Malaysia Restaurants

[Pan]

I'm posting one more report on a Malaysian place. A family I know who live in Ampang took me to Mei Keng Fatt Seafood Restaurant at No. 1, Lorong Awan 6, Kuala Ampang, Selangor. They said the place used to be better, but I thought the food was excellent. We got the following:

Udang galah that were absolutely fresh and cooked in a tasty barbecue sauce that was sort of a caramel glaze

Ostrich cooked with what they were calling croutons, which was really interesting because I hadn't had ostrich before and it does _not_ taste like chicken but is more like red meat. The dish was good.

Asparagus with sambal belacan.

I think that was it, and it was more than we could finish. The quantity of udang galah was so great that there was just no way for us to finish it. There were three adults and a 5-year-old child.

I don't know what the meal cost because I was never allowed to look at the bill. I'm building up debts to people for the time when they come to New York.

[Wena]

I'm posting one more report on a Malaysian place. A family I know who live in Ampang took me to Mei Keng Fatt Seafood Restaurant at No. 1, Lorong Awan 6, Kuala Ampang, Selangor. They said the place used to be better, but I thought the food was excellent. We got the following:

Udang galah that were absolutely fresh and cooked in a tasty barbecue sauce that was sort of a caramel glaze

Ostrich cooked with what they were calling croutons, which was really interesting because I hadn't had ostrich before and it does _not_ taste like chicken but is more like red meat. The dish was good.

Asparagus with sambal belacan.

I think that was it, and it was more than we could finish. The quantity of udang galah was so great that there was just no way for us to finish it. There were three adults and a 5-year-old child.

I don't know what the meal cost because I was never allowed to look at the bill. I'm building up debts to people for the time when they come to New York. 

pan, very exotic. the ostrich meat i mean. u're definitely going to put on more weight by the time your trip is over. hee hee...

udang galah is great! pricey though. the only place that it was dirt cheap that i can recall was Sabah. seafood there was pretty cheap everywhere!

as for other exotic food, well, i'm sure i'm going to offend a number of the animal activist out there. living in east malaysia, one does hear of various places that cooks meat like bat, turtles, mousedeer, snake, etc. tasted mousedeer once upon a long time ago. tasted like chicken and cooked with ginger. teeny weeny bones though.

[Shiewie]

Hi wena

I'd be glad to contribute eating spots in West Malaysia. You might also want to check out some Malaysian food websites - friedchillies.com and foodvenue.com.

[ecr]

I used to think that Bangkok was *the* premier food city in Asia but a few days in KL changed my mind (but don't make me choose). I only regret we didn't have more time, or that we couldn't fit in more meals in a single day, bec I feel that we left a lot of territory unexplored. But thanks to the posts in this thread and the AWSJ article mentioned by Shiewie we had mostly hits and only one half-miss. I hope some of you can enlighten me as to the names of some of the dishes we had.

Dim sum at Xin was a highlight (but next time I won't go for lunch on a national holiday *without* a reservation ) ... esp the fried carrot cake (rich, yes, but super greasy, no) and the pork cheong fun. The latter was new to me ... the skin is thicker and chewier than the rice noodle rolls at dim sum shops in Hong Kong, and I loved the small pile of (I'm guessing) minced dried shrimp, ground pork, and chilies on the side of the dish. I'm sorry they were out of fresh scallops by the time we were seated. Char siew bao was just as it should be (but so rarely is) .... all about the pork with sauce as an accent, not the star of the show. Prawn soup dumpling skillfully cooked to that point where the crustacean is cooked but still a little crunchy, and so fresh-tasting.

After dropping our bags at the hotel at 9pm we ran out for our first meal of nasi kerabu and tuna curry at Songkhla Hawker, and a truly delicious dish of rice rolls cut with scissors, topped with bean sprouts and coriander, doused with a coconut-based sauce (I think). What is the name of this dish, and where else can it be found? And some of what in the low light looked like chicken curry but turned out to be chicken in an intensely (but not un-deliciously) sweet, sticky dark sauce .... black soy and ginger?

