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Have you ever visited Malaysia? Thought about it, maybe?

I’ve talked to lots of Aussies at my food stalls over the years. (Contrary to perception I am occasionally approachable. It has been known to happen.)

More than a handful have been to Malaysia. They were there because of work. Or they were transiting elsewhere. Or they have family there – maybe they’re married to a Malaysian.

Some have been to Langkawi or Penang for short breaks. A few backpacked through Malaysia a loooong time ago, in the 70s even.

Still, nowadays when people think Asian holidays, they mostly think Bali or Thailand. Or Vietnam. I’ve yet to visit these places as I write, and am excited about doing so in the next 12 months. But I do know a bit about Malaysia.

I spoke to Mel, the food blogger behind The Adventures of Miss Piggy recently. (Yes, despite my rants about food bloggers I am friendly with some.) She went to Langkawi for a break. While she was there, she visited a pasar malam (night market). She observed that most other holidaymakers never ventured outside the resort.

That seems strange to me. Why fly all the way to Malaysia and not explore?

I guess some just want to get away from it all, and just want to enjoy the luxurious, safe surrounds of their 5-star playgrounds. Maybe they only have a limited number of days and prefer to just relax by the pool.

I totally get that. I’ve been in that mindset. Yet, what would bring them back year after year, short of their total devotion to their favourite resort in Penang or Langkawi?

I’ve travelled to Malaysia four times this year. I’ve been lucky to explore parts of the country that most people never get to see. Tried some foods that I myself had never even heard of. That’s right, not even Malaysian-born-and-bred-ex-Malaysian-restaurateur me.

In the age of Instagram, I see lots of travel photos made up of scenic views and exotic foods. Nothing wrong with that. (Selfies are a different matter – don’t get me started.)

Heck, my trips have often revolved around the topic of food. And I have not been disappointed – Malaysia is right to be proud of her food.

Yet what has really stood out for me in these trips has been the people I’ve met along the way.

Long after all the good food and beautiful scenery are but distant memories, what will stay with me forever are the people I have met and continue to meet in my travels. I’ve realised more and more, that everybody has a story.

But to put things into context, let me start with mine….

 (continues tomorrow…)

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Photos in this post are from my latest trip hosted by People Express Travel, Kuala Lumpur. All rights reserved.

The post How About Malaysia? first appeared on Jackie M..

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I’ve had at least 2 people tell me they’ve been enjoying my travel posts – 3 if you count #babyNoah (alright, he didn’t actually say it but I could tell) – and this has been enough to spur me into action. I plan on compiling them from now on as video content for my YouTube channel.

First up – Kuching, Sarawak – and to fill in the gaps in the following video, here are some points about my trip –

1) This was my first time ever to Sarawak – my impression of it, after travelling through the by-comparison postage stamp-sized Peninsula Malaysia – is that it is vast, with a hint of the Wild West about it – it reminded me of Texas, actually.

2) The Empurau Fish – I only remembered to take a snap AFTER I’d taken a bite out of it – clear proof I’m not like those sad foodies on Instagram

3) The “UFO” – I completely forgot to take a pic of it altogether – further proof I’m great dinner company because I don’t hold up everyone’s enjoyment of their food before I’ve taken 200 photos from 50 different angles. For the record, it’s a crispy oyster omelette, and it was superb.

4) Fun fact about the seafood dinner Chef Liou took us to – I mentioned it on Google+ the following day and what do you know – one of my Google+ followers from Sarawak pinpointed where we ate – because he saw me there – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxvlKp-76io

5) Our Sarawak trip didn’t get off to the most auspicious start, and for that I blame my travelling companion Robb Demarest for choosing to get a haircut and picking this salon that had a yippy little dog in-residence.

I managed to step on its doodle as I walked in – then spent the next 30 minutes washing the crap off the soles of my shoes. The salon owner was so embarrassed she forgot to apologise, and Mr. Demarest somehow thought it was hysterically funny. It wasn’t.

