Satay Celap: Everything you can poke a stick at, literally

We had read about this place in Melaka called Capitol Satay on numerous blogs and we were looking forward to heading there for a meal.

Then flicking through the latest Malaysian Lonely Planet in the hostel I saw it was in there. Hmmmm. It is not that I don’t like the Lonely Planet, I like the easy to follow information on the history, layout, sights and transport. I am just a bit wary of any resturants they mention as more often that not you get an over priced, small serve of a less that great meal. With the steady stream of tourists going in and out of their doors thanks to the Lonely Planet listing, it seems they are not too worried about how good the food is.

Anyway the concept of cooking our own food by dunking it in a hot bucket of satay sounded too good to miss so we headed out to give it the taste test.

There are other satay celup (meaning to ‘dip’) places in Melaka but Capitol Satay is deemed the place to go. The family has been in the business since the 1950′s and always have a queue out the front no matter what time of night you go, so they must be doing something right.

After queuing for a table you will be ushered in as the last group is leaving and given a metal tray which you then go and fill from the selection of chicken, beef, pork, fish,  meat balls, tofu, vegetables, and deep fried goodies on sticks. Each stick is 0.90 ringgit (30 cents).

Satay celap is cooked by dipping your selection of sticks into a bubbling pot that sits in the middle of the table. The satay sauce is what you are here for and with 22 fresh ingredients it will have you coming back for more. As you sit down you are given huge pot of sauce that is topped up again and again as you eat. You need to make sure that you stir the pot on a regular basis to get the full flavour of all the peanuts, lemon grass, ginger, chili and coconut, if you don’t one of the waitresses will be over quick as a flash to instruct you. Just make sure you don’t wear your best top as they are vigorous stirrers.

If you eat a lot you will get given ‘special’ sticks, usually large prawns or squid rings that are not available in the fridge. You still need to pay for these, but they are the same price as the smaller prawns in the fridge. If you don’t want them it is okay to leave them as you only pay for them if you eat them.

When you have your fill of satay, a waitress will count your sticks and you pay.

For the die hards you can try and make it on the wall of fame at the back. We ate about 16 sticks between us, some of the people on the wall had done well over 300 on their own!

I have to say that Capitol Satay exceeded our expectations and certainly lived up to the hype. Yum.

Where: 41 Lorong Bukit Cina, Melaka 75100, Malaysia
When: Open everyday after 5pm (closed Mondays)
How much: 0.90 Ringgit (30 cents) per stick, some plates individually priced