Taiwanese place on Jalan Imbi (AWSJ article) was supposed to be small plates but even the "small" sizes were large. No matter ... started with a dish of room temp crisp-fried dofu cubes tossed in a sweet-chili sauces with bean sprouts (they just brought it to the table with the menus and asked if we wanted it). Sweet potato congee was just OK, I prefer Cantonese-style thick to Shanghai style thin jook. The only item hand-written in on the menu , pork shreds with dry pressed tofu and a mixed veg with lily bud were both delicious, esp the latter as mixed veg can be so pedestrian. Only problem is we had planned to backtrack up the street to a shop for rice rolls cut with scissors into a plate and topped with what looked like chili sauce and bean sprouts ... but were too full.

Sat night we were headed to Old China Cafe in Chinatown for Nonya (AWSJ article) but were waylayed by the delectable smells rising from the smoking wok set up next to the WowWow Rock Club (where we rang in National Day later that night) on the same street. We could not resist the soy-laden stir-fried noodles ... a little Mandarin came in handy here and we had Fujian noodle (the thick ones) and another called ??? (thinner, and with a smokier flavor) and a heaping plate of qingcai (shredded cabbage and something else) loaded with garlic chunks as big as the tip of my little finger and cooked till soft but still slightly crispy.

Another highlight --- sambal grilled fish at Portugese Grilled Fish (why "Portugese"?) stall at the end of the main hawker street off of J Petaling. I wasn't excited about the stingray (ikan bakar?) but I think it's bec we got mostly tail ... not much meat. The mixed seafood, OTOH, was fabulous --- tender squid rings, clams (or another kind of shellfish), a couple prawn, and that lovely fiery sambal, with extra chilies. My big regret of that evening is that we didn't also get the claypot chicken proffered at the stall next to Portugese fish. 3 university students at the next table shared a pot and the smell (we were waiting for our fish) nearly drove me mad ... oh those glistening chunks of Chinese sausage and the crackly soy-soaked rice that stuck to the sides and bottom of the pot. We were stuffed after seafood but we should have gone for it anyway.....

Which leads me to ask (for the next trip) --- does this place offer the best claypot chicken in KL? Or should one seek this dish out somewhere else?

Yet another highlight --- Yung Taufu at Hoong Hoong /Foong Foong in Ampang. Absolutely packed at Monday noon but so worth the wait. I've never had this dish before and it was memorable, esp (for me) the eggplant, chili, and steamed white tofu. The soup dumplings were special as well, the wrapper just thick enough and the filling studded with, I think, pieces of water chestnut?

A half-miss --- our last dinner at the Sahara Tent in front of Fortuna Hotel bec we planned poorly and all the Nonya places we wanted to go to were closed on Mondays. Baba ganouj --- excellent, very smoky. But soggy fatoush with deep-fried (why not grilled, or baked, or toasted, or just day-old?) bread, limp lettuce, and nary a trace of sumac or lemon juice. OK foul, though a bit mushy bec made with a bean other than fava ... and again, no lemon juice zing (but the quality of the olive oil was quite good). Grilled fish perfectly done but some of the tomato paste spread didn't get a hit of fire (the fire-charred part was lovely with a squeeze of lemon over the tomato) and so stayed raw. OK bread. Perfectly delectable, slightly spicy pickles, and a generously sized bowl of them too --- chilies, cucumber, carrot, and cauliflower. If I lived in KL I would probably go back for the pickles and baba, and to explore the lamb dishes. I think this place may have possibility, but with a menu like a minefield.

Last morning: nasi lemak at Wang Dangi Nasi Lemak --- perfect. Next trip we won't be so lazy sleeping in every morning and missing out on nasi. Followed by Indian sweets at Jai Hind (AWSJ article), yummy soft milk cake. Rolling back to the hotel to pack, couldn't pass up roti chanai at a completely packed-out no-name shop on J. Masjid India (can't miss it 'cause of the crowd). Would have liked to sample other roti at this place but my stomach said "No Way." I wonder if the donuts sitting on the long tables are very greasy or not ... they looked yummy.

