A coffee shop friendship that spans three generations

GEORGE TOWN, Jan 28 — It all started with two best friends helping each other through the uncertain economy of the 1950s.

One of them, Sabar, sold second-hand cars while the other, Teoh Eng Moey, started a coffee shop in George Town.

“My grandfather was in the army before he was discharged... he then started a second-hand car dealer shop in town,” said Zulkifli Alias.

Sabar was from Kuala Ketil and had moved to George Town to start this new venture. But he had no place to stay until Teoh offered him one.

And that is how Sabar, his family and workers moved into the shophouse behind Teoh’s coffee shop along Transfer Road.

It was not long before Sabar’s wife, known as Mak Siti, set up a small nasi lemak stall in the coffee shop to earn extra income.

“She started with just simple home cooked dishes and rice at that time... back in 1969,” Zulkifli said.

Mak Siti passed on her recipes to her daughter Ardini Sabar who is Zulkilfi’s mother.

“My family continued staying in the shophouse for a long time and at one point, my parents lived in a room behind the coffee shop because the shophouse was full,” he said.

He said they are originally of the Minang ethnicity from Indonesia so the dishes his grandmother made had influences of the Minang culture.

“During my grandmother’s time, she used spices and ingredients directly taken from Indonesia so our curries are authentic Nasi Padang Minang style,” he said.

Today, the Teoh and Zulkifli families remain good friends, working together as the Teohs handle the beverage part of the coffee shop with the Nasi Padang Minang as the only food stall in the shop.

“My great grandfather started this coffee shop with the International Hotel upstairs back in 1952,” the fourth-generation owner Teoh Sin Tatt, 36, said.

His grandfather was Teoh Eng Moey and initially the coffee shop sold only toasted bread and coffee before Sabar and Mak Siti started their small nasi lemak stall.

Today, Nasi Padang Minang is well-known for its fragrant deep-fried ikan sumbat (stuffed fish) that is served with a generous serving of crispy deep-fried shallots.

Each day, the rice stall has about 80 different dishes that include nasi padang favourites such as tempeh and ayam masak cili (chicken with chillies).

Nasi Padang Minang
International Hotel/Coffee Shop
92, Transfer Road,
10050 Penang.
Tel: 017-5553117
Time: 11am-4pm

from Malay Mail Online | Eat/Drink http://ift.tt/2DUYT0q
Source: The Malay Mail