Beh Leh Hainam Satay — Restaurant in Malacca

This satay place came highly recommended by a lot of food blogs as a must-try, so we decided to check it out. It’s located along the main road, which makes parking a bit of a challenge. The area is busy, with limited parking spaces, so you might need to circle around a few times before finding a spot—if you’re lucky. Once parked, we headed to the restaurant. There was a sign at the entrance informing us to wait, as they would arrange seats for us. Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long; the staff were quick and efficient in seating guests, and within a few minutes, we were inside. Now, unlike some other places, this restaurant doesn’t require you to order a set number of skewers. You can order as few as five or eight if you like. We decided to order 15 sticks of pork satay, 3 sticks of pork intestine satay, and 2 sticks of chicken satay. Each stick costs RM1.30. One thing I liked was that the restaurant didn’t ask us if we wanted cucumbers and onions—they just came with the meal for free, served on a plate. Plus, each person got their own small bowl of satay sauce, which was a nice touch. We also ordered one bowl of cendol to try, but after just a few bites, we found it so good that we ordered a second bowl! The satay sauce, as expected, had more of a tomato flavor, without peanut taste. It’s definitely a Melaka specialty, as I haven’t come across such a tomato-heavy satay sauce anywhere else. The restaurant itself had a vintage vibe, and to my surprise, it was air-conditioned, which made eating satay in comfort a real treat. Despite the modern and high-end feel of the place, the satay was still priced reasonably at RM1.30 per stick. In total, our meal came to RM36, including two cendols, which cost RM5 each. The service was excellent, too. The staff, especially the young man who took our order, was friendly and helpful. Overall, I highly recommend this place for its great service, cozy environment, and delicious satay. Definitely worth a visit when...

Satay...BBQ meat. All over Malaysia, stay is loved, but in our opinion satay should be chargrilled the way its done here. The benchmark of satay!

We have yet to try the rest of the Malacca Hainam Satay, but we have already fell in love with this type of satay. So different from the rest of the satay we have eaten in Malaysia. Not even the famed Kajang satay can beat this.

As all satay requires at least one piece of fats to provide the aroma, but that also gives those that don't like fats the "eeks"! Here they cut a thin slice of fats to go within the meat that one will not even notice the fats.

The way the stay is chargrill is just fantastic. With slight charred on the outside to provide the crisps and the aromatic charred taste while maintaining the moist and tender inside.

Taste wise, the satay can be eaten on its own but you will not as the sauce is just heavenly. The sauce consistency not as thick as the usual satay peanut sauce, as they have added pineapple juice to it, thus giving it a slight tangy taste while maintaining the aromatic peanuts taste.

As we have mentioned that we have yet to try the rest yet, we will do so and provide an update accordingly. However, we think all of them in Malacca, chargrill satay this way and the sauce may be the same.

Verdict:

1. Will we return to Malacca just to have this satay? A definite YES!

2. Is RM1.20 too pricey for a skewer of meat? Don't think so as satay price ranges from RM0.80 to RM1.50. But with this kind of standard, RM1.20 is a steal.

3. "Jelak" feel of eating too much ...that cloying feel you get when you've had too much of a good thing..especially for satay lovers. Will you get that feel here? We only planned to have 10 skewers, but ended repeating orders 3 times, and we stopped not because of "jelak" but need the stomach space for the next food adventure on the agenda.

The sauce with its slight tangy taste, did the job to remove the jelak...

Melaka Trip Part I

Before my trip down to the land of Parameswara, I contacted some of my friends who know this state like the back of their hands. Mission accomplished and we set down South for 4D3N holiday.

For Hainam satay, 2 names popped up - Beh Leh & Sun May Hiong. I chose the former and proceed to have our lunch as soon as we reached Melaka. We had to wait for our turn because it was packed when we arrived at the restaurant.

Beh Leh's design had this nostalgic feeling to it in terms of its interior and tables + chairs reminisent yesteryears. Non-stop live satay grilling sessions can be seen in front of the shop.

◾Pork satay & chicken satay were both equally delicious, tender & juicy with good ratio of lean/fat meat. Dip into the awesome peanut sauce with pineapple puree (highlight). It was not so oily with sweetness & some tanginess to it. We had to "tambah" the sauce. ◾Intestines satay is something that you seldom see elsewhere & I had to say that for someone who fodnt fancy spare parts, i found myself eating non-stop. ◾Ketupat - soft and nice enough for those who wanted carb with their satay. ◾Cendol - the portion per bowl was small but to me quite delicious. Maybe it was my first cendol in Melaka, or maybe because the gula melaka used was good. ◾Long Chan Sarsi - another nostalgic drink served in glass bottle like those in the 80s and 90s.

Parking might be a challenge here but one will be rewarded with well-grilled meat-on-skewers...