A great trip but --- we never got in a Nonya meal, never had any seafood other than the sambal grill, no Indian meal, and missed out on so much more. No matter .... a return is definately in order bec KL is a food lover's paradise (but the posters to this thread already know that)!

[Shiewie]

Glad you had such a good time!

Dim sum at Xin was a highlight (but next time I won't go for lunch on a national holiday *without* a reservation  ) ... esp the fried carrot cake (rich, yes, but super greasy, no) and the pork cheong fun. The latter was new to me ... the skin is thicker and chewier than the rice noodle rolls at dim sum shops in Hong Kong, and I loved the small pile of (I'm guessing) minced dried shrimp, ground pork, and chilies on the side of the dish. I'm sorry they were out of fresh scallops by the time we were seated. Char siew bao was just as it should be (but so rarely is) .... all about the pork with sauce as an accent, not the star of the show. Prawn soup dumpling skillfully cooked to that point where the crustacean is cooked but still a little crunchy, and so fresh-tasting.

Oops - forgot to tell you about reservations . It can get quite crazy at Xin even on weekdays if the stockmarket is good - we used to be able to tell whether it was a good day at the stockmarket by the number of people lunching at Xin.

I love the dim sum at Xin. A couple of my favourites are the har cheong fun (I prefer the thinner rice noodles though) and the juk thung fan - rice with pork/chicken and slated fish steamed in a segment of bamboo.

After dropping our bags at the hotel at 9pm we ran out for our first meal of nasi kerabu and tuna curry at Songkhla Hawker, and a truly delicious dish of rice rolls cut with scissors, topped with bean sprouts and coriander, doused with a coconut-based sauce (I think).

Rice rolls dish is called Laksam, a sort of East Coast version of laksa. You can get it at places serving Kelantanese and Terengganu food.

And some of what in the low light looked like chicken curry but turned out to be chicken in an intensely (but not un-deliciously) sweet, sticky dark sauce .... black soy and ginger?

Hmm...my guess would be Ayam Masak Kicap, a Malay version of the Chinese soy sauce chicken.

...rice rolls cut with scissors into a plate and topped with what looked like chili sauce and bean sprouts ... but were too full. 

Sounds like chee cheong fun to me if it's cut with scissors onto a plate but the bean sprouts doesn't sound quite right. Where was this shop - opposite a 7-11?

Sat night we were headed to Old China Cafe in Chinatown for Nonya (AWSJ article) but were waylayed by the delectable smells rising from the smoking wok set up next to the WowWow Rock Club (where we rang in National Day later that night) on the same street. We could not resist the soy-laden stir-fried noodles ... a little Mandarin came in handy here and we had Fujian noodle (the thick ones) and another called ??? (thinner, and with a smokier flavor) and a heaping plate of qingcai (shredded cabbage and something else) loaded with garlic chunks as big as the tip of my little finger and cooked till soft but still slightly crispy.

I love KL style Hokkien noodles (the fat ones cooked with lard in thick soy sauce with prok crackling, pork, chicken, shrimp, squid and cabbage or choy sum and eaten with sambal or minced raw garlic with thick soy sauce) but haven't tried it at the WowWow Rock Club. The thinner noodle might be yee meen but am not sure.

Another highlight --- sambal grilled fish at Portugese Grilled Fish (why "Portugese"?) stall at the end of the main hawker street off of J Petaling. I wasn't excited about the stingray (ikan bakar?) but I think it's bec we got mostly tail ... not much meat. The mixed seafood, OTOH, was fabulous --- tender squid rings, clams (or another kind of shellfish), a couple prawn, and that lovely fiery sambal, with extra chilies.

