Great conversation and food today at lunch in Seattle with my friend and fellow blogger James J. Na, the caped (South) Korean-American Crusader For Truth, Enlightenment, and the marriage of capitalism with Islam.
At James' suggestion we went to the Malay Satay Hut, a favorite of mine and just about anyone in Seattle who loves superb Asian food. There are two locations, one in Seattle's "Little Saigon" near 12th and Jackson, and another, really stylish spot in Redmond, not far from the Microsoft campus. Malaysian is one of the world's truly great cuisines; a combination of Chinese, Indian and Thai immigrant influences.
In fact James and I both agreed that if either of us were subjected to the cruel and unusual punishment of having to eat every meal for the rest of our lives in one restaurant, it would be MSH. The Seattle Times' justifiably esteemed restaurant critic Nancy Leson (whom I got to know a bit, albeit over the phone, when I was covering the budget eats beat there as a freelancer a few years ago), also loves MSH.
Today, James and I shared Sambal Squid, Spicy Silver Noodle Soup, Chicken Satay, and Roti Canai. Other favorites include Hokkien Mee, and Buddhist Yam Pot, and Dry Curry Crab. The menu is much bigger than this online version, but you can click on each dish shown to get a beautiful close-up.
For dessert, James ordered us some "ABC Ice Kachang," which sounds to me like a DJ from Singapore. Actually, it was a big bowl of shaved ice suffused with sweet red bean milk (or some such liquid) atop pearls of tapioca, other squiggly jellied stuff (some of it black), peanuts, and corn. I know, I know. Sounds utterly, irretrievably sick. It was delicious.
My culinary horizons, already achingly wide, have been expanded.
Posted by Matt Rosenberg at January 20, 2005 08:10 PM
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You and I probably don't agree much about politics, but I completely agree with you about the Satay Hut. It's terrific.
Posted by: Steve at January 21, 2005 03:27 PMSteve: If you can agree about food, the rest is inconsequential!
Posted by: Jeff at January 21, 2005 05:44 PMSteve, I'm metro-cultural, even tho my politics are center-right. I AM a city boy of long-standing, after all (Chicago, Boston, DC, Chicago again, and then Seattle). FYI, and this probably only has a tiny bit to do with loving Malay food, I manage to get conservatives honked off at me for a number of policy stands I've taken.....
And Jeff, I'm hoping I prove you right. I have a standing lunch/dinner get-together planned next time I'm in SF, with Pierre Vladimir Stroud. Close readers of Rosenblog will know he and I sure don't see eye to eye on certain things.....although we probably do on certain others......The only thing I asked Pierre is.... no French restaurants.
Posted by: Matt R. at January 21, 2005 06:07 PMMatt:
Malay Satay Hut is run by Straits Chinese, ethnic Chinese born and reared in the Straits (Singapore Straits). Some people use the term Peranakan for them (and some reserve that term only for those who are mixed Chinese-Malay).
Their food is not "straight-up" Malay, but a mixture of Chinese recipes and Malay ingredients.
Centers of Peranakan cuisine are Penang, Melaka (Malacca) and Singapore.
The national dishes of Singaporeans are chili pepper crab, black pepper crab and Hainanese chicken, and all three are served at Malay Satay Hut as well. My wife and I love black pepper crab, and order it to go quite often from Malay Satay Hut.
There was a Singaporean restaurant in North City ("The Singapore Restaurant"). It was run by an elderly Singaporean couple. It had excellent food at very reasonable prices.
Unfortunately, it was located next to an adult store. Someone torched the shop and the restaurant burnt along. I don't think the couple had any ins-rance, so I think they left (for some reason "ins-rance" correctly spelled does not allow me to post).
Speaking of this "Stroud" character, I hope you don't break bread with him -- and not because his politics is different from mine or yours. Whatever his motivation may be (good or bad), he resorts to personal attacks and use what I suspect is another fake persona, certainly not gentlemanly ways of debating in good faith.
I enjoy debating with someone who differs from me, but only when he uses logical arguments and evidence and leaves childish ad hominem antics aside. I think the latter tactics are designed to provoke negative and similarly childish reactions, but it's hard to disengage from that once embroiled. The best thing is to simply ignore.
My two bits. YMMV.
Posted by: James J. Na at January 22, 2005 02:22 PMA fake persona! Na, I have never been so insulted. If you must know, my name is Dan.
Posted by: DJB at January 25, 2005 06:29 AM