Victor Veggie probably does not need much introduction these days — the stall at Circuit Road Food Centre had gotten much attention and even a feature on Our Grandfather Story for their interesting vegan creations. We have had also given Victor Veggie a visit previously some time back, giving their Vegan Otah a try. Ever since then, we have been making our way down to Victor Veggie wanting to give their other famed item, the Vegan Satay a go. That being said, Victor Veggie does seem to operate on a rather random schedule with the stall being closed during our multiple visits to the food centre on weekday evenings — so it was a surprise to find them open on one weekday evening that we made a spontaneous attempt to the food centre to try our luck again. It does seem that Victor Veggie does scale down their operations in the evening — was told by the only person manning the stall that evening that only Vegan Otah and Vegan Satay were available, which was exactly what we were in for that evening. For those whom are curious, Victor Veggie’s menu does list a wide variety of items — this includes that of Vegan Satay Bee Hoon, Vegan Bak Kut Teh with Rice / Noodle, Veg Sweet & Sour Pork Rice, Veg Mock Mutton Chop Rice and many more.
Just like any other satay stall that one would find elsewhere, the Vegan Satay here is grilled only upon order. There is a minimum order of 10 pieces of satay here just like any other satay stall as well. Upon ordering, the guy manning the stall will swish the satay sticks in what seems to be a liquid infused with turmeric before placing them on the grill. On first sight, the Vegan Satay looks exactly like what one would expect out of a regular satay made from meat — there are definitely charred bits visible on the satay from the grilling; in fact they do bear the aesthetics of how a chunky rendition of chicken satay would have looked. It also comes with a small bowl of satay sauce on the side, as well as some cucumbers and onions just like what one would do usually as well. Going straight for a stick of the satay, we would say that there is a light hint of mock meat flavour that lingers around with the Vegan Satay here — though we must say that the chunky bite from the mock meat and that hint of turmeric and slight char makes it comes especially close to the real deal. That being said, the experience becomes heightened when one dips the Vegan Satay into the satay sauce on the side — the satay sauce being especially thick and gloopy; filled with peanut chunks through and through for that nutty punch that makes this almost quite no different from a regular chicken satay. It is little wonder why the Vegan Satay at Victor Veggie has been quite the talk even amongst meat eaters — it is indeed as close to the real deal as how it gets.
Considering how Victor Veggie isn’t exactly an entirely new stall and has been in operations for quite a while, it does seem that Victor Veggie is one of the stalls that takes a lot of pride in their creations — all that whilst also being especially inventive with their vegan dishes; almost as though that the creativity seems to originate from their cravings since these are not quite items that one would typically find in a vegan / vegetarian hawker stall. We were pretty satisfied with the Vegan Otah when we had tried it previously a couple of years ago; also by chance when we were passing by the food centre with zero intentions to have anything initially, only to find them open on a late afternoon during a weekend. In terms of how close the Vegan Satay is to replicate that of actual satay prepared with meat against the same for their Vegan Otah, we personally would prefer their Vegan Otah a little more — there is lesser of a noticeable mock meat flavour with the Vegan Otah than that of the Vegan Satay. That being said, the Vegan Satay from Victor Veggie is a pretty well-executed version of a non-meat satay before all that plant-based meat became a thing — definitely worth giving a try for those whom are especially curious about it!
