Top 13 Kuala Lumpur Street Food and Where to Find Them
Bak Kut Teh is a popular Chinese soup that is served in Malaysia, Singapore and Southern Thailand. Each city creates different types of Bak Kut Teh. In Kuala Lumpur you will find the herby one with only lean meat.
Its name literally means “meat bone tea” and it consists of meaty pork ribs, herbs, spices that are simmered for hours! The preparing method is similar to an old English quote: haste makes waste! The longer you simmer the soup the better it will taste!
This dish is a totally street food, as it is cooked in large amounts, which are eaten right away! Don’t try this soup inside the shopping malls!
Recommended:
Sun Fong Bak Kut Teh
Ah Wang Bak Kut Teh 亚旺肉骨茶
Yu Yi Bak Kut Teh 友谊肉骨茶
Ban Lee Bak Kut Teh 萬利肉骨茶
Restoran Xin Wah 新华肉骨茶
Fatty Bak Kut Teh & Fish Head 肥佬肉骨茶/蒸鱼头
Chee Cheong Fun, also known as rice noodle roll, is the locals’ favorite KL food. And it is obviously that if locals love this dish then it is a must-try! Chee Cheong means pig intestine and fun – noodles. Noodles resemble the pig’s intestine and can be filled with shrimp, pork, beef or vegetables.
In Kuala Lumpur this dish is doused with dark brown sweet sauce and a bright red sweet sauce. If you eat light food you must know that rice noodle roll has no pickled chilies! Starting from RM4 per plate you will have a smoother texture of Chee Cheong Fun at the street stalls better and cheaper than in many restaurants.
Recommended:
Madras Lane Chee Cheong Fun
Curry Chee Cheong Fun @ Jalan Sayur 为食街
Chee Cheong Fun stall @ PJ SS14/21
Kedai Makanan O&S 海天茶餐室
Restoran Yap Hup Kee 叶合记美食馆
Energy Yong Tou Foo Steamboat 能量酿豆腐猪肠粉
Chee Cheong Fun @ 928 Food Centre
Hokkien Char Mee also known as Hokkien fried noodles has its origin is in the Chinese province – Hokkien. This stir fried dish is made of thick yellow noodles, sliced pork or chicken, squid and cabbages. It is served with dark soy sauce and any kid over 18 months will eat it with a huge pleasure in a playful way.
This dish is definitively a street food in KL as it has only a few ingredients and is served immediately! If you like this dish just know that it is offered in many food stalls in KL. Just grab a seat, order it and enjoy!
Recommended:
Kim Lian Kee Restaurant 金莲记
Restoran Aik Yuen 亿园茶餐室
Lian Bee Hokkien Mee 联美福建面
Mun Wah Hokkien Mee 文华福建面家
Kedai Kopi & Makanan Ming Hoe 民和茶餐室
Restoran Damansara Uptown Hokkien Mee 夜市上城福建面
One of the most popular dishes unique to the Chinese community is Wantan Mee. This yummy mixture of incredible fine-textured noodles, mega-crispy fried wantons, well-barbecued cha-siu, subtly-flavored dressing of dark soy sauce, sesame oil and pork lard is preferred by locals and tourists as well. All the ingredients come together in a perfect harmony.
Kuala Lumpur is a very well known place for its old and irreplaceable food stalls. Many of them offers cheap, fresh and yummy Wantan Mee.
Recommended:
Koon Kee Wanton Mee 冠记云吞面
Restoran Yulek Wantan Mee 友力云吞面
Wan Tan Mee Sg. Besi 新街场路全旦面
Lam Kee Wantan Noodles 林记云吞面
Kedai Makanan Hung Kee 亨记饭店
Kedai Makanan Toong Kwoon Chye 东莞仔
Cantonese Porridge is the best way to start a day, as it is a copious source of energy. This dish represents a mixture of a warm, smooth and thick porridge of rice, that is prolong cooked in water, and delicious pieces of fish, pork, beef or chicken.
In general it is served as a meal on its own. It is suitable for any ages, from toddlers to old people, because it is a light and healthy food. When someone has a fever or flu, porridge is the best cure for him. Recent study has proven that Cantonese porridge is the most effective remedy for ill people. Just give this dish a try and its flavor will haunt you!
Recommended:
Hon Kee Porridge 汉记靓粥
Porridge Stall @ Jalan Sayur Food Street (Wai Sek Kai)
Loa Yau Kee Porridge @ Restoran Soong Kee 老友记粥
Mother Porridge 媽子粥
Onn Kee Claypot Seafood Porridge 安记瓦煲海鲜粥
Doubtless it is very unique the way the dish looks like, because it truly makes the first gourmet impression. Beside the fact that a claypot gives the best possible taste to any dish it also makes it look fantastic.
Claypot Loh Shu Fun is translated as “rat powder”, because of noodle’s resemblance to rat’s tails. Just imagine a mixture of noodles, ground chicken/pork/beef, carrot, garlic, shallots and chicken stock is topped with light, dark soy sauces and oyster sauce and the most phenomenal ingredient – the cracked raw egg. A perfect yummy dish!
Recommended:
China Town Seng Kee 胜记
Mama Kitchen Restaurant
Restaurant Goon Wah 冠华
This is a very nice meat, fish or both food in KL. One type of popular Yong Tau Foo is wrapped bean curd sheets with meat, pork or fish paste. After these sheets are wrapped they are fried up in a wok full of boiling oil. There is a vegetarian version of this dish: the filling will be tofu.
