Sabar Menanti Restaurant
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Located in the nasi padang belt of the famous Kandahar Street
in Kampong Java, Sabar Menanti is a well-loved Malay restaurant
serving authentic Minangkabau dishes. The restaurant is aptly
named, for in English, Sabar Menanti means wait patiently,
which one has to do, as the queue to get to the food in this
restaurant is usually long. Started over 47 years ago, the
running of the restaurant has passed on from the original owner
from Sumatra, Haji Marlian, to his children. Branches of the
restaurant that dish out Padang food have also sprung up around
Kandahar Street.
Introduction
Sabar Menanti is the name of a well-known nasi padang
restaurant serving dishes that are specialties of the Sumatran
Minangkabau people. The cuisine is named after the provincial
capital, Padang. Sabar Menanti is a simple restaurant occupying
a pre-World War II colonial shop-house in the padang food belt
of Kandahar Street, in the vicinity of the Sultan Mosque.
Together with Warong Nasi Pariaman, it is one of the two most
popular padang restaurants in Singapore serving authentic
padang food. Most of their food would be sold out by
lunchtime.
History
Sabar Menanti Restaurant was founded by the late Haji Marlian
Athar (b. Kuraiti, Pariaman province, South Sumatra - d.
1978). Also known as Bagindo Marlian, he came to
Singapore more than 47 years ago, rented a room in Palembang
Road and set up a small food stall. The business grew to become
a modest restaurant that was very popular. Haji Marlian passed
away in 1978 and the restaurant business was passed on to his
children and his wife, Hajah Rosmah Mailu. The family-run
business that has not changed hands ever since has extended to
several branches, all managed by Haji Marlian's family,
particularly his children.
In 1998, it was reported that there were altogether six padang
restaurants owned by the extended family. Three of the six
stalls were called Sabar Menanti Siang dan Malam (SMSM),
located at Kandahar Street and North Bridge Road where the
office of the Royal Press used to be. Ran by children of Haji
Marlian's first wife, Yusmal, Rizal, Tarmizi and Maryulis,
these restaurants were neighbours to another padang restaurant
owned by Haji Marlian's youngest child, Zubaidah, called
the Rumah Makan Minang at the corner of Kandahar Street and
Muscat Street. Another daughter, Hajah Ratnah, from Haji
Marlian's first wife, owned a nasi padang stall called
the Hajah Ratnah Nasi Padang.
Signature dishes
Currently, the Sabar Menanti restaurants are listed as Nasi
Padang Sabar Menanti II located in North Bridge Road, and Sabar
Menanti Restaurant & Catering at Kandahar Street. The
food served here is still as tantalising as it was before. As
early as 6.30 am, the restaurant starts serving the breakfast
menu and closes only at 4.30 pm. Their popular dishes are
ikan bakar (barbequed fish), dendeng Balado
(smoked meat Balado style), ayam goreng (fried chicken)
and rendang (spicy beef dish). But the most unique and
most requested dish at their stalls is opor nangka
(young jackfruit and beef tripe cooked in a thick gravy).
50 kilograms of rice are cooked everyday at the main
stall. There are also set meals that include different types of
rice meals. For breakfast there are mee siam,
lontong, nasi lemak and mee rebus. And on
Fridays, they serve gado-gado and laksa. To avoid
a long queue, one must come before noon.
Author
Marsita Omar
References
Alijah Batcha. (2004, July 11). Tak sabar
menanti. Berita Minggu p. 5.
Norhaiza Hashim. (2004, June 14). Perlu kecekapan, stamina tinggi untuk bertahan dalam niaga makanan. Berita Harian, p. 6.
Puad Ibrahim. (1997, October 18). Membongkar rahsia silam Bussorah Street. Berita Harian, p. 18.
Tan, T. (2003, October 25). To dine for. The Australian.
Warung sumber rezeki keluarga. (1998, November 8). Berita
Minggu, p. 14.
The information in this article is
valid as at 2006 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain
from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or
complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for
further reading materials on the topic.
Subject
Ethnic Communities>>Food
Ethnic restaurants--Singapore
Cookery>>Food