I hope to be able to return to Sarawak and actually venture outside its capital next time. The food is unique, it’s off the beaten path as far as travel destinations are concerned, and it’s filled with countless stories of the unexplained. All in all, it’s got GREAT potential as a location for our Asia:Food.Travel.Mystery project.

The post Jackie M’s Sarawak Travel Diary first appeared on Jackie M..

This particular version by Chef Chai at Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort, Penang, is more reminiscent of the version I loved in Seremban; the flavours are more subtle and less overwhelming than others I’ve tried in Penang.

There are quite a few steps involved in the making of this dish as you’ll see in the highlights video here, but the recipe as supplied by the resort is a definite keeper; I can’t wait to apply the techniques in making the crackers and the fritters in my own cooking.

This video was shot by Mediaprima during our filming for Asia:Food.Travel.Mystery and it involved Chef Chai doing a demonstration cooking class for resort guests and two prominent specially-invited Penang bloggers, Ken Hunts Food and Shelyn Ooi.

Thanks to my very busy schedule I only managed to spend a few minutes with the guests after the demonstration but Ken was very, very kind to have brought along a “tapau” (takeaway pack) of Chee Cheong Fun Penang-style (ie. with prawn paste sauce) but with a peanut-sauce twist added to it. It was fantastic, so thank you so very much Ken

Pasembur

Portion: 6-8 Servings

Ingredients –

200g cucumber, julienned

200g yam bean (sengkuang), julienned

1 boiled egg, deep-fried

200g boiled potato, deep-fried

100g prawn fritters

50g prawn crackers

100g beancurd, deep-fried

120g jelly fish

Sauce –

500g sweet potato, peeled and diced

100g shallots

600ml water

50g crushed, roasted peanuts

100g bottled chilli sauce

150g tomato sauce

10g salt

50g sugar

10g kurma powder

Method –

For Pasembur Sauce –

1. Steam shallots and sweet potato until soft.

2. Add water and blend until smooth.

3. Bring to a boil over medium heat; add in the rest of the ingredients.

For plating –

1. Arrange all ingredients onto centre of plate.

2. Top with prawn cracker and ladle sweet potato sauce over it.

3. Sprinkle with some crushed peanuts and serve.

Recipe Name: Prawn Fritters

Ingredients –

100g prawns with shell on, cut into pieces

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 egg white

150g plain flour

1 Tbsp corn flour

1 Tbsp rice flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp cooking oil

150ml water

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2 Tbsp spring onion, chopped

2 Tbsp onion, sliced

1/2 Tbsp chillies, sliced

1/2 cup beansprouts

Method –

1. Mix flours with baking powder.  Add seasoning.

2. Add water followed by prawns and all other ingredients.

3. Deep-fry on low-medium heat. Remove and serve.

Recipe Name – Prawn Crackers

Ingredients –

50g plain flour

50g rice flour

5g baking powder

25g tapioca flour

25g corn flour

220ml water

70ml cooking oil

4 peeled prawns

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp chicken seasoning powder

Method –

1. Mix flour and baking flour.

2. Add prawns and water and mix into a smooth, runny batter.

3. Heat oil for deep-frying to 180C. Heat wok ladle in oil (about 15 seconds).

4. Remove wok ladle from oil, place about 2 TBSPs batter with prawn on ladle, then gently lower into oil.

5. Deep-fry on high until done; about 90 seconds (the cracker should loosen from the ladle naturally; tap with spoon to help it along if required).

4. Remove and serve.

The post How to Make Penang Pasembur Salad first appeared on Jackie M..

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This article by one of Australia’s best-known food bloggers Cynthia, aka The Food Pornographer, first appeared in my digital iPad App, Truly Malaysian, last year. This is reprinted with permission as a lead-up to my series of upcoming recipes and videos from my own visit to Kuching, Sarawak recently. All photos in this post are the property of Cynthia.

