KUALA LUMPUR: In this age of never-ending woes brought about by the rising cost of living, RM5 would leave you 0.14 litres short of three litres of RON95 fuel. But in Ampang Jaya, it can get you a expansive all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet.
In fact, 43-year-old Parwiz Kausar, the owner of Naan Corner along Jalan Kerja Air Lama in Ampang Jaya, near here, will throw in no less that 25 dishes to choose from on an increasingly popular buffet line — all for RM5 per head.
“You can eat until you’re full. Eat all you want, we don’t allow takeaways,” joked Parwiz, known as the inventor of roti boom, a popular compact derivative of the puffed and flatpan-seared roti canai dough.
Tucked in the middle of a row of foodstalls, one would be surprised upon entering Naan Corner, with its linen-draped banquet-style tables and seating. Its buffet line fronts other stalls offering local, Pakistani and Western breakfast spreads.
It offers nasi lemak with a selection of beef, chicken and cockle rendang, bakso (Indonesian meatball soup noodles) and, of course, roti boom with a number of local savouries.
The Pakistani spread includes capati with a selection of gravied meat and vegetable dips. For those in search of an English breakfast, the buffet line includes 10 types of Western fare, including toast, scrambled eggs, spaghetti, macaroni and salads.
Free-flowing hot tea, Milo and three types of fruit cordial are served to wash down breakfast. So how does one make a profit by charging such a low price?
“I go for volume. Like today, we had more than 700 customers for breakfast alone, so I do make a profit. But it is a bit of a charity effort, too,” said Parwiz, adding that his best breakfast sitting of 1,300 customers was the day before the start of last Ramadan.
“(A higher volume of customers) also helps to promote my business as people will talk about it.
“I’ve had people coming here from as far as Klang, Seremban and Malacca, just to have breakfast. So, it works.”
The RM5 breakfast buffet, which Parwiz started a year ago, is only available from 7am to 11.30am on weekends and public holidays.
Starting March 1, Naan Corner will be serving a lunch buffet at RM9.90 per head on weekdays, that will include his popular laksa Johor and mee rebus, as well as Pakistani-style tandoori.
“I’ve been in business for 23 years and have built my business on good food. I had expanded to have seven restaurants before, but decided it was too much to handle, so now we’re just concentrating on where we started, which is here,” said Parwiz.