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Satay
Satay – tasty skewered barbecued meat
Sun May Hiong Pork Satay @ Jalan Kota Laksamana, Melaka
Jan 11th
Satay is a common food in Melaka so there is no surprise that this state has the most Pork Satay restaurants. Besides the meat being used, one major difference in Pork Satay (aka Nyonya Satay) is the peanut dip which is usually mixed with a dollop of pineapple sauce.
Sun May Hiong (and along with Xiang Ji, Ming Sate Hut etc) is one of the more popular restaurants in Melaka that specializes in Pork Satay. Once you sit down, you will be given a big tray of satays regardless of whether you ordered it or not. Then, you are free to take as many as you can stomach. When the tray is almost finished the satays will be replenished automatically until you say stop.
While I find the satays (60 cents each) to be quite good, the peanut sauce is oily and diluted. The pineapple sauce on the other hand does not do anything much to improve the overall taste. In fact, it is too sourish for my liking.
48 Hours of Melaka Food, the not so Touristy Guide
Aug 31st
I spent my last weekend in Melaka searching high and low for good food that I did not manage to try in my last trip. Honestly, when I read back the trip I had almost three years ago I find it very touristy feel. So this time my aim is to those I missed and those not-so-famous places that are equally good, if not better. This will be an executive summary of my 3 days 2 nights trip, short but concise – focused mainly on food and some side activities, hopefully it will be helpful if you are visiting Melaka soon.
By the way, due to the Hari Raya and National Day holidays there are long queues in almost all the famous makan places like Chung Wah Chicken Rice, Capitol Satay Celup, Jalan Bunga Raya Fried Oyster just to name a few and waiting time could exceed 1 hour easily. Tourist influx has definitely surged and Melaka feels different too after on-going developments over the years.
If you didn’t know, I spent a year completing my pre-U courses in MMU Melaka. That time there was a nice duck mee around Bukit Beruang‘s food court, which I only knew after SL told me. Three years ago we were not able to locate the restaurant because apparently they have shifted. This time, we found it. Taste wise it exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds, the closest thing I could think of that taste almost the same is Mamee’s instant duck noodle. Imagine that but with authentic duck flavor and meat instead, very recommended. Price: RM4
Currently the duck mee can be found at Chia Yean Coffee Shop near the Medan Selera Bukit Beruang, GPS Coordinates: N2 14.779 E102 16.489
Next, Aunty Koh’s cendol at Bukit Rambai. It was a long drive past the beach and paddy fields but man was it worth it. Unlike other cendol in Melaka that relies heavily on sweet Gula Melaka for the distintive taste, Aunty Koh emphasizes on coconut milk instead. What you will get here is the milkiest cendol with the purest coconut milk taste. This, in my book is the BEST cendol ever. Besides cendol Aunty Koh also sells Tai Bak, some sort of tong sui that taste like tong yuen but comes in long shredded slices instead. RM3.50 for a big bowl of cendol.
Aunty Koh cendol is open during weekends only from 12pm till finish. Come early to avoid disappointments and expect a lot of self-service here. GPS Coordinates: N2 14.804 E102 11.516
On the way back to town from Bukit Rambai you will surely go pass Pantai Klebang and here you should try Klebang Original Coconut Shake. A normal cup costs only RM1.50 but for an extra 50 cents you get the special version with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Not bad but the blended ice is not fine enough resulting in some annoying bits here and there.
‘Klasik’ Satay Station @ Restoran O’din, Taman Ehsan Kepong
Jul 12th
Last week, a reader suggested me to try a satay stall in Taman Ehsan Kepong called ‘Klasik’ Satay Station. For him it is the best among the famous ones in Klang Valley. After doing my own homework I found that ‘Klasik’ is still new to the satay scene and is relatively unknown in the cyberspace.
Just FYI, ‘Klasik’ did a satay blind test with their customers. The result was interesting, as it showed that 10/10 customers preferred theirs over the satay giant from Kajang aka Hj Samuri. Regardless of whether that bold claim is true or not, it was the biggest reason I dropped by to check them out last weekend.
Since ‘Klasik’ is still a new player – one year old to be exact, they are just renting a stall space in Restoran O’din. From what I was told, the boss’ sifu operates another stall in Kajang and is the original inventor of Sate Kajang. But just to be clear I am only repeating what he said so don’t take my words for it.
Besides using the best ingredients, one of the secrets in ‘Klasik’ satay lies in the oily baste. You know, the tin of oil satay sellers would dip their self made lemongrass brush into? If you look carefully it does look very different from the rest, which are usually just cooking oil.
Satay Station @ Kampung Pandan, KL
May 5th
I have always knew there is a popular satay joint in Kampung Pandan. Without knowing its actual name, I kind of accidentally tried it after stumbling upon Satay Station on my GPS unit. Apparently Satay Station is a chain restaurant with branches at Ampang, Setiawangsa and even Mont Kiara. Don’t expect the same pricing throughout all the branches though, Mont Kiara’s is about 20% more expensive due to its location.
A long satay grill manned by a few workers is the the first thing that greets the customer immediately. Talk about impressing the customers!
