NASI KANDAR, TEH TARIK FIND HOME ON JAKARTA’S IFTAR TABLES

JAKARTA, March 14 (Bernama) -- As dusk falls during Ramadan in Jakarta’s eastern suburb of Cibubur, the aroma of curry and freshly made flatbread fills the air, drawing diners eager to break their fast.

As the call to prayer approaches, plates of roti canai, bowls of curry and glasses of frothy Teh Tarik begin appearing on tables, creating an iftar spread that feels both familiar and distinctive – with flavours more commonly associated with Kuala Lumpur’s bustling mamak stalls.

Now, the Malaysian-style dishes are drawing growing interest among Jakarta diners this Ramadan, with evening tables quickly filling at iftar and catering orders fully booked.

Demand has been particularly strong this year, with catering services booked throughout Ramadan for iftar events organised by multinational companies, Malaysian and Indonesian government agencies, Malaysia’s national oil and gas company Petronas, and several embassies in Jakarta, including those of Brunei, Singapore, Timor-Leste and Malaysia.

For restaurant owner and chef Zirazul Zohodi, 40, the growing interest reflects more than just curiosity about Malaysian cuisine.

Zirazul, also known as Pak Dodi, has worked in the culinary industry since age of 18. He trained at Highland Hotels in Genting Highlands, spent five years as a hotel chef, and later served as a food and beverage operations manager at a number of four- and five-star hotels in Kuala Lumpur.

After moving to Jakarta with his Indonesian wife around 2016, he opened a small restaurant in Cibubur called Ashraf’s Corner by Maliq, named after his son, serving Malaysian mamak-style dishes to local diners.

In addition to staples such as roti canai, nasi kandar and mee goreng mamak, the restaurant also serves favourites including nasi lemak, nasi hujan panas and laksa, alongside several Indonesian dishes.

“At first, together with my wife, we thought there are a lot of Indonesian food in Malaysia. But Malaysian food is not very common here, so we wanted to introduce Malaysian dishes to Indonesians.

“Alhamdulillah, the response has been very good and people have been very supportive,” he told Bernama.

He said the restaurant’s catering business began to expand after supplying food during Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s 2022 visit to the Malaysian Embassy in Indonesia, which later led to further catering requests from institutions and diplomatic missions.

For some customers, the dishes bring back memories of the familiar flavours of Malaysian mamak cuisine.

Local resident Taufik Ramadan, who lives nearby, said he had heard about the restaurant for some time and decided to visit it for the first time.

“I have a business partner in Kuala Lumpur, so every month I usually travel there and I always eat mamak food, in fact I’m going there again next week, but after eating here, maybe next time I’ll just come here instead. 

“Very delicious, it tastes just like the mamak cooking over there, really tasty,” he said.

As Indonesians and Malaysians continue to cross paths through work, travel and family ties, familiar dishes like roti canai and nasi kandar are quietly bridging the two neighbours – proof that sometimes the simplest connections between nations begin at the dinner table.

-- BERNAMA