If you truly miss those halcyon days of teachers and textbooks, then mark yourself present for a session at Hotzilla, a new classroom-themed hotplate restaurant in SS15 Subang.
This whimsical eatery, which opened in August, is the brainchild of Ashley Chan and Daniesya Shafyna, both 26, and friends for over ten years. Quite appropriately, the pair met in school.
“We knew we wanted our restaurant to have a theme, something that would make us stand out in customer’s minds. We almost went with a firefighter theme, because our logo is red,” Chan told FMT Lifestyle, laughing.
In the end, they chose a classroom theme. “Our target market is not current students: it’s a slightly older audience who might feel nostalgic for the days when they were in school.”
Venturing into Hotzilla may give you flashbacks to your youthful days: its tables look like classroom desks, and its menus and order forms resemble exercise books and exam sheets. Its youthful staff are dressed in school uniforms (complete with badges and name tags) and can be summoned by ringing a bell.
Chan and Daniesya got their start in the business by running food court stalls in Bandar Utama and Setapak, where they sold everything from dim sum to cookies and fruit.
The duo dreamt however, of something bigger, and were inspired by the Japanese casual dining chain Pepper Lunch.
“We wanted to do something like Pepper Lunch, but with a localised twist. All in all, we wanted to do something which really represented Malaysia, which is why our theme is a local school, instead of a foreign one,” Daniesya said.
The names of the dishes here seem inspired by the song “Old McDonald had a Farm”: the Quack Quack features smoked duck from Perak, while the Mek Mek features tender mutton. One of the most popular choices, the Moo Moo, is a tantalising combination of Australian beef slices and nasi minyak.
Hotzilla’s standout feature, however, is its sauces made from scratch. Instead of conventional Western flavours such as BBQ or ranch, the eatery shines the spotlight on local and regional dips.
Choose sauces like salted egg buttermilk, dry sambal, Tiga Rasa or curry rendang. The top choice here, however, is the aromatic Kam Heong sauce, which adds a zesty kick to anything its paired with.
An all-time favourite here is the Nasi Lemak Berasap, and The Rempah, which features cili oil dry noodles with a side of fried chicken chop.
There is also a plethora of side dishes to choose from: The Fungus, made up of golden-fried shiitake mushrooms with salted egg dip is a winsome choice, and the Kruk Kruk fried chicken skin is quite addictive.
Also, their drinks were clearly concocted by someone with a sense of humour. Stare into the Cookie Monster-style googly eyes sitting atop the Choco Cookies drink. Or pay homage to Spongebob Squarepants with a pineapple-infused Krabby Patty, with little burger candies floating inside!
The two say that running the eatery has been quite an experience so far, and they are still learning to adapt to customer preferences. For example, increasing demands for quick service by afternoon customers led them to create a speedy “Back to Kantin Sekolah” lunch set.
Reception to their hotplates has been positive so far, Chan said, and the outlet has seen quite a few repeat customers already. The pair hope to expand the business in future.
Overall, if you’re looking for a fun place to enjoy a meal with friends, Hotzilla definitely makes the grade. Its whimsical menu and colourful theme puts it in a class of its own.
“We hope to create a special place for laughter, where customers can come not just on special occasions, but on a regular basis. Malaysia has a lot of amazing flavours and we hope those who visit us, can try them all out,” Chan concluded.
Follow Hotzilla on Instagram.
Hotzilla
32, Jalan SS15/4C
SS15, 47500 Subang Jaya
Selangor
Business hours:
11.30am-3pm; 5.30-10.30pm (Monday–Friday)
11.30am-11pm (Saturday and Sunday)