Pineapple tarts in Melaka – Christina Ee, LW, Bibik, Baba Charlie, Pooh Keon, Nyonya Story

Going to Penang? Everyone ask you for tau sar piah.

Going to Melaka? Everyone ask you for……..well, what else. Pineapple tarts.

I had some really good pineapple tarts before and frankly, these weren’t from the streets from Melaka. These were from some home enterprises that sells them only during Chinese New Year.
But for your all year round fix, take your chances and venture around Melaka town.

As you know I was in Melaka for the weekend courtesy of Casa del Rio. It was a wonderful hotel and I was grateful that I could rest in comfort and luxury after each food hunting episode on the hot sweltering roads of Melaka town.

Rebecca Saw - casa del rio Melaka

This was especially true after one hot Sunday afternoon in Jonker Street going from shop to shop tasting and buying boxes of pineapple tarts!

taste good - pineapple tarts house - jonker street

I had put out a request on twitter, FB and my FB page for recommendations. The replies I got were the usual suspects of Christina Ee, LW and Bibik House. A few recommended some far away outlets that the unforgiving Melaka heat and jams just doesn’t seem to make it worth the drive.

And surprisingly, most local Malaccans friends (or maybe just the ones I know) couldn’t’ recommend “the best” place for me to get my pineapple tarts. So for a start for this trip, I’m testing out the usual suspects on Jonker Street.
Perhaps for my next trip I’ll venture out to uncharted territories like one that’s near the prison (as recommended by Brian Moh) and another at god-knows-where named Bee Bee’s (as recommended by Donn Donovey).
Do leave me a comment if you have a personal favourite that I could try! 🙂

So here goes, a comparison of 7 different pineapple tarts I had to force myself to eat (along with 3 other tasters) on a hot Sunday afternoon by the fountain in Casa del Rio.

pineapple tarts in melaka - review rebecca saw blog

The numbers 1-7 denotes their ranking among this batch.
So yes, Nyonya Story (quite unheard of yes?) ranks top.

Pineapple Jam Crumb/pastry Price Overall Rating:
1. Nyonya Story Enterprise The jam has the best texture with a melt-in-the-mouth feel yet it retained the thread-like fibre which gives it a nice bite.
However, if it has more pineapple flavour and tang, it would have been perfect!
I like this the best among all as it has the pastry is tastier (saltier than the rest) with a distinctive buttery aroma.  RM7.00 for the small box 8.5/10Location: Jonker Street
2. LW Pineapple Tarts House, Jonker Street The jam has a nice pineapple tang and a balanced sweetness.
It is slightly more fibrous than I would have like but I like the strong flavour of pineapples.LW’s tarts also happens to be the smallest among all for almost the same price.
The crumbs is very soft and shatters easily upon handling. I prefer Nyonya Story’s as the pastry is tastier.
LW’s is pretty plain though still buttery.
RM8.00 8.0/10Location:Jonker Street.
3. Christina Ee I like the tanginess and the fact it is not too sweet. The crumb is nicely buttery but overall it seemed a bit dry. RM7.50 7.0/10 Location:Jonker Street.
4. Pooh Kean Though it has the pineapple tanginess, it was a bit too sweet for us. The pastry is a bit dry and it breaks easily into coarse crumbs. RM14.00 (only the big box available)
It’s safe to estimate it at RM7 for the small box since all the smaller packaging is half the amount of tarts in the big boxes.
6.5/10 Location:Jonker Street.
5. Taste Better This one was a tad more fibrous than necessary.
We find it too sweet as well.
The pastry was decently buttery and it melts in the mouth.  RM8.00 6.0/10 Location:Jonker Street.
6. Babe Charlie Nyonya Cake  This one was way too sweet! Since this is the open faced version the pastry was probably made using margarine.
The crust is more biscuit-like and resilient to handling.
It was somewhat tastier too.
 RM7.00 5.0/10
Location:Jalan Tengkera, 75200 Malacca
7. Bibik House  Too fibrous, too sweet. Enough said. Very crumbly and it lacked the buttery aroma we prefer.  RM15.00 (also only big boxes available) 4.0/10Location:Jonker Street.
CONCLUSION: Best pineapple jam goes to LW followed by Nyonya Story and then Christina Ee.But I still won’t eat any of them voluntarily. Best pastry goes to Nyonya Story followed by LW. All of them are similarly priced:Small – RM7 or RM8+
Big boxes goes for RM11 – RM14.
Since this is my first attempt at seeking the “best pineapple tarts in Melaka” I started at Jonker Street.
For upcoming trips I would be keen to find other outlets so please do recommend me any of your favourites!

****************************************************************************************************************************************

Nyonya Story Enterprise.

nyonya story enterprise - jonker street

nyonya story enterprise pineapple tart - jonker street

nyonya story enterprise pineapple tart - jonker street-001

nyonya story enterprise pineapple tart - jonker street-002

nyonya story enterprise pineapple tart - jonker street-003

LW Pineapple Tarts House, Jonker Street.

