Satay House

Fantastic. They had "chicken rice" which I hadn't had since returning from Malaysia. Additionally, the owners are super awesome.

In this small ex-fast food place is concealed one of the better restaurants in this whole area; don't be fooled by the plain exterior, or even the plain interior, because inside you'll find fresh, homestyle Malaysian fare and a pair of wonderfully friendly and warm hostesses.

A friend and I wandered out yesterday to try this place out; we were a bit skeptical as we drove up, given that it's built out of the hulk of an old fast food restaurant, but we hopped out of the car and were immediately greeted at the door by the owners, Anna and Lily.

A quick aside on them:  Anna and Lily are amazingly friendly, generous, and more than happy to chat about anything and everything, from travel to post-college life to marriage.  Apparently I look quite a bit like her son, and they were pleased that my friend and I are both studying Asian languages (Mandarin for me, Japanese for him) and encouraged us to travel in Southeast Asia someday, a recommendation I'll be more than happy to take.

Now, back to the restaurant; as yet both the exterior and interior are pretty plain, but everything is spotlessly clean, kitchen included, and they're laying plans to decorate.  The food is excellent; we decided to order the beef curry, moderately spicy (7), and the Mee Goreng, as hot as they had an option for (10).  The curry was excellent; reminded me quite a bit of a Chinese-style curry, with a more heavily-spiced sauce, no coconut milk, and potatoes and other vegetables not usually found in South Asian curries; this makes sense, it was probably imported by the Chinese minority in Malaysia.  Made me nostalgic as heck, it was just that good.  The Mee Goreng was also very good; yellow noodles stir-fried with mustard greens, green onion, cilantro, and beef flank in a soy-based sauce.  The nice change of pace from Chinese was that everything was only minimally oily.  In addition, Lily and Anna handed us a platter of homestyle roti canai to go with our curry, free of charge.  Their family recipe is a bit heavier than ordinary roti, and a little crisper, but actually less greasy; it was excellent.

Also, the noodles improve to even better heights the second time you eat them; as with certain kinds of rice, a bit of aging is a good thing. Leftovers, yum.

People, seriously, get your butts out there and support Lily and Anna; the food is excellent, but they said business has been a bit slow, and their food is well worth the short trek from town or, for my fellow lethargic ND students, campus.  Happy eating!

Just so you know how much I love this place, I'm writing from Central Coast California. My sister and brother-in-law kept on raving about how awesome Satay House was, so when I visited them in Michigan, we drove to Indiana just to have lunch at Satay House. I was NOT disappointed! Driving down the street it may be easy to miss this place and the restaurant interior isn't anything overly spectacular. However, owners Anna and Lily make the place shine! The customer service is AMAZING. They make you feel like you've known them for years, and they accommodate vegetarian diets, too! Don't eat meat? No problem! They've got lots of tofu, veggies, and sauces, etc. They also have Thai Tea! The Joy Noodle is to die for. Their prices are VERY reasonable and affordable. They're also generous with their portion sizes. You will leave Satay House full, satisfied, happy, and ready to plan your next meal there. They also cater for parties so call them up! :) I can't wait to come back and eat at Satay House whilst having great company!