I don't know why it's called Portugese either...perhaps the spicy sambal is adapted from the Portugese who have settled here. There is usually not much meat in stingray but it's popular fish for ikan bakar for it's smoothness and texture.

My big regret of that evening is that we didn't also get the claypot chicken proffered at the stall next to Portugese fish. 3 university students at the next table shared a pot and the smell (we were waiting for our fish) nearly drove me mad ... oh those glistening chunks of Chinese sausage and the crackly soy-soaked rice that stuck to the sides and bottom of the pot. We were stuffed after seafood but we should have gone for it anyway.....

Which leads me to ask (for the next trip) --- does this place offer the best claypot chicken in KL? Or should one seek this dish out somewhere else?

I haven't tried the claypot chicken rice at this stall. We usually get ours from one in PJ as it's close by to where I live. There's also another one in the another suburb in PJ that serves new-fangled claypot rice with various meats besides chicken and chinese sausage.

My colleagues tell me that there's a pretty good one in Pudu, near the wet market that is good which also serves a peppery pig intestine soup. Will tag along and try this one on their next trip there.

Yet another highlight --- Yung Taufu at Hoong Hoong /Foong Foong in Ampang. Absolutely packed at Monday noon but so worth the wait. I've never had this dish before and it was memorable, esp (for me) the eggplant, chili, and steamed white tofu. The soup dumplings were special as well, the wrapper just thick enough and the filling studded with, I think, pieces of water chestnut?

Yong Taufu is a Hakka specialty and I think Hoong-Hoong is one of the best around. The soup dumplings are called sui kow with a filling of pork, water chestnuts, carrots, cilantro and dried shitake mushrooms. Some friends say that it's a local interpretation of jiaozi.

A half-miss --- our last dinner at the Sahara Tent in front of Fortuna Hotel bec we planned poorly and all the Nonya places we wanted to go to were closed on Mondays. Baba ganouj --- excellent, very smoky. But soggy fatoush with deep-fried (why not grilled, or baked, or toasted, or just day-old?) bread, limp lettuce, and nary a trace of sumac or lemon juice. OK foul, though a bit mushy bec made with a bean other than fava ... and again, no lemon juice zing (but the quality of the olive oil was quite good). Grilled fish perfectly done but some of the tomato paste spread didn't get a hit of fire (the fire-charred part was lovely with a squeeze of lemon over the tomato) and so stayed raw. OK bread.  Perfectly delectable, slightly spicy pickles, and a generously sized bowl of them too --- chilies, cucumber, carrot, and cauliflower.  If I lived in KL I would probably go back for the pickles and baba, and to explore the lamb dishes. I think this place may have possibility, but with a menu like a minefield.

Oh dear, I had planned to go here for lunch with mum on Monday but was a bit late to drive into town so ended up elsewhere instead. Will try it to see whether the other items are better. BTW, the Alhambra has closed .

Last morning: nasi lemak at Wang Dangi Nasi Lemak --- perfect. Next trip we won't be so lazy sleeping in every morning and missing out on nasi. Followed by Indian sweets at Jai Hind (AWSJ article), yummy soft milk cake. Rolling back to the hotel to pack, couldn't pass up roti chanai at a completely packed-out no-name shop on J. Masjid India (can't miss it 'cause of the crowd). Would have liked to sample other roti at this place but my stomach said "No Way." I wonder if the donuts sitting on the long tables are very greasy or not ... they looked yummy.

Ah...this is the stall I used to look at longingly while driving to work. Managed to try it once - heavenly smells of santan wafting from the deep wooden bin of nasi. Did the donuts look like normal donuts or did they look coated with melted sugar - am asking coz there is a local Malay kuih called Kuih Keria that is made with sweet potatoes that looks like a donut.

.... a return is definately in order bec KL is a food lover's paradise (but the posters to this thread already know that)!

Do return and when you do, you're welcome to contact me and we can meet up for more makan!

