It had been several months since I last visited Satay Inn, my local Malaysian restaurant. But although the best dishes here (in my opinion) are the Malaysian ones, the menu also encompasses Chinese and Thai. During my latest visit, my dining companions ordered from the Chinese side of the menu, while I ordered from the Malaysian side.

Malaysian first. I really should have taken a photo of the satay chicken because it was fab. But as always, my stomach ruled my head and the portion was demolished before I’d even thought of my camera.

The mains were a mixed bag. I’d ordered kapitan chicken the first time I came here and remembered it to be a flavoursome, fiery dish. This version was a whole lot milder, though the flavours were still good.

But the star of the night was kangkung belacan (or kangkung cha terasi, as the Indonesians call it. It’s simply water spinach stir fried with shrimp paste, garlic, and lots of chilli. It’s tasty and very addictive. Not a boring vege dish, that’s for sure.

Tomorrow, the Chinese dishes.

Hainan Chicken Rice is a dish popular around Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. I’ve been eating it for donkeys, and unlike a lot of dishes from SE Asia, this one is homely and (comparatively) subtle in taste.

When you order it you will get:
– a portion of rice cooked in chicken stock and garlic
– a portion of chicken poached in chicken stock and dressed with a little soy, sesame oil and fried shallots
– some salad vegetables, most commonly cucumber
– a little bowl of clear chicken soup, sometimes containing Chinese veges
– a little (mild) chilli sauce
– a little ginger/garlic condiment

That’s some bang for your buck, don’t you reckon? If you’re not getting all of these things then you’re getting ripped off! The best version I’ve tasted is at my local Malaysian, Satay Inn.

To eat our Malaysian feast, we had a beef brisket curry. The flavour is actually subtle – definitely more subtle than its cousin the rendang. I can taste lemongrass and can see curry leaves. By this time we were all actually very full, but I’ve had a nice dinner or three since from the leftovers.

The discovery of the meal was salt and pepper eggplant. It was absolutely delish. The batter was light and not too oily or salty. The eggplant inside was soft and gooey. All in all, very more-ish. Pity that the waiter was over enthusiastic in disposing of it at the end of the meal or I could’ve enjoyed it for a bit more at home.

Ah, Hainan Chicken Rice… I had this dish last time and was so enthusiastic that Om nom nom nom wanted to try it, too. Well, they’ve maintained the standard (although it was strangely missing the soup this time). Still, it’s definitely the best chicken rice I’ve tasted recently. The tender chicken and flavoursome rice beats all the well-known city Malaysian outlets hands down.

I was back again at Satay Inn (seems like I can’t stay away). First up was a couple of skewers of chicken satay, or sate ayam in Bahasa. This satay has got plenty of ground coriander, tumeric, and of course, lots of ground peanuts.