We all know the fastest way to a travellers heart is through our stomach. And thanks to it’s cultural diversity, you won’t have to hunt for long to find a tasty meal in Kuala Lumpur.
With a strong mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian cuisine, the streets of the Malaysian capital are full of delectable treats waiting to be devoured.
As foodies, KL gave us a real taste and experience of trying new things. We still long for another eye-wateringly hot curry in Little India or for the hustle and bustle of the food markets.
Kuala Lumpur has fine dining and high end restaurants in abundance but the street food scene is where the real memorable food is found and it doesn’t hurt your pockets.
So here’s our budget friendly tips for the must try food and drink in KL.
1. JALAN ALOR STREET
Okay so we’re starting off the list, not with a particular food, but with a whole street of it. If you’re eating in Kuala Lumpur, you want to be standing in Jalan Alor street. It offers the best of Malaysian food at cheap and affordable prices that won’t break the bank.
If you visit during the day you’ll find a relatively quiet street but fast forward a few hours and the whole place becomes a buzzing hub of hungry locals and tourists. It’s loud, smoky and steamy but if you can find a table, you’re in for a delicious meal.
The menus usually consist of your typical rice and noodle dishes as well as meat and whole fish options.
The atmosphere of eating in Jalan Alor Street is what entices people to eat here. The excitement of racing for plastic chair or deciding what level of spice you think you can tolerate – only to be proved wrong every time of course.
If you’re only in the mood to grab a quick bite, head to one of the many street food stalls. Pick up some satay or jerky whilst taking in the mayhem.
2. CHILLI PAN MEE
A twist on the Chinese dish Ban Mian, Chilli Pan Mee is KL’s very own spicy kick to the tastebuds.
“Pan Mee” translates to “flat noodles” and you’ll often see the chef’s pulling the noodles fresh in front of your eyes. It’s usually served with minced pork, fried anchovies and heaps of chilli.
The dish is traditionally served “dry” but is accompanied with a poached egg on top. Mix it up and let the delicious runny yolk bind it all together.
If you’re not big on spice, you’ll find tons of different variations of Pan Mee served up in Hawker stalls and almost all restaurants in KL.
3. TEH TARIK
A drink you will see in every corner of Malaysia. Similar in looks to a traditional English Breakfast tea but the method in preparing could not be further away.
Teh Tarik is a super sweet, strong but milky tea typically served hot in a glass cup. The sweetness comes from swapping out milk/creamer for condensed milk.
It gets its name, translated to “pulled tea”, from the technique of pouring the liquid between two vessels at height – pulling. This cools it down to optimal drinking temperature and gives the tea its distinctive frothy top layer.
We’d advise to order from a small shop or street stall if you’re looking to try. Watching the Teh Tarik being prepared is a special treat and one that may be missed if ordered elsewhere.
We got ours served in a little plastic bag with a straw which added to the experience.
Teh-C is also an option for the health conscious out there. It trades the condensed milk for unsweetened but be sure to specify if you’d like it hot or cold.
4. PETRONAS FOOD COURT
So this one made the list because, well, who wouldn’t take the opportunity to eat inside the tallest twin towers in the world?
On our first day wandering around Kuala Lumpur, we did what any lost tourists would do and headed to the city’s most iconic landmark.
After we’d exhausted ourselves trying to take the all-important selfie, we headed inside to cool down.
In between the levels of designer clothing stores, you’ll find a pretty decent food court.
Disclaimer; some of the food here isn’t as authentic or tasty as you’ll find elsewhere around the city.
But it’s affordable, even on a backpacker budget and a great place to grab lunch in Kuala Lumpur. We were shocked to find that you could order sizzling hot plates for a couple of pounds.
Head for the longest queue as that’s where the locals that work near are eating.
5. RAMLY BURGER
Burgers are not the obvious choice when it comes to Malay street food but that’s where the Ramly Burger steps in. They’ve increased in popularity over the last few years due to appearing in various YouTube vlogs.
