As a kid, I imagined having the heroic-droid C-3PO and R2-D2 Robot from Star Wars come to life and complete house chores for me. As instantaneous as it transitions, many restaurants around the world have brought this idea to life by implementing robotic automation services as a modern infrastructure to replace human power.

It’s amazing how the acceleration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has contributed to this development. While the usage of automation in various industries is deemed common in the 21st century, knowing how the system would spread its wings even to the full-service restaurants, especially in Malaysia, can still be flabbergasting as well.

Contrary to our usual approach, my article today will bring you to a new perspective of the F&B scene- robot waiters in Malaysia’s restaurants.

Top-5 Malaysia’s Robo-restaurants

(Image: Robot waiter at Kayu Nasi Kandar Restaurant, Penang.)

Generally, the traditional restaurants that have adopted the digital transformation will see business owners acquiring autonomous serving robots to administer food and drinks to the eaters’ seats. Not only has it brought convenience to their customers, but it reduced human movements and created space as well. There are many restaurants in Malaysia with such services, and we’re going to present five of them here.

CH Premier Restaurant, Kuching

(Video credit: 砂拉越旅游局)

We always expect new things to grow in the capital city or other states within Peninsular Malaysia, but little did we know that East Malaysia possesses many potentials for growth as well. One of them is the acquisition of the robot waiters, and it happened in Kuching, Sarawak.

Being the first-ever restaurant in this country for intelligent food services, CH Premier Kuching, a steamboat restaurant in Jalan Tun Jugah made its way to the Malaysian Book of Records for its 4 operating robots (3 of them are approximately 156cm in height while 110cm for the mini robot). Most interestingly, these robots speak Mandarin and are interactive as well.

Steamboat lovers should definitely visit CH Premier Restaurant if you are travelling to Kuching anytime soon.

Original Penang Kayu Nasi Kandar, Penang

(Video credit: Harian Metro)

One of the notable Mamak restaurants in Penang has robots as their waiters as well. Kayu Nasi Kandar, the original branch in Bukit Jambul, Penang, is the first in Penang that acquires robotic staff to serve customers.

As part of the contactless services in the pandemic, Kayu Restaurant has robots in all branches across Malaysia to deliver food and drinks to the customers. These robots are programmed to serve three tables at a time. Each round, the robot will roll itself to the dedicated table and diners are responsible to collect the orders they made. Once everything’s collected, the same diners will have to press the “Go to the next table” button on the screen before the robot moves on to another table.

What I personally find entertaining is that these robots are programmed with facial expressions as well, which is effective enough to live up to customers’ dining experience when being served by them.

Nam Heong Restaurant Ipoh, Perak

(Video credit: PlacesAndFoods)

Reportedly, Nam Heong Restaurant has disbursed 30,000 yuan on 10 robots in 2018 across the Ipoh Soho outlet and another branch in Subang Jaya. This local coffee shop involves itself in the digital transformation by acquiring red and white humanoid robots as waitresses.

Capable of conversing in 36 languages, these robots were programmed to speak English and Cantonese to their customers. Not only that, but they can move at a maximum speed of 60km per hour. Most significantly, they were named after celebrities such as Angelababy, Fan Bingbing, and more.

Hit them up when you are in Ipoh or Selangor. The quality of food and the automation service will lighten up your day for sure.

Nale The Nasi Lemak Co. Restaurant, Shah Alam, Selangor

(Video credit: Nale The Nasi Lemak Company)

How would you define a capital city if the citizens don’t acquire machine learning into businesses? Nale The Nasi Lemak, a restaurant in i-City, Shah Alam is also another merchant with walking-talking humanoid robots to serve foods for tables by tables.

Operating its robots similar to Kayu Nasi Kandar, the staff will input the table numbers into the robots and let them swerve around tables to pass the meals. This doesn’t only come as an initiative to curtail social movement within the shop, but it also fills the shortages of human powers.

If you crave the contactless nasi lemak delivery in Shah Alam, be sure to visit Nale The Nasi Lemak.

JBorn Cafe & Bistro, Johor

(Video Credit: JBORN Channel)

The same robotic service exists in Johor as well. JBorn Cafe & Bistro became the first place in that region to acquire automation services in their business. Named Kiki, the robot delivers food and drinks to the customers with a smiley face.

This Muslim-owned western and Asian food restaurant is famous for their cuisines and have always been receiving popularity among the community in Johor. To top it up, it can be astonishing to learn that such a down-to-earth restaurant is adopting AI service into their property as well. Imagine having a warm-hearted machine bringing the scrumptious food to your table, that’s just a match made in heaven.

The food offered in JBorn is definitely worth your shot. Remember to visit them and say hi to Kiki when you see it roaming around the compound with warm dishes on its tummy.

The consumption of Artificial Intelligence isn’t a trend that appears only in developed countries such as the Netherlands, the United States, Japan, and Korea, but it has also expanded its services across all continents, including countries like ours (Malaysia). Despite being a pricey cost to spend, many business owners are willing to invest in employing robotic staff to complement their services. Be sure to check out all these Robo-restaurants when you crave a meal to feed your taste bud. With that, you aren’t only supporting small businesses, but entertaining yourself by just looking at these mechanical robots smiling at you digitally.

Travelling during the National Recovery Plan (NPR)

Meanwhile, be sure to check out the latest SOPs before travelling.

• The tourism bubble is only eligible for fully vaccinated individuals, except those living in the EMCO areas.
• Children below 18 without vaccinations are allowed to travel with fully vaccinated parents.
• Tourists must present their digital certificate of COVID-19 vaccination whenever asked by the authorities.
• Tourists must bring along the receipts and booking confirmation as evidence that they are visiting for vacation.
• Tourists are allowed to travel by flight and land. However, they are instructed to book the transportations through a tour agency if they journey by land.
• Most travel activities are allowed to resume, such as nature parks, aquariums, zoos, museums, galleries, theme parks, and other activities such as watersports, jungle trekking, hiking, camping, island hopping, and more.
• Hotel facilities and amenities such as swimming pools, gyms, and lounges can resume their operations as usual.
• Everyone still requires to follow the SOPs to minimize the risk of virus outbreak despite the relaxation applied.
• Swab test is essential prior to departure.

About Tourplus

Tourplus, a personalized travel platform, is an online travel agency (OTA) that provides a digital local travel guide (certified driver guides and customizable itineraries with reviews available to ease tourists’ user experience) to tourists.

Itineraries such as flights, F&B outlets, shopping malls, hospitality and accommodations, tourist attractions, and more are inevitable items on a trip. Hence, Tourplus came in handy by collating merchants into the list of choices for users to browse through before making decisions.

Currently, Tourplus is moving towards becoming a social travel app that doesn’t only serve as a catalog for users to browse through recommended places, but also a place for social networking among travellers, which makes it more interesting to be acquired, and it’s manufactured in Malaysia. We hope you enjoy using Tourplus for your travel discovery in this multiracial country.