Food experiences in Kuala Lumpur. From street food, bustling markets, and local and regional specialties to fusion cooking worldwide. Cheap and with high hygienic standards, Kuala Lumpur will keep your hunger satisfied without hurting the wallet.

Food Experiences in Kuala Lumpur

Jalan Alor: Top Food Experiences in Kuala Lumpur

If I’m going to recommend one of the best food experiences in Kuala Lumpur, it is Jalan Alor, a street that for its entire length is full of hawker stands and large open air restaurants offering every type of local cuisine worth trying as well as a number of others, including Vietnamese and Cambodian.

Related: Read our guide to Jalan Alor Food Street

It is best visited at night when it is bustling and noisy, and the air is filled with great aromas from the grilling, frying, and boiling all types of food. All that and the friendly but insistent staff inviting you to dine in their particular establishment make for an enjoyable and tastebud-pleasing environment.

If you do nothing else, arrive hungry. Here are a few dishes to try:

• The famed chicken wings at Wong Ah Wah
• Hainanese chicken rice at Restoran Lim Kee
• A whole grilled fish and the chilli lala (clams) at Restoran Mend Kee
• Wantan Mee, spicy pork (char siew) noodles, and chicken wings at Restoran Cu Cha

Related Malaysia Food Posts

 

• 17 Unique Malay Drinks to Quench Your Thirst
• Best Malaysian Food
• Penang Night Markets
• Must Visit Penang Markets 
• Penang Hawker Food

 

Imbi Market

Imbi Market, now located at the Integrated Commercial Complex (ICC),  is a great place for breakfast, especially on the weekends. I arrived early on a Sunday morning to be greeted with a busy, hot, and well-organised set of food stalls, with limited seating available, given the popularity of the complex.

Looking around, I was struck by the cheerful atmosphere as family and friends caught up for breakfast whilst sharing loud conversations at one of the various food stalls. Options for the hungry include char kway teow (chicken and prawn with noodles), curry laksa, apom balik (sweet pancakes), and of course, nasi lemak.

There was one stall I wanted to visit: SisterS Crispy Popiah.

The SisterS Crispy Popiah stall (yes, capital S at the end of SisterS is correct) has been a family-run business since 2001 when the stall first opened at the market. The popiahs are made at lightning speed, with the first step being to smother the skin with a paste made from hoisin sauce, chilli sauce, and fermented shrimp. Then a combination of roasted peanuts, deep-fried shrimp, shredded lettuce, carrots, cucumber, omelette, Chinese sausage, deep-fried onions, and turnip are added before being rolled up into one delicious handheld piece of goodness. The flavours were amazing with a great texture. Not to be missed.

 

Valentine Roti

Valentine Roti is an Indian restaurant situated just outside of the city centre. It claims having the “best roti canai” in town and doesn’t disappoint with its wide choice of roti.

I asked the waiter for his recommendation for two roti and he suggested I start with the half-egg roti canai and then roti Valentine, the house specialty.

The half-egg roti canai was light and fluffy with crispy edges, and was beautifully matched with the dahl, sambal, and mutton curry sauces. A great start, although I probably finished this dish off way too quickly.

Next the roti Valentine, named after the restaurant, was heavy and thick, with tuna being the dominant flavour. The roti eats just as well without the sauces, but it beat me in the end and I couldn’t finish it. A satisfying dish that would easily be enough on its own.

There are other dishes on the menu, but come here for the wide array of roti.

Related:

• Villa Sentosa
• Tropical Spice Garden

Yut Kee

Yut Kee is an institution in the Malaysian Hainanese style of Chinese cooking, where immigrant chefs from the Hainan region of southern China integrated their cooking with the styles of the Malay and Colonial cultures. Dishes typical of this style include kaya toast (toast spread with a coconut and egg jam), hailam mee (pork and prawns with noodles), chicken curry, and assam (spicy and sour) fish, all available on the menu.

But I came here for the signature chicken chop. A large piece of chicken (leg and thigh largely de-boned) battered and fried, served with peas, corn, carrots, onion slices, and crispy potato wedges, and drowned in brown gravy with a touch of Worcestershire sauce. A homely and satisfying dish and one I can imagine soothing the soul of the colonials back in the day.

Also on offer, alongside the marble butter cake, is the kaya swiss roll, both available for takeaway.

Sze Ngan Chye

Early in the morning, Petaling Street, the main thoroughfare of China Town, is eerily quiet. The normally bustling streets are empty, with the only activity being the odd vendor pulling up the shop front roller door or a delivery truck or two dropping off a new supply of goods for the day’s trade.

I had one reason for arriving early and that was to visit the famed Sze Ngan Chye cart. Here, you can buy the famed salted roast duck from the humble cart that has seen better days. The secret to the recipe is that prior to roasting the duck over charcoal, it has been marinated in salt. The Choong family have been operating this business for over 50 years and they sell over 100 ducks per day. You can buy the duck in one of two sizes, whole (RM52) or half (RM26), and it can be chopped into bite sized pieces upon request.

The duck meat itself was moist and succulent with a deep rich flavour, whilst the skin was sweet and crispy. It comes with “special” sauce but it is only required sparingly.

If feeling a little adventurous, you can also buy a duck feet parcel. This is essentially duck feet and liver rolled up in duck intestine and cooked off in a sweet sauce. The flavour doesn’t really change with each bite but the texture does as you move through the feet, liver, and the chewy intestine. For about 3RM, it’s worth a try.

Arriving early at Petaling Street means that you can be guaranteed your serving of duck as it usually runs out before 2pm. It also gives you a unique chance to wander about the China Town precinct, admiring the historical buildings and watching the small wet market in operation, all without the crowds and requests to buy the genuine/fake goods on sale later in the day.

Hakka Mee (noodles) at Chun Kee Tai Bu Mee

Taxi drivers tend to have good knowledge of cheap and tasty food; this time was no exception. I was on my way to Pudu Market, and the driver insisted that, rather than eating at the market as I had intended, I have breakfast at this outdoor food stall which sits on the corner of Jalan Sayur and the busy Jalan Pudu, about a five-minute walk from the market.

Chun Kee Tai Bu Mee has been operating for over 80 years, and although the rain was coming down heavily that morning, the stall was still busy. I ended up sharing a table with a couple of serious old ladies who were there for one thing, and it wasn’t socialising.

I ordered the large serving of the Hakka Mee, and before long, a bowl arrived consisting of dry springy noodles coated with lard, minced pork gravy, leafy greens, and succulent pieces of char sui—sweet barbecued pieces of pork. I added a heaped spoonful of pickled green chilies to top it off. Served alongside the Hakka Mee were three wan tans floating in a small bowl of aromatic clear pork bone broth. Delicious.

Ais Kachang

There are many refreshing desserts to either end a meal or take as a refreshing snack to ward off the heat in Kuala Lumpur.

The most well-known is the Ais Kachang (also known as ABC—Ais Batu Campur, meaning shaved mixed ice), which consists of a mountain of shaved ice, served with red beans, green noodles, sweet syrups, and corn kernels, along with other toppings such as seeds, durian, or ice cream, depending on the street vendor.

This refreshing dessert is found all over and is definitely one of the must-try food experiences in Kuala Lumpur.

 

There you have it, 7 Must-Try Food Experiences in Kuala Lumpur. Let me know in the comments below of any I may have missed. I will definitely be back to try more!

Looking for more food experiences in Malaysia? Then try these tasty posts on Malacca and Penang.

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