A man has come to the aid of poor families living around Kampung Sungai Padang in Arau, Perlis, by opening a stall offering meals that cost only RM1.

Zulkifli Ismail, 39, decided to open "Selera D’ Bendang Senja" early last month. The stall has a beautiful view of the paddy fields.

“Parents with perhaps only two children can afford to eat at a restaurant but those with large families cannot afford it,” he told Bernama when met here recently.

His food is well-received, especially his laksa utara and since his stall went viral on social sites, there has been no end to customers frequenting his eatery.

People were even willing to come from Perak to Perlis solely for a taste of his laksa utara, which has become the best-selling dish.

“Praise be to Allah, the response is incredible, in less than three hours all the food is sold out... I start at 11am and close at about 1.30pm,” he said.

Each day Zulkifli, assisted by three workers, cooks 8kg of glutinous rice (pulut), 20kg of rice, 20 packets of laksa and 20 chickens.

The father of two children said his stall offered a wide spread of local delicacies at only RM1, namely nasi lemak, mee hoon soup, yellow noodle soup, kuey teow soup, Maggi soup and fried rice, including his bestselling menus such as glutinous rice with chicken, laksa utara, chicken rice and beef rice. 

Also available are various beverages at the same price including ais batu campur (ABC), cendol and laicikang.

Zulkifli is not worried about the cost of raw ingredients as his stall is still making a profit because he cooks himself and the visitors are not just having one meal but are repeatedly ordering.

Meanwhile, Form 5 student Zaidi Putra Zakariah, 17, said he was willing to save the pocket money given by his mother for school just to eat here.

He said although the price was RM1 per meal, he was satisfied with the food.

Another customer, Nurul Natasha Asmira Azhar, 16, said the food offered here was delicious and of a reasonable portion, which was very filling.

It was her first time having a meal there but she said it was worth it and she was fascinated by the magnificent view of the paddy fields

- Bernama