WHAT TO EAT IN KUALA LUMPUR: KUALA LUMPUR FOOD DIARY!

Now I have this thing with writing my travel diaries, it is to blog about it as fast as I can, because you know, it’s nearly impossible to blog about my travel stories when I am back in town and “attacked” by my other projects in town. I am wrote this blog post literally above the ground, in the air, on my way to Bangkok, Thailand.

Afterall, the not-so-secret Blogging success tips are doing what you love to do + commitment.

So last month I told my assistant not to book me anything for a week from the last of May to the first week of June, because I was literally that close from being exhausted and crazy, and coincidentally, my friends from myfunfoodiary asked me if I wanted to join them to KL and Bangkok, so I agreed, tickets booked and voila I was on board.

It’s been six years since the last time I went to Kuala Lumpur. I was in my first year of college & first time Kuala Lumpur with my cousins (oh good old days), six years and 20 pounds later, I came back with more interest towards food, and yeah that’s sort of what this trip is all about: eat and eat and eat!

Now this post is going to be about my KL food (and a bit of beverage) diary, everything that we’ve visited for 2 and a half days. In total, we managed to visit 13 places (we wanted more, but we’re very short on time), and personally I wanted to thank everyone of you who have put the effort to email me long list of where to dine or snacking in KL, I seriously love love LOVE you guys so much, I didn’t have a lot of time to browse and did research, and your top notch recommendations really helped me!!!

PS: for some reasons, ever since Uber is trending in Asia, I have been such a loyal customer of theirs and throughout this trip, I didn’t take any public transportation at all and went straight to Uber every single time. Guess what? The Uber fare in KL and Bangkok are incredibly cheap, like CHEAP CHEAP half of Jakarta I must say. If you think Jakarta’s Uber fare is cheap enough, you just haven’t experience the KL and Bangkok’s.

Ok without further adieu let’s start! (this review will be a short summary, full review of each visit might possibly be writre)

DAY ONE

BRICKFIELDS PISANG GORENG (AKA MR CHIAM PISANG GORENG)

21-19, Jalan Thambipillay, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur,

Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The first thing that I had as soon as I landed in KL! We departed from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) using Skybus (11 MYR) to KL Sentral. Getting here from KL Sentral was very easy, all you need to do is walk towards the main road from the bus drop (DON’T TAKE THE ESCALATOR), keep straight, cross the road until you see the eye-catching YMCA tower, Brickfields Pisang Goreng is located right across. It was like a 5-minute walk.

Seriously one of the best, if not, THE BEST pisang goreng I’ve tried in my life. The coating was really crunchy, and the banana itself was very soft, fresh, flavorful and somehow one whole bite gave me this sweet yet caramel like flavor to my palate, so nice! Expect to see long ass queue, but transaction runs fast // each 1,3 MYR (IDR 5.2k)

RUMAH MAKAN YUT KEE

1, Jalan Kamunting, Chow Kit, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

+60 3-2698 8108

One of the most recommended on my Snapchat was this, Rumah Makan Yut Kee, which is highly famous for their pork chop. The interior of the restaurant was classic with this vintage vibe that I really like. They might be very well known for their pork chop, but I honestly liked the chicken chop better, and expected this stronger and braver flavor from the sauce, but I still think it’s pretty decent. The coconut kaya jam they’re using for their toast is fantastic!

JUICE WORKS AT KLCC

Kuala Lumpur City Center Kiosk KL1A, Concourse Level, Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I was craving for a lil juice to cleanse off my digestion system (actually more because I feel like having one) and I notice this little juice and smoothie booth located on the LG floor of KLCC. Had the Berry smoothie and it was pretty refreshing, overall I might like Boost’s better.

EIGHT OUNCE COFFEE AT KLCC

Kuala Lumpur City Center 0S104, 1st Level, Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Now here’s the bullshit part, after having the juice and walked around a bit, I saw this coffee shop and suddenly had the urge to sip a good caramel-cappuccino, so yeah, coffee after juice (booyeah). The coffee was pretty decent, not the best one that I’ve tried tho, and considering I had an extra flavor from the caramel sauce.

BUKIT BINTANG/ALOR STREET CULINARY HUNTING

DIMSUM

This was an impulsive food shopping, because we were walking around and saw this dimsum stall (with no name) with people queuing in front of it, so yes they say when it’s crowded it better be good, I don’t find street dimsum very often tho, so it strangely feels exciting hahaha!

Each color of the dimsum represents each flavor. The yellow ones is the classic rendition of shrimp dimsum and another one with additional mushroom, the white ones are basically the same as yellow one, only with additional prawn chunk and the other one with salted egg yolk, the green one is the vegetarian one, the black one = blackpepper, and the purple one is the yam.

CU CHA

Federal Territory of, 75, Jalan Alor, 50200 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This was one of the most recommended restaurants from you guys (thank you so much), it’s a famous seafood restaurant located at Alor Street, Bukit Bintang called “Cu Cha”. It was my first time here and I literally just walk along the Alor Street and accidentally found this place, it’s located around the Dimsum place (above) or if you’re familiar with Loong Kee, a shop which sells good fermented meat, it’s just two shops away. The food here in Cu Cha was pretty decent, only that it’s a bit expensive for the food that we ordered (spent almost IDR 600k or $50) and I expected bolder flavor.

