IN 2002, Nik Sarimah Mat Tahir joined her family in relocating from her husband’s hometown of Temerloh, Pahang to Kuala Lumpur.
Her husband was working for a construction company in the city while she stayed at home to look after their children.
Speaking to theSun, she said: “I was feeling bored.”
To overcome her boredom, she decided to start a small catering business. On weekends, she began selling food at the pasar malam.
In 2015, she took a big risk and decided to expand her business by opening a restaurant called Kak Nik Patin House in Pantai Dalam, which she managed together with her husband and four children.
“Running the restaurant during those early years was not easy,” she says.
Despite having some experience with the busines, she had to slowly build her customer base. Fortunately, her efforts paid off handsomely.
Today, her business attracts hundreds of customers daily, and even members of the royal family have stopped by to try her cooking!
The restaurant serves more than 20 Malay traditional dishes, including its signature dish – ikan patin masak tempoyak.
Her nephew runs an ikan patin farm in Temerloh, and delivers fresh fish straight from his farm to her restaurant in the city.
She said : “Usually the fresh fish will arrive at night. I will put the fish in the refrigerator.
“At 9am the next morning, I will take them out from refrigerator and cook them.” She feels that using fresh fish adds ‘colour’ to the flavour palate.
Of course, like any good cook, she will not reveal any of her secret recipes that make her dishes so appetising.
“A lot of my customers have commented that my food remind them of their mother’s cooking,” she says.
“So whenever they miss their mother’s cooking, they will visit my restaurant.”
