The next time you go to the Esplanade, remember a time when people used to gather at the Esplanade not for the theatre, but for Singapore’s national pastime: food! And  at the Esplanade, there was only one thing on the menu: Satay!

Satay by Choo Yut Shing

Older readers may remember the stalls of the Satay Club at the Esplanade, which, besides Newton Circus, was one of the food meccas for tourists and locals alike. Even older readers may remember the time when the Satay Club was a collection of hawkers rather than stalls:

I distinctly remembered it was my elder sister who brought me and her friends to a place I had never visited before. It was located beside a bus terminus and not very well lighted.

There were several “portable” satay stalls which was more crowded than the customers in this photo.

“Portable” means that the mobile stall was carried over the shoulder of the vendor with a wooden bar called “yoke” (in Cantonese), moving from place to place on foot. These “portable” stall was a common hawkers in the 1950s in Singapore.

There were 4 or 5 low wooden stools and 2 short benches. The simply constructed wooden boxes served as tables; one with a stove (mostly handmade with empty kerosene tins), sticks of uncooked satay, pieces of cucumber, onion.

Whether you call it a kebab, yakitori, or satay, skewered pieces of meat cooked over heat is always a good idea… unless you’re a vegetarian. Well, at least with satay you can still enjoy the onion, cucumber and peanut sauce! Read James’ memories of the Satay Club here.