- Kuala Lumpur
- