Takeaway kottu counter · sample business

Street food: the whole day

Ravi, who runs Night Lane Kottu, a takeaway kottu counter (sample business).

At 16:30
OwnerStart of the day
No cuttlefish at the market today: the seafood kottu has to come off.
Before the rush: tonight's menu. One tap takes a dish off for the night, so the counter never takes an order the kitchen cannot cook.
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At 18:28
Counter
A queue out the door, and every order has its own way of being made.
Two kottu to take away, one extra spicy. Takeaway, the dishes, how spicy, cash and change, then straight to the kitchen screen.
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At 18:30
Kitchen
Forty orders an hour and one hot plate: nothing can get lost.
The evening rush at a kottu counter. Every order on one kitchen screen, and a number on the wall when it is ready.
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At 21:00
Owner
Bags piling up on the counter: whose food is ready and who has waited too long?
Nine at night: who is still waiting?. Orders shows food ready to hand over first, then what is cooking, oldest first, with minutes waiting.
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At 23:00
Owner
Last kottu out: what came in tonight, and is any order still waiting?
Shutters down: how the night went. Home closes the night: takings, nothing left waiting, takeaway against eat-in, cash against card, and the week.
Take the tour · 5 steps

The day, hour by hour