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Eating in Malaysia is like tasting a melting pot of cultures. This is also an affordable city to eat out in, especially when it comes to street food.
How many different foods could we cram into this time and into our bellies? Food is a huge motivation for us when we explore other cities. So it was all about eating in Malaysia like a local!
A few weeks ago, we’d organised to join this very popular food tour in Kuala Lumpur.
We love to get away from the tourist track and experience life as the locals do, and this is precisely what we did on this perfect evening.
We met our guide at the nominated meeting point, a train station about 7 stops from the City Centre. Instantly upon meeting our guide Su-Ann as well as the other two guys who had booked this food tour, we were excited to take our taste buds on a journey.
Su-Ann explained the intended itinerary for the evening. We will explore 3 Malay cuisines, including Chinese, Indian and Malaysian food, tonight. She explained that she would be taking us to local eateries and places where her friends would eat, known for serving authentic food at the right price.
She also asked if we wanted to try a particular dish from Malaysia to let her know which one, and she’d do her best to take us somewhere that served it. I loved this concept, so personal and options to freestyle the food tour if we liked.
The four of us piled into her car, and we drove for about 10 minutes to our first local eating spot.
We ate an array of deliciously fresh and steaming hot Malaysian foods between sipping on iced tea and listening to Su-Ann explain each dish and snack.
You could not take the smile off my face if you tried, I loved every minute. I especially loved being surrounded by local Malaysians enjoying a night out with friends and families.
We continued on to a different area of KL and stopped in at an obviously popular outdoor Chinese restaurant that was buzzing with locals. This place was fast-paced and full of character.
The dishes began to come out, and we got to taste and try some of the best and most well-known Chinese food available. I loved learning about the small details of adding one secret ingredient or sauce that lifts the whole dish.
Leaving here with a stomach full of goodness, I was determined not to be defeated by slowing down yet. I had been planning a trip here for quite some time, and eating in Malaysia was high on my bucket list.
I was here for one night only, and my mission was to try as much as I could.
I commented to Su-Ann that I’d really like to find a good ‘murtabak’ (stuffed pancake), and she suggested to the group as a whole that we could do a little side trip to the local night markets to find my murtabak and more hawker style foods if we’d like.
We were all super keen, so away we went.
The markets were fantastic, and we did find my murtabak. It was delicious.
I was snap-happy with my camera, asking the local men if I could take pictures of them folding delicious meat-filled pancakes and turning perfectly caramelised chicken satay skewers over coal fires; they were more than happy to smile proudly for the camera.
The smell of spicy pastes and sweet sauces filled the air, and I was still in my happy place, although my body was slowly starting to fall into a food coma.
C’mon, Rach, you’ve been planning on eating in Malaysia for ages, don’t slow down now!
Back into the car and another 15-minute drive across town, we pulled up at our final foodie stop, Indian! Oh my goodness, this place was delicious.
We ate dahl, among other spicy curries, with perfectly puffy roti bread to dip it in. A crispy dosa was served to dunk into our curries, too.
Then came the sweet hoppers, which are delicately wafer-thin bowls made from a batter of rice flour, coconut milk, and a few other ingredients.
The filling on the inside is totally up to the chef. Tonight, we had sweet hoppers with a lovely rice pudding inside, topped with some caramelised sugar on top.
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The whole tour was perfectly timed and coordinated with the different food stops and the amount of food we consumed. I finished off the Indian food and seriously couldn’t fit anything else in.
We saw so much more of KL tonight and tried some delicious foods I never knew about.
Is this what I imagined my trip to eat in Malaysia to be like? Yes, it was. I want to do it all again tomorrow night!
The best part was that Su-Ann dropped us at the front door of our fantastic hotel and it felt like I had just spent an incredible evening with close friends in a city I had previously only scratched the surface of.
Want to eat your way around Kuala Lumpur too? This food tour of Kuala Lumpur is highly recommended if you want a good experience of eating in Malaysia.
Alternatively, we recommend heading to Penang and tasting these 20 Best Foods in Penang – Street Food & Penang Restaurants
You may also be interested in joining other delicious food experiences in Kuala Lumpur below.
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2 Comments. Leave new
Satay chicken sticks in Malaysia are really spicy. when went on the k2 base camp trek I tried this dish make into camp. then I always feel its taste like Malaysia Satay chicken sticks.
The best way to know the culture of a place is through there street foods. Ver nice experience, I hope I can do that also. Thanks for sharing!