You can probably guess from the boiling pot of satay celup sauce above that I’m in Melaka…and you’ll be right! I’m writing this from Dream Hotel (where all guests drift off happily into the warm embraces of sleep) – it’s a road trip planned earlier with Mel to go stuff ourselves silly in Melaka.
McQuek’s Sate Celup is not actually our first choice. We wanted to go to Capitol Satay Celup but for reasons unbeknownst to me, it’s closed. There’s a piece of paper on the metal shutters which presumably states the reason for that but not being able to read Chinese, I can’t tell you why it’s not open for business. 😡
Thus, we checked the GPS and found a McQuek Satay Steamboat Recipe on it. It has parentheses that states it’s an outlet so we drove to the main McQuek Sate Celup. It’s quite a large establishment but also quite empty. I’m not sure if that’s coz today’s a weekday but it didn’t look very promising.
They apparently have an appearance on TVBS but that doesn’t mean much – almost anyone and their grandma can be featured on TV or the papers these days, hell I’ve made my appearance more than once and I’m definitely not an authoritative voice on anything.
(well maybe on one topic, my pride will allow me that much, but it’s definitely not food ;))
This is my selection from the fridge where the skewers of food is kept. The premise of satay celup is simple – you take what you want and when it’s time to pay the bill, the waiter comes over and counts the number of sticks you have on your table. I have to say though, I was not impressed by the meager selections they have – it’s less than half of what you’ll find at Ban Lee Siang.
I also noticed the lack of perhaps the most important item – siham (clams). However, to be fair you can order it separately.
Behold my indulgence! It’s a full sized squid that has 11 (eleven – count ’em) skewers in it, making it RM 6.60 for that alone. It is pretty good though. I also had my staples – quail century eggs, cuttlefish, mussels, Taiwanese sausage, quail eggs, and brinjal (eggplant) – a nod to my daily food pyramid adherence. *cough* 😉
I like the fact that McQuek Satay Celup has excellent service – they promptly refill your communal pot of satay celup sauce – complete with a healthy sprinkling of ground peanuts. The people there are friendly too, asked where we were from and whether we enjoyed the food etc etc.
However, the lack of selection coupled with the non-compliant price of RM 0.60 per stick makes me wonder if there’s a reason why this place is so devoid of customers.
The problem with this is that the portions are small too – one (1) century quail egg with a miniscule bit of carrot on top is one satay. The “good” establishments like Ban Lee Siang and probably Capitol Satay Celup price theirs at RM 0.50. It’s the golden standard.
Oh well, at least they have free cucumbers.
I can’t say that it’s the best satay celup I’ve ever had, it was very average, but no worries, tomorrow is another day and we plan to eat a lot of meals in Melaka. I can foresee at least 3-4 meals before we head back, there’s a reason we stayed at a crappy hotel – so we can eat more. 😉
Satay steamboat! Why didn’t anyone franchise this in Singapore? Haha
Yeah it’s good stuff eh bro? 🙂
I love satay celup, especially if the gravy is thick.
this is one modern satay celup restaurant!
Indeed! There wasn’t a lot of people though – maybe coz it was a weekday.
A lot of the places we wanted to go to was closed as well. Capitol Satay Celup would be our first choice. 🙂
I prefer the ones with clear boiling water like in Singapore Newton…and when you eat, you dip in the satay gravy served in a bowl. This one reminds me of molten lava…or the mud pools in Rotorua, New Zealand. Eyewwwww…..and perhaps I should refrain from mentioning the bucket latrines we had when I was a kid. Muahahhahahaha!!!!
Well, I guess if you put it into boiling water and then dip it in satay sauce, it’ll be more like lok lok instead of satay celup. 🙂
HAHAHA
I can imagine the mud pools in Rotorua, I love the place BTW. Smells of sulfer but you get used ot it.
The bucket laterines does give me pause though. 😉
wah that’s quite a smart way to price that squid. But i think 6.60 for that squid is kinda expensive leh
Yeah, that’s how satay celup places charge for their higher priced items – either more sticks or different colored sticks – notice we had a green tipped one there. 🙂
It was kinda expensive and they didn’t pull out the entrails but it tasted great! 😀
HB, I still never know really good satay sauce taste like and try one from bottles no not good at all. Only place is Thai restaurants which not bad but would try Malaysia and Singapore types also one day.
Well, if you want good satay sauce, satay celup places would be the wrong place to look for it. 🙂
Unfortunately, you’re not in Malaysia or Singapore but the best satay sauce would come from regular satay stalls. Thick and flavorful. 🙂
bro i like ur recent post abt d satay shit…but most importantly – the heavenly SIHAM !!! (blood cockles) (or ker-r-r-rang bakar/kukus as I call it in msia) its my fav food – blanched n not too raw. FUCK man i’ve been here 6 bloody years still cant find a this elusive delicacy anywhere. (clams here r frozen fake). I once ate 8 sticks of siham in fatman steamboat 1 go. Im immunized for hep b btw. lol. btw the d’s was pretty chilling 🙂
Yeah, I love siham too! 🙂
It goes very well with everything – from char kueh tiaw to sambal siham in nasi lemak. Very versatile.
Oh ya, I’ve eaten siham raw too, it tastes good but I think I had food poisoning after. 😀
Glad to hear from a fellow fan of them blood cockles.
Wow suddenly miss my hometown. Yea, didnt really attempt to eat at McQuek, still would prefer Capitol Satay. Let us know if u enjoy d chicken rice balls, laksa or nyonya food in Melaka.
Hello Chris! 🙂
Well, I love chicken rice so chicken rice balls is naturally something I would go for.
I prefer Chung Wah to Hoe Kee though. I’ve never tried Farmosa.
I had great laksa in Donald & Lily’s – they serve awesome cendol too. 😀
Bro, do they provide new pot of sauce everytime new customers come in? or they just refill previously used pot sauce? thanks dude
Are you open this Chinese New Year ?