[Malaysia] Capitol Satay, Malacca

Posted by: moxy on: September 5, 2013

• In: Food | Travel
• 1 Comment

Since we were only staying at Malacca for one night, our tour guide (who also happened to be the owner of the place we rented) brought us to Capitol Satay Restaurant. He said that it’s the most famous satay celup place in Malacca and is said to be the original. Long queues are the norm here, much like the one we experienced at Chop Chung Wah. This place opens as early as 5pm, so it’s really recommended you arrive early so that you could secure a table as soon as possible. We were informed that the line during weekends and holidays could get very, very long.

We were already there before the usual dinner time and we already had to wait in line with these people.

I think Capitol Satay really take their stuff seriously. Check out those signs!

So how do you get started? Once you’re assigned a table, you can proceed to this huge chiller containing trays of different edible things on sticks.  You’re free to choose whatever you want and there’s no limit to the quantity of items you are allowed to get. Just remember that each stick is equal to RM90 cents, regardless if you got the seafood, vegetable or meat ones.

Right beside the chiller, you can also get these tao phe, or dried beancurd skin.

A pot of Capitol Satay‘s signature satay sauce is placed at the center of the table, where it sits on top of a flame. As you can see in the photo’s background, you get small dishes of sliced bread and vegetables which you can also dunk in the sauce. Those are given to all customers for free.

One of the place’s servers will come over your table and put a huge ladle’s worth of brown sugar and other ingredients into the boiling pot. They’ll mix it all for you and when they’re done, the cooking / dunking can commence. The servers will randomly appear every once in a while to add more ingredients and/or adjust the flame. Be careful with the sauce since the hot liquid has a tendency to spew out of the pot, especially when it has already thickened and the heat is way too much.

Here’s a look at the stuff we got from the chiller.  We decided to go with Chinese sausages, pig’s ears, quail eggs, vegetables, dried bean curd skin and a variety of seafood balls.

I didn’t get to take a photo of it, but a few minutes into the meal, one of the servers gave us another tray containing shrimp, squid, abalone, etc. and they also cost RM90 cents per stick. Our tour guide said that these were not on display since they were considered to be “special items”. It’s up to you if you wish to consume or ignore them.

Just to give you an idea: here’s a photo of a fish ball we were able to get from the chiller. This was before it went inside the sauce pot.

Here’s a peek at what it looks like after it sits simmering in the pot for several minutes. It doesn’t look very appetizing, but that sauce tasted really nutty, a bit spicy and sweet. It did make all the food taste pretty good. Of course, since there’s nothing on the menu except the peanut sauce, I did reach my satiation point sooner than expected and decided to stop eating. I was craving for something else to cleanse the palate.

Our drink for the night? Canned ice lemon tea. I liked that it wasn’t too sugary.  Sadly, I don’t see this particular brand in Manila.

It wasn’t my first time to eat something like this, but it was still a fun experience. Is it worth craving for? Not so much, in my opinion. Maybe people who are more addicted to peanut sauce would find this much more amusing than I did.

By the way, it’s not the poshest of all places so don’t expect to be seated in an air-conditioned area and be pampered by any of the staff. Expect to sweat. If you’re obsessed about cleanliness and dining in areas which look spotless, then this place might not be the best match for you.

I’m going to leave you with a piece of friendly advice which we got from a local: if you plan to visit this place, make sure you select the items on sticks that look like they’re new and/or don’t have much sauce stains. I don’t think I need to explain any further; I’m sure you get the point. 😛

**Looking for this place? Capitol Satay‘s address is 41, Lorong Bukit Cina, 75100, Melaka, Malaysia.

Tags: Capitol Satay, Food, food on sticks, hot pot, Malacca, Melaka, peanut satay