About The Food Pornographer –

Migrating to Australia when she was 10 years old, Cyn is now a proud Western Australian – but will always be Malaysian in heart and appetite. She likes her prawns bursty, egg yolks gooey and and when it comes to food she will give most things a go. Cyn takes photographs and tells stories about food and travel. Check out Cyn’s blog at http://thefoodpornographer.com/ Follow her on Twitter – http://twitter.com/TFPtweets

Morning at the Wet Market

As a child in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, I used to go with my mum to the wet market early in the morning before school. I woke up at half-past four, stumbled from bed in the dark, brushed my teeth and pulled on my school uniform. My motivation was the promise of a hot breakfast.

I dreaded walking through the seafood market on the slimy, wet, fishy floor and I slipped more than once. I was secretly repulsed by the meat market with its overpowering smell of raw pork and chicken and a tiled floor splattered with blood and guts. But after buying our groceries and before heading to school, we’d stop by the hawker stalls for noodles.

Now as an adult visiting Petanak Market in Kuching, I feel conspicuously far away from my adopted home in Australia, but I’m vividly reminded of my childhood fears of the raw meat market and perilous fishy floor.

I recognise only some of the fish species, and they all look so fresh, shiny and plump, plucked from the net not so long ago. At every stall is a collection of items used for the different steps of the fish cleaning process; recycled plastic tubs, buckets, strainers – and at least one well-used heavy wooden chopping block.

At the meat section a large sign hangs from the ceiling listing porky parts for sale. There are slabs of meat hanging from hooks or piled on wooden planks, flattened cardboard boxes stained with blood and juice. I recognise ribs, trotters, jaws with teeth intact; a hanging pig’s head, slack like an empty mask, speared through the snout with ears drooping. Wherever you walk, there are pink bits of flesh and fat on the floor and despite the warm conditions there’s no refrigeration to be seen, but this is routine for the sweaty, knife-wielding Chinese butchers and their customers buying meat for dinner.

It’s a comfort to escape the slippery floor and lose myself in the dry goods section. Everything there is just as evocative though; the smelly dried anchovies in sacks, bags of colourful little gem biscuits, pink bottles of cincalok made from fermented shrimps. Vegetable sellers are exchanging jokes and gossip, a woman sitting in the corner on a stool is smashing her cleaver into prickly coconut husks, a vendor is solemnly doing calculations in his dog-eared notebook; wherever I look, there’s so much life to see.

Whether you’re a photographer, people watcher, or traveller – and even if you prefer to shop at the supermarket – the local wet market is an honest, sensory wonder that’s well worth experiencing.

Cynthia Chew

The post Petanak Wet Market, Kuching, Sarawak first appeared on Jackie M..

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Kapitan Chicken Curry is one of the more popular dishes in my range of frozen Prepared Meals, but as anyone who’s watched any of the cooking videos on my YouTube Channel would know, I’m a big believer in shortcuts; I’m the first to admit a lot of liberties are taken with my recipes.

When I was in Penang, I had the opportunity to learn how this signature Penang dish is made, from scratch, from Chef Chai at Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort. Naturally, due to my own background, I have an affinity with Malaysians, Hakkas and cooks; when I found out Chef Chai was a fellow Hakka-Malaysian-cook it felt like I’d hit the trifecta. Granted, his Hakka dialect is so different from mine he might as well have been speaking Penang Hokkien of which I know about 2 words, but I’ll let that slide

Here’s the recipe as supplied by Rasa Sayang Resort –

Kapitan Chicken Curry

4 Servings

Ingredients –

• 50 ml cooking oil
• 60 gm lemongrass
• 60 gm turmeric (fresh)
• 200 gm shallots
• 60 gm garlic
• 250 gm red chilli
• 60 gm galangal
• 35 gm candle nuts
• 25 gm belacan (shrimp paste)
• 1 kg chicken
• 2 pcs kaffir lime leaves
• 150 ml coconut milk
• Salt, pepper, chicken seasoning powder & sugar to taste

For Garnishing –

• Kaffir lime leaves

Method –

1. Saute ground spices in oil.
2. Bring to boil and add chicken. When chicken is half cooked, add in coconut milk.
3. Add lime leaves, salt, pepper and sugar, and bring back to boil.
4. Garnish with julienned lime leaves.

