Malacca has only two places to have satay celup. Enough said. If any of your friends bring you to any other satay celup shop other than the two listed below, brace yourself for a yucky meal. You have my words, partially.

The first one is Ban Lee Hiang Satay Celup at Jalan Ong Kim Wee, which I blogged about it long time ago (March 2005) but briefly and the other one is Bukit Cina’s Capitol Satay Celup, which is what you are reading now. Should I rewrite the post for Ban Lee Hiang Satay Celup?

Comparing Ban Lee Hiang and Capitol side by side…

Ban Lee Hiang

RM0.50 per stick.
No extra bonuses.
Not much varieties.
Popular among locals.
No queue, or sometimes, shorter queue.
Two shop lots, spacious and comfortable.
Milder taste peanut sauce, but has the one bit of spiciness in it.
No medium and big sized prawns, only small sized shrimps (one per stick).

Capitol

One shop lot.
RM0.60 per stick.
Long queue, as in, extremely long.
Strong ginger / lemon grass taste.
Stronger taste and a little sweetness in it.
A favourite among Singaporeans and tourists.
A lot of varieties, perhaps double of Ban Lee Hiang.
Extra bonuses like big sized prawns, squids and etc.
Small sized shrimps (two per stick) are fresher, juicer and tastier.

I didn’t really like Capitol from the beginning but after being forced to dine at Capitol few times, I think I am starting to like it for its varieties, delicious shrimps and big prawns, but not the sauce still. If its weekday, I would pick Capitol as the queue is short but if its weekend or public holidays, Ban Lee Hiang it is for the fast turnover.

Everything is pretty much standard and doesn’t differ much from any other satay celup shop. Upon seated, you can opt for the Muar’s bread or not. I like the bread, a lot, to go along with the peanut sauce. The breads are exceptionally soft and fluffy. If you don’t want the breads, you will have a plate of cut cucumbers.

Smack right in the middle of the table is the pot of aromatic and orgasmic peanut sauce. The same pot of peanut sauce is used again and again and again and again and again and again and again… Until they end their business around 1.30am. Every now and then, the waitresses would come over to add extra peanut sauce to give you the kick. I am sure you get my point, right? Yes, the same pot for all customers throughout the night. Hence, if hygiene is your utmost priority, you can kiss satay celup good bye in your food-to-eat-in-Malacca list.

Everything is self serviced.

The food are neatly displayed and you take whatever you want to eat. You will be charged for what you have ate, not what you have taken. However, don’t take too much and leave them on your plate. Wasting food is a no-no. Thumbs up to Captiol for the really huge varieties. Four and a half rows of food, assorted fish / meat balls, vegetables, deep fried snacks, seafoods and meats for you to choose from.

Well, despite the number of food served, I only eat a few selected ones. The pork and shrimp. Heh! These two contributes up to 90% of the sticks I usually have. Capitol’s pork ahd shrimp taste much better than Ban Lee Hiang’s. However, when I am at Ban Lee Hiang’s, my selected ones are two totally different thing from Capitol’s.

After you eat more than a certain amount, the waitresses would give you the bonuses, usually big prawns, squids and something-I-don’t-know-what. The price of these few varieties are definitely more than RM0.60 but you are charged RM0.60 still. Its another form of discount and giving back to the customer after eating a lot. In another way, they are encouraging you to eat more so that you can earn the extra bonuses and increase their profit at the same time. I like the big prawns, very much!

When you are done, they will collect your sticks and count them, and then, you pay.

After that, you get your ass up and move to your next station so that other people can take over your table. Don’t sit down there and chit chat, please. I absolutely hate and despise people who do that, as you are making other people waiting unnecessarily. Be nice!

Capitol Satay Celup,
41, Lorong Bukit Cina,
Melaka.

Map, courtesy of Amazing Melaka.