Klang Valley Streets: Banana leaf delights
With its tasty South Indian fare and affordable prices, Kavitha G.R. Banana Leaf is packing them in. NOEL ACHARIAM tucks in.
KAVITHA G.R. Banana Leaf, located at Medan Selera MBPJ (Majlis Bandar Petaling Jaya) in PJ Old Town, has been serving authentic South Indian fare in the area for more than 38 years.
Its owner, S.G. Raju, recalled that he was initially operating a cosmetics store in Wisma Belia.
“It was in 1971 that I got my licence to operate at Medan Selera. At that time there was a lot of construction going on in the area,” he said.
Raju has another banana leaf shop in Jalan Othman, also in PJ.
“It’s located across the street from Taman Selera,” he said.
Most of his customers are from the Petaling Jaya and Damansara areas.
“We cater for the breakfast crowd who are mainly office workers. For lunch and dinner, we get a lot of students and families,” he said.
His menu comprises a wide variety of South Indian dishes.
The briyani is excellent, with a pick of either chicken, mutton or vegetarian.
Thosai is also popular. “My customers simply love them,” said Raju.
There is the masala thosai, rava thosai, onion thosai and, the most popular of them all, the paper thosai.
A customer, who wishes to be known as Thiruselvam, said he frequents the shop every fortnightly.
“There are a lot of Indian restaurants in this area but I like Kavitha because the food is tasty and inexpensive. The vegetarian food is also delicious and there are so many choices available,” he said.
Raju gives an assurance that while many similar eateries have raised prices, he does not intend to do so in the immediate future. He praises MBPJ for doing a great job but laments that there are not enough street lights at the back of Medan Selera, resulting in customers worrying about the safely of their cars.
Raju also does catering for parties and functions but limits them to the Petaling Jaya area.
Kavitha G.R. Banana Leaf is located at No. 19, Taman Selera, Jalan Othman, Petaling Jaya. Call 03-7782-6498/7781-8498 or fax 03-7783-4292.