Chef Chai’s version of Penang Nyonya Kapitan Chicken Curry, with all the fresh ingredients that go into the dish, is simply sensational. We featured it in one of our segments in our Asia:Food.Travel.Mystery show –

In between all the filming, my PA and Baby Noah’s nanny Chrys managed to take a snap of him in the resort grounds, reminding me what day it was

The post How to Cook Penang Kapitan Chicken Curry first appeared on Jackie M..

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Most Westerners who’ve travelled to Malaysia will almost invariably have covered Penang, so they’re often surprised to find they know the place better than I do. I have to admit being a “southerner” – I was born and raised in Seremban, 40 miles south of Kuala Lumpur – Penang has always been a little outside my radar.

My recent trips back to Malaysia have allowed me to spend a bit more time up north, and I hope to build on that with future visits. During my shoot with Mediaprima’s Asia:Food.Travel.Mystery, we were hosted by the Shangri-La chain of hotels, including Penang’s Rasa Sayang Resort.

Unbeknownst to me, it was a big selling point when I put the word out that I was looking for a nanny/PA to travel with me for the entire duration; the candidate Chrys’s eyes positively lit up when I rattled through the accommodation arrangements and Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort came up.

Is anyone old enough to remember the 1973 movie, Lost Horizon? I loved it as a kid, but didn’t draw the connection until I checked into my suite and saw a copy of the James Hilton book on the dresser – it is about a utopia called Shangri-La.

We arrived very late at night and I could see once we stepped inside the lobby, why it’s held with such a high degree of reverence  among Malaysians I’d spoken to prior to my departure. Such an elegant, old-world charm that instantly makes you feel like you never want to leave. Much like this (fast forward to the 27-sec mark) –

Sadly we only had 2 days at the resort (plus 2 days at its sister property, Golden Sands), and a jam-packed filming schedule, starting first thing after breakfast the next morning. We filmed 2 segments with Rasa Sayang Resort’s Chef Chai, plus several others for the show we were making.

We ate some wonderful food during lunch at the resort. The Mediaprima crew gravitated towards steak, whereas  I stayed faithfully Malaysian –

One of the segments we shot was of the show’s presenters ie. Syai, Robb Demarest and myself, attempting a game of Sepak Raga on the beach behind Shangri-La Golden Sands Resort next door.

A behind-the-scenes outtake from one of our Penang segments –

My thanks to Chrys Voon, my PA and baby Noah’s nanny during the trip, for taking most of the photos/clips I’m posting.

Next up – recipe and cooking segment with a fellow Hakka – Rasa Sayang Resort’s Chef Chai

The post Jackie M’s Travel Diary – Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort, Penang first appeared on Jackie M..

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When I gave up my IT career back in 2002 to get into “this food thing” – as it’s disparagingly referred to by some in my family-  it wasn’t out of any altruistic reason so much as it was a way for me to recreate my memories of Malaysia through its food.

A dozen years on, thanks in large part to no longer having to run a restaurant, I’ve managed to do more of the “fun stuff” associated with my work, including making numerous trips back to Malaysia.

In one of my recent travels there, I had the privilege, for the first time ever, to talk to local chefs and to get them to show me their cooking techniques and recipes.  This was a big deal for someone like me whose cooking skills were self-taught years after I moved to Australia – how divergent are the flavours in my dishes from their Malaysian sources?

Location: Shangri-La Golden Sands Resort, Penang

Chef: Adrian Lim

Our stay at Golden Sands was something of a late change; we were originally hosted by its sister resort, Shangri-La Rasa Sayang next door.