The grilled stingray is pretty good and rich in seasoning.

DAY TWO

RESTORAN KIN KIN - PAN MEE

40, Jalan Dewan Sultan Sulaiman, Kampung Baru, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

+60 16-372 8069

Restoran Kin-Kin is famous for their pan mee. Pan mee is a traditional Malaysian dish of flat-flour Hakka style noodle, I once tried Jojo’s and it was really yummy, but that was like a very long time ago. I must say that Kin-Kin’s version is also pretty delicious, Jojo’s somehow a little richer in flavor. One portion of pan mee consist of noodle, homemade seasoning sauce consisting of ebi and pork belly bits, and runny egg yolk. Don’t forget to order the meatball soup side dish here to add in more fun to your dining experience. Even though the default serving was pretty spicy already, locals here love having their pan mee with a lot of chili, so no wonder needed if you see this pile of chili flakes on your tables (and it’s pretty spicy too).

SITKA RESTAURANT

8-6, Jalan Batai, Bukit Damansara, 50490 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

+60 14-968 8949

I notice most of you also recommended Sitka so I put it on my “KL must go” list. Sitka is a posh restaurant located at the Damansara Heights, a complex in Damansara, Petaling Jaya filled with hip shops & dining places. Petaling Jaya is located 30 minutes away from the city, but with Uber, all good. The interior of Sitka reminds me of the typical coffee shops in Jakarta: simple with a bit of industrial and rawness around. The food here in Sitka was very good, one of the best throughout this trip! I was really satisfied with whatever we ordered that day: Orange-Beetroot Salad, Sitka Burger, Brownie with Raspberry Brittle ice Cream. Had nothing negative to say except the not-so-friendly service, the waitress seemed lazy.

YELLOW BRICK ROAD

50490, 7, Jalan Batai, Bukit Damansara, 50490 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

+60 3-2035 5922

If you fancy good coffee and sweets, then Yellow Brick Road is A MUST! This award winning café serves the best coffee I’ve had on the entire KL trip and the cakes were damn fine too. My iced soycap was divine just how I wanted it to be and the Millionaire cake (chocolate cake with cream filling) was moist & perfectly sweet. They open at 10 AM everyday, do come early or expect to be put on a long waiting list.

VILLAGE PARK NASI LEMAK

5, Jalan SS 21/37, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

+60 12-273 8438

Now this is THE MOST recommended restaurant on this KL trip, I always printscreened every recommendation given on both Snapchat, emails and comments, I notice more than 60 people actually recommended Village Park and claim it as THE BEST NASI LEMAK in the entire Kuala Lumpur, and when so many people gave you that recommendation, you know you just gotta go. Village Park is also located at Damansara, Petaling Jaya, but not necessarily very close to the Damansara Heights, it was another 20 mins (including traffic) cheap Uber ride (you just gotta keep the “cheap” in the conversation). I have never tried a lot of other nasi lemak in KL so I can’t just jump in and say that this is the best, but yes this was pretty delicious with rich tasty rice, tastiest sambal with well-balanced spicy flavor and a hint of sweet (I notice the food here in Malay tends to feel sweeter for my palate) and additional chicken rendang. Recommended.

MADAM KWAN’S

Lot 1.16.00, Level 1, Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

+60 3-2143 2297

I see Madam Kwan’s as Jakarta’s very own “Kafe Betawi” or “Sate Khas Senayan”: a famous restaurant chain with emphasize on local cuisine, and they’re famous because they are simply good. We were on a short 2 day trip to KL and we were craving for something local to entertain my palate, and we happened to arrive at Pavilion KL after stuck on a crazy 1 hour traffic from Damansara so anything would actually do. Judging from the crowd, our choice fell for Madam Kwan’s and it was clearly something we didn’t regret. We ordered plenty of food here and everything was seriously nice. The highlight has to be their “Otak-Otak” and “Curry Laksa”!

DAY 3

Our flight was on 5 PM so we took advantage to browse around and visited two more places.

WONDERMAMA

G6, Ground Floor, 1, No Satu,, Bangsar Village, 1, Jalan Telawi 1, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

+60 3-2284 9821

Special thanks to Rosalyn for recommending this to me, this is a quite famous café located in Bangsar Village which has a good reputation for their cheap and good breakfast menu, and yet what I seriously love about the cafes here in Malay is the fact that they still take a big chunk of local cuisine as a part of their main menu, and locals seem very enthusiast about supporting it, I honestly don’t see that here. The food here in Wondermama was nice! The mamak mee goring (which by the way only cost me 9 ringgit) was flavorful, tasty and spicy!

HANBING

33, Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

+60 3-2202 0238

Didn’t plan on going here, but when we were walking around the Bangsar neighborhood and saw this convincing bingsoo shop (and plus it was freaking hot too), we decided to make a quick stiop before really heading to the airport. Here they sell SUPER GOOD durian bingsoo (didn’t find this pretty often) that came in beautiful presentation and top notch flavor. The durian was shaped to these blocks and generously given, it’s just altogether sweet, fresh and addicting. Perfect for the hot day!

Teasers for the Bangkok trip blog series

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