Muar Eat: Abu Bakar Hanipah Mee Bandung & Satays @ Pekan Muar

Abu Bakar Hanipah’s stall, in the old town of Pekan Muar, is famous for its mee bandung, a specialty dish created in Muar. The stall is located in Wah San Kopitiam or Hua Shan Cafe (华山咖啡店), but no worries, Abu Bakar Hanipah's big signboard is very obvious.

The Mee Bandung uses thick yellow noodle added with dried shrimps, a poached egg, chopped cuttlefish, greens, fried shallots and drenched in a thick gravy-broth made from finely-ground dried shrimp, minced dried beef and spices. The thick dried-shrimp-flavoured gravy is well-blended with balanced flavours of spiciness, sweetness and savouriness. It is indeed delicious.

Aside from mee bandung, another stall (unnamed) serves soto, chicken and beef satays. The daging (beef) and ayam (chicken) satays are marinated with sweet sauces and grilled on orders. The nicely-grilled and succulent meats have pleasant sweetness from the meats and are tasty on their own. Best to savour them while hot.

The satays are served with a unique satay gravy that contained finely-ground peanuts and not spicy. The gravy was light-tasting and enhanced the flavour of the meat rather than overpowering it. Is this Muar-style? Singapore's satay gravy is usually added with coarse minced peanuts and, in Malacca, pineapple puree is added to create more flavours. Anyway, the satays here offered a nice taste experience.