‘Nasi kandar’ haven

PENANG-STYLE FOOD: Kamarul with the restaurant’s culinary creations.

Penang specialties have made Restaurant Kampung Baiduri grow in leaps and bounds, writes NOEL ACHARIAM.

PACKING THEM: Frozen roti canai dough, packed, sealed and ready for shipment.

FISH HEADLINER: Welcome to a Penang food experience.

EENY MEENY MINY MOE: At the Nasi Kandar station.

A SUPER HIT: Baiduri is famous for its fish head curry.

WHAT started off as a home-based food business in roti canai and teh tarik in 1986 has expanded into a proper restaurant with a prosperous side business in supplying roti canai dough and frozen roti canai.

Kamarul Zaman, 41, owner of Restaurant Kampung Baiduri in Petaling Jaya, first opened for business at a small kampung house in Jalan 224.

“When we first started we only had nine tables; my house used to get really packed. The lunch crowd spilled on to the main road,” he recalled.

Then, in 1991, when the State government took back the land, Restaurant Kampung Baiduri relocated to its new premises at No.

7, Jalan 235A. Most of his customers are factory workers and middleincome earners. “There are numerous factories in this area and so we get many factory workers frequenting the restaurant,” said Kamarul. “They are mostly my regulars from my old shop,” he added.

Kamarul, who hails from Butterworth, Penang, said that his interest in the food industry first began at his father’s sundry shop. “My father supplies all kinds of sundry goods to restaurants in Butterworth and, from there, my interest in the food industry started,” he said.

At the restaurant, customers enjoy a wide variety of Penang cuisine.

But the specialty at Kampung Baiduri is the famous Penang nasi kandar.

Prices range from RM4.50 for rice, vegetables and chicken; with fish, it’s RM4; mutton, RM5.50, mutton bone, RM7; and with squid, RM4-RM8.

The star attraction is the famous Penang fish head curry. Kampung Baiduri fish head curry is simply delicious; the curry is not too spicy and just a tad tangy. Prices for the fish head curry range from RM15 for a small head to RM65 for a large one.

Fredrick Dass, 35, who works for Carrier Malaysia has been frequenting the restaurant for more than 10 years. “I used to come to Baiduri for lunch because my office was in this area.

Since we moved to Puchong, I only come to the restaurant when visiting my customers in Petaling Jaya.” Fredrick’s favourite dish at the restaurant is the mutton bone and marrow.

“I simply adore the marrow here at the restaurant. But the dish is usually sold out by the time I arrive. Now I always come by early.” Apart from the excellent choice in food, Kamarul is a leading supplier of roti canai dough and frozen roti canai to restaurants in the Klang Valley.

“All our roti canai is machine-made. It’s more hygienic. The shop where the roti canai is processed is fully air-conditioned, and we have a cool room where we store the processed dough,” he said.

Kamarul is also the deputy president of the Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma).

“We first started this organisation in 1992 with only 43 members, and now there are 2,300 members from all over Malaysia,” Kamarul said.

Every month, members will gather at the headquarters, off Jalan Sentul in Kuala Lumpur.

At the meeting, topics like the price of sundry items, food and drinks will be discussed.

“All food items are controlled. Members cannot increase the prices without the consent of Presma,” he said. Call Restaurant Kampung Baiduri at 03-7877-0512, fax: 03-7577-0510 or email: wawaseni@tm.net.

my. Its website is www.

wawaseenifood.com Getting there FROM the Federal Highway, head towards Jalan 222. At the traffic lights, turn right and go straight until you reach a junction. Keep going straight until you reach a playground which will be located on the left. Next to the playground is Restaurant Kampung Baiduri.

NST