RIGHT THIS WAY FOR AUTHENTIC MALAY
The proprietor of one of the city’s only restaurants serving up authentic cuisine from Thailand’s multicultural neighbour grew up with a love for the richness of his country’s fare and now shares that passion with diners By Carleton Cole
Fahmi Sabri grew up with the unique three-in-one cuisine of Malaysia. At breakfast he usually dipped Indian-accented roti into a tangy tamarind sauce. Lunchtime often featured nasi lemak — considered the country’s national dish — in which rice cooked in coconut milk and flavoured with pandan leaves is served with dried anchovies, a boiled egg, cucumber, roasted peanuts and a zippy sambal (chilli sauce). And many times for dinner he enjoyed mee goreng mamak, a medley of stir-fried yellow noodles and vegetables.
These house specialities and more classic dishes from Thailand’s southern neighbour are available at the Cili Padi Authentic Malaysian Restaurant, which is one of the few places offering the cuisine in Bangkok. It has the simple, homey look and feel of a typical cafe lifted right out of Kuala Lumpur or Penang.
Within the confines of Cili Padi’s vibrant red walls, you might come across Malaysians exchanging passionate views on their country’s upcoming parliamentary elections, or the occasional televised football game with the national team on the field being cheered on by partisan patrons. Malaysian news programmes, games shows and soap operas add an air of authenticity — along with the dozens of dishes, of course, which cost mostly around 60 to 80 baht, with the priciest being only about 120 baht.
The clearest proof of the restaurant’s success may be the notice board full of photos of Malaysian celebrities who have dined here.
‘‘Malaysia is a multicultural country, and that is reflected in our culinary heritage. We want to put Malaysian food on the world map,’’ says Mr Sabri, the restaurant’s manager. He is eager to introduce the cuisine of his homeland to Thais and provide a taste of home to hungry Malaysian tourists in Bangkok. Diplomats from the nearby Malaysian embassy on Sathon Tai Road and Malaysian businesspeople from companies such as Petronas and Proton are also regulars in this eatery, which recently relocated to its current location on Pan Road.
Mr Sabri is more than aware of the exciting opportunities for his small restaurant to expand dramatically once the Asean Economic Community materialises in 2015.
‘‘About five years ago, it was difficult to find Malaysian food in Bangkok. After talking with my uncle and my father, a diplomat who was working in Bangkok in the Malaysian embassy, where he still works, they came up with the idea of opening a small restaurant serving Malaysian food,’’ says Mr Sabri.
While Mr Sabri, 30, spent much of his childhood abroad, as his father was posted to Malaysian embassies in Mexico and Los Angeles, he spent much of his teens and early adulthood on his own, focusing on his education. This included learning Spanish in Mexico and later working in a recording studio in Malaysia, making jingles and television ads.
In 2005 he moved to Bangkok, where his father and mother had moved the previous year, as it was his father’s latest assignment. The avid guitar player arrived here in part to study audio engineering, but primarily to spend time with his ailing mother.
‘‘I only had about eight months to spend with my mother before she died, but we were both grateful to have that time to say goodbye.’’
Mr Sabri’s mother instilled in him a