Tuk Din Flavours of Malaysia in Paddington has had a surge in orders for nasi lemak kosong and ayam masak merah recently.
To head chef Syed Fauzi and his team in the kitchen, this came as no surprise as it emerged that the humble Malaysian traditional dish is the favourite of the world-famous defensive midfielder, N'golo Kanté.
A picture of the French professional footballer, who plays as central midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the French national team, outside the restaurant after collecting his take-away, had gone viral.
This was three days before Kanté flew to Portugal and helped Chelsea win the Champions League.
The football legend, whose parents were migrants from Mali, had been visiting the popular Malaysian restaurant since 2018, ordering the dishes that were to become his favourites.
Syed Fauzi recalled Kanté's visit, which caught the sharp eye of staff working on that fateful day.
As it was his day off, he was out of the restaurant when he received a message from his sister, Sharifah Nurul Ulya, who is the manager of the restaurant.
"It was just before closing time and my sister messaged to say that N'golo Kanté is in our restaurant," said Syed Fauzi, a staunch Arsenal fan, who was initially sceptical.
He asked his sister to take pictures.
The presence of the shy and humble customer, his face covered by his cap, sent the staff into a frenzy.
A waiter, Habib Mustaqim, who is a Chelsea fan started googling and later as he was giving him the bill, gathered enough courage to ask him.
"Are you N'golo Kanté?" he asked but it was Kanté's friend who answered, "My friend you have good eyes."
That was in 2018, Syed Fauzi recalled. He was yet to meet the 30-year-old, who had collected various awards and titles such as Man of the Match, PFA Team of the Year and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year, just to name a few.
Kanté, a practising Muslim, and who reportedly joined Chelsea for an eye-watering fee of £32 million, was to become a regular, sometimes eating in and sometimes ordering a take-away after phoning in his orders.
"His first orders were satay goreng, garlic chicken, Nasi Lemak Tuk Din and ayam masak merah.
"Later, it was just nasi lemak kosong and ayam masak merah," explained Syed Fauzi who congratulated the football legend on Instagram when France won the World Cup, inviting him to the restaurant as a special treat.
"I was then in Malaysia for a holiday with my parents.
" Kanté came with a friend and again, the staff were overjoyed to see him.
"But he was very shy. He would request we take pictures away from the crowd in the restaurant," said Syed Fauzi.
During the year-long lockdown, it emerged that Kanté had been driving past the restaurant in Craven Hill Road to see if it was open.
Three days before flying off to Portugal for the match against Manchester City, he went again, for a take-away.
The staff didn't want to miss the opportunity of yet another photograph, this time in front of the restaurant, spurring netizens to comment that it was the nasi lemak that helped the team win.
But it also invited another spat from a neighbouring country, with a fan questioning whether nasi lemak was from Malaysia or Indonesia. The comment was accompanied by an edited picture of the restaurant with Flavours of Malaysia, replaced with Flavours of Indonesia.
Whatever rivalry, the personal favourite of Kanté is still his mother's cooking of the thiebousienne, a fish and rice dish — a national dish of Senegal.
Syed Fauzi takes this in good fun. Late last (Tuesday) night, driving back to his restaurant, he spotted Kanté by the roadside talking to a friend.
Kanté, he said, was flying back today (yesterday), but promised to come back to the restaurant for his favourite fix, after the Euros competition.
Watch the interview on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=-En3q7gjdcM