Truly Asia: Kuala Lumpur Food Stories Part 1

Alexis Yap
Lex in the City

IT IS only natural that your first meal in Kuala Lumpur would be some Malaysian food. Across our hotel was a trusty 24-hour food court that had two stalls open at midnight. One was a Malaysian food stall that served some of the basics: a plate of Nasi Kukus (Fried Chicken Rice and Chili), some Mi Goreng (stir fried noodles), and some Nasi Ayam (chicken and rice).

Nasi means rice while Mi means noodles. Goreng means fried and Ayam means chicken. That’s how we figured. To us, these words mean delicious, tasty, and satisfying.

It was midnight at it was the perfect way to begin our KL trip and end our day.

The following morning, we managed to sleep through most of breakfast time and went straight onto lunch at the Lot 10 Food Court. Wow! It was an intricate maze of steaming pots in little specialty kitchens. The sound of cooks with their pots and pans and little old ladies shouting, peddling their dim sum and chrysanthemum teas through the narrow walkways among the crowds of diners will greet you as you walk into this gastronomic wonderland of beautifully designed kiosks that equally match the quality of the food they serve.

We were starving, but it took us almost half an hour to decide what to eat! There was a good selection of American and European food and the best of Asian cuisine. I wanted to try everything but there were only two of us. So, we finally decided to start with the Claypot with Slated Fish and Chicken, and I must say it was a good choice.

In five minutes the entire pot was gone. I stood up and was lured to the Ba Ku Teh kiosk where they serve it traditional style. I picked what they call “Streaky Meat” tha

t looked like pork belly, thinly sliced, blanched in broth, then served in more of its broth in a deep, small bowl with a side of rice and a paper cup filled with hot jasmine tea.

“Street peddling” is effective and I can attest to that. How can hungry diners resist a steaming basket of Siao Long Bao? It was okay, but the Moonlight Hor Fan from the Kim Lian Kee booth was more satisfying. The fresh egg yolk they put in the middle added a “sensual” aspect to the experience. It was soooooo goooood – naturally and as expected since Kim Lian Kee is and continues to be a respected brand in KL since 1927. Respect.

The Lot 10 Food Court is definitely one of the remarkable food places worth coming back to. All those delicious, truly Asian food all grouped within one destination at the heart of Bukit Bintang.

The rest of the afternoon was spent getting lost inside Sungei Wang Plaza and we loved it! We’ve never explored this mall before and this is how we stumbled upon a the Food Emporium (food court) that had a limited time promotion for a delicious plate of Roti Canai and a delicious hot cup of Teh Tarik, Malaysian milk tea for only MYR 1.80. That is only about P 25! It was a steal at its price because it was so good that we bought bags of 3-in-1 Teh Tarik at the grocery and had to come back for the Roti Canai at the Food Emporium the following day.

It was such a fruitful but very rainy afternoon at the mall. We were praying so hard for the rain to stop by dinner since Jalan Alor was on the itinerary.

(To be continued…)