Halia Inc at Quayside Hotel, Malacca: Restaurant Review

Casual riverside brunching in my hometown; we never had this back when I was a kid here. Halia Inc is a restaurant and coffee bar that opened this year in a former customs warehouse; it’s a cavernous outlet, with enough space to fit a nation’s worth of state football teams. The menu’s a mishmash of mainly Western fare; burgers, pastas, steaks and seafood with some fun Asian flourishes. Think oat-crusted salmon with yuzu butter sauce. Pizza Margherita with house-made dough, topped with fresh tomato sugo, mozzarella & basil (RM22 nett). Would have liked a thinner crust, but that’s a personal preference. Flour-free orange-almond cake with double cream (RM12). Made from scratch at Halia, as are the sticky date puddings, lemon meringue tarts and carrot cakes here, for indisputable freshness. Halia knows its brands: two KL-based purveyors of reliable ingredients supply their wares here; Forty Licks ice cream and RAW coffee. Put the two together for an extremely enjoyable affogato with salted caramel ice cream. Our sole lament: alcohol is absolutely absent at Halia Inc. Blasts from the pasts ensure that this thoughtfully decorated cafe is worth exploring. Halia is located in the same building as new three-star boutique hotel Quayside. Didn’t manage to check out the rooms, but the lobby’s impressive. There’s also a small art gallery in the hotel that’s free for walk-in visitors. Several parking spaces are reserved outside for restaurant and hotel customers. Halia’s riverfront lies opposite the Casa Del Rio hotel, if anyone needs landmarks. It’s also only a one-minute walk from the Stadhuys red square with the clock tower.