With so many raving reviews, it would be rude not to check them out for ourselves.
Hiding at the very end of Jalan Alor street is a tiny yellow street vendor called Burger Box. The menu is simple, a choice of a chicken, beef or benjo (veggie) patty. You can choose to double it up, add extra cheese or a fried egg.
We opted for the signature “special double beef cheeseburger”.
Ronnie, the owner, told us that people travel from far and wide to eat his famous burgers. We witnessed several people come by to say they had also seen him online, just like us.
Our burger was made with two Ramly patties sandwiching a slice of cheese and dosed with Worcestershire sauce. The next step was to soak them in Burger Box’s gravy-like “special sauce”. The patties are wrapped up neatly in an egg and chilli sauce and mayonnaise are generously drizzled on top.
The burger is deliciously messy and quite frankly one of the best we’ve ever eaten. Definitely a hidden gem on the Malay street food scene.
These budget friendly burgers will set you back between 85p – £1.89.
6. DURIAN
Some say it smells of feet. Or sewage. Or both. So why exactly are we suggesting you try it?
You’d have a difficult time walking through any Southeast Asian street without inhaling the odour of this fruit, but Durian is native to Malaysia. If you’re going to take the plunge and have a bite, it may as well be here.
You may not have even realised Durian was responsible for those smells. We were walking through Singapore with Emma’s family who were surprised to learn that this spiky green fruit was responsible for such stench.
Notoriously labelled as the worlds smelliest fruit, it has even been banned from consumption on public transport and bringing it into your hotel could land you a hefty fine.
Durian is widely considered a delicacy to the locals. The flavours have been attributed to caramel and custard, whilst others have described it as having a creamy, flan-like taste.
In our opinion it had a strong garlic flavour with the texture of a set custard. It definitely wasn’t our favourite delicacy and we could still taste it hours later!
If you’re thinking of easing yourself in, they offer Durian flavoured ice-cream and smoothies. Be warned though, they do not mask the flavour.
7. PANCAKE STREET STALL
If you’re looking for great experiences as well as tasty treats, you must try these famous street stall pancakes.
Uncle Loh has been perfecting his Apam Balik pancake recipe for forty years!
He offers two choices, a small coconut pancake and a slice of nut pancake.
The nut pancakes were the real winner for us.
Locals flock to the stall and buy in the dozens. Watching them being cooked is fascinating; batter, flatten, cook, nuts, cook, flip and slice. You almost have to fight your way through to try and get your hands on one.
The result? Chewy, soft, crunchy, sweet deliciousness. You can find this guy located just off the cross junction in the middle of Petaling Street Market.
Oh and did we mention, each portion costs just 35p.
8. LITTLE INDIA
The Indian community is the third largest ethnic group in Malaysia after the Malay and Chinese and Little India offers a budget conscious traveller everything you could wish for.
Cheap, tasty food and the perfect opportunity to get stuck into the Malaysian-Indian culture. Located in Brickfields, Little India is the perfect spot for lunch in Kuala Lumpur.
We settled on Sri Paandi Restaurant purely due to the fact it was very busy and smelt so good.
We were greeted by a friendly guy who clearly saw the confusion on our faces as we entered. He handed us a metal, school dinner-like tray, and explained that 50 percent of the food was vegetarian, and the other 50 percent contained meat.
After the brief introduction, he heaped boiled rice onto our tray and we were set free to choose our food from the buffet style cart.
You can order dishes from a menu but the real fun is seeing what looks good and having a try. We had no idea what we were piling on our plates, but it all looked incredible.
Finally, we were handed a fresh hot roti, offered a cup of Teh Tarik, and showed to our table.
The beauty of eating here is truly getting stuck in. No cutlery, you just eat with your hands and mop it up with your roti. It’s messy and takes a little getting used to but it was truly one of the best food experiences we had in Kuala Lumpur.
The food tasted amazing and was a great way to try new dishes for such little cost.
Some of the food is very spicy as we found out!
We’d love to hear your favourite bites in Kuala Lumpur!