The appeal of an “owner-operated” restaurant is that there is a certain sense of connection that is otherwise lost anywhere else.
As Red Red Botak Head founder Liang puts it, customers get to know your name, you get to know theirs, and next thing you know? They want to celebrate their birthday with you.
“I like the fact that I’m here, welcoming people in, trying to get to know them, what their orders are, things of that nature,” the chef explained.
This extra human touch makes a world of difference, and is how he intends to make his restaurant stand out in spite of its foot traffic disadvantage.
The place is located on The Gardens Mall’s top floor inside of BookXcess after all.
Exit stage left
Prior to his now 13-year-long F&B journey, Liang spent about 15 years doing entertainment.
Having been a DJ, an MC, a singer with 3 album releases, and a TV host, he had just about checked every box there was in the industry.
But it wasn’t just the fact that he had basically completed the entertainment circuit that he decided to venture into F&B.
“Being Hainanese, it’s just something that calls out to you,” he explained.
With family members doing restaurants, catering, or running a gerai by the beach, for him it was just something that he couldn’t shake off.
“I think entertainment was great, being on TV, being on screen, being on radio, making music videos, but, you know. It comes full circle,” he said.
“You can’t run away from a calling. And this is where I’m at.”
Liang would go on to open his first restaurant called WhupWhup in 2015, operating out of a former factory that used to churn out yarn.
It was a switch up for the place as double-take inducing as the 2008 AIM winner for best engineered album’s own swap to making food.
In his own words, the end goal wasn’t money but rather to have led a fulfilling life filled with stories to tell come retirement age.
“If I never did scratch that F&B itch, I didn’t want to live my life thinking, ‘Oh, what if I had…’ or ‘I should have…’,” he explained.
An added bonus would also be the fact that, in his eyes, owning a restaurant was the pinnacle of “having something to call your own.”
Doing the dishes, serving friends, and just being present in a place designed and created from scratch with your own two hands—that was the appeal for Liang and what he cites as his greatest motivator.
But as long-time fans and patrons of WhupWhup would know, the restaurant closed its doors in 2020 amidst the pandemic.
The reason, however, was not as simple as not making enough profit to keep the lights on.
“If I remember correctly, lockdown was March 18th. Our boy was born on March 30th,” said the chef.
“Every single day that we were open at WhupWhup doing deliveries, I feared the worst because I never knew which day I would be bringing the virus home to my newborn boy and my wife.”
After about two months of wrestling with that fear, he eventually made the call to pull the plug on WhupWhup.
But the loss of his first restaurant didn’t mark the end of his career as a chef. He got right to work on operating a chicken rice pop-up out of his own home soon after.
Back for seconds
The inspiration for Red Red Botak Head first came about from a drawing his wife made while they were stuck at home.
That same drawing is the restaurant’s logo today, but the idea to use it had to be shelved until he was offered a spot in Mid Valley by none other than BookXcess’ owner.
The location, however, came as just as much of a surprise as it still does to even long-time goers of the mall.
“I didn’t know it was on the rooftop of Mid Valley!” said the founder.
But it was something that he was determined to make work. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d be running a restaurant off the beaten path.
Red Red Botak Head’s dishes are made with a focus on local flavours but with added twists. Amongst Liang’s creations include the chee cheong fun lasagna and buttermilk fried chicken with pink sauce, but one that’s particularly close to his heart is the unagi laksa.
“The sauce was something that came from a childhood dish that my mother cooked,” he shared.
But the “best” part about it was that for the longest time, it was a recipe that she simply refused to teach him.
Frustrated, he would eventually resort to reverse engineering the recipe and bringing his mother in for a taste test to verify the result.
“It took me two tries, but when I brought my mother in, she was like, ‘Eh? How you know, ah?’”
“Not because of you lah, that’s how!”
No pain, no gain
The reason why Liang likes sharing that laksa story is because to him, it is a lesson in giving things a try against all odds.
As Liang himself is well aware of, he has a knack for opening restaurants in no-man’s-lands that people have to actively search for. It’s a handicap to business, which means he has to adapt his marketing strategy to suit.
“You have to be a willing sucker for pain,” said the chef when asked for advice on venturing into F&B.
“I think it’s one of those jobs where it really does affect you on an emotional, mental, and physical level. At any point in time, all three aspects are taxed maximally, so I think you really have to have a passion for it.”
The plan for Red Red Botak Head is to eventually expand to two separate locations. One will be in downtown KL while the other will be up on a hill.
“I won’t name names, but you can put two and two together,” said Liang.
Right now though, the focus continues to be on putting more eyes on the restaurant first.
A challenge for sure, but fresh off the heels of their second birthday, they seem to be doing quite alright for themselves.
- Learn more about Red Red Botak Head here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about F&B businesses here.
Featured Image Credit: Red Red Botak Head
