Crowd favourite: Restaurant Syed Kadir, SS19 Subang Jaya’s nasi bukhara kambing.
A GOOD plate of nasi briyani should be flavourful and aromatic.
One eatery that has won over the stomachs and taste buds of Klang Valley residents is Restoran Syed Kadir in SS19, Subang Jaya.
The restaurant was acknowledged as having the best nasi briyani in the The Star People’s Food Awards.
Owner Syed Kadir Syed Mahamad said he was surprised but thrilled to have received the award.
Syed Kadir has been in the business for 40 years and his name has become synonymous with nasi briyani but he has tweaked the recipe and gave the dish a new name, nasi bukhara.
“We registered the name ‘nasi bukhara’ when my son created the special recipe,” he said.
Syed Kadir added he opened his first restaurant in 1975 in Section 8, Petaling Jaya selling nasi kandar and nasi briyani.
“We were attracting customers with our nasi kandar but not doing as well with our nasi briyani,” he said.
With the introduction of nasi bukhara, the dish took off and today, remains one of the most sought after in his restaurants.
There are five types of nasi bukhara which is served with fish, prawns, deer meat,kampung chicken, and mutton. Customers can also order plain briyani.
Syed Kadir is a firm believer that customers should get value for money and as such, he uses only the best ingredients.
The spices are flown in from Egypt and only first-grade basmati rice is used for nasi bukhara.
Syed Kadir has 14 restaurants in the Klang Valley and set up a restaurant in Hong Kong at Chungking Mansions two years ago.
He plans to expand to Dubai through franchising.
Apart from his restaurant business, Syed Kadir also caters food.
Restoran Syed Kadir received 116 votes, beating 12 other briyani nominees to win the award via public nomination and voting on Metro Online Broadcast’s (MOB) website (www.mob.com.my)
The Star People’s Food Awards is a monthly contest that recognises the best street food in the Klang Valley.
The public can vote for the best category-based street food such as curry laksa (March) and rojak buah (April) via the MOB website.
This month, vote for your favourite popiah place in the Klang Valley.
Nominations have ended and voting will begin on Feb 15 and will end at midnight on Feb 28.
Those who nominate, vote or successfully share a link are automatically entered into the race to win attractive prizes such as hotel stays and dining.
