Kuala Lumpur: EAT!

Two weeks ago, I was sent to Kuala Lumpur for work-do on behalf of my boss. That was like during the peak of flood crisis so in a way, KL trip was like stress-relief trip. It's good to go away from all the flood information and the fear. I stayed in KL for almost a week and when people know I'm from Bangkok, there is no one that wouldn't ask me about the situation; hotel staffs, chefs, taxi drivers, colleagues. That's how big the flood is to other countries' eyes, I suppose.

Anyway, I did keep track of what I ate as much as possible. Some were pretty same old boring stuffs - I'm boring like that. So let me recap a bit;

Madam Kwan's

First meal in KL was a re-visit to Madam Kwan's at Pavilion. I was still Teh Tarik (tea with condensed milk) addicted as usual. Never would I thought I had enough of Teh Tarik, whether it's cold or hot, I can have any day.

You could never say you are in Malaysia unless you eat Nasi Lemak so I ordered my first Nasi Lemak of this trip. Madam Kwan's Nasi Lemak is quite a plate-full (if that's an actual word for it). It's rice cooked coconut milk with chicken curry (the chicken was tender - so much love from me), hard boiled egg, dried shrimp floss (very tasty!), spicy ikan bilis (dried anchovies), cucumber, and some pickled vegetables. You might wonder how to eat this, should I mix them altogether? Trust me, I have wondered about the proper way to eat it. My Malaysian friend said the proper way to eat Nasi Lemak is that eat whatever you like, however you like it. So you can eat curry with egg or ikan bilis with pickled vegetables. It doesn't matter as long you enjoy it.

I would say Madam Kwan's is quite pricy for Nasi Lemak (I think I paid 18 RM for that) 'coz you can actually get decent Nasi Lemak with only 5 RM. But if you have the money to spare, then it's quite worth it. They also served many authentic Malaysian food and Western dishes.


Food Republic

How would a trip to KL be completed if I missed Food Republic at Pavilion! It's like my food heaven coz when I have no idea of what to eat, I would just go there, walking around to see what I want.

Call me boring but I did go for some old favourite that didn't have in Bangkok. Char kway teow and yong tau foo.

Char kway teow is actually a lot like Thai's Pad See-Ew but more spicy somehow. I got my Char kway teow from Thye Hong stall at Food Republic. You can find them in Food Republic in both KL and Singapore. Though it was very oily but the taste was great. Love the spicy sauce they provided as well since it got along well with the noodle. It never fail to satisfy me.

On the other hand, Yong Tau Foo wasn't as pleasant as before. Somehow it moved the stall (from what I recalled last year). The soup wasn't as nice as before. I don't know what was wrong, it's just not as nice as before. That was rather sad coz I love Yong Tau Foo so much.


Food Court in Subang Jaya

After a site visit one day, K, our colleague from KL, took us to dinner to Subang Jaya which is little bit outside of KL. We had some bonding session during the traffic jam of KL which was as bad as Bangkok. K took us to this big food court-like place close to Taylor's College. I don't know the name of that place but I guess people around the area would know where I mean. K helped us picking up seafood dishes to try then we just sat back and waited for food.

told you I could never get enough of teh tarik

Satay came first. I think we had beef, chicken and lamb satay with rice bun thing that would eat along. In Thailand, you would find satay coming with a bread instead. The peanut sauce in Malaysia is more chunky than in Thailand which puree everything. Taste wise was similar though.

Next was spicy squid with wing beans. It was different kind of spicy than Thai. It was pleasant though.

Next was steamed calms with ginger. It smelled so good, very gingerly. The soup that came out from calms tasted amazing. I love this!

K then ordered this shellfish thing which I have no idea what it was. You have to suck the meat out off the shell. The sauce was spicy kind. I think a bit like the squid dish but more thick.

Last one was sambal sting ray which was my choice. The fish was grilled with sambal (I think it's chilli paste?) paste. It was quite tasty, not too spicy.

The sitting area was opened air so it was really nice to sit down and enjoy food with friends. We did talk of so many things and even cross-country gossiping. It's amazing what happened in Thailand can also be known in Malaysia. This world is so small.


Madam Kwan’s Restaurant
Pavilion KL,
Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

Food Republic
Pavilion KL,
Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur