Vintage Ambience At Kodar Cafe

KOTA BHARU, Nov 7 (Bernama) -- A  row of several old wooden shops from the 1950s on Jalan Sultanah Zainab near the Kubang Pasu Market, here, does look shabby,  but one coffee shop there stands out because of the continuous arrival of customers.

Stepping inside the shop, one will notice the array of antique or vintage coffee shop items decorating almost all corners of the cafe which uses classic aluminium tables and chairs for furniture. It is this ambience that attracts customers to this shop, named “Kodar Cafe”.

According to its owner, Muhamad Faiz Rushdi, 36, 'kodar' in the Kelantan dialect means 'just'.

"So,m Kodar Cafe means 'Just a Cafe'. I intended to open a small coffee shop that serves simple and cheap menus such as toast, Kelantanese delicacies like laksa and laksam, and bottled drinks.

“Hence, the reason I  rented this old and worn-out wooden shop. It is to get that vintage ambience and adapt it to the Kodar Cafe concept," he said when met at his cafe recently.

Muhamad Faiz, who collects classic and vintage items, said he runs the shop with his wife and an assistant.

“Hardly a month after we opened the shop, the response was overwhelming and went viral on social media,” he said.

According to him, there are several cafes with a vintage concept in Kota Bharu town, but most occupy concrete buildings which do not provide the desired ambience.

"Kodar Cafe is different because it occupies a dilapidated wooden shop. I purposely maintained the shop's original condition to have that vintage vibe, and only spent about RM8,000 for wiring work.

"I decorated the shop myself by using some of my collection of antique or vintage coffee shop items, while the classic aluminium tables and chairs are obtained from a friend,” said Muhamad Faiz, who is from Kubang Kerian here.

He said the encouraging response from the public to patronise his cafe had prompted some entrepreneurs to offer their services.

 "I got an offer from someone who wanted to provide a coffee machine so that the cafe could offer expensive coffee to customers, but I refused because it did not fit the concept of Kodar Cafe,” he added.

Kodar Cafe is open every Tuesday to Sunday from 6 pm to 11.30 pm.

-- BERNAMA