As the saying goes, the way through a person’s heart is through the stomach. Malaysia is known for having a variety of delicious cuisines and are very proud about their local flavours. That means Malaysia, you have my tourist heart.
We all trust in this universal language – food. So, here’s list of places that I ate at in KL when I went in May 2023 with a group of friends (in no particular order). The full itinerary is here.
Food for Thought?
Disclaimer: I am not a certified foodie.
Nasi Lemak Wanjo Kg Baru
Let’s start with a good ol’ nasi lemak. This is a popular place for a nasi lemak buffet for both locals and tourists. The system works like a nasi padang stall, they will scoop the basmati coconut rice for you, and then you go down the line of dishes and point out what you would like.
Photo Credit: Janice
There are all sorts of lauk (dishes), including rendang ayam and daging, sambal kerang (cockles), asam pedas and more.
Thought the food tasted good, but just don’t be too greedy and over-order 😛 Service was also fast and efficient.
The restaurant only had ceiling fans, so it was quite hot. There is an air-conditioned room within though, with a 1rm entry fee per person.
The street where Nasi Lemak Wanjo is at is also a food lane, with various types of restaurants.
Address: Nasi Lemak Wanjo, 8, Jalan Raja Muda Musa, Kampung Baru, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 6am – 1am daily
Bramble Coffee
Speaking of Nasi Lemak, even cafes serve this local delicacy. At Bramble Coffee, they sold the basic nasi lemak, usually served with sambal kacang and ikan bilis (peanut and anchovies) with an egg. The cafe sold these alongside their pastries and the usual tea and coffee drinks.
Chanced upon this place when we were walking from our accommodation to Pavilion, located at an office building, with simple white decor.
Photo Credit: Janice
Address: 22, Jalan Perak 50450 Kuala Lumpur City Centre Federal Territory Of Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 9am-7pm daily
Elephant Republic Cafe
A cafe with a unique coffee signature – coconut flavour, is nestled in between the graffiti alley near Jalan Alor.
The cafe from the outside looked like a normal white house, but it’s a different story when you enter. The pebbled floor at the entrance, and wooden interior of the cafe gave it a very zen vibe, like you are away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Photo Credit: Janice
I’ve seen quite a lot of good reviews of the food online, including Tom Yam Pizza, Green Elephant Pasta, and their pastries. If one is adventurous, you could try the Signature Iced Coconut Latte or Coconut Milk Iced Blended.
Definitely a place for some croissants, drinks and the gram.
Just note that the cafe closes quite early!
Address: 7, Jalan Rembia, Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Opening hours: 9am – 5pm weekdays, 8am – 6pm weekends
Big Boss HSP
Another food place that can be found near graffiti walls is the viral Big Boss HSP. The shop is located under a huge graffiti wall art of Malaysian group, Dolla. The shop exterior is also eye-catching with a dramatic Big Boss character painted on the wall in front of some old-school seats and neon signs.
This was the first restaurant in Malaysia to bring over Australia’s iconic HSP. It is kebab meat layered with chips or fries, melted cheese, and sauces. Go for the ‘Holy Trinity’ sauce, which consist of chili, garlic and barbeque sauce. There are also shawarmas for those who prefer a wrap.
Note that the serving could be shared with a friend or two.
The food is best served hot, like how a Hot Snack Pack (HSP) should be. While calling it a halal snack pack is wrong, it is also technically right.
It is becoming as popular as the mamak stalls for supper, and you can eat and hang out at the shop outside as they provide stackable tables and chairs. It could get stuffy inside the small restaurant.
Address: No. 1, Jalan Tun H S Lee, Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 5pm – 12am on Sunday to Thursday, 5pm – 2am on Friday to Saturday
Tapak Urban Street Dining
Looking for another hipster supper place with a variety of food in the city?
Look no further than Tapak Urban Street Dining. (Previously mentioned it in my earlier post too.)
There will be rows of food trucks with different dishes like mee goreng, indomie, burgers, lamb chops, takoyaki, fried onion rings, churros, smoothies, yoghurt ice cream, fruits, and so much more. The food here taste average personally for me, although I enjoyed the vibes and atmosphere.
Tables and chairs are set up for common dining, and there’s also a prayer room at the container area if you need to use one.
Address: 2 Persiaran Hampshire Hampshire Park, Off Jalan Ampang 50450 Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 6pm – 12am Monday to Thursday, 6pm – 1am Friday to Sunday
Taman Connaught Night Market
Fancy another option for international street food? More about the night market here.
There were lots of Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and Thai food. We tried this popular Korean cheese coin bread, which seemed to be only available at this market, as I didn’t spot it at other places.
The place has very little halal food though, but we got some loklok, which was lekor on sticks and coated with sweet and savory sauce.
Yes, old school goodness. This was pretty good and chewy.
Photo Credit: Janice
There even was a truck selling popcorn. It tasted like the ones you eat in cinemas.
There were lots of other food to choose from here, so go down and try them out yourselves!
Address: Jalan Cerdas, Taman Connaught, 56000 Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 5pm till later on Wednesdays
Masjid India Night Market
If you are looking at local street flavours, check out the night market at Masjid India. You can find Malay kueh and dishes, and keropok (crackers). There’s also lots of drinks options and Chinese and Indian food in the area too. We also ordered satay.
Photo Credit: Janice & Umi
Tried out this coconut kuih with melted sugar inside, it was so good.
Address: Jalan Masjid India 50100 Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 5pm – 11pm daily
Dolly Dim Sum
This was the first thing we ate when we reached KL. The restaurant was filled with office workers at that time, so it seemed like a good place for lunch!
Fried rice tasted as it should be, like those at Din Tai Fung, and the dim sum was pretty good.
We ate Dolly Dim Sum at Pavilion. It was a popular place for halal dim sum, and we also spotted lots of snacks on that same level.
This included some Taiyaki located opposite the restaurant, besides a halal Takoyaki shop, to Boost, the many bubble tea shops and more.
Address: 168 Jalan Bukit Bintang Lot 1. 102. 00, Level 1 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur 55100 Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 11am – 10pm daily
Mee Tarik Restoran
This halal Mee Tarik place was probably the most crowded restaurant during our trip. We had to wait quite a while to find empty seats, and it was even more confusing because more people just kept coming and there wasn’t any standard queue system.
Like their name, this Chinese-Muslim restaurant is known for Mee Tarik (hand-pulled noodles), and you can see the chefs pulling them in real time. There was also another staff making huge pancakes continuously by the entrance, with the highest level of concentration.
Personally think the chili oil has no x-factor, which was a pity, but the mee tarik itself was delicious. We also tried their popular skewers and fried dumplings. Those tasted average to us.
The shop is located at the very end of Jalan Sultan, a walking distance from Petaling Street, Chinatown. This place was always on my IG stories when my friends travel to KL, whether it was day or night.
Address: 34, Jalan Sultan, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaysia
Opening hours: 10am – 4am daily
Fung Wong
We also chanced upon a Chinese pastry shop that was popular on TikTok for its food and aesthetics. (Not Halal)
The brand is over 100 years old, and kept the interior airy and modern, but old-school with that classic yellow table umbrella over the marble tables and wooden stools. The current owner is the fourth generation!
Fung Wong’s top-recommended pastry is the wedding pastry. Other popular choices includes wife biscuit, the husband biscuit, the piggy bun and the kaya roll. You can pair the treats with “cham” (a mix of tea and coffee).
Apparently, there is a franchise shop in SG at Malaysia Food Street RWS.
Address: No. 21, Jalan Hang Lekir, 50000 Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 9am – 6pm daily
No. 81 Mochi (at Chinatown)
They have various mochi flavours pre-packed for you in a box. One flavour that stood out was Pandan, but i went for the basic peanut flavour.
Heard that they are always trying new flavours for various occasions, there was a milo mochi for Hari Raya and a pumpkin mochi for Halloween previously.
The shop’s name was inspired by its location, which is right in front of 81 Petaling Steet. The only thing I was wondering was why they didn’t use the actual name ‘muah chee’ and opted for the mochi spelling instead.
But anyways, muah chee is always a good choice.
Address: 44, Jalan Petaling, City Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 50000
Opening hours: 12pm – 7pm Monday to Friday, 10am – 7.30pm Saturday to Sunday
Other Cafe options
Dataran Merdeka – KLCG Confectionery & Bakery
Kuala Lumpur City Gallery was one of the stops during our walking tour, because it was where the independence of Malaysia was declared – at Dataran Merdeka. Inside this historical landmark is a super chic cafe, which features a menu filled with recipes by the founder’s family.
The shop is popular for their cronuts and pastries, which all looked like a sinful delicacy.
The interior largely reminds me of Melbourne’s Lune Croissanterie – An open kitchen that visitors can look into, plus good pastries.
We went on a weekday, and there wasn’t much crowd. There will be a staff who will lead you to a table, before you order. We were only there for a short while to get drinks, but they were friendly and nice to allow us to sit at an empty table.
Address: Dataran Merdeka, 27, Jalan Raja, City Centre, 50050 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur [Heard they are moving out of this place end 2023 to another location!]
Opening hours: 9am – 6pm daily, closed on Tuesday
Mountbatten KL
We went to Mountbatten cafe by chance, after a whole day of walking in KL for tea break. I suppose the shop’s name was a nod to the road they were located at – Jalan Tun Perak was initially known as Jalan Mountbatten before the 1980s.
The whole stretch has hawker delights and other cafes to check out, but the distinct blue door and young vibes at Mountbatten were the most appealing at that point of time.
It was a good place to chill and hang out.
Address: 58 Jalan Tun Perak 50050 Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 8am – 10pm daily
Tapestry
Singaporeans would definitely know about Tapestry.
There are always regulars going back to this place for the nice ambience and the food and coffee.
Unfortunately, they were undergoing renovation for the main dining area when we were there, and seats were only available at the coffee bar area, and the popular mains we wanted to get was not available 😥
There were also other cafes nearby that you could try too, including this cute cookie cafe yumz.
Address: No. 28, Jalan Kamunting Chow Kit 50300 Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 8am – 4pm weekday, 8am-5.30pm weekend
Sushi King (Berjaya Times Square)
There are a lot of Japanese restaurants at Berjaya Times Square, but the one we picked happened to be at the same floor as the games area, and it wasn’t crowded.
This is a typical sushi shop, nothing too extravagant or outstanding about it, but it filled our tummies. Think the price was reasonable too.
Address: Berjaya Times Square 05-106a, Jalan Imbi 55100 Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 10am – 10pm daily
Fast Food
Empire Sushi
My go-to for sushi though, is Empire sushi. It is like a staple in Malaysia. You can find it easily for takeaways. It’s nice if you crave for sushi, but you don’t want to over-indulge yourself.
They also sell mochi! Their mochi is not the super chewy type, but soft and sweet. It can be quite filling too.
Address: C-16a, Concourse Level, Avenue K, 156 Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 10am – 10pm daily
Taco Bell
Never knew Taco Bell tasted sooo good! Way better than I expected, although it may be considered slightly pricey for fast food. The place looks so hip too.
There’s free Wi-Fi too if I remember correctly.
Address: UC-3, Level Upper Concourse, Avenue K, 156 Jalan Ampang, 50450, Kuala Lumpur (there is one at Berjaya Times Square too)
Opening hours: 9am – 10pm daily
Macdonalds
At that point of time, there was a promotion that sold nuggets with 6 different type of sauces that were not available in SG, so we had to try it! As usual, always crowded at any Macs, so we used Grab delivery which had really low delivery charges.
CU (Near KL Citywalk)
A franchise of the Korean convenience store, they had their corndogs, odengs, (fish cake) and instant noodles corner, which I’ve always wanted to try. Luckily, most of the instant noodles were halal. It was a fun experience.
My friend also tried the Korean coffee – buy americano, an ice cup and milk, and pour them together.
They have a lot of locations.
Other Random Snacks
Durian
One good thing about Asia as compared to travelling in Western countries is that the nightlife here is really *chef’s kiss*. So many mamak stores, convenience stores like Nice to CU and 7-11 and MyNews.com.
Story Time: It was 11pm on our last night in KL, and we still havent’ had the chance to eat durian. We decided to YOLO and GrabFood one packet of durian. The delivery charge was not too bad, and it was a funny sight to see the Grab rider taking out one small plastic bag from the big delivery bag at 12am.
Milo Truck
I don’t know if this was a promotional or seasonal thing, but we saw a milo truck by the road in front of the Avenue K traffic lights.
Kunafe
There’s a popular Kunafe place at Bukit Bintang when you head towards the Jalan Alor Night Market.
Roti Canai
So many mamak shops, just take your pick, or even get them delivered!
Baskin Robbins
Bread
Truly wished my stomach had a bigger capacity because I felt like I was missing out on so much more delicious food!
Uminsummer 