MELAKA, Jan 27 — What a beautiful bowl!
It has been quite a while since we last had Hainam Beef Noodles and this is an exemplary serving: the noodles possess that prized “QQ” elasticity; the broth is built on time instead of shortcuts, its savouriness deepened by hours of boiling beef bones and carrots.
We enjoy this and other traditional treats (more on those later) at Nings Hainam Noodles in Melaka Raya.
The shop sits in the thick of the city’s business and banking district, where office workers want a hearty breakfast or a quick lunch.
A fourth-generation Hainam kopitiam, Nings has the well-worn rhythm of a place that knows its clientele intimately.
Mornings see steady foot traffic: regulars sliding into familiar seats, orders placed and taken swiftly.
Which is all the more impressive given the entire operation is run by two people, the proprietor and his wife. (We have seen coffee shop chains with four times the manpower that take twice as long to serve customers.)
Our drinks arrive promptly. The Hainam Kopi is robust and reassuring, its bitterness rounded by a gentle sweetness. Brewed in the old way, then chilled with plenty of ice.
Alongside it, the Cincau Hainam Tea offers respite from the heat—cool, faintly floral, with soft cubes of grass jelly slipping easily down the throat. So refreshing!
Small bites next. The Hainam Kaya Butter Toast is textbook in the best sense: local-made bread toasted until crisp, then thickly spread with homemade kaya.
More indulgent is the Hainam Braised Pork Mantou, one of the shop’s most sought-after items.
A soft lotus bun or mantou, freshly steamed, cradles pork belly that has been braised over two days until it reaches that elusive balance of tenderness and structure.
Slices of fried pork chop, crisp like a well-executed tonkatsu, sit atop the rice, soaking up just enough gravy while retaining their crunch. This is filling, unfussy food, designed to sustain rather than surprise.
Yet the standout for us remains the Hainam Beef Noodles. This is the dish that Nings is best known for, and rightly so.
The springy noodles and the tender beef. The soup, lightly perfumed with Chinese rice wine, carries the sweetness of carrots and the depth of beef bones.
A side of house-made Hainam chilli paste offers heat for those who want it. (We all want it.)
Taken together, the elements meld into a greater whole. The noodles have a perfect chew, the beef yields without effort.
And the broth? Sweet and savoury, each gelatinous drop lingers just long enough on the palate.
Nings does it right. Indeed, there is something reassuring about a kopitiam—a proper Hainam kopitiam—that simply gets on with the job, bowl after bowl of beef noodles, day after day.
Nings Hainam Noodles
5, Jalan Melaka Raya 13,
Taman Melaka Raya, Melaka.
Open daily (except Sun closed) 10am-5pm
Phone: 018-266 8326
*This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
*Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.
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