Kuala Lumpur Food Hunt: Street Food Haven

If you’re gonna ask what stuck on me during our KL Layovers, well, it’s neither the KL Tower nor the Petronas Towers but the Mee Goreng, Roti Canai and Kopi Ice. 

Before my Penang trip, my knowledge on Malaysian cuisine was close to nil. Thank goodness I spent most of my time there checking out food bazaars and hawker stalls that got me acquainted to Malaysian dishes.

Kuala Lumpur is a melting pot of Malay, Chinese and Indian gastronomic fares. If you love to eat, then definitely KL is the place for you. I know that our 3 layovers (almost 48 hours in total) in KL aren’t enough to truly appreciate the city. That’s a good thing though for we have more reasons to come back soon.

Me and my buddy used Kuala Lumpur’s LCCT as our hub on our trips. With no plans on what to do and where to go, we consumed our time checking out good food finds during our KL layovers. Surprisingly, we loved the city (mainly because of our happy food finds). The street food scene in the city is extraordinarily good. You get to try some of the Malaysian favorite dishes with regional variations hidden along the crazy streets of KL. 

So without any guide on what-to and where-to-eat, we explored around the city and checked out the street food scene.

Chinatown

Me and my buddy didn’t know where to go on our first ‘layover day’ so we just followed our instincts and head straight to Chinatown (which actually is a good first stop).

Before reaching the place of interest, we stopped by on this hawker stall on a side street near the Chinatown area. The food stall sells some fried stuff that looks yummy. We tried to ask the hawker about the food items but couldn’t figure out what he was telling us so we ended up buying almost everything. We love the fried tofu with some veggies inside. It’s perfect with the vinegar-based dipping sauce that was provided. An order (2 or 3 food items) is usually priced at around 1 RM (13 pesos).

Tofu with veggies!

We later on went to Chinatown and scoured the area for some decent lunch/merienda treat. We ended up on a food stall that sells some rice meals and some cool coffee concoctions.

First thing on my mind was Kopi Ice for 2.20 RM (28.60 pesos). This rich dark iced coffee with condensed milk captured my heart when I was in Penang. We ended up having three glassfuls of this.

Kopi Ice

My buddy had some Nasi Goreng (an Indonesian/Malay dish which literally means ‘fried rice’) which is famous on hawker stalls around Chinatown. An order is around 4 RM (52 pesos).There are many versions of this dish but ours had fried rice mixed with some veggies and dried fish. This may be an Indonesian native but the one they serve in KL is good.

Nasi Goreng

I had Nasi Lemak (considered as Malaysia’s National Dish which is a traditional breakfast meal). For 1.50 RM (19.50 pesos) I got some steamed rice with shrimp paste, crispy anchovies, cucumbers and some peanuts. It is usually combined with other side dishes and we chose Chicken Satay for 0.80 RM a piece (10.40 pesos) bought on a barbecue stall nearby. The juicy barbecued and skewered meat with its perfect peanut-based sauce is not your typical Nasi Lemak side dish but it worked out for me.

Nasi Lemak

Chicken Satay

And as if we’re not yet satisfied, we also bought some Roti Canai for 1.50 RM (19.50 pesos), still, on a nearby store. Roti Canai can be compared to crepe but is much lighter and fluffier and is almost nothing without its curry sauce dip. I’ve tried this on some restaurants here in Manila (which, by the way, costs a lot) and those are nothing compared to what I tried in KL.

Roti Canai

We strolled around Jalan Petaling and went back to Chinatown when we saw this burger joint on the side street. Ramly Burger is truly a Malaysian icon. The burgers they sell can be modified to your liking. Typically, it consists of beef or chicken patty, eggs, cabbage, and other condiments. 

Egg wrapped patty!

For 5 RM a piece (65 pesos), we got the Burger Ayam Special (chicken meat). What’s fascinating about this treat is that the burger components are incorporated with each other. The chicken patty was wrapped around the scrambled eggs. But after the first bite, we both agreed that the burger was just ok, nothing spectacular about the taste actually.

Jalan Alor

The famous street of Jalan Alor, located in the heart of Bukit Bintang area, is truly a food junkie happy place. Once we stepped into this street, we never looked back.

Restaurants, hawker stalls and food joints are lined on the whole stretch. Hawkers holding some photographed menu items are just fascinating. And what’s not to love about a place that turns into a party place at night? Hundreds of chairs and tables are put up every night. Almost every Malaysian dish you wish to have is offered here. Beers and some booze are also available for an all-nighter party.

Apple Hotel (one of our chosen hotels during the layovers) is strategically located along Jalan Alor. We were lucky to discover our favorite hang-out/food place right outside our hotel’s doorstep. This certain hawker stall is open for 24 hours; just imagine our cravings in the wee hours.

We specifically love their Mee Goreng. A common dish in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, this fried noodle dish is our happy food in KL. For 5 to 9 RM (65 to 117 pesos) you can have Mee Goreng with a choice of your meat toppings. We often get the one with chicken or shrimps; funny how we always tell the cook to put just a little spice on our noodles but ending up fiery afterwards. We just tell them to not put any spice after that (it’s still hot though).

Mee Goreng

Char Kway Teow (Stir-fried ricecake strips) is also one of our food finds along Jalan Alor. For 5 RM (65 pesos) this unique noodle dish has some flat rice noodles cut into strips with beansprouts and some meat. The flavor of the dish is soaked in its tasty and chunky noodles. It’s really good.

Char Kway Teow

Kopi Ice, again, was our favorite drink. They sell it here for 1.50 RM (19.50 pesos). We downed almost a liter every time (exaggeration).

Kopi Ice

We also tried some rice meals (which I forgot to take down for the photo menus are much helpful and lovely) for 10 RM (130 pesos) each.

The rich cultural mix of Kuala Lumpur City promises a great gastronomic experience. We only had 3 'layover days' in KL but were truly satisfied with our street food trip that we keep on looking for a restaurant here in Manila that can be at par with what we had there. Mee Goreng, Roti Canai and Kopi Ice... Ugh! Now I'm drooling. 

Check Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia accommodations here