- Iszahar Tambunan, 45, left his job in shipbroking to take over his family business in Singapore.
- The restaurant, Sabar Menanti, has been selling nasi padang since the 1920s.
- Tambunan says it’s difficult to juggle rising costs and rent while maintaining the quality of food.
As the lunchtime rush builds, Iszahar Tambunan remains calm.
He directs customers to find seats in Sabar Menanti, his two-story Malay restaurant, while ducking behind the counter to serve the restaurant’s signature nasi padang. This Indonesian rice dish is served with various sides of meat, fish, vegetables, and sauces.
It’s a restaurant with a storied history.
His grandparents opened Sabar Menanti in the 1920s and started selling nasi padang near a tombstone shop. It was simply known as “tombstone nasi padang” then.
At that time, it was not a restaurant but a simple push cart in the Malay enclave of Kampong Glam in Singapore. A friend had presented the family with an old signboard that read “Sabar Menanti” — which translates to “wait patiently” in Bahasa Indonesia, and that was how the store got its name.
When Tambunan’s grandparents died in the 1980s, his mother and relatives took over. Growing up, Tambunan knew he would have to take over the store one day. But as his relatives had a handle on the business, Tambunan went on to work in the shipping industry.
“I had been procrastinating to run the business for a long time because I’ve always been comfortable in my job,” Tambunan, 45, told me when I visited the shop on a Thursday afternoon in September.
He had worked as a shipbroker for over 15 years and took comfort in his routine there. “Everything is at the back of my hand. I know everything. I know everyone. I have a regular salary, and I can go on holiday whenever I want,” he recalled.
But in 2022, his mother, Maryulis Bagindor Marlian, told him she was unwell. She was 68 then and had been running the business for almost three decades. Tambunan knew it was time to step in. “I took the plunge,” he said. “I told myself if I don’t do it now, then I don’t want to live to regret not knowing what I can do to the business.”
Dealing with rising costs
Tambunan said his mom was apprehensive at first. “She knew that the good times of running a food and beverage business were going, going, gone,” he said.
Rent, for one, had gone up. At one point, Tambunan said the rent for the store more than doubled after an investment firm took over the tenancy. He almost gave up and told his mom he planned to return to the shipping industry.
Luckily, the Urban Redevelopment Authority in Singapore supported the heritage business by connecting them with relevant parties, Tambunan said. This helped them to secure a space in the same neighborhood at a lower rent, the amount of which Tambunan declined to disclose.
After eight months of renovation, the new Sabar Menanti opened in 2023 across from Sultan Mosque, a landmark in Singapore.
Still, the costs of operating a restaurant in Kampong Glam, a tourist hot spot, were high. Apart from rising labor costs, the price of ingredients has shot up through the years. A whole chicken, for example, costs 30% more now than a decade ago, based on data from the Singapore Statistics Board. The same data shows that eggs have gone up by over 60%.
It became difficult to cushion the rising costs, and Tambunan decided to raise the prices at Sabar Menanti.
He said that some 10 years ago, a plate of nasi padang with two sides would have cost less than SG$8. Now, he charges at least SG$10 for the dish.
Nasi padang involves a lot of labor and ingredients to cook, Tambunan explained. Beef rendang, a simmered beef dish cooked with coconut milk and spices, takes four to five hours to prepare. It’s a three-person job to stir, cook, and watch the rendang, he added.
With the rise in prices, some customers have complained, Tambunan said. But others have understood the necessity of increasing prices.
Azreen Aziz, 35, a regular who works nearby, is one of them. Preparing nasi padang is no simple task, she told me. “Some people will find it expensive, but we understand the work being put in.” Aziz, who usually visits with her colleagues, frequently chooses tauhu telor, an Indonesian tofu omelet, and sotong masak hitam, squid cooked in squid ink sauce, for her sides.
Keeping up the quality of food through generations
Despite increasing prices and venue changes, customers old and new have returned for a taste of Tambunan’s family nasi padang.
Since taking over the store, Tambunan has also seen the customer profile shift from older to younger, noticing older generations who have brought their children to try his family’s dish.
“It’s a nice feeling to be able to feed food through generations,” he said.
The recipes were passed down from his grandmother to his mother — and now to Tambunan and his staff.
Some have asked him if he worries about staff stealing the recipe. But Tambunan simply replies: “No, I’m not worried because the magic is in the shop.”
Celebrities worldwide have also traveled to Sabar Menanti to taste their nasi padang.
Tambunan recalled when the late Anthony Bourdain visited in 2017. He was in the office, and his mom had called him, saying that a Caucasian man had come to the shop and had taken a photo with her.
“I looked at the photo, and I was like, what? That is Anthony Bourdain!” he recalled with a laugh.
I followed Bourdain’s lead and ordered lunch, trying the restaurant’s signature rendang and tauhu telor with a side of achar, a pickled vegetable dish. Served on a green plastic plate, the rendang was tender and flavorful, while the achar complemented its spiciness. The tauhu telor was crispy and sweet on the outside while soft on the inside — and I could see why it was a crowd favorite.
The future of Sabar Menanti
Tambunan admits that unlike being an employee, being a business owner means that things aren’t always stable. He added that some days, a queue would snake outside the shop; other days, there would be nobody at all.
To keep the business alive, he’s expanded the business to catering.
A father of 12-year-old twins, Tambunan said it would be “very nice” if his children took over one day and ran the business together.
His son is outspoken and likes to eat, he said. Although his daughter is more reserved, she has a flair for business, he observed. “I think they will work well together,” he said proudly.
By 3 p.m., the lunch crowd had dispersed. Tambunan was off to fetch his kids from school — being a business owner has given him more time with family, he said.
His mom remained behind the counter, handling the cashier. Tambunan told me he wanted her to remain active in her old age and encouraged her to return to help.
As I paid for my meal, I asked if she was glad her son took over the business.
“Of course,” she simply replied. “He’s my son.”
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