When the filming schedule for the TV pilot we were making was extended by a couple of days in Penang, our sponsor, Shangri-La Hotels, offered for us to spend the extra days at Golden Sands Resort. This worked out great because Golden Sands Resort has some of the best pools and family-oriented facilities I’ve seen anywhere, and I had Noah travelling with me to Malaysia for the first time.

I found out just before the shoot that Executive Chef Adrian Lim would be doing Nyonya Kapitan Fish – we had filmed Chef Chai next door at Rasa Sayang doing Nyonya Kapitan Chicken the day before and I’d be lying if it didn’t cross my mind that we could end up with two very similar cooking demonstrations.

Chef Adrian Lim simultaneously dispersed my concerns and made me laugh when he said – “That’s okay – mine will be better!” Typical Penang bravado, I thought

As it turned out, his recipe is vastly different to the one showcased at Rasa Sayang Resort, and the Mediaprima TV crew wasted no time in cleaning up the plate immediately after the filming wrapped, as further validation it was very, very good.

A few key points about the recipe –

–          This is a modern take on a signature Penang dish – from the cooking technique, where the fish fillets are pan-fried separately to the sauce, to the plating and presentation.

–          Ingredients such as chicken stock granules (which I use extensively in my cooking) and ketchup are used more often than you would expect in Malaysian cooking, and this is an example of it.

–          I’ve recently discovered an importer for Bunga Kantan (torch ginger flower, or what Malaysians refer to as Lily Bud) – one of the ingredients for this dish, also used in Assam Laksa – and I’m trying to find out if I can get my hands on them here in Sydney (they’re available in Melbourne)

–          The list of spices and herbs for this recipe looks extensive, but it’s not hard to cook – the technique basically boils down to sautéing all the spices and ground herbs, then adding coconut milk and adjusting the seasoning before serving it with separately-cooked fish.

–          The flavour should be a balance of sour, sweet and spicy, so tweak accordingly.

–          Don’t forget to apply the “agak-agak” (guesstimate) principle to the recipe below, supplied by the resort

NYONYA KAPITAN FISH

180g Sea Bass Fillets

½ tsp Salt

½ tsp Pepper

For the KAPITAN SAUCE –                            

20gm Ground Red Chillies

10gm Ground Lemongrass

60gm Finely chopped Onion

30gm Finely chopped Garlic

15gm Ground Turmeric

10gm Finely Chopped Lily Bud

3pcs Finely Chopped Bird’s Eye Chillies

Sugar to taste

Tamarind Juice  to taste

Lime Juice to taste

20ml Thick Coconut Milk

30ml Tomato Ketchup

20gm Spring Onion

More re: baby Noah can be found at my www.SerembanGirl.com blog.

The post How to Cook Nyonya Kapitan Fish first appeared on Jackie M..

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I’m almost scared to announce this for fear of jinxing these Live Broadcasts but here it goes! After a 3 months+ enforced hiatus from my weekly Google Hangouts-On-Air thanks to my relocation nightmare that included a failed internet service restore, I’m back in the game with a vengeance.

I’m running a series of 8 Ramadan-themed Hangouts-On-Air in collaboration with Google Singapore right through the month of July.

Ramadan, for the uninitiated, is the Muslim fasting month of the year, and what’s fabulous about Malaysia’s multicultural mix is that the other ethnic races (eg. the Chinese like myself, the Indians etc.) get to partake of and enjoy the sumptuous feasts that take place at the daily breaking of fast.

In this series of Hangouts, I’m going to virtually travel around 8 different states in Malaysia – with a focus on the ones I have recently visited – so in each broadcast, I’ll be covering the cuisines that uniquely represent each of these Malaysian states – both the better-known food hubs like Penang, Melaka and Perak (Ipoh) as well as the less-heralded but very intriguing regions like Kelantan and Sabah. This is going to be fun!

As a bonus, I’m running some of the Hangouts from Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur and Singapore – yes I’m leaving on a jet plane first thing tomorrow morning for Malaysia again, having just been there last month – more on that later.

