[New] Local-themed concept by Harry's🍢

While Robertson Quay may not be as high-quay (pun intended) as its more boisterous cousin Clark Quay which recently made the news for massive gatherings on New Year's Eve, it nevertheless holds its own when it comes to the diversity and quality of F&B offerings.

The newest entrant to the Robertson Quay foodie enclave is The Satay Club – a new F&B concept by multi-outlet chain Harry's. While the atmosphere at Harry's is more sombre with dark blue hues, The Satay Club gives off a more cheery disposition with its tropical garden vibes.

Tropical Garden vibes

Like all its other F&B neighbours, The Satay Club offers a choice of al-fresco seating to cater to the Caucasian expats living in the vicinity, as well as air-conditioned seating which would appeal more to locals.

Choose between alfresco or air-conditioned seating

While there are no physical barriers between the tables, the tables are well-spaced such that customers would not feel their personal space being enroached upon by neighbouring tables.

Well-spaced tables

For satiated customers who are there merely to down a pint or two, there are bar-counter seats to chill the night away (or rather, till 10.30pm).

Bar-counter seats

While the overarching cuisine at Harry's is Western, The Satay Club is an ode to local cuisine with satay as its obvious signature. A glance of its menu confirmed this – carb staples of fried rice/noodles, meats of satay / skewers, and a selection of nibbles leaning towards Indon / Middle Eastern.

Menu

A quick lesson on etymology before getting to the food – while some experts claim that Satay is derived from the Indon word "sate", others claim that it's derived from Hokkien "三块" (pronounced sah1 teh3) meaning "three morsels of meat". Regardless of which version you believe in, it would be a travesty to leave The Satay Club without at least trying some of its signature satay.

For my main, I ordered Nasi Goreng Istimewa (S$22). All the dishes in The Satay Club are served on an old-school enamel plate, presumably to evoke nolstalgic authenticity. The Nasi Goreng Istimewa is like a party on a plate – there were easily 10 different components running the gamut of fried rice, chicken wing, satay, vegetables, keropok, sunny-side up, and achar. If you are undecided on what to order from the menu, I'd say order this dish as the extensive variety of components on this plate would place you at the extreme end of the Finicky spectrum if none of these components are up your alley.

Nasi Goreng Istimewa (S$22)

The Nasi Goreng Istimewa includes a choice of any two satays (beef, mutton, pork or chicken). I ordered 1 pork and 1 mutton. The pork was tender and juicy, but the mutton had a rather gamey taste that was masked only by the satay sauce.

The two satays in this plate are Pork and Mutton.

For dessert, I ordered Deepfried Kueh Salat (S$11) as I'm a fan of Kueh Salat. The purposeful manner in which the Kueh Salat were arranged and the coconut ice cream topped with mint leaves elevated this humble nyonya kueh into a plated dessert worthy of a more upmarket restaurant.

Deepfried Kueh Salat (S$11)

While the attempt to present a modern take on a traditional dessert is laudable, I found it difficult to appreciate the value-add of the deep-frying, which in fact made the kueh tougher to bite. The Chinese idiom "画蛇添足" – adding legs to a snake which is already able to crawl perfectly well – could not have been more apt at describing the deep-frying of a kueh that is already delectable on its own.

Beautiful plating but deepfrying the kueh had little value-add.

The Satay Club presents a promising spin on local cuisine, and is a welcome change from the usual Western offerings at Harry's twenty odd branches. Kudos to the fine attention paid to the interior design, staff's uniform, plating, and the attempt to inject a modern takes on traditional cuisines, but sometimes the adage "If it's not broken, don't fix it" may ring true.

The Satay Club

The Quayside, 60 Robertson Quay, #01-05/06, S(238252)

Mon-Thu 4-10.30pm, Fri-Sun 11.30am-10.30pm