‘Ganteng Cafe’ with variety of menus, not just Ayam Gepuk
By Balqis Jazimah Zahari
Photo Rosli Mansor
IPOH: Who doesn’t know ‘Ayam Gepuk Ganteng’, a cafe that is already popular with Indonesian menu serving a set of gepuk chicken with fiery spicy sambal.
If it was previously located at Jalan Meru Bestari A8, Bandar Meru Raya, people can now enjoy the menu at another Ayam Gepuk Ganteng branch in the middle of Ipoh town.
Located at Jalan Sultan Iskandar, Taman Jubilee here, ‘Ganteng Cafe’ is not just serving ayam gepuk but also a variety of new and interesting menu items.
Not only that, the atmosphere of the cafe which uses the concept of ‘modern industrial’ decoration is definitely the most suitable location for visitors to enjoy food and Outfit Of The Day (OOTD) photos.
The owner of Ayam Gepuk Ganteng, Syairazmin Azril Alias said, that the second branch cafe had just opened at the end of last year.
According to him, in accordance with the new location which is in the middle of the main route of Ipoh city and is in a tourist hotspot, the cafe provides more menu options than the previous outlet.
“The most significant change we have made is in terms of the menu, at Ganteng Cafe we have various variations including western, Italian.
“This is because we are targeting the customer market that is around Ipoh,like Concubine Lane. Most of the tourists don’t eat anything too spicy, so that’s the difference between Cafe Meru and our branch in Ipoh town,” he said.
Syairazmin said, therefore, instead of just focusing on the menu concept of the Indonesian menu, the new cafe menu this time provides 15 items including western dishes for visitors to enjoy.
“This branch in Ipoh town is indeed different, while the branch in Meru is purely Indonesian concept food such as ayam gepuk, bakso, pelele and so on.
“This cafe also practices the ‘centralised kitchen’ concept, so every morning the food will be cooked at the Meru cafe and the logistics will take it to the cafe in Ipoh town to maintain the taste and quality of the dishes,” he said.
He said that his party also prepares promotions every year leading up to the month of independence.
“At the Meru branch, any customer who buys through the drive-thru will get a free drink if they wave the flag of the glorious stripes.
“While at the new cafe in Pekan Ipoh, we also have a Merdeka promotion, where customers can choose one of a set of dishes which is Nasi Ayam Gepuk Ganteng Special, Nasi Ayam/Daging Balado, Indomie Ayam Gepuk Ganteng atau Nasi Goreng Ayam Gepuk Ganteng served with meatball soup, sagu gula melaka and beverages Bandung Soda, Teh O Lemon for only RM20.90 ,” he said.
In addition, he said the cafe also plans to hold more promotions from time to time.
“Usually we hold monthly promotions, but it all depends on customer demand, if we get high demand for existing promotions we may extend it for longer.
“In the future for the branch cafe in Pekan Ipoh we are planning to hold various promotions such as discounts, vouchers and so on for customers who come to dine-in,” he said while informing that his party also took catering orders for 300 to 400 pax.
Syairazmin added, in the future Ayam Gepuk Ganteng plans to add more new branches throughout the state including overseas.
“We do have a vision to expand the business to Jakarta, Indonesia, but for now we aim to open one Ayam Gepuk Ganteng branch in each state first and after that if we have new fortune we will open abroad as well,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chef of the cafe, Muhammad Umar Mukhtar said, the recipe used in the set menu of Indonesian-style ayam gepuk has been modified to suit the tastes of local customers.
“In Meru, we do focus on ayam gepuk and some Indonesian menus because there we really have a high demand to make very spicy sambal, but in this new cafe we provide a wide variety including having about seven western menu options.
“For this new cafe, we also bring some new menus, which in addition to ayam gepuk and daging gepuk, we also provide a ‘daging balado’ menu.
“The ‘daging balado’ menu provided is actually not a menu from Indonesia, we still use the same sambal and added with some other ingredients to create variety in terms of taste.
“It is true that ayam gepuk is still a ‘best seller’ menu, but we bring a variety of new menus and regular customers at the cafe in Meru also come here to taste the variety on the different menus at our new cafe,” he said.
When asked about the sambal prepared, he said the sambal mixture uses a selection of high grade chilies in addition to the recipe ingredients he created himself.
“Since the beginning of working at the cafe, I as a chef have been given the opportunity to further explore various knowledge and new menus,” he said.
Ganteng Cafe starts operating at 12 noon until 10 pm
Address: 95 & 97, Jalan Sultan Iskandar, Taman Jubilee, 30000 Ipoh
Phone: 010-226 5836
