Hong Junyang Opens Banana Leaf Restaurant Bananabro From KL, Sets From $5.90
The Indian franchise from Malaysia is located in Changi.
Update: Bananabro is now closed.
Hong Junyang has been one busy man. Just three months after starting café-cum-cloud kitchen Caf (short for Clickafood), the singer-songwriter has a new F&B baby. The latest in his empire — he also owns four Original Boat Noodle outlets and bubble tea outlet Machi Machi — is Indian banana leaf rice restaurant Bananabro.
Banana leaf rice for the masses
The 35-seater eatery, which opened last week at Changi City Point, is a franchised outlet of Bananabro, which was started in Kuala Lumpur in 2018. With travelling coming to a halt, no thanks to the pandemic, Junyang thought why not bring in a brand from Malaysia, which locals might be familiar with.
“I know the owners of Bananabro and I enjoy their food. Plus, there isn’t a banana leaf rice restaurant in Singapore that really caters to the masses in terms of price, accessibility or the types of dishes that they offer. I also like that the brand is scalable so I can open multiple outlets easily across the different parts of Singapore,” he tells 8days.sg. Prices range from $5.90 for a basic banana leaf rice set, which comes with three vegetables, papadum, and four curries, to $20.90 for curry fish head. As a rough comparison, similar dishes at stalwart Indian restaurant Banana Leaf Apolo cost about $3.50 (rice with two veggies) and $24 respectively.
Thumbs up for franchising
Junyang, 39, splashed more than half a million to bring Bananabro to Singapore. Despite being somewhat of an industry pro with four concepts under his F&B umbrella, Junyang and his three partners still prefer to go via the franchise route as the systems are already in place and franchisees can benefit from the support.
“I feel there is a lot of good things that we can learn from franchising. I did that for [his first F&B venture] Original Boat Noodle and for people like me who started without knowing anything about F&B, it is good to learn from a dedicated, professional franchisor. We see how their kitchen works and make their business sustainable. I don’t like businesses that generate a lot of hype when they open but cannot sustain itself long-term,” he says.
Pinning their hopes on one person
But franchising during the pandemic is fraught with challenges. For one, due to travel restrictions, Junyang and his team were not able to go to KL for training, so they had to hire a Malaysian cook to learn the ropes at Bananabro’s headquarters before he came to Singapore to train the local team.
“We depended on one staff to learn everything and then we learned from him,” laughs Junyang. “You have to adapt during these times. When it comes to cooking, you have to see, feel and taste the food. It’s impossible to learn it over Zoom.”
While business has only been “average” so far, Junyang hopes things will pick up after Ramadan. “There are a lot of offices in the business park nearby and on weekends, families who drive don’t mind venturing to Changi City Point, so we get a pretty good office and residential crowd. Maybe it’s the fasting month, so there are less customers during lunch,” shares Junyang, adding that Bananabro is in the midst of applying for a halal certificate.
Here’s what to expect at Bananabro:
Craving Set, $5.90
This banana leaf rice set comes with unlimited refills of rice, three kinds of veggies (fried snake gourd, cucumber raita, and pumpkin mash), four kinds of curry gravy including chicken, fish, dhal or curry of the day, rasam (a tamarind soup) and pappadum. Add $1 for biryani rice and yoghurt.
Junyang recommends getting all four curries. “This combination [of gravies] is pretty shiok ’cos the textures are different. The fish and chicken curries are thicker, while the dhal curry and curry of the day, like the yellow curry, which has shredded crab meat, are more watery,” says Junyang.
Side dishes
Need some meat with your carbs and veg? Bananabro also offers a variety of a la carte side dishes. Prices start from $4.90 for Gobi 65, a deep-fried cauliflower fritter, to $7.90 for Fried Squid Rings. Junyang’s favourite is the spicy deep-fried boneless chicken thigh, Chicken 65 ($6.90). “Our signatures are the Gobi 65 and Chicken 65,” he says.
Claypot dishes
Other highlights include claypot dishes like Claypot Tenggiri Giri ($15.90) and Curry Fish Head ($20.90), and Mutton Varuval $8.90), a dry mutton curry.
Drinks
After your meal, wash it all down with their selection of drinks including the ultra-foamy Iced Teh Tarik Lawa ($3.90), Lassi (4.90), and Coconut Blended ($6.90). There are plans to introduce Iced Sirap Bandung and Iced Milo towers in future.