Edited September 3, 2003 by Shiewie (log)

[ecr]

I know that there is some Penang talk buried in the very long Malaysian food thread, but thought I'd reintroduce the topic with its own heading in the hopes of more leads! I'm happily headed back to Malaysia in Dec, a couple days in Penang and am hoping to score some memorable meals and snacks. Also thinking of taking a car from KL to Penang ---- anywhere to stop on the way for lunch or (multiple) snack(s)?

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

[maukitten]

Lucky you! Penang's one of my fave places; it's my parents' home town, so have lots of good memories of meals there!

For a meal along the way - many people recommend a place called "Chiang Kee" in Nibong Tebal, off the North-South Highway, about 45 mins from Penang island. Will get some directions for you asap from friends in the know. The pomfret there is supposed to be the signature dish.

As to Penang food, it's cheap and plentiful, but I think the best food is hawker food. My absolute fave dish is"char koay teow" which is rice noodles fried with chillies, some prawns, cockles, bean sprouts and chives. I love the one in Kimberly Street (at night) outside the large hawker centre there, prepared by a guy called "Ah Beng". It's out of this world, but strangely enough, goes straight to my hips.

Will compile a more comprehensive list after getting more recommendations from family and friends.

[gidon]

For sampling hawker food, you might want to buy Penang Food Thrills, 125 Famous Hawker Stalls Voted as the Best in Penang. It should be available in any decent Malaysian bookstore. It has an excellent map of Georgetown and is indexed by hawker speciality. Because hawker stalls can look alike, it even contains pictures of the owner/chef! It's supposed to be 100% objective and even ysed by locals. If only one could sample them all...

Good thrills,

Gidon

[JC]

Penang hawker specialties are (off the top of my head):

1. Char Koay Teow

2. Assam Laksa

3. Prawn Mee

4. Lobak

5. Oyster Omelette

6. Nasi kandar

The trick is in finding the best places to eat them!

For Assam Laksa and Char Koay Teow, I can think of the Joo Hoo Cafe on Penang Road. The stall outside also serves good cendol.

For Oyster Omelette the corner coffee shop at the end of Lorong Kimberley is also very good.

[ecr]

Thanks to all respondents! I've been unable to access the egullet forums for the past couple wks but as of today at least, I'm back.

So --- what is lobak?

Maukitten, if you have any more friend/family recommendations I'm all ears (or eyes).

[wgallois]

Thanks for all the tips and flavour contributed by all those who have written on this thread. Your comments really whetted my appetite before travelling to KL, and provided lots of good leads when I got there. I took only sketchy notes whilst visiting KL, so my comments are rather general.

KL is surely one of the world's great food cities, as many others have noted, not only because of the huge variety of foods on offer, and the generally very high quality of dishes, but also because eating out is relatively democratic in that the best food is often found at relatively-cheap hawker stalls This was really brought home to me at the SS2 night market in PJ which has a large number of hawker stalls interspersed between the vegetable, clothes and DVD sellers. On one lap of the square I managed to sample some great Taiwanese pizza, some deep-fried mushrooms, lots of great juices and stand goggle-eyed in front of the amazing stalls selling meat and fish on skewers, ready to be boiled and then dipped in sauces. I could well imagine that you could go each week, slowly move around the square and have a sensational, and different, meal each week.

I was also very impressed by the attitude towards vegetarians. There were of course lots of Indian vegetarian places, but there were also a fair number of Chinese vegetarian restaurants and places willing to create vegetarian versions of meat dishes using tofu and bean-curd. This meant that I got to try curry laksa, which I was very happy about. I am not at all 'well-eaten' in SE Asian food so there were lots of other happy firsts for me including Taiwanese bubble tea, cendol (sp?), ice cakang (sp?), jackfruit, kimchi, Penang curry, and 'real' Singapore noodles (but veggified!).

Hope to go back soon and will definitely make more specific use of all the suggestions of egulleteers.

