The Malaysian Insight

RAJ’S Banana Leaf restaurant in Bangsar has reopened after it was shut down by authorities three months ago due to poor hygiene standards. 

The Indian restaurant was ordered to close by Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the Health Department after a video of its workers washing plates in a puddle at the restaurant’s back lane surfaced in May.

Now, after renovating its entire restaurant, Raj’s has a proper dishwashing area to better meet cleanliness standards. 

“Featuring a more open layout for transparency, the roti canai area is an open kitchen facing customers while a large open window provides customers with an open view of how the washing is handled.

“The flow of food and pre- and post-washed dishes has been restructured to ensure a better handling process,” the restaurant said. 

The restaurant’s director, Rizal Abd Rahman, told The Star that after the incident in May, cleanliness and hygiene were the restaurant’s top most priority. 

“The debacle in May was a sobering wake-up call for us.

“The incident served as a lesson for us to work on our shortcomings, improve operations and adhere to all regulations and relevant standards to offer customers the best possible experience when dining at RBL,” he said. 

Raj’s also invested in a new exhaust ventilation system, sinks, grease traps as well as new dishwashing machinery with a 12-plate capacity on a 90-second cycle.

The restaurant added it had sent all its workers for anti-typhoid vaccination jabs. 

City Hall’s Licencing and Petty Traders’ Development Department director Anwar Mohd Zain said the local authority had revoked the eatery’s licence.

Kuala Lumpur mayor Amin Nordin Abd Aziz had said he wanted the outlet to be shut down permanently to send a strong message to all eateries in Kuala Lumpur.

The Health Ministry had also issued three food handling notices to Raj’s Banana Leaf for not sending its workers for anti-typhoid vaccinations and for not attending food-handling training.

Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had said the notices were issued as the restaurant was not registered with the ministry and the premises failed to be pest-free. – August 29, 2018.