To bypass the congestion on Rawang’s main street, local residents would use the back lane of Jalan Maxwell. As one drives past, most of the rear doors and windows are tightly shut. Towards the end of the lane, there is a unit embellished with plants, a hand-carved wooden stand by the roadside and a banner on top of the entrance inscribed with “Kien Choon Restaurant”.
Peering in from the wide-open back doors, the restaurant occupied the rear end of the shop, housing a drinks counter and a simple kitchen, three to four tables of different sizes, and a mix of wooden and plastic chairs. On one side is a time-worn altar table and a lazy chair, indicating the owner’s long-term residence, inadvertently creating a sense of “dining at grandma’s home”. Decorative elements are highly visible in the surroundings, including several wooden handicrafts, exuding artistic vibes.
81-year-old Lim Kit Chu bends over the stove, her 56-year-old nephew Lim Yuan Hing is in charge of making drinks, and helps in the kitchen from time to time. The restaurant’s menu is simple, for almost 50 years only serving three styles of noodles: curry, clear soup, or dry-tossed. Customers may choose from rice noodles, vermicelli, laksa noodles, or yellow noodles. Sides include chicken, barbecued pork, fish cake, and minced pork. Daily opening hours are from 7AM to 2PM, or till sold out.
The premises belong to the Lim family, in early days it was a family residence instead of conducting business. At the front entrance is an engraved plaque bearing their great-grandfather’s name Kien Chooon. About half a century ago, Mr Lim’s mother ran a noodle stall at the front end of the shop, while his aunt helped out. At the time, they open around 4AM to 5AM, serving the local community made up of mostly rubber tappers and tin miners, and close around 4PM to 5PM. Unfortunately Mr Lim’s mother passed away when he was still a child, his aunt took over the noodle stall and helped to raise him and his siblings.
After achieving adulthood, Mr Lim sought a job in Kuala Lumpur, like most young Rawang folk. About 20 years ago, due to illness, he resigned and moved back to his hometown. Then he returned to the family home to help his aunt, and started preparing beverages. Occasionally he came around wastewood and would repurpose them into decorations in the shop. The wooden stand is handcrafted by Mr Lim, and the surrounding greenery is also transplanted by him.
About 10 years ago, Aunty Lim was immobilised due to her back went out, the shop had to cease operations. Two years on, the front end of the ground floor was rented out to another shop, thus the door between the front and rear end was sealed. As she gradually recovered, the family decided to renovate the rear end and reopen as a restaurant. Up till the present, Aunty Lim and the senior Mr Lim are still living upstairs. She woke up at 3AM to prepare ingredients: dice the chicken, braise the barbecued pork, stir-fry the minced pork, as well as cook the curry soup and anchovy broth. She works alone in the kitchen, until her nephew comes in at 7AM and open the shop.
They do not usually take a day off, unless they have other dealings or go on holidays. Their customers are mostly regulars, some of them have been here since their childhood, or even came back for the familiar fare after they moved elsewhere. Sometimes customers would drive-through, during weekends there would be plenty of hikers and tourists.
This backlane restaurant in Rawang old town is an intriguing intermixture of simple life, rustic flavours, artistic sense, and family warmth.
有你 UNI Production
Producer : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Michael Lerk
Drone : Daniel Lim
Video Editor : Michael Lerk
Copywriter : Pua Hui Wen
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