[Shiewie]

I'm glad you found the discussion on this thread useful and enjoyed your trip to KL....though I must admit that vegetarian places were only mentioned very briefly here. Do post here when you plan to come to KL again and we'll try to come up with a more comprehensive guide to vegetarian eateries.

[jokhm]

I recently announced my drawn out travel plans in the Adventures in eating forum here: thread

It's possible that it merited being posted here, but I thought that this would be too specific, and instead I would prefer to post topics/questions related to a certain area prior to or during my stay. Since the tentative plan begins with Singapore for a week, and then Malaysia for a month, I'd like to get some feedback starting there.

I've been taking notes on some of the Malaysia/Singapore threads.. from people like ecr and Shewie, but I'm quite sure that I'm still missing a lot and getting too distracted by some of the dishes described.

So, taking into account the fact that I will be in these places for one week and then one month, staying on a super cheap budget, are there any other things that I should write down/be aware of/make sure to see etc...?

Looking forward to hearing about all this from everyone..!!

Joel

Trip site..

Edited December 11, 2003 by jokhm (log)

[Pan]

Where do you plan on going in Malaysia, Joel?

By the way, a month is a good amount of time to spend in Malaysia, or at least I thought so (I did spend 10 days in a village I used to live in, though, as my trip last summer was partly personal).

[Shiewie]

Hi Joel

tonkichi would be the best person to give you suggestions for Singapore. Also have a look at Makansutra for food places in Singapore.

As asked by Pan, where do you plan on going in Malaysia? Just Peninsular Malaysia or Sabah and Sarawak as well? Unfortunately, January is not such a good time to visit the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia (Terengganu and Kelantan) as it would be the tail end of the monsoon season and a lot of the island resorts and national parks may still be closed.

Chinese New Year falls on 22nd Jan next year so Malaysianised Chinese New Year foods and celebrations should be something to look out for. There's also Hari Raya Haji (a Muslim festival to honour those who've completed their pilgrimage to Mecca) on 2nd Feb where cows and goats are sacrificed as food offerings to the poor.

Ask away on Malaysia and I'll try to answer the best I can.

[wgallois]

Thanks a lot Shiewie. My sister-in-law and her family live in KL, so we'll certainly be back soon. She's also vegetarian so any tips on vegetarian eating-out in KL would be much appreciated by her in the short-term and me in the, I hope, not-too-distant-future.

[tonkichi]

Here in Singapore, it has been raining every day this week.

Joel, let me know if you need any help on Singapore. Cheers

[Pan]

Joel, here are some comments about the East Coast, for whatever they're worth:

I have personal reasons to love Terengganu and the East Coast generally, because I spent two happy years of childhood there. That said, Tasik Kenyir in Ulu (inland) Terengganu is incredible! It's a huge artificial lake formed by damming the Terengganu River. I wish I could upload some photos, but I don't have the equipment. My mother, who's been to Burma and New Zealand, among other places, said it was the most beautiful place she'd ever seen. See if you can get permission to go up to the top of the dam and shoot photos from there.

I also like Kota Bharu, which has beautiful royal buildings in a style that as far as I know is unique to that city.

I didn't go scuba diving, but my brother did, off Pulau Perhentian, and loved it. Obviously, you won't be able to do that during or shortly after monsoon season, however.

Go to the markets everywhere and enjoy the wonderful fruits (if you have some more time to kill in Kuala Terengganu, walk a few blocks to the park where they have all kinds of plants, chickens, and so forth on display and for sale), and when you're in Kota Bharu, make sure to have some Ayam Percik and Nasi Ulam and sample the sweets in the Pasar Malam (night market).

Have a wonderful time, and I hope you don't get a stomach bug. Strangely, in the 1970s, only the cities had piped water, but piped water was considered safe everywhere in Malaysia, and now, it seems that all but the most remote villages have piped water, but piped water is considered unsafe to drink everywhere in the country. I found that kind of depressing.

