By Aileen Anthony
The café is Limau Limau, a quiet gem on Jalan Hang Lekiu, just beside the 18th-century Masjid Kampung Keling. A well-loved spot since 2005, it had served tourists and locals alike with its fusion-inspired fare and laid-back charm. When Samantha took over the reins, it was still standing—but she saw something deeper. She saw a space where she could pour her story into the walls, the food, and the experience.
She bought the business just a few months shy of the pandemic.
“For the next two years, we barely heard footsteps along the street,” she remembered.
With the world in lockdown and Jonker’s vibrant lanes emptied of travellers, many businesses went into survival mode. Samantha went into creation mode. Alongside her father, she began to strip the upstairs bare. They laid new floorboards, cut timber, hammered joints, sanded rough edges, and painted every wall by hand. There were no contractors. No shortcuts. Just labour, love, and a quiet kind of defiance in the face of uncertainty.
“Working with our hands during that time to put the place together was what kept me sane,” she said. Even while dipping into her personal savings to pay staff salaries, she kept showing up. Kept rebuilding.
This was no ordinary renovation. It was a rebirth—not just for Limau Limau Café, but for Samantha herself.
From Structure to Soul
Samantha’s roots in hospitality run deep. Her time in Europe exposed her to systems, precision, and polished service—the kind where plates are placed at perfect angles and napkins folded like origami. It was good training. But something was missing.
“Being away from home made me realise that true hospitality is not only about efficiency or presentation,” she reflected. “It’s about warmth, comfort, and emotional connection.”
Those years overseas taught her what not to forget: the human side of service. The kind that doesn’t hide behind professionalism but leans into presence. The kind that greets a guest by name and serves food the way a mother would—honest, generous, and from the heart.
Returning home, she brought back more than just skills. She brought intention. At Limau Limau, every dish and detail now carries that signature—simple, sincere, and present.
A Café with Hands-on Philosophy
Entrepreneurship, for Samantha, is something she lives—every day, from the open kitchen to the dining floor. While many founders seek to scale or delegate, Samantha shows up—apron on, sleeves rolled up, Portuguese egg tarts baking in the oven.
“Limau Limau Café reflects my personal journey. It’s built on simplicity, sincerity, and daily presence,” she said.
She doesn’t see her role as being above the team, but among them. Leadership, in her view, is about showing up consistently and staying connected to the people—both staff and guests—who breathe life into the café. For her, entrepreneurship is a contribution, not a title.
“Success, to me, is not measured by recognition alone, but by the comfort guests feel and the trust they return with.”
Reimagining Hospitality on Her Own Terms
In a world where many new cafés are styled for Instagram or shaped by business trends, Limau Limau defies categorisation. It isn’t curated for hype—it’s curated for humans.
An open kitchen forms the heart of the space. Chandeliers glint above mismatched antiques. The playlist floats between nostalgia and warmth. And the food—a globe-trotting inspired infusion — served without fuss, but never without care.
Everything you see inside the café is placed with purpose. Each item has a backstory. Some come from Samantha’s travels, others are heirlooms, others still are serendipitous finds during the café’s quiet rebuilding period. But nothing is for show. Everything is chosen for comfort.
And through it all, Samantha remains a constant presence—moving between tables, greeting returning guests, managing the kitchen flow, and somehow always making time to connect.
Living the Long Game
Entrepreneurship, especially in the hospitality space, often comes with pressure to grow fast, open more outlets, build a brand that “scales.” Samantha has no such illusions. Her focus always is depth to build Limau Limau to last.
Her journey also speaks to something deeper—how an entrepreneur can root a business not in products or profits, but in presence. How reinvention doesn’t always come from big capital or big ideas, but from small acts of daily commitment.
Limau Limau Café stands today not just because of vision, but because of the sheer physical and emotional labour poured into it. It’s a business that was sanded down, re-nailed, and painted during the darkest of times. And that legacy is visible in every corner.
A Story Still Being Written
Today, Limau Limau, beyond a café, is a sanctuary for wanderers, creatives, families, and those seeking a pause. For regulars, it feels like walking into a friend’s home. For first-timers, it often becomes the kind of place they return to year after year.
For Samantha, this isn’t the end of the story—it’s a living one. She continues to explore ways to serve with deeper care, champion healthy living, and inspire others to live abundantly—whether through food, connection, or simply the courage to start something of their own.
Because at the heart of Limau Limau’s magic is this truth: when a space is built with your own hands, your own story, and your own heart—it becomes something no money can replicate.
And in that nostalgic corner of Melaka, Samantha Eng has created just that.
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Samantha Eng is one of the participants of the MALAYSIA SME Sportrepreneur 2026 Congress, joining a 30-member team in the ASEAN Records Attempt Expedition to host the highest-altitude Congress. More than just a climb, this journey represents resilience, entrepreneurship, and the spirit of pushing boundaries—both in business and beyond.
MALAYSIA SME’s 12th installment of its Congress will take place at Panalaban of Mount Kinabalu, 3,272 meters above sea level, in June 2026. Stay updated on the training for the ascent and interviews from the expedition members on the MALAYSIA SME Congress YouTube channel .
