The founder of Hameediyah Restaurant,Mr.Nalla Kader was born in a small village called,Chittar Kottai,which when translated means 'The Prince's Fort;in the district of Ramanathapuram,Tamilnadu,India.
As there were no activities of any kind that could be mentioned about the village then,it was unusually calm and quite,except the calls for prayers from the menarets of the two beautiful ancient mosques that were often heard.The inhabitants of the village were mostly moslems.There was also a madarasah and a Tamil school.
It was from this village that Mr.Nalla Kader started out to set said to look for greener pastures elsewhere.He arrived in penang in the year 1890.Penang was also known as the 'Prince Of Wales Island' then.
Soon after his arrival here,Mr.Nalla Kader made arrangements to rent the site where the present shop stands.He made use of this place to prepare food.
Mr.Nalla Kader used to carry the food on one of his shoulders,using a pole and two large baskets tied to their ends,to different spots along Penang Road,and other nearby areas.
The Process of selling food this way or style come to be known as 'Nasi Kandar'This Term is no longer relevant as the mode of 'dispensing' food does not exist now.
After a period of several years,Mr.Nalla Kader decided to make the place where he prepared the food as the permanent site to conduct his business and stopped from going one place to another.
The year was 1907 and Hameediyah Restaurant was e stablished at number 164-A Campbell Street.Penang.
In the early days,most of his customers were largely immigrant port workers,local trade communities,rickshaw pullers and other local residents,including government administrative employees and other alike.
Mr.Nalla Kader was not at all a skilled cook,but back at home there as a young boy,he had always watched and admired his mothers skillful cooking habits.In the process,he had picked some bits and pieces of ideas. And this! little knowledge and understanding in cooking that was enshrined in his mind,came in handy,and he was able to prepare and sell tasty and delicious varieties of curries.
And as word of mouth spread the business soon flourished and people from far and near came to patronise this eating place.
To meet the growing demand,Mr.Nalla Kader started to employ more workers and many of those were his own relatives,who were abto to lend a helping hand in the running of the business.
Mr.Nalla Kader passed away in the year 1927,and his only son,Mr.Muhammad started to helm the business,and made alot of improvements to keep pace with time.The business soared to greater heights.
A decade later,Mr Muhammad Three Sons took control of the restaurants and during their period it saw continued brisk business,Special orders were pouring in from many destination and various government organisations.
It was during this time that the war started and hell broke loose whn the place was bombed by the invading forces.
The Japanese pilots mistook a row of nealthy stationed hand-pulled rickshaws,that were used to transport goods,as cannons and started to spray the area with the destructive arsenals,However,Hameediyah Restaurant emerged unsealed from the bombings and was able to resume business as usual.
Mr Abu Baker,a grand-son of Mr.Muhammad.took charge of the business after the war,who later passed it to his relative,Mr.Abdul Sukkoor.
Today,Hameediyah Restaurant is a household name not only in penang but also in many other areas surrounding the island.And to a larger extent it is also known to many people in other states of the peninsula.
Currently,Mr.Abdul Sukkoor's two sons,the elder namely Mr.Seeni Pakir,And the younger Mr.Syed Ibrahim,who themselves are excellent cooks,are now the main players,and are solely responsible for the day to day running of the restaurant.
Other family members and closely-nit relatives are also in the workforce,together with some well trained chefs and others.who have been with the company for decades,The restaurant has been in existence for more than a century now
There is a dream and that dream would be that-in the foreseable future,we will have the opportunity to establish one or many fastfood type outlets to promote halal food overseas.
The restaurant has all the great classics, briyani, murtabaks and frothy teh tarik.: Hameediyah Restaurant must be one of the oldest restaurant we've reviewed surpassed maybe by Bismillah in Taiping. Established in 1907, they've been serving Indian Muslim dishes for four generations. Sailing all the way from Ramnad district, India ... Abdul Ghani opened up the restaurant before World War I, and after all these years.. it’s now ran by Abdul Gafoor who’s been working there for more than sixty years! If you come to Penang, this is the place to go for great nasi briyani. For a place this famous, I was surprised that it's not that big. Hammediyah sports a narrow, long design with an upper floor accessible through a steep spiral stairs. If you're a historian, you'll like this place. It has a sort of pre war historical look. They serve all kinds of Indian muslim dishes here from biriyani to kormas. Nearly everybody I see here is having nasi biriyani of some kind. When I asked one of the 'more important looking' waiters why their nasi biriyani is so good, he replied 'Kita masak biriyani macam kita mau makan sendiri' (We cook the biriyani as if we are going to eat it ourselves).
A plate of Chicken Biriyani comes with a big piece of chicken, curry and pickled vegetables or more commonly known as acar. These people are not well known for their food presentation but one taste of their nasi biriyani... who cares?!
"Murtabaks go super well with pickled red onions" Hammediyah uses a special blend of Pakistani rice to make their special biriyani. Good biriyani is hard to make. If you put too much biriyani stock, the rice gets sticky and gluey. Not the case with Hammediyah! Not only that, the rice has a special spice taste that is not available elsewhere. Eating the rice alone is a delicious experience. But that's not all, their chicken korma can also share the same praise. Indian muslim korma is a wee bit different from traditional indian. Hameediyah's korma is a bit lighter in taste but I like the fact that you can still taste the spices deep in chicken. Taken with some biriyani rice, gravy and acar... it’s a delight to the tastebuds. If you have some 'space' left after the hearty nasi biriyani meal, try their murtabaks or murtabah as they call it. Some of us here have the capability to rearrange our stomachs just enough for one murtabak… so here's what I think of their murtabaks. It's good. Plenty of meat and less vegetables unlike the pasar malam ones. This one I suspect also uses the single layer skin 'preprepared' technique. For Hameediyah, make sure you take your murtabak with the pickled red onions and curry. Oiiyoooo...really delicious .. and even better when you wash all that down with a hot teh tarik Hameediyah style. Overall thumbs up left, right and center for Hameediyah from the Friedchillies Review Crew! We slowly walked down the stairs, quietly paid the man and left. Waving his hand, he said 'Thank you, Come back sometime'. We couldn't wave back.... we could barely walk... luckily the car was parked in front of the restaurant... Anyway, enjoy your biriyani... remember... one portion per person is enough no matter how good the biriyani is..
HAMEEDIYAH RESTAURANT
THE OLDEST NASI KANDAR IN MALAYSIA
Recently Hameediyah Restaurant the Oldest Nasi Kandar in Malaysia went thru a Major Revamp and now they are getting ready to Franchise..New FACE of oldest nasikandar
They have transformed the entire restaurant after a month of Renovation. The whole restaurant went thru a makeover in line with Penang Heritage Rules for Heritage Buildings of Penang.
Now Hameediyah seems like the Best and the Cleanest Nasi Kandar in Penang. They have also won a "4 Star for their Toilet Cleanliness" from the Local Council MPPP.
They have also revamped their entire kitchen and food services. They also hired a Group Head Chef from a 5 Star Hotel to control Food Quality and Consistency
Staff in Traditional Old Uniform.....
They have also revisited their Original Recipe and proud to claim to be the Best Nasi Kandar in Malaysia.
I guess you have to make a visit to Hameediyah Nasi Kandar to see for yourself.