I also recommend that you learn some Malay before you go, if you don't already know some. You probably won't need it in KL, where English is very widely spoken, but even in big cities on the East Coast, most people do not speak English.

[tonkichi]

In Singapore, I would....

- explore Little India. There's even a 24-hr shopping centre called Mustaffa's, its supermarket stocks a wonderful selection of mangoes, plus of course the usual spices etc

- explore Chinatown too, but particularly Keong Saik Road, which still has a slightly sleazy air even though chi-chi places like the 1929 hotel and art galleries have taken hold. Also Club Street. Avoid the food stalls in the open air section of Smith Street, walk further along until you reach Chinatown Complex where the hawker centre at Level 2 of is more interesting, plus you can check out the wet market on Level 1.

- visit Night Safari at night. Zoological Gardens or the Bird Park in the day. No cages, and plenty of engaging activities and shows.

- spend a day at The Botanical Gardens, esp the orchid and ginger gardens. Bring a picnic and a frisbee. Esp on weekends

- gawp at our latest architectural showpiece, the Esplanade art centre, which locals call the durian ( a thorny fruit aka King of Fruits. Eat it if you dare, the durian that is, not the Esplanade).

- definitely give Sentosa Island a miss. Major tourist trap and very expensive. Ditto for Clarke Quay, Chinese Garden and the Merlion.

[ecr]

It pains me that I have to spend 3 1/2 hours of my time in Malaysia, at lunchtime no less, in the KL airport .... Is there anything at all decent to eat in the domestic terminal? Probably not nearby --- I know the airport is in the middle of nowhere.

Or should I just pack a sandwich?

[Shiewie]

Hi ecr

Think packing a sandwich would be your best bet.

The food places at the airport are mainly fastfood chains and they are more expensive than the same outlets in town. It seems there was a pretty good nasi lemak place previously at the domestic terminal but MauKitten says that they've changed operators and it's quite inedible now - she couldn't finish the serving on her last visit there so that says something.

There is a cafeteria which the airport staff go to on the 4th floor which may be better but that requires coming out of the transfer lounge into the main area.

[cdh]

What time of day will you be there? I recall the Pan Pacific Hotel that is attached to the airport having a stellar breakfast array of cuisines. The stuff inside the airport terminal was totally unexciting. No other suggestions, sadly.

[ecr]

Geez I hate to waste a meal on Malaysian soil but sounds like a sandwich it is. Thanks folks for the replies!

[jimmyt]

Hi there

I am soon to be departing on my honeymoon to Malyasia and Dubai. As a dedicated foodie I am very interested to have any recommendations for interesting and exciting places to eat in KL (we will have 2 nights there) and Langkawi (8 nights).

As the future Mrs jimmyt and I will be spending a fair amount of time in resorts / hotels (including 5 nights in Pangkor Laut and the Burj Al Arab in Dubai) we would love some suggestions for non-hotel dining that would allow us to do a bit of exploring and sample the local culture and, of course, food!!

Many thanks

JJT

[ecr]

Since you are staying primarily in resorts (too bad you're not stopping in Penang!) I would suggest you dedicate yourselves nearly entirely to hawker foods or casual eateries, maybe one "true" restaurant meal, while in KL. I made good use of the thread Pan provides a link to for a trip to KL last fall.

If I had two days, 3 meals per day in KL (I think I mention most of these in my post near the end of the thread):

Breakfast one: nasi lemak, a must-have in Malaysia!

Lunch one: dim sum at Xin restaurant (some of the best dim sum I've ever had ... and I used to live in Hong Kong)

Dinner one: hawker stalls near Petaling Jaya. Would have to be BBQ sambal seafood and chicken clay pot.

Breakfast two: freshly-made roti and daal followed by some tasty Indian sweets

Lunch two: stir-fried Hokkien mee noodles or char guaytiaow at a hawker stall OR Hainan chicken rice

Dinner two: Nonya food somewhere --- this is one thing we didn't get to on our trip