From home to restaurant

OVER the past six months, a double-storey bungalow in the Inner Ring Road (IRR) of Johor Baru and painted in hues of tangerine and mustard has undergone some transformation. 

The colonial-style bungalow was among the few left in Jalan Yusof Taha, while others had to make way for the construction of the IRR. 

It was the family home of former Johor MIC vice-chairman K.R. Nadesan Chettiar who also the party’s Central Working Committee member from 1971 to 1975. 

This 1930s house with eight rooms once had 25 people living under its roof and welcomed many famous guests. 

Among them were legendary Tamil silver screen actor, the late Sivaji Ganesan, Indian classical dancer Padmini and poet Kannadasan. 

Now, this 73-year old pre-war building has been converted into an Indian dining outlet – Chakra Restaurant. 

The word chakra in Tamil means chariot wheel while in Sanskrit it refers to the seven points of the body associated with the practice of yoga. 

“Many thought the place was an ayurvedic massage centre or yoga learning centre,” said restaurateur and co-owner N. Shanmugam. 

Once a family home, the 73-year old bungalow now been converted into a restaurant serving southand north Indian dishes.

He said many that motorists stopped by out of curiosity and were surprised to find that place was actually a restaurant. 

Sultan of Johor Sultan Iskandar Alhaj is a regular at the outlet. Others include politicians, businessmen, expatriates, foreign tourists and Singaporeans. 

Shanmugam said his family has been involved in businesses such as supplying food products to sundry shops, operating canteens and food catering for 20 years. 

Apart from Shanmugan, his brother Venu, wife G. Sheyamara Thevi, sister-in-law Vasugi Ratnam and daughter S. Priyadarshini are involved in the day-to-day operations of the restaurant.  

Instead of specialising in only one style of Indian cooking, the outlet offers both south and north Indian food. 

Shanmugam said this would give diners the opportunity to sample both south Indian cooking which was curry-based and north Indian dishes which were creamy.  

“It is the only Indian restaurant in Johor Baru offering a la carte menu and special dishes. The others are all pre-cooked,” he said. 

Shanmugam said the two cooks from India prepared the spices for their cooking to suit the taste of diners instead of using ready mixed spices found the market. 

Apart from the menu dishes, the restaurant catered to special orders from patrons, but the orders must be made in advance, he said. 

Among the dishes are tomato chilli rasam, onion pakora, koli varuval (chicken sautéed with special herbs and coconut), velvet soup (cucumber blended with milk, cashew nuts and coriander leaves) murgh saagwala (chicken coated in spinach) and chettinand mutton curry (cooked with spices and flavoured with black pepper). 

Others include meen kolambu (Spanish mackerel cooked with onions, garlic and spices), fish meetha (fish cooked with fenugreek) and panjapooram baigan (squid with sautéed eggplant, onions, ginger and five special spices). 

“Diners can ask our cooks to prepare Malaysian-Indian dishes or a mix of southen, northen and local Indian dishes,” said Shanmugam. 

The rooms on the top floor of the bungalow were demolished to create a spacious dining area and three bedrooms downstairs were turned into private dining chambers. 

The three rooms are named after Sivaji Ganesan, Padmini and Kannadasan in remembrance of their visits to the house. 

The restaurant comfortably seats 80 to 100 diners and will soon have al fresco dining with open booths to cook Indian breads and tandoori.  

Customers dining in a private room on the restaurant’s upper floor.

Also in the offing is hi tea where patrons can enjoy the drink with Indian snacks, sweets and savouries prepared at the spot. 

Except for the dining tables and chairs, which are new, most of the furniture such as curio cabinets, side tables and console tables are the family’s antiques. 

“We are going to redecorate the place with fittings from old palaces in India and replace the louvres with stained glass windows,” said Shanmugam. 

The restaurant is open from 11am to 3.30pm and 6pm to 10.30pm daily.  

For details, call 07-223 9991.