FINE dining cuisine, served from a food truck, at street prices. That nicely sums up what Bu Bu Food Truck at Taman Tun Dr Ismail is serving its customers.
From aglio e olio with prawns, white chocolate chicken, chicken and beef teppanyaki, to ribs and wraps, the people behind Bu Bu Food Truck ensure that quality and taste take precedence over pricing.
“We are in the food business and it would be utterly pointless to provide something that is too expensive for people to enjoy. If you want repeat customers, it’s a simple formula of having good food at affordable prices.
“Since 90 per cent of our customers are repeat clients, in the last four months we have been in business, we know that our formula of serving good food from a truck is working well, especially in this neighbourhood,” said operations manager Charles Dass.
Bu Bu Food Truck serves fusion Western food, including vegetarian specials, such as mushrooms with either baguette or panini bread, with prices starting at RM8.80.
The most expensive items on the menu are white chocolate chicken and beef ribs, which are served with mashed potatoes, at RM15.80 per dish.
The roasted chicken is priced at RM13.80, while a beef/chicken tortilla wrap costs RM12.80.
“Tuesdays are known as Orange Tuesdays and those who wear either clothing, accessories or make-up of this colour will get a 20 per cent discount on their food.
“We have been operating at this place for four months and the response has been encouraging.
“We go through the food almost every night.
“Of course, there are some days when we end up with leftovers, which our staff of five are more than happy to take home.”
Dass says all the food served is purchased from halal food suppliers on a daily basis and no leftovers are served the next day.
‘Whatever that is served is cooked fresh daily. Mornings are spent getting our supplies, and afternoons are when the food is prepared.”
Months before they started, Dass and his team did food sampling and kitchen testing to ensure the dishes had the right amount of key ingredients, tasted good and was suitable for Malaysian palates.
“We sourced for the products, came up with the dishes and recipes, cooked and tasted the food and worked on the pricing. There was a lot of work even before we started.
‘We also had to get a suitable place to cook the food and the right people to work with us to create the recipes.
“Our chef, is an expert in Italian food and, as a team, we work hard to ensure our customers are happy with the food we serve,” said Dass.
Besides Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Dass and the owners of Bu Bu Food Truck are looking at two other locations in Malacca and Penang.
Knowing well that the food truck business has great potential, they are hoping that more food trucks would come forward and operate near each other, to give customers wider food choices.
“It will be good if we have other food trucks operating near us in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, as customers will have options.
“Some of our customers like to eat near the truck, while others like packing their food to eat at their offices or home.”
There are 43 food trucks operating in eight locations in Kuala Lumpur .
The Bu Bu Food Truck arrives at its regular spot in Jalan Rahim Kajai 14 about 5pm and is open till midnight or until the food runs out.
Business is open from Mondays to Saturdays.