”

Thien has big plans for his eatery which include his own mussel farm and building a marina in front of his restaurant to enable boats to dock and their owners to come ashore for meals.

Dining Areas

There are two dining areas – the Gardenview which can accommodate 200 people, is set in a lush garden. The Seaview area faces the Straits of Malacca and is a romantic place where you can take “someone special” for dinner as the sunset can be quite breathtaking. The Seaview can sit about 400 people.

Seafarer Activities

Thien also organises water sports and boating activities and offers fishing packages. Some days, boating enthusiasts gather here to watch DVDs on power boat racing, jet ski competitions and other events.

How To Get There

The Seafarer Restaurant is at 1516, Batang Tiga Tanjung Kling, 76400 Malacca. From the city, follow directions to Tanjung Kling. For details, call 06-315 2693; fax: 06-315 2698; email seafarer@streamyx.com or go to www.boatexplorer.com.my.

Opening Hours

The restaurant is open daily. Mondays-Fridays (11.30am-3pm and 5.30pm-1am). On weekends and public holidays, it’s open from 11.30am to 1.30am.

Pictures by SHIRAZ YASMINE ALI

For more stories on the various delicacies which can be found throughout the country, check out the Gourmet Trail featured on the Travel site.

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