Jonker Street and Chinatown in Malacca
Part of the Malacca travel guide — see every topic in All Malacca Guides.
Jonker Street — officially Jalan Hang Jebat — runs through the heart of Malacca's Chinatown and is the city's commercial spine. By day it is antique dealers, craft shops, cafes and museums in two-storey shophouses; on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings it closes to traffic and becomes a night market running the full length of the street. The parallel streets either side, particularly Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, hold the finer Peranakan townhouses and most of the serious food.
The night market
From about six on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings the street closes and fills with stalls: food, clothes, souvenirs, phone accessories, buskers and a karaoke stage at the far end that has become an institution. The food is the reason to go — grilled squid, satay, quail eggs, pineapple tarts, coconut shakes, durian puffs, and stalls doing single specialities they have made for decades. It is crowded, loud and thoroughly enjoyable. Bring cash and small notes, and go early if you want to move rather than shuffle.
Antiques and shopping
Jonker Street's antique trade is long established and genuinely interesting, selling Peranakan porcelain, old tiles, colonial furniture, coins, kitsch and a great deal of reproduction. Ask directly what is old and judge the answer; the honest dealers will tell you. Beyond antiques the street carries batik, beaded slippers, craft shops and an increasing number of tourist-oriented outlets. Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, one street over, is quieter and holds the better Peranakan houses, several of which are open as museums or hotels.
The food
Malacca's signature dishes are concentrated here. Chicken rice balls — Hainanese chicken rice with the rice compressed into ping-pong-sized spheres, a Malacca invention — at the long-running shops along Jonker and Jalan Hang Kasturi. Cendol with gula melaka palm sugar at Jonker 88, which has a permanent queue. Satay celup, where you cook your own skewers in a communal pot of bubbling peanut sauce, at the places along Jalan Ong Kim Wee. Nyonya laksa, popiah, and Portuguese-influenced devil curry.
Practicalities
The street is at its busiest on Saturday evening, when Malaysian and Singaporean visitors fill the city; Friday is calmer and Sunday winds down earlier. Outside the market nights it is a normal, pleasant shopping street and considerably more relaxed. Parking anywhere near it on a weekend evening is close to impossible — walk or take a Grab. Most shops close by six or seven on non-market days. And the trishaws lining the top of the street, festooned with plastic flowers and playing pop music at volume, are a Malacca institution.
Jonker Street and Chinatown at a glance
| Official name | Jalan Hang Jebat |
|---|---|
| Night market | Friday, Saturday and Sunday from ~6pm |
| Signature dish | Chicken rice balls — a Malacca invention |
| The queue | Jonker 88 for cendol with gula melaka |
| Local speciality | Satay celup — cook your own in a communal peanut pot |
| Quieter parallel | Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock — the finer Peranakan houses |