KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — Restaurants moving towards automation may be the way of the future, but a local restaurant owner has decided to take a rather unconventional approach: leaving his outlet completely unmanned.

The restaurant garnered attention after TikTok user @jejakawangi highlighted the outlet's unique self-service concept through a video recently.

Located at Sierra 16, Puchong, the restaurant selling Malay cuisine in Puchong only offers takeaway services.

Patrons pick their dishes, pack their own food, make their payments into a petty cash box at the counter and collect their change from there.

Interestingly, the unnamed outlet has no signboard or the details of its owner, except for a mobile number printed on a notice.

"Please calculate the prices (of the food) by yourself and make your payments at the petty cash box.

"Payments can be made on a daily, weekly or monthly basis,” read the notice, adding that patrons can send a picture of their food through Whatsapp to the owner to ascertain the price.

Amused by the concept, TikTok user @mfaizrazali suggested that the restaurant owner was probably an introvert.

Meanwhile, user @muhd900 said the unconventional business model of leaving the restaurant unstaffed would allow the owner to save at least RM1,500 monthly.

User @cuu_yaaaaa, a regular patron of the restaurant, said the outlet previously allowed customers to dine-in but it embraced a fully self-service concept due to staff shortage after the owner started providing catering services.

When contacted by Malay Mail, the owner declined to be interview saying he did not want the publicity and had been unaware of his establishment going viral.