For the Malay community in Johor, ‘lontong kering’ is quite a popular dish and often a favourite breakfast choice for local residents before they start their daily activities.
Generally, people know lontong as a dish of ‘nasi impit’ (compressed rice cake) eaten with vegetables cooked in coconut milk, known as ‘sayur lodeh’. However, in Johor, lontong is enjoyed dry without gravy but with a selection of side dishes such as chicken or beef rendang, ‘serunding’ (meat floss) and mixed vegetables of long beans, beancurd and tempeh (fermented soya beans).
Suria Hassan, a restaurant operator at Simpang Tiga, Kampung Sri Pantai, near here, has been commercialising the ‘lontong kering’ as ‘lontong darat’ for the past two years and has been enjoying brisk business since it went viral on social media.
She was also fortunate that the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar had visited the restaurant a number of times and enjoyed ‘lontong darat’ with beef rendang, as well as ‘roti canai’ (flatbread).
“A variety of menu options like meat floss, beef and chicken rendang, and ‘sambal paru’ to combine with the ‘nasi impit’, peanut sauce and Javanese vegetable dish, certainly gives a unique flavour to visitors, especially those coming from outside Johor,” she told Bernama when met here recently.
The 31-year-old from Pasir Gudang had taken over the business set up 20 years ago and run by her mother-in-law and late father-in-law, Salmah Ahmad and Abdul Rahman Sharol, after she got married about 10 years ago.
To further develop her restaurant, Cik Tik Corner, the mother of two is actively promoting her business through social media such as Facebook, as well as using cash-on-delivery service for Mersing customers.
“We also offer free breakfast to pregnant women every Thursday and for those celebrating their birthdays, they only need to show their identification card to enjoy the free breakfast,” she said.
Suria has plans to expand her restaurant business by opening up a branch in another district due to the high demand from customers residing outside Mersing.
“Therefore, I hope there is financial assistance or equipment including dishes display rack to expand my business as well as attract more visitors to Mersing, especially in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year and Visit Johor Year 2020,” she added.
The restaurant, which operates daily except on Fridays, offers ‘lontong darat’ from as low as RM5 to RM10 and customers can also enjoy a variety of dishes such as ‘roti canai’, ‘nasi lemak’, fried rice, ‘soto’, noodles and also an array of ‘kuih’.
-- BERNAMA
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