LW pineapple tarts house - jonker street

LW pineapple tarts house - jonker street-001

LW nyonya pineapple tart - jonker street

LW nyonya pineapple tart - jonker street-001

Christina EeQuite a challenge to find as there are no big signboard on the shop but just 2 small buntings at the side of the shop.

christina ee - pineapple tarts house - jonker street

I love the presentation though. It looks very handmade and the fillings has a really nice golden hue.

christina ee pineapple tart - jonker street

christina ee pineapple tart - jonker street-001

christina ee pineapple tart - jonker street-002

Pooh KeanA bit off the main street but no less busy.
POH KEONG ENTERPRISE No.81 Jalan Tokong, 75200 Melaka. Tel: +6012-613 4338

pooh kean pineapple tart - jonker street

pooh kean enterprise pineapple tart - jonker street

pooh kean enterprise pineapple tart - jonker street-002

Taste BetterThis is the one near the Geographer Cafe.

taste better - pineapple tarts house - jonker street (2)

taste better pineapple tart - jonker street - geographer cafe

But seriously, it could “Taste Better“.  Especially so for the fillings.

taste better pineapple tart - jonker street - geographer cafe-001

Babe Charlie Nyonya Cake. This is the only open faced one that I bought and it is the only one available for sale at Baba Charlie. My advice? Stick to the nyonya kuih. Even the nasi lemak I bought here was below par.

baba charlie pineapple tart - melaka

baba charlie nyonya pineapple tart - jonker street

Bibik HouseForget this one. Really.

bibik house - pineapple tarts house - jonker street

bibik house pineapple tart - jonker street

bibik house pineapple tart - jonker street-001

bibik house pineapple tart - jonker street-002

NOTE:
All tasting were done on the butter crust (the margarine crust are the round open faced ones tarts) version. One exception was Baba Charlie because they only sell the open faced tarts.
Every outlet offers 2 options for the crust; margarine – open faced tarts or butter – the rolled tarts. The pineapple jam fillings remained the same.

Lastly, I have given away all the pineapple tarts (all 7 boxes of them) as I didn’t think they were worth the calories. Though Nyonya Story is the best among them, I still do not think they are good enough.
My preference for pineapple tarts are firm but crumbly pastry when bitten into (not break apart upon touch) and it has to be slightly salty. And I like my pineapple filling to have fibres in it and be on the tart/tangy side rather than just plain diabetically sweet.

So what do you guys think?
What other pineapple tarts should I try? Leave me a comment! 🙂

* This Melaka trip was made possible by Casa del Rio, Melaka. Thank you to the management for the splendid stay and providing me the opportunity to explore the rich cultural state of Melaka! 🙂

Rebecca Saw - casa del rio Melaka

Casa del Rio Boutique Hotel
88, Jalan Kota Laksamana 75200 Malacca, Malaysia
+606-289 6888

This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. Sean Eat Drink KL

    wah, the hotel bed looks lovely and the view from the balcony is really nice. this hotel wasn’t in existence when i was growing up there 😀
    anyway, this is an incredibly useful chart of pineapple tarts that you’ve compiled! i’m not familiar with any of these places, but i also agree that some of the nicer pineapple tarts i’ve had are homemade, usually with a more buttery base and generously thick, fresh-tasting and flavorful jam! 😀
    p.s. it was an appetite-whetting experience to chat with you again earlier this weekend, and i hope we can do it again soon! maybe drop me an email when you’re settled back down with your regular routine, and we can arrange for makan in a nice quiet cafe! 😀

  2. Nyonya girl

    Melaka has become a commercialised joke for all things nyonya. None of the jam tarts you reviewed are remotely authentic or genuine nyonya style tarts and most of the people selling them are not nyonya either. Nyonya jam tarts are never rolled. They are generous size, open faced tarts made with egg pastry (never crumbly or melt in the mouth). There is a distinct bite to the pastry. Sadly, it has become really hard to find the real home made McCoy. Am still looking….

    1. rebeccasaw

      Oh my god! Just like nyonya food!
      Such a lost cause trying to find a nice PORKY one (as hw it should be) in Melaka – the nyonya town of Msia!
      I’m so sad really. And those tarts. They were so hard to swallow -_-

      Thanks for your comment Nyonya girl. Im heading to melaka again but i guess I’ll look for other food…

  3. Ji Sin

    They look buttery delicious though! Really that bad?

  4. Afandi

    I would suggest you should try the one that fully homemade and freshly baked. I have tested them. Their concept is “made-to-order”. I found them in FB – “The Only Tart”. This is not a type of Nyonya jam tart and is purely baked by Malay. Honestly I have not tasted any of Nyonya jam tart. Hope my this 2 cents comment can benefit you. Thanks

    1. rebeccasaw

      Thanks Afandi! Alrighty.. I’ll make an order next time when I’m heading to Melaka again!

  5. TChuan

    You must try Madam Goh Pineapple Tarts located beside Jonker Stage, facing Tang House/Jonker Boutique Hotel, Next to Aik Cheong Coffee Roaster. I fully recommend the butter pastry type!

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