Halia Inc @ Quayside Hotel, Malacca

Casual riverside brunching in my hometown; we never had this back when I was a kid here.

Halia Inc is a restaurant & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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.

Halia Inc,
1 Jalan Merdeka, Melaka.
Open 7am-11pm