I had another outing with my Auntie. After fulfilling her chicken rice fix, Auntie wanted satay next. Fortunately for me, there is a Sate Kajang Hj Samuri@Damansara Uptown which is very convenient.
This satay restaurant was closed for a while for renovations and has since reopened. Not much has changed except that the restaurant now has a slight contemporary feel.
I remember how good the satay used to be. There was a time whenever my parents visited, they would request for satay which my brother would pack for them to eat at home. I also used to tapau the chicken/beef/mutton satay.
Due to my good experience at Sate Kajang, I had no reservations about taking my Auntie there to satisfy her satay cravings.
So there we were on a Saturday for lunch. I asked my Auntie how many sticks she can consume so that I know how much to order. At first she said 10. And then 15 hah..hah…
You know, in the good old days when I was a kid, my cousins and I would have a satay eating competition come Chinese New Year (if satay was on the menu). We would sit down and enjoy as many to our hearts delight and count the satay sticks.
I remember downing 50 stick (yes, 50) at one sitting and yet I was not the winner. Nowadays, I can do only 10 or at the most 15 (OK, maybe 20). I cannot imagine how I managed 50 back then.
So. Back to our lunch. We have to order at the counter. The young lady who took our order was not very friendly. Her demeanor was one of annoyance. I don’t know. That was the vibe I got from her.
Since my Auntie preferred chicken, I ordered 20 sticks of chicken and 10 sticks of mutton satay. I also ordered one nasi impit for my Auntie. For drinks, it was a Laichi for her and an iced Kopi O Kosong for me. Total damage RM47.90.
Look at the condition of the nasi impit. It came with the casing which I removed and I was surprised that it was all brown and crusty on the outside.
My Auntie requested for no ice in her drink and she ended up with a warm lychee drink that was very diluted and way too sweet. My coffee was also very diluted. In other words, our drinks sucked big time. By the way, our drinks were prepared by Ms Congeniality who took our order.
When the satay was served, we wasted no time in digging in. I went for the mutton first as that is (or rather used to be) my favorite. Oh dear. It was tough. It was not well marinated. It was gamey.
The satay gravy was thin and lacking in flavor. It used to be thick with chock full of fragrant roasted peanuts.
The chicken satay, though succulent and well grilled was sadly lacking in flavor. It was as if there was not enough lemongrass and spices in the marinade.
My Auntie had not eaten satay for a few years and to her, the satay was all right. But she disliked the mutton as it was too tough and not tasty.
My Auntie pulled out one stick of satay which was more like half a stick. Poor quality control I guess.
I was struggling to finish the satay and so was my Auntie. What a disappointing experience. I don’t know what happened to Sate Kajang Hj Samuri@Damansara Uptown to serve such lackluster satay. I wonder if other patrons have the same experience or I was just unlucky that day. This experience will put me off satay for a while.