KL’s MakanHouse serves Melaka Portuguese and Kelantanese soul food

MakanHouse has been a DIY dream, built by the owners themselves. - SAM THAM/The Star

MakanHouse is possibly one of the most unassuming treasure troves you’ll find in KL – a repository of family recipes and a holding place for the cuisines of two cultures, Melaka Portuguese and Kelantanese. This small restaurant is so much more than it might seem at first glance.

Its rustic brick walls cradle much-loved antiques from the private collection of owners, husband-and-wife team Mark Felix and Samihah Mat Taib (known to all as Ming) – from the floral-painted Peranakan metal trays to the weathered wooden cupboard that houses the ulam for the lunchtime buffet, to the old doors that have found new life as shelves – there’s history everywhere you look, and so much charm.