KUCHING: Ceylonese Restaurant is adding staff and over 100 dining seats as stronger demand drives its next phase of growth.
Its owner Damith Senanayake said stronger tourist traffic has prompted his restaurant to scale up its operations during the current peak season.
“We are at the peak right now due to the tourism peak. This is the season!
“We have actually increased a lot of staffing as well, around 20 per cent of extra staff.”
In light of this, he said that his restaurant is also expanding the ways it reaches customers, with its recent Kuching Food Festival stall providing an additional sales channel and an opportunity to test different products.
He said the restaurant introduced offerings outside its usual menu at the festival, including Musang King Cheese Naan, which became a strong seller.
“Also it became a big hit. Just last month itself, just for that stall itself, we made like 15 per cent extra sales that came in just from the Kuching Food Festival.”
He noted that the lessons from the festival are now feeding into the restaurant’s wider operations.
“Over time, the taste palate of the customers also changes. They don’t want to eat the same thing every day.
“They want something new. They want something entirely different. So these are the things that we are actually evaluating together with new staff, new menus and a new way of looking at the restaurant recipes.”
According to him, he is now considering how to turn those changing preferences into new growth opportunities.
“We actually plan to do different kinds of recipes and different kinds of ways of expanding, to do pop-up stalls and to reach the customers in different ways,” he said.
He said that he is also moving from experimentation into a more concrete phase of expansion for the restaurant.
“By next month, we will have an extra dining area for more than 100 pax extra.
“I think we might be able to come up with some new flavours and new kinds of naan breads.”
Despite experimenting with new products and ways of reaching customers, he said consistency remained central to retaining regular patrons.
“There are a lot of regular customers who keep on patronising your restaurant because they know what to expect.
“So then the word of mouth, after that people will bring people. Due to this, we have always maintained good sales and good relationships with customers.”
That operating discipline also shapes how the restaurant approaches its day-to-day development.
“Consistency is something that you need to do. You need to maintain whatever the SOP, whatever the quality standards that you are maintaining.
“We actually improve every day by learning also.”
The latest recognition has given Damith another measure of how those efforts have translated beyond the restaurant itself.
“I think this is one of the biggest reasons why we won this award.
“Recognition means you need to work hard. Your passion must evaluate new kinds of ideas for you to keep going and keep moving and keep giving a reason for customers to come back.”
The award also marks another milestone in an 11-year journey that began outside the restaurant industry.
“I come from an engineering background. I’m a mechanical engineer,” Damith said.
“Along the way, when I started the small stall, then a shop and the recognition coming from the state, and especially
receiving the award from the Premier’s hand, it’s something that I will never forget in my life and how far that I have come.”
For him, the significance of reaching that point goes beyond the award itself.
“If our customers and the state and my beloved Sarawak, our customer base, have not accepted who I am, at the same time Ceylonese Restaurant, I don’t think I’ll be here today.
“I don’t think I’ll be even doing anything related to what I’m doing right now.”
Customer support has also featured in the restaurant’s previous recognition.
“First we won the Grab Award also because of the customers. It was the customers’ choice. Then now we are winning the best restaurant under the International Cuisine category.”
Damith said the involvement of the Sarawak Tourism Board and Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) gave the latest recognition a wider significance.
He also wants the restaurant’s growth to carry a purpose beyond its commercial performance.
“I’m not just here to earn money. I want to set up an example for the next generation. They can also follow our footsteps and do better in their life.”
The challenge now is to sustain that momentum as the restaurant expands.
“We have to maintain the quality and do a lot of research and development,” he said.
“We are trying our best to do something new, do something better.”
