Saturday, April 22, 2006

West Coast Satay

C says:

Between Malay and Chinese satay, I’ll take Chinese satay any day. Chinese satay is characterised by the pork satay that traditionally comes with alternating layers of lean meat and slices of pure fat. Unhealthy, I know, but there’s nothing like the taste of pork fat that’s been slightly charred over the satay grill. Mmmm…

A and I used to traipse all the way to Chomp Chomp at Serangoon Gardens for the Chinese satay there, but eventually the nightmarish parking situation and the increasingly scrawny sticks of satay kept us from going back.

We chanced upon the stall at the West Coast hawker centre (the one opposite Ginza Plaza) quite by accident. We were aimlessly wandering around there one day with M and J and noticed the stall. We ordered a few sticks of each meat – pork, chicken and mutton – and I was hooked from first bite. It had all the elements of good satay, in my opinion: tender chunks of meat (none of that minced meat for me), not-too-overpowering seasoning, and perfectly cooked so that the meat is still juicy. In fact, I think it’s improved since we first discovered it. Previously, only the pork was good, and the mutton was sometimes tough and the chicken slightly tasteless. However, the standard has definitely gone up, and now all 3 are consistently delicious.

We’ve ordered raw satay from here before, for barbeques, and it was well received on both occasions. I managed to snag the guy’s (I think he’s Mr Lim) handphone number so that in future, I can just call to order large quantities for barbeques or parties. If anyone wants his number, or wants to know where exactly they can find the stall, just let us know!

A says:

What I like is the friendly guy. I wouldn’t say the satay is fantastic. It’s very good for sure but a tad on the oily side. Actually, maybe that’s what makes it better than the dried out stuff you find elsewhere. But then I don’t really taste the satay meat anyway, and just use it as a tool to scoop up gravy. I could actually just eat the gravy with bread.

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