PETALING JAYA, March 26 — This month, Sri Nyonya Bistro quietly opened its doors in Damansara Utama.
It’s started by Carol Kuok who, together with her husband Ng Teik Piew, wants to carry on the legacy of her father, James Kuok, who operated Sri Nyonya Restaurant with his wife Lorna Chin.
Old timers may be familiar with Sri Nyonya Restaurant in SS2, Petaling Jaya, where it served Penang Nyonya food from 1986.
In 1996, they relocated to Taman SEA. Subsequently, the restaurant found a permanent home at Section 22, Petaling Jaya.
The soft opening menu features dishes (left to right) like Kerabu Lemak Sayur Paku, Chicken Kapitan and Petai Sambal Udang — Picture by Lee Khang Yi
Since January 2024, after James’s death, it has shuttered.
Carol said the restaurant started out as a venture by her mother who also roped in her younger sister and cousin.
Later, the cousin whose interest was making kuih, bowed out of the business.
At that time, Carol’s aunt was the one cooking the food based on recipes inherited from Carol’s grandmother.
When Carol’s aunt didn’t want to continue, her husband offered to buy out the shares.
However, James stepped in to buy him out instead and moved the business to a place he bought in Section 22 in 2005.
“He wanted to make it work as he felt there was potential with the brand,” explained Carol. This included lofty dreams like selling their own spice pastes with Carol’s great grandmother’s curry powder.
James was the life force of Sri Nyonya Restaurant.
Teik remembers him as “a man with many interests”. Fast cars, photography, ice cream and whisky were some of the things he was passionate about.
A Gangnam Style Chicken Pongteh is one of Carol’s fusion creations from their set lunch menu — Picture by Choo Choy May
Back in the 1950s, James was a professional photographer based in London. When looking through his portfolio, Teik found a picture of his uncle and reconnected James with him!
“My father had a lot of interesting friends and stories that will amaze you,” Carol says.
If you were entertaining at Sri Nyonya Restaurant, James would bring out his whisky to drink with you as “he was everyone’s friend”, Carol recalls.
“He would be really happy if people came and partied until 11pm, 12am or even 1am. As the staff had left, he would ask them to help themselves to ice and water in the kitchen.
“We were very open to a lot of things which will surprise you as that’s how my father wanted it,” Carol says.
Chocolate Wine Jelly can be pre-ordered a day in advance — Picture by Choo Choy May
An avid cook who was passionate about food, he would also cook special dishes like fried carrot cake with oysters and chilli sauce for friends, as seen on his Facebook page.
James’ passion for the restaurant had him transform his Porsche Cayenne into a moving billboard for Sri Nyonya Restaurant. As he told Teik, people would see it and remember the restaurant as it was during the pandemic.
Even when he was bedridden, Teik recalled how he instructed him to sell a piece of land so he could purchase a newer Porsche in order to create another moving billboard to promote the restaurant.
“If you talk to anybody who knows my dad, they will say James wants to continue as he wants it to go on as it’s his legacy,” Carol adds.
For Carol, her cooking journey started from young, when she would help her grandmother with the cooking.
Admittedly, her cutting skills may not pass a strict matriarch’s eagle eyes as it wasn’t fine enough but her grandmother would say, “It’s not good enough for nasi ulam but we can put it into perut ikan.”
Another childhood memory was the mini pai tee “factory” for a wedding meal, known as T’ng Tok for around 100 guests.
Her band of cousins joined hands to produce those delicate, crispy shells. The memory is sweeter too, as later on Carol inherited those same pai tee moulds from her late aunt.
Steamed Otak-otak (left) and their Gulai Tumis (right) with that distinct tamarind based gravy — Pictures by Lee Khang Yi
Carol would help out at the restaurant when she returned from her studies overseas
She would audit the cash till and question why some dishes are priced so low for all the tedious work that went into them
As the restaurant didn’t have a menu with pictures, she also produced a laminated menu with descriptions for each dish. Those same descriptions were later adopted in the formal menu and survived for 30 years.
In the later years, Carol and Teik relocated to Singapore where they operated their own businesses.
Things changed on January 18, 2020 when James asked them to return to help run the restaurant, which they did.
She adopted modern techniques like sous vide, ensuring the proteins like prawns and chicken were cooked consistently.
After James died, Carol’s mother wanted to sell the restaurant. But after one year when nothing happened, the couple decided to open Sri Nyonya Bistro on their own to honour James’ legacy. “We are doing it alone without any outside funding,” Carol says.
There will also be different bakes from Carol like this Bread and Butter Pudding with rum infused custard — Picture by Choo Choy May
It’s been an uphill task for them to set up the place but they’re happy it’s finally open and running.
Both of them still travel to Singapore often as they have maintained their own businesses there.
Currently in their soft opening stage, it’s a limited menu for their Penang Nyonya food.
There’s Nasi Ulam, Perut Ikan, Chicken and Beef Rendang, Kerabu Assam Sayur Paku, Bubur Pulut Hitam and more, .
For lunch, they offer set meals for solo diners where dishes like Chicken Rendang, Beef Rendang, Gulai Tumis and a Korean Inspired Chicken Pongteh is served with steamed rice, keropok, egg, either a vegetable or kerabu and lemongrass ginger brewed tea or Chinese tea.
The space inside is simple with wooden furniture brightened up with colourful tablecloths — Picture by Choo Choy May
On the menu, you may notice some items that aren’t available anywhere else, like a healthier Chia Seed Gula Melaka Pudding and a Melaka Chicken Pongteh given a Gangnam style makeover.
These are Carol’s creations that celebrate the Peranakans’ love for fusion. “The Peranakans were the greatest fusionists as they fuse Chinese and Malay food and they were the original fusion people,” Carol says.
One of the highlights of Sri Nyonya Restaurant’s menu was the ice cream which was made by Carol.
She had dabbled in making ice cream at home until her father got her a commercial grade ice cream maker, which was when she started making ice cream for the restaurant.
Even though she doesn’t eat durian, they offered that flavour as it was a favourite of James.
What she prefers is alcoholic ice creams, since not many places offer it. Her rum and raisin ice cream was a crowd favourite at Sri Nyonya Restaurant.
Teik recalls the first time they served ice cream, they offered a deal, where the first scoop was on the house and you only paid for the second scoop of ice cream.
“I always tell my customers, you come here, I want you to go back and you feel so sweet that you won’t forget me,” Teik says.
Sri Nyonya Bistro is located at a row of shophouses in Damansara Utama (Uptown) with neighbours like The Ship and KBN King’s Seremban Beef Noodles — Picture by Choo Choy May
Carol promises that once they get their act together, ice cream will be available at Sri Nyonya Bistro.
One can look forward to flavours in her repertoire like Cointreau Fig and Ginger, Pink Dragonfruit Grappa, Baileys Espresso and so forth.
She has already introduced her boozy Chocolate Wine Jelly, which needs to be ordered a day in advance.
Right in front of the restaurant, there’s a baking corner for Carol to work on her cakes like lemon poppyseed, Guinness chocolate, carrot cake with boozy raisins and cream cheese.
One can also look forward to Bread and Butter Pudding served with rum infused custard too.
Sri Nyonya Bistro, 11, Jalan SS21/56B, Damansara Utama (Uptown), Petaling Jaya. Open: 11.30am to 2.30pm, 5.30pm to 9.30pm. Closed on Mondays. Tel:011-65651031. Facebook: @srinyonyabistro
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