Bayan Indah Culinary Retreat

Looking for something different to do in your spare time, on a weekend or when on holiday in Malaysia? Look no more. KL now has a new attraction for the discerning food lover with a taste for the eclectic.

Bayan Indah is a genuinely unique place, situated in Kuala Lumpur, capital city of the culinary heart of South East Asia, Malaysia. It is nestled in a rustic location on the edge of pristine tropical rain forests, yet luxuriously fitted throughout with a quirky, beautiful blend of rare Asian antiques, modern Asian artworks and furniture hand-made by our own carpenter. The grounds are green and lush; encompassing our unique tropical herb garden from which many of the natural cooking ingredients in our recipes are sourced. Native wildlife wander freely around our property and the surrounding virgin jungle. Yet we are only less than half an hour by car from Kuala Lumpur's City Centre; an oasis in the middle of KL's hectic urban sprawl.

At Bayan Indah, we believe that one of the best ways to learn and appreciate the true spirit of Malaysia is through its amazing food and food culture. Bayan Indah aims to charm and delight, to teach and to entertain, to soothe and calm, and to, above all, ensure that each of its food-loving visitors, be they local or global, have a meaningful culinary and cultural experience they will remember and talk about for years to come.

Links about Bayan Indah: Press, Travel Guides & Blogs, Bayan Indah In Action, facebook

Accommodation and Facilities

What Makes Bayan Indah Unique

Bayan Indah is designed to be different, stylish, rustic yet modern, funky, bright, calming, functional, charming, etc. However, it is still a uniquely Malaysian experience in a unique location nestled in pristine tropical forests. Many of our organic ingredients come directly from our own herb gardens - it is simply healthier and tastier!

Visit our website on www.bayanindah.com for more details, photographs and links.

Young Pastry Chef and Food Writer

Lots of people tell Rohani that they wish they had a job like hers – a passion converted into a
profession. After more than 25 years of “mucking around in the kitchen”, she still gets as much of a
kick out of putting together a great recipe as she did when she was just an overly enthusiastic young
student at the London Cordon Bleu.

Upon returning to KL, getting employment in a commercial kitchen was easy, but sticking to the
unsociable, back-breaking hours and lean pay was harder. Her impatient, ambitious young soul
rebelled against the mind-numbing routine that forms much of the workday of a lowly pastry cook
stuck in the bowels of a large hotel kitchen. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, she made a
switch to working with food, still her first love, from a more comfortable position. She did that by
sweet-talking the editor of Her World magazine into hiring her as their resident food writer (even now,
she still works with them).

Happily installed in an office filled with interesting people, a Poggenpohl kitchen and photo studio, she
spent seven thoroughly enjoyable years filling the food pages of that wonderful magazine with
appealing, workable recipes and eye catching pictures – a skill she still uses today in her work as a
recipe consultant to food companies, restaurants and publications.

Cooking Teacher and Innkeeper

When Rohani first hatched the crazy idea of hosting cooking classes out of her home kitchen, she had
no inkling whether hands-on lessons would appeal to cooking students. Or who these potential
“students” were likely to be. At the time, most cooking schools taught cooking demonstration-style but
she wanted to offer a much more interactive experience. But would people be prepared to get their
hands dirty, fumble their way around an unfamiliar kitchen and cook among strangers?

She begged friends and friends of friends, to let her teach them how to cook for free. All they had to
do was answer her simple questionnaire: did they like the class format and would they part with hard
earned money for it? Even then, she was convinced that doing, as opposed to watching someone
else doing, was the best way to learn. How else could you tell what texture to aim for, or how
something should smell when it is done? Ten years later, she is still teaching eager students the
best way to shred herbs for nasi kerabu and how to make perfectly, easy ayam percik. Since then,
the range of class themes have widened and through the classes, she has met an amazing number of
nice people. So maybe it was not such a crazy idea after all.

Rohani has since expanded her kitchen and in 2009, opened up her house as Bayan Indah,
Malaysia’s own very first culinary resort

Culinary Adventurer and Food Historian

When she is not teaching classes, developing recipes, writing or blogging about food or styling
pictures for photography for insertion into food related publications; and more recently, looking after
the interesting guests at Bayan Indah, she takes the time to travel, eat, prowl markets and explore the
ever-exciting, fascinating world of food.

Contact Rohani Jelani at Bayan Indah

If you want to contact Rohani about her work, working with her, attending a cooking class or to book a
little stay at Bayan Indah, write to her at rohani@bayanindah.com or call her on +603 77290122.

Visit her website on www.rohanijelani.com for more details and photographs.