It is impressive that lately food stalls in KL began to offer a huge selection of unusual shaped vegetables, tofu, meatballs and fishballs. When we talk about Yong Tau Foo, people relate it to Ampang because this is the area where Hakka people who are the creators of this dish gather in the old days.
Recommended:
Foong Foong Yong Tau Foo
Puchong Yong Tau Fu @ Puchong Batu 14
Restoran Yap Hup Kee 叶合记客家海鲜酿豆腐
Restoran Golden Tin 金田美食茶餐室
Madras Lane Yong Tau Foo
Chicken Rice is a common dish served by many street hawker stalls. This dish has two main ingredients: chicken and rice. The way chicken is prepared varies from a stall to another, as well as rice preparation. The best combination is: poached, drizzled in light soy sauce and garnished with bits of fried shallot and coriander chicken, and boiled rice with chicken soup, mashed ginger and butter.
This dish is usually served in two plates. One includes a juicy chicken and another good portion of delicious rice. Preparing chicken rice takes not too much time, but the final product is soft, yummy and full of positive energy!
Recommended:
Nam Heong Chicken Rice 南香鸡饭
Restoran Satellite Ipoh Chicken Rice 卫星餐馆
Restaurant Loke Yun Ampang 安邦乐园鸡饭店
Kedai Makanan Wong Kee 王美记海南鸡饭
Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice @ Yat Yeh Hing Restaurant 基记文冬鸡饭
Nasi Lemak is a well known rice dish, in and outside Asian countries. The reason why it has spread around the world is simple: it tastes too good. It is considered as Malaysian national dish and, of course, Kuala Lumpur has the common way of cooking it. One portion consists of coconut milk rice, sambal, anchovies, peanuts and boiled or fried egg.
Some stalls also offer chicken or beef rending. Due to popular demand, many street stalls offer vegetarian variation of Nasi Lemak – instead of dried anchovies, this dish is made with vegetarian mock anchovies. The fact that this dish is affordable is wonderful, starting at RM4 per portion.
Recommended:
Nasi Lemak Tanglin
Baba’s Nasi Lemak @ SS2 Selera Malam 峇峇椰浆饭
Nasi Lemak Peel Road 啤律椰浆饭
Ann Nasi Lemak
Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa
Nasi Lemak Famous
Roasted Duck is a yummy cuisine that can be eaten normally during lunch and dinner. It can be served with many other dishes, but mostly it is eaten with rice or on a bed of vegetables. If duck is well-marinated with spices then half the job is done! The second cooking step: duck must be steamed until the meat becomes tender. And the last cooking step: it must be deep fried until the skin will be crispy!
The first time roasted duck was cooked in England in the second half of the 20th century. But because people travel and eat a lot, this recipe was spread around the world very quickly. The street stall price is starting from RM52 for a whole huge duck!
Recommended:
Sze Ngan Chye Roasted Duck 四眼仔
Restoran Sunrise 日昇餐室
Restoran Sun Ming 新明记烧腊饭店
Soon Fatt Beijing Roast Duck 顺发北京烧鸭
Restoran Loong Foong 龙凤海鲜饭店
When you say satay you first think of the wooden sticks. Satay, also known as Sate, means a wooden stick embellished with seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, vegetables or both. These little and cute sticks are eaten with sauce. Satay may consist of sliced or diced tofu, chicken, goat, mutton, pork, beef, fish, mushrooms and other vegetables.
Kuala Lumpur offers any type of satay you desire. And if you order meat satay you will receive juicy and chunky meat grill to perfection, not bulked out with fat and gristle in between the meat on the sticks. Satay is usually eaten with the peanut sauce that has the right amount of chili. Fresh fruit juices go very well with the satay!
Recommended:
Sate Palace
Sate Zainah Ismail
Warong Aji-Don Alley
Satay Sri Melaka
Ole-Ole Bali
Kamaruddin Satay
Roti Canai, also known as Roti Cane is a type of Indian flatbread. Roti is translated as bread. Europeans eat soft and fluffy bread while South Asian countries eat flat, light and crispy bread. Roti Canai is made of fat, flour and water. The amazing characteristic of this dish is that it is best eaten with fish or chicken curry or with lentil.
Children eat Roti Canai with delicious and semi-liquid condensed milk or with sugar. If you order a dish without rice or noodle then order Roti Canai as well! It should be eaten hot. And it is the most preferred breakfast dish in Kuala Lumpur.
Recommended:
Valentine Roti
Lan Roti Canai
123 Corner
Mansion Tea Stall
From Malay word, air mata kucing is translated as cat eye water or cat tears. This name is explicable by the way ice cubes swim in it. Another funny explication of the name is: after you will try it in a sunny and very hot day you will have very pleased cat eyes!
This drink represents an iced fruit drink made from wintermelon, dried longan, luo hon guo and sugar and boil together. The best way to drink it is cold, chilled with pieces of ice. It will help you to recreate and to cool from the pitiless sun! Many street stall offers this drink and the price starts as low as RM1.5 per cup.
Recommended:
Air Mata Kucing Petaling Street
Wow. What a good list restaurants to taste these KL food. I have been to a few of them and they didn’t disappoint me. For Bak Kut Teh, you should include Ban Lee 萬利肉骨茶 in your list.
Thanks for recommending Ban Lee. Having done some review of this restaurant, it seems good and we have included it in the list.