KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 30 -- No special treatment - not even for politicians. That's the line influencer-entrepreneur Khairul Aming is determined to hold as Malaysians continue scrambling for a reservation at his much-talked-about Rembayung restaurant in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur.

Since opening on January 6, Rembayung has become something of a cultural moment. At midnight, thousands rush online hoping to secure a slot. TikTok is flooded with first-taste videos.

And fans who once followed Khairul Aming's cheerful "dapur KA" cooking clips now watch him navigate something far more complicated: keeping a 200-seat restaurant fair, orderly and drama-free in a country where "VVIP treatment" often lurks in the background.

Rembayung itself carries...