Kasim, Medan Boy who successfully opened a restaurant in Canada

Posted On: December 30, 2022

Loading…

Kasim (left) receiving an award from Consul General of Vancouver, Canada, Hendra Halim, at Padmanadi Restaurant, Edmonton, Alberta, recently. picture: special

CANADA – At first, Kasim was just for the fun of opening a restaurant serving Indonesian cuisine in Edmonton City, Canada , 20 years ago. In the beginning, there were only four families from Indonesia and several students living in the capital of the province of Alberta.

It proves, Restaurant vegie named Padmanadi is growing rapidly and now has thousands of customers from various ethnic groups. In fact, because locals in this northern Canadian city love Indonesian-style menus, Kasim has also opened a branch of his restaurant in the southern city of Edmonton. The food center is in the city center, aka downtown, which has a population of around 1.5 million.

“I run this business like Padang restaurants in Indonesia, i.e. I don’t use promotions, just word of mouth. Just through friends. Turns out people here love our menus such as rendang, chicken curry, chicken satay, gado-gado, javanese noodles, ginger tea and many more,” he recently said in a chat with KORAN SINDO in Edmonton.

Because many customers came, the man born in Medan, North Sumatra, aged 62 last year, discouraged him from retiring. Previously, Kasim moved to Canada in 2002 to raise his two daughters while enjoying his old age. “At that time, I was invited here by a friend and there were no plans to open a restaurant. Two months later, on a whim, I opened a restaurant for Indonesians only,” said- he added.

Kasim rented a medium-sized store near the business district in downtown Edmonton. He also exercised his experience by opening a restaurant in Jakarta, Canada. In fact, opening a culinary business in this city is full of risks. In 2002, Edmonton was a small city with a population of approximately 600,000 people. Indeed, according to him, around 06:00 in the afternoon, this city renowned for its oil production, was already deserted. But apparently customers have started to arrive. And not only Indonesians, foreign students also love the restaurant menu.

Vince Corbyn

“Tvaholic. Beer guru. Lifelong internet nerd. Infuriatingly humble pop culture scholar. Friendly food advocate. Freelance alcohol fan. Incurable bacon ninja.”