Masala Wheels

Tucked in a hidden corner of Seksyen 1, Petaling Jaya, there was already a crowd gathering before the lunch hour. While some members of the staff were occupied with seating their customers, others were busy arranging fresh banana leaves and offering customers a variety of dishes to choose from.

Strategically parked in front of the shop is a food truck — the signature brand-ing of the Masala Wheels Restaurant.

Started by four friends in October 2015, the initial plan was to operate as a food truck selling South Indian and Sri Lankan specialities while concurrently providing meals to the homeless along their routes.

However, the novelty of a food truck business service started to fade away and they soon realised it couldn’t continue as a sustainable social enterprise model. Thus, they scouted for a shop to operate from and the rest as they say, is history.

Although business was sluggish in the beginning as people living in the area were mostly elderly and did not come out to have their meals, the team’s aggressive marketing on social media platforms proved fruitful, so it’s usually a full house these days.

Masala Wheels’ social enterprise model now focuses on youths at risk from the ages of 16 to 18 who comprise of school dropouts, those from underprivileged backgrounds and even those involved in social ills. They have collaborated with the MySkills Foundation in Klang who select and propose qualifying candidates to Masala Wheels, who in turn, will train these students to serve in the food and beverage industry. Upon completion of their training, the students are free to continue working in the restaurant or to secure employment in other places where their interests lie.

Currently, Masala Wheels only has one outlet in operation but co-founder Dinesh Pandian tells Live! that there are plans for expansion in the near future.

Naturally, we tried their banana leaf rice, and given how tasty the meal was, it’s no wonder that the restaurant was packed during lunch, which is served from 11am to 3pm.

For those who can only make it for dinner, Masala Wheels is open from 6.30pm onwards but dishes up a limited menu of meals such as nasi lemak, roti canai and chapati. For briyani lovers, Sunday would be the day to drop by the restaurant.

Masala Wheels

Address: 2, Jalan 1/3, Seksyen 1,

46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Contact: (012) 885 0409

Facebook: masalawheels

This report is part of the "Food For Thought" segment in Live! 2019.

This story first appeared in Live! 2019 magazine. Download your copy of the magazine here.