No. 37, IOI Boulevard,
Jalan Kenari 7,Bandar Puchong Jaya,
47100, Puchong
Tel: 012-3425488
Business hours: (Mon-Fri) 9am - 11pm, (Fri-Sat)
9am - 1am, (Sun & Public Holidays), 8am - 2am
IT all started as a small Nasi Lemak stall in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur.
From its humble beginnings, Normi Tandoh’s Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa Kampung Baru has now evolved into a chain restaurant with 13 branches in the Klang Valley, Malacca and Kota Kinabalu.
In an interview, Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa Kampung Baru director Sheikh Nouman and his partners talked about the history of the restaurant and its transition from a stall to a chain restaurant.
“She is overwhelmed with the change and proud to see the success of her hard work,” Sheikh said.
“She does not do the cooking any more, just monitoring. But she keeps the employees on their toes by dropping by any of the outlets unannounced.
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Popular offering: The Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa. |
So what is so special about their nasi lemak that foreigners pack it to take home to their country (hence the name antarabangsa)?
“We are not the best nasi lemak in town or in Malaysia, no one can claim that because taste is subjective but I believe that we are the most popular one.
“The key is in using the right amount of santan and it is served piping hot with sambal, which makes a big difference. The sambal is sweet and a little spicy but not too spicy to make it suitable for all customers,” he said.
How was the transition from hawker stall to restaurant?
“We had overwhelming response from customers, including people who have only heard about our nasi lemak previously but never tried it.
“It provides an avenue to dine at a place with cleaner ambience and at an easy-to-access place,” he said.
The transition from hawker stall to chain restaurant is not without challenges.
“There was a lot of research done before the expansion, from the concept to the menu to the target market and on the transition from hawker-level to industry scale.
“We moved at neck-breaking pace, opening one outlet a month, keeping up with schedule and ensuring smooth operations.
“When we initially started our first three outlets, it was the era of kopitiams. We did not want to be positioned as just another kopitiam coming into the market.
“Hence, we decided to focus on our core product - the nasi lemak.
“We have a strong product, consistency and historic value (nasi lemak antarabangsa has been around for 30 years),” he said.
“In the first six months, we realised that it will limit our potential as just an eatery and hence included side dishes into the menu.
Among the side dishes we offer are Pisang Goreng ala Bali, cucur udang and keropok lekor.
“Soon we will introduce more products, offering a variety of delicacies to cater to teenagers,” he said.
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Sweet offering: The Pisang Goreng ala Bali is served with grated coconut and brown sugar. |
The problem of ensuring the consistency of quality is inevitable for every chain store but the team has got it covered by using a central kitchen.
“The paste and gravy comes from the central kitchen. We do regular audits and 50% of the problems are resolved by default as the paste comes from one source.
“We take customers’ feedback very seriously. We do not want to be in a defensive mode because it is the clientele who decide if we are good,” he said.
As for future plans, they are looking into going international, inter-state (Penang and Perak) and having their own kiosks.
“We are looking forward to the kiosk concept and are targeting to have outlets in Singapore, Australia, England and Indonesia.
“We will also launch our catering service and provide deliveries,” he said.
To know more about the restaurant and the address of its outlets, visit www.antarabangsa.my
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