MELAKA, May 9 — Another morning, another kopitiam breakfast.
At Uncle Lai Kopitiam in Ayer Keroh, Melaka, our expectations are upended not because of the menu but how everything we ordered arrived at the same time!
An absolute rarity in this day and age, especially at a chain or franchise kopitiam, when your half-boiled eggs might arrive long after your toast has gotten cold.
Instead, our entire breakfast at Uncle Lai is set before us in near-perfect synchrony. Surprised? More like shocked, though happily so.
Do we begin with coffee, still hot and frothy? Or reach for toast, dragging it through soft yolk? Or go straight to something savoury, noodles cutting through the morning’s sweetness?
(Honestly, there is no prescribed order here. If you encounter the same well-timed service, our only advice: Let your appetite decide.)
Now, for Ayer Keroh residents, Uncle Lai’s reputation rests on two pillars: coffee and mee hoon kueh.
Let us begin with the coffee, specifically the grand-sounding Uncle Lai’s Signature Kopi. Dark yet creamy, built on the deep roast bitterness of traditional Hainanese beans. Ah, but also tempered with a sweetness that is almost — almost — too much.
This is kaw in the truest sense: pleasingly thick, robust, concentrated. True, the first sip can feel overwhelming, sugar leading the way.
But we are patient; we allow a moment for it to settle on our tongues, and take another sip. Now its bitterness begins to surface, dancing through the earlier sweetness until the cup feels more balanced. Hits the spot.
Toast, of course, is part of the equation.
The Pandan Kaya Toast stays close to tradition: thin rather than thick slices, crisp at the edges and spread with fragrant kaya and chilled slabs of butter that barely hold their shape before melting into the crumb.
We dip the roti bakar into half-boiled eggs, saturating the bread with golden yolk and luscious white. A ritual repeated all over the country every morning — is it any wonder how a kopitiam breakfast is the true breakfast of champions?
Then there is their Pandan Kaya Polo Bun. A variation, albeit not an unnecessary one. The same kaya and butter sit within a Hong Kong-style bun, its crackled crust adding further textural interest.
And then, Uncle Lai’s true claim to fame: mee hoon kueh.
For those more familiar with pan mee, you’re in for a real treat. Mee hoon kueh is formed by hand, dough torn into uneven pieces rather than cut into symmetrical strands.
Each piece differs; some are thin and soft, others thicker with more bite. The result is variation in every mouthful and what Malaccans look for with a gourmand’s critical eye (or do I mean tongue?): that springy, elastic chew.
Pasta maker? Not required. Uniformity? Not desired. This is irregular, imperfect, and all the better for it.
While there is a soup version, we always prefer Uncle Lai’s Dry Mee Hoon Kueh. The noodles are tossed in soy sauce and aromatic oils, coating each slippery fold. It’s hard to remember to stop and chew; one’s instinct is to slurp and swallow, not wasting a single drop.
For a bowl shaped by the historical city’s Peranakan heritage, go for their Laksa Mee Hoon Kueh.
Here, the broth is rich with coconut cream and chilli, unmistakably Nyonya in character. Familiar elements such as fish balls, fishcake, hard-boiled egg, cucumber and see hum (blood cockles) are nestled among the torn pieces of dough.
We both agree: this “fusion” version steals the show, the breakfast show, so to speak. It’s the best of two worlds — what tourists imagine Malaccan cuisine entails (read: Nyonya Baba dishes) and what real Malaccans enjoy on a regular basis at their neighbourhood kopitiam.
Coffee and mee hoon kueh. Toast and half-boiled eggs. These are breakfast foods that endure.
And if you’re a Malaccan, that sometimes means switching things up once in a while. A Hong Kong polo bun here, a Nyonya laksa soup there. Whatever makes sense and is the most satisfying.
Uncle Lai Kopitiam 来叔福南洋茶室
3, Lorong Setia 1,
Taman Ayer Keroh Heights, Melaka.
Open daily (except Thu closed) 7am-3pm
Phone: 011-2682 1896
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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