Here’s my announcement about the series –

If you have a Google+ account, be sure to circle me at http://google.com/+jackiem to be notified about these Hangouts; if you don’t, you can watch them, either –

– Live via YouTube when they happen – just click PLAY here – http://jackiem.com.au/street-food/hangouts-on-air/
– Or catch the recordings anytime after the events – http://youtube.com/jackiemsydney .

Don’t forget to post comments and questions on the YouTube links or in Google+ within the respective events, and as long as they’re not troll-like I’ll be sure to respond

The post Ramadan Around Malaysia – My Google Hangouts-On-Air first appeared on Jackie M..

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Petronas Twin Towers from my Traders Hotel KL room.The topic of where to eat in KL has been done to death, as I’m sure most people who spend an inordinate amount of time online will protest – so why am I adding my two cents’? How’s this post different from others out there?

I emigrated 30 years ago, plus I didn’t grow up in KL – when I go back, I’m as much a tourist as the next person.  You can take it to mean that I possess less insight than a local food blogger – which I will completely admit to.  Yet, this also means my food choices and therefore my suggestions are dictated by what’s available either in the vicinity of my hotel (invariably located in The Golden Triangle) or a short cab ride away – so this guide could come in handy for those on short trips to KL for business or enroute elsewhere – the infrequent Mat Salleh traveller, if you like.

By the way, I don’t go to Malaysia to eat Lebanese kebabs or sushi or North Indian food, so while I’m sure there are great non-Malaysian ethnic eateries in KL, if you’re an operator of one of these businesses, my apologies for the exclusion. Having said that, my American travelling/TV partner-in-crime likes his Western meals, so these I will mention.

Having run a Malaysian food business in Australia means I kind of know what Australian/Western taste buds and standards are like, so these are taken into consideration when compiling my list.

You won’t hear me talk about “the best” so-and-so (one of my pet peeves is coming across this kind of list since the presumption is that the writer has tracked down every single last one of whatever it is they’re evaluating and applied some kind of expert judgement on it/them). Hence the title of this post – I’m keenly aware of its shortcomings. I’d love to hear your suggestions about your favourite places to eat in KL, but keep the pitchforks at home if I’ve missed out on mentions of your must-visit haunts.

A few pointers –

• The “below 5’C or over 60’C” rule about safe food handling doesn’t apply in Malaysia. If you like buffets but are leery about eating room temperature curries, stick to eating at your hotel.
• We like our meat on the bone, plus our chickens are tiny, so your portion of chicken with your Hainanese Chicken Rice is going to be disappointingly small and bony – ask & pay for double or triple portions of chicken to go with your meal.
• We also like our prawns on the shell, and our fish whole with heads intact – just a heads-up (no pun intended).
• Malaysian satays are tiny (that’s how they’re meant to be) – go ahead and order them by the dozen.
• Our street food is cheap and that usually means what we Chinese call “lieu” in Cantonese – ie. the nice stuff – the prawns in your prawn noodle soup, the chicken in your Ipoh Kueh Teow , the fish balls/wontons in your bowl etc. are going to be sparse. Offer to pay an extra $2 for extra “lieu” – you won’t regret it.
• We tend to sweeten our fresh fruit drinks (unless you’re ordering from your hotel) – but they’re really nice if you’re not averse to added sugar. My American associate orders watermelon juice everywhere we go – it’s readily available and cheap by Western standards. Other local drinks to look out for – asam boi (calamansi plus preserved plum drink), guava juice, fresh sugarcane juice. And of course, teh tarik (pulled tea – hot or cold).
• Bring your own paper napkins/tissues if opting for street food; it’s a bonus if a stall supplies them with your meal, but it’s not de rigueur.

Breakfast –

I really love the breakfast buffet spreads on offer at Malaysian hotels, and Traders KL’s is a notch above the already extravagant feast you might expect to find. Traders’ breakfast is served at Gobo Chit Chat (Level 5) which is open for all-day dining.  I gravitate towards the local offerings – the curry laksa at the noodle station is incredible – but they cater to other tastes including Japanese (fabulous chawanmushi) plus I’m told all their buffets also have a gluten-free section.

If you’re anywhere near Suria KLCC Shopping Mall (ie. where the Petronas Twin Towers are), they have 2 food courts on separate floors – one with local food and the other with international offerings. I, of course, go to the Malaysian one where there’s a good mamak roti canai stall that also does the usual mamak offerings like teh tarik, murtabak etc. etc.

Ampang Homeland Yong Tau Foo – if you’re up for catching a 20-minute cab ride to Ampang, this area is famous for its fish paste-stuffed vegetables.  This is something that brings back childhood memories of when my parents used to take us on day trips to Kuala Lumpur (along with satay in Kajang).  On one of my recent trips to KL, tour guide extraordinaire Aspaliza from Holiday Tours and Travel picked me up from my hotel on her day off, would you believe, and took me there specially to recreate my childhood memory of eating at this place.

Lunch/Dinner –

Lot 10 food court in Bukit Bintang – I’ve covered this place in my Truly Malaysian Digital Magazine previously so I won’t go into too much detail here; the food isn’t halal (which limits my options since I don’t eat pork) but I’ve tried the claypot frog and popiah and they’re both great.

Pavilion food court in Bukit Bintang – you’ll be spoiled for choice in this place; I’ve tried Penang Fried Hokkien Mee (aka Singapore Hokkien Mee) and Ham Chin Peng (fried dough cakes filled with red bean paste) – the entire area is always buzzing at lunch time.

Madam Kwan’s at Pavilion and KLCC – this is probably the closest you’ll find to Malaysian food as you’ve come to expect from eating it in Sydney – the portions are generous and beautifully presented and you get to experience street food in air-conditioned, casual but classy surrounds.

Jalan Alor in Bukit Bintang – this is a street that comes alive in the evening when stalls are set up for a food-focused night market. There’s a durian stall, lots of street food – Penang Char Kway Teow, BBQ chicken wings, cockles, sotong, you name it. I really, really like the Ham Chin Peng at this stall I’ve managed to frequent in the late afternoons (I don’t know if they hang around till night time) – they’re located near the durian stall. There’s also a section further down the street that does Thai food – for those looking for a break from Malaysian.

Ikan Bakar Pak Din at Jalan Tang Lin – my Mediaprima collaborators took me here during one of my flying visits to KL – this place is famous for its grilled fish (and in particular the pungent sauces/dips they serve with it) but keep in mind the caveat above. Grilled stingray is a terrific choice if you want to keep the bone-picking to a minimum. You order and get your rice at the counter, pick whichever curry sauces look interesting, then head out back where they cook the fish and point at what you want before heading to your trestle table to feed under a marquee. They’ll come round for your drink orders and tally up your total at the table.

Nasi Kandar Pelita at Jalan Ampang – one of the more famous Nasi Kandar (rice + selection of curries/dishes) joints and the great thing is it’s located right in the Golden Triangle ie. within walking distance of your hotel.

Gobo Upstairs Bar & Grill – located on level 6 at Traders Hotel KL – this is an upmarket, top-notch steak establishment; perfectly-grilled steaks, and if you like foie gras – trust me, you’ll never look back.

Tony Roma’s – an American chain serving steaks and smoked briskets etc. which I liked so much we went back 2 days in a row; there’s an outlet in Pavilion Mall in Bukit Bintang (though the one we frequented was in a different part of KL).

I’ll add to this list as I think of more places – I’m doing this on the fly because I’ve been asked so many times about places to eat I figured it was about time I put something together. If you have any suggestions of your own, let me know!

ps. my latest trip to Malaysia was hosted by various parties (as is often the case) including Traders KL, though this blog post covers my experience from not just this trip but previous ones as well.

The post Jackie M’s Non-Definitive and Desperately Incomplete Guide to Dining in KL first appeared on Jackie M..