The longstanding fame of Capitol Satay in Malacca is well known but it took me more than a decade before i decided to give it a try as i have heard of its notorious queue and my stays in the UNESCO city typically don't stretch for more than two nights!
Nevertheless, my friend and I agreed to check it out in our recent trip since it was touted as a relaxation visit and we didn't really pack our schedule as tightly as we typically do.
Reaching a little past its opening hour at 4.00 pm; there's already a short queue outside Capitol Satay. Well, it's at least not as bad as the long queue i endured in my first visit to Bangkok's Thipsamai!
Note - non-air-conditioned setting with limited seating!
You do get strong wind from the many industrial standing and wall fans to cool you down while you indulge in the skewers of food thrown into a pot of boiling gravy.
It's pretty self-service once you get a table and order your drinks; help yourself to the sticks and plates of food in the supermarket-like fridge! Do keep in mind that there are different pricing categorized by the color of the plates and color on the tips of the skewers.
The prices ranged from RM 1.10 (less than S$0.40) to RM 9.00 (about S$3.00) and you can get a wide variety comprising of vegetables, meat, seafood.
Guess these cans of green-lipped abalones were of a special price; don't think they would be RM 9.00 a can unless we are looking at RM 9.00 for EACH abalone or maybe even RM 9.00 for EACH segment of one abalone!
Most expensive (aside from the abalones) were housed in the above fridge instead. If prices were not indicated, you actually have to enquire from the staff as the prices could fluctuate according to seasons.
When we were there, the fridge was decked out with trays of prawns in skewers with varying prices; most expensive of which was a RM 9.00 prawn. I didn't try any as i didn't notice the fridge (thought it was a storage fridge) until towards the end of my meal. :(
Our, modest, first tray of food.
Typical setup which included the pot of satay gravy / sauce (inserted into a hole on the table), a plate of cut of bread and a serving of cucumbers! Since this is related to satay, how come we don't get a plate of onions too?! That's just me complaining as i am a big lover of onions.
Stirring in the paste which wasn't the kind of satay paste i was expecting; in fact, i thought it tasted more like a spicier rendang sauce with additional crush peanuts thrown in to make it somewhat more like satay sauce.
Constant stirring was required (and performed by a member of the staff) as the paste tended to settle at the bottom of the pot without dissolving.
Waiting for the food to be cooked! And for someone who can't gauge the timing that well, i would prefer the raw food to sit in longer; would want a stomachache to mar my vacation.
In summary, it's the sauce / gravy that really matters and some of the raw ingredients complemented perfectly with it; like the cuttlefish. Century quail eggs tasted a bit strange though. As the sauce tasted so much like rendang, i was in fact craving for beef rendang!
And you know what i enjoyed the most?
Soft, white bread dipped in the gravy!
The end of the battle with 23 regular sticks, one pink-tipped stick, two purple plates, three orange plates, one plate of bread and two canned drinks!
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Location
41, Lorong Bukit Cina,
Bandar Hilir, 75100 Melaka,
Malaysia
Opening Hours
4.00 pm to 12.00 am
Menu
As above.
Pricing
Regular Stick - RM 1.10
Pink-Tipped Stick - RM 2.00
Purple Plate - RM 3.80
Orange Plate - RM 3.20
Bread Plate - RM 1.10
Can Drink - RM 2.30
Additional Information
There's only one store in the whole wide world; please don't be misled if others claim to hail from this famous one in Melaka!
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