A short stroll from the famous Nasi Lemak Wanjo in Kampung Baru sits Din Satay, a little roadside stall originally started by Pak Din and now carried on by the second generation with the help of his nephew.
There is seriously nothing fancy here. A zinc roof, cement floor, plastic chairs and tables that have probably witnessed more dinners than we have. You could arrive in a Ferrari or a Perodua Myvi and nobody would care. Sit down on one of those questionable plastic chairs and suddenly, everyone is equal.
We arrived after already eating at Wanjo, so waistband negotiations were underway. Then the charcoal smoke hit us.
There is something wonderfully nostalgic about the smell of satay grilling over charcoal. It drifts through the air like an announcement: you may be full, but you’re not that full.
We ordered the chicken and beef. Both were generously sized, properly marinated and beautifully balanced – not overly sweet, with lemongrass, shallots and turmeric coming through beneath the smoky char. The peanut sauce was finer than the chunky style we normally prefer, but certainly wasn’t shy with the peanuts.
And importantly, these were proper satay sticks. Some modern satay seems to be getting progressively smaller, perhaps hoping nobody notices. Din’s sticks still have enough meat to give you that satisfying bite of smoky, charred meat that satay deserves.
Between chatting with a tourist couple at the next table and watching the resident cat occasionally inspect us before returning to his nap, our satay mysteriously disappeared.
We contemplated another order.
Our brains said we’d already eaten dinner.
Our bellies, displaying absolutely no sense of responsibility, ordered more.
Din Satay isn’t polished, curated or pretending to be nostalgic. It is simply an old-school roadside satay stall serving generous sticks of very good satay.
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