This Merdeka, we salute five eateries that have withstood the test of time and continue to dish out delicious offerings seasoned with lots of memories.
COME August, a recurring question often springs to mind: What does it mean to be a Malaysian?
Is it our pride when our athletes do well – Malaysia Boleh! – or, the fact that we have opinions on anything and everything, from politics and policies, to traffic and the toll charges. We might have conflicting views when it comes to many things, but if there is one thing we all share in common, it’s our passion for food.
Food brings us together and we are never short of good platters to sink our teeth into. And while there may be a plethora of new coffee joints and restaurants serving pretty works of art on a dish, we can still find the good old food institutions that we continue to flock to, as our forefathers did before us.
These eateries have, in many cases, done away with aesthetics, focusing squarely on simple, tried-and-true flavours. The people behind them work tirelessly, dishing out the same numbers each day, for years, and even decades. With roots that date back to pre-Merdeka days, these eateries have collectively formed what we now understand as Malaysian cuisine. We take a step back in time and revisit five of them.
1. Sate Kajang HJ Samuri.
In 1992, a small gerai (stall) operated at a food court selling satay. Today, it is an every-growing satay empire with 22 outlets across Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya and Negri Sembilan.
To maintain consistency, the satay is made at the Sate Kajang HJ Samuri factory with over 200,000 sticks of satay made daily. The meat used vary from chicken and mutton, to beef and beef tripe, fish, rabbit, and chicken liver and gizzard. In addition to satay, the restaurants also serve nasi impit (compressed rice), and a selection of rice and noodles.
The delectable dishes are the work of Datuk Haji Samuri Juraimi. Samuri’s satay-making days started long before the first Sate Kajang Hj Samuri stall was set up. Samuri worked with his uncle, Haji Tasmin Sakiban, selling satay from baskets before upgrading to a pushcart then to a stall at Kedai Kopi Ban Seng in the 1940s.
It was only in 1992, when Samuri’s second son, Sofian, expressed an interest to sell satay with him, that he opened a stall at Medan Sate in Kajang. Today, Samuri’s five children, are all apart of the business, but the Sate King as Samuri is known, is still managing the satay empire that he built from the ground up.
Sate Ayam Samuri. Click for recipe.
2. Hameediyah Restaurant.
Hameediyah Restaurant has been around since 1907. It was first established by the family of Mohamed Thamby Rawter, who came from Kerala in India. Seven generations later, the restaurant is managed by the descendants of Mohamed Thamby Rawter.
The restaurant has served generations of Penangnites, who return for the signature dishes of which include briyani chicken, beef rendang, chicken curry kapitan, mutton kurma and fish head curry. There are customers who have been frequenting the establishment since they were children, just like their forefathers before them.
The restaurant has an expansion of Hameediyah Tandoori House, a few doors away, and together, the two are the only outlets in the country. Hameediyah is planning to expand to other states through franchises and joint ventures in the near future.
Chicken Curry Kapitan. Click for recipe.
3. Restaurant Yut Kee.
If you’re craving old-style Hainanese food, look no further than Restaurant Yut Kee. The 88-year-old kopitiam is nestled in the heart of Kuala Lumpur and has been drawing in droves of customers with its signatures ranging from the Hainanese pork chop and chicken chop to the beef rendang and the special roasted pork that is served only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The coffee shop was founded by Lee Tai Yut in 1928 and is now run by Jack Lee, his sole son, and Mervyn Lee, his grandson. Through the many decades of its operation, the business has survived not only family feuds, but the May 13 riots, three floods and a much publicised change in location. When their lease ended, the news spread like wildfire and customers were worried that that would be the end of Yut Kee.
Fortunately, Jack and Mervyn found and bought a building behind the old premises and hired an interior designer to recreate the Yut Kee look and ambience for the new location. Although there has been a change in venue, the restaurant’s menu and its prices remain unchanged.
Yut Kee’s Hainanese Noodles. Click for recipe.
4. Yuit Cheong, Kota Kinabalu.
The family-run coffee shop has endured for over a century and has been managed by Leong Chi Chean’s family over the many years. The business first opened in 1896 and started off as a Chinese medical hall. Things changed for the better for the business when a stranded Shandong cook imparted his baking skills to the shop assistants. From then on, Yuit Cheong started to gain popularity from near and far.
Although Yuit Cheong today enjoys its status as an established eatery in the community, but it wasn’t always an easy journey. They had to move twice, both times were results of fires that had burned down the premises. Despite the setbacks, the family behind Yuit Cheong powered through and has made the business what it is today.
The business has fed patrons with its timeworn recipes of roti kahwin, meat buns, sweet pastries and loaves of bread, but many patrons rave about the teh tarik served at Yuit Cheong.
5. Raman’s Banana Leaf Rice @ Yap Kee.
This Indian stall has been dishing out banana leaf rice to customers in Yap Kee for over 70 years. By noon, the restaurant is packed to the brim with customers who come from far and near for the banana leaf rice. The stall was founded by the late Raman Nair who began renting the space from the coffee shop owner, Yap, in the 1940s. Two generations later, the two families are still working together, with Yap Jr handling the drinks and Raman’s grandson, Esvaran Yamkaya, at the stove.
Esvaran has been working for the business since he was 28 years old and has learned not only his grandfather’s recipes, but many life lessons as well. His grandfather imparted essential business knowledge ranging from customer service to the importance of work-life balance. When Raman passed on in 2007, Esvaran became the sole owner of the restaurant, and continues his legacy. Esvaran continues to follow his grandfather’s recipes to this day.
Chicken Curry. Click for recipe.
This article and recipes were first published in Flavours Magazine.
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