Chapter 6

Venue: Calanthe Art Cafe

      Not only the name of this cafe is special but it's whole theme is special. Calanthe Art Cafe is situated at Jonker Walk area. The cafe will give you a vintage feel as you step in because all the furniture and decorations are vintage items or antique. The building of the cafe also has vintage feels as those buildings around Jonker Walk had existed since the time of British ruling in Malacca. So, the environment is perfect.

Ice Blended Johor Coffee

1 of the 13 states coffee (Hot) Another special thing about this cafe is that they serve coffee. Well, not just coffee but all the coffee from all over Malaysia. They have all different coffee powders for the different states in Malaysia. They call it the 13 states coffee. You can order Johor coffee, Malacca coffee, Sarawak coffee, Penang coffee and so on. My recommendation is to try the Johor coffee as I feel is the best out of the 13. Other than that, I also recommend you to drink them cold. They do not taste as good if you order them hot. You can mix 2 states coffee into one cup but I do not recommend you to do so because you cannot really taste the coffee taste of each state that way. The taste will be mixed up. You can even choose which state coffee you want and ask them to make ice blended coffee for you. Inside the ice blended coffee they will put in coffee jelly and it taste really good. So far, Johor Ice blended coffee is the best for me.

      Above are all photos of some of the interesting decorations or antique that I snap when I dine at there. As you can see, those decorations are really vintage. When I visited it for the first time, they were offering a seasonal dish which was the Fried Durian. I had ate fried jack fruit before but not Durian for sure. So I decided to gave it a try and it tasted good. It is seasonal dish so you have to visit their Facebook group to see what special dish that they are offering to keep up to date.

Fried Durian

      While at therem there are two dishes that you must try. The first is the Calanthe Laksa and the second is the Asam Pedas. Thier laksa was rated top 50 in Malaysia and I personally recommend it as I love it very much. the laksa is not penang laksa type of soup but is the Curry laksa type. You can order 'mee', 'kuey teow' or 'mee hoon' laksa but I will tell you this. 'Mee hoon' is the best to make curry laksa because they will like kind of absorb the curry more and you can taste it well. On the other hand, their asam pedas is said to be one of the best in Malacca. I know another shop in Malacca that is said to have the best asam pedas but Calanthe Art Cafe asam pedas is good too. The asam pedas is served with a plate of rice with salted egg, belacan and vege. They only sell 'Asam Pedas' on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Calanthe Laksa

Asam Pedas

Rice with salted egg, belacan and vege

Double Chocolate

      They do sell other drinks other than the 13 states coffee. For example I drank this chocolate drink during my second visit there. It taste good. You also can buy back those 13 states coffee powder which will cost you RM 2 per pack. I was told that many tourist and local customers praise their drinks and food for their good taste and  quality. So, don't be surprise if you see there are many tourist there or you have to wait for your seat during the weekend.




Overall: 10/10



Review: Calanthe Art Cafe is the best cafe that I had dine in up to now in terms of food, drinks, service and environment. Although sometimes when you sit inside the cafe you may feel a little warm due to lack of air flow but I think that is just a small problem that will not stop me from enjoying their food and drinks. Their waiters serve with a smile too and have very good customer service. I had introduced this cafe to several friends and all of them said this cafe is good. I definitely recommend this cafe to all of you who is reading this and I can tell you that the price of the food and drinks are reasonable.


Location: Calanthe Art Cafe is situated at Jonker Street. It is at the same alley as where A Famosa Chicken Rice shop is situated.