My motto is: “Live to eat.” I would say I have a good relationship with food despite what my mom says about the size of my thighs.
During my trip to Kuala Lumpur some weeks ago, I had the chance to indulge my appetite and my ever expanding waist with good food. Really good (and cheap) food.
Did you know, Malaysia was voted one of the Top 3 food destinations by Lonely Planet readers?
Drinking in KL
I have allergies to alcohol so I’m not the best person to recommend a watering hole. But I know of a good local drink.
My first drink in KL was a coffee from McDonald’s after I arrived in KL Sentral two hours late. It was not memorable.
After checking in at the Chinatown hotel, I brought the long’an drink from the famous drink stall.
The drink is a must when you visit Petaling Street in KL. It’s located at a junction inside the roofed pedestrian street.
Ask for the RM2 version with no ice–actually, just less ice–and chug it down in the heat. Inside the dark brown juice, there are bits of winter melon, long’an and unknown objects. It is sweet but not too sickly sweet and very refreshing.
I had 5 cups of this during my trip. Many times buying two within the hour (one before meal, one after).
Chinese food
KL is also famous for Cantonese food. D recommended a shop in Chinatown and gave a description of the shopfront.
I think I went to the right restaurant based on her directions and thanks to a random photo that I took, I remember the name.
Restoran Kim Lian Kee has a red sign, claiming the shop has been in operation since 1970s (I think). Downstairs, the cashier sits grumpily. Head up the narrow staircase and you’ll arrive in a vintage kopitiam setting but with aircon.
We had the Malaysian version of Hokkien Mee (special order: mix of thick noodles and beehoon) which I dare say is better than Singapore’s. N mused that she has never seen Hokkien Mee while studying in Hokkien (Fujian).
The thick noodles are stir fired in dark soy sauce with bits of pork lard. Yummy!
There was also Cantonese style fried beehoon which D recommended. I think this is the better dish as the noodles were crispy and soaked in egg and starch mix.
A not very memorable stir-fried vegetable with the pompous name: Four Heavenly Kings.
All together with a pot of tea for three was about RM50.
For the next morning, I had a good banmian. The doughy noodles was cooked through unlike the unlovely banmian I have in Singapore.
Indian food
For dinner that night, we went to an Indian place. My Kuching friend MY and I agreed that living in East Malaysia, we do not have as much Indian food as the folks in the peninsula. So we were beginners in ordering of most yummy dishes.
Anyway, our meal was still mind-blowingly fantastic.
I ordered the most boring roti canai for N. She went to pick a beef side dish and was in love with the dark-sauced meat. “So well marinated!” was her words.
As a chicken lover, I ordered the naan chicken set. The chicken was roasted so beautifully and the flatbread perfectly baked.
All accompanied by Teh Tarik (pulled tea): Frothy milk tea made by pouring of the black tea and condensed milk into different mugs for a few times.
Outdoor night market
Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of the street market food we had. Dang it.
We had barbecued flounder (yummy!) and some boring beef and chicken satay.
YQtravelling 