The Tepen takes its name from the tiffin carrier — the tiered tin container known across Malaysia as the mangkuk tingkat, and as sia, lonjak or rangkit in different regions. It is the object that carried home-cooked food to the people who needed it, and it is the idea the whole café is built around.
Step inside the Sungai Ramal outlet and you'll find carriers hanging above the tables, a gramophone in the corner, velvet seating and a Malaysian flag by the window — vintage pieces arranged with modern restraint. The kitchen works the same way: Salmon Laksa that reads like a creamy pasta, Aglio Olio sharpened with bunga kantan, bamboo-tube rice beside an Angus steak.
The founder
The Tepen was founded in 2019 by Datin Seri Norazlina Awang Had, a familiar face to Malaysian viewers from her years as a news anchor on ntv7's EDISI 7. A graphic designer by training — Limkokwing, then Auckland University of Technology — she stepped away from broadcasting to focus on family and business, and The Tepen became the family's first venture into food and beverage.
“Food as it should be. Food should taste good. It should feel good. It should do good things for you.” That belief still runs the place — across two outlets, a growing menu, catering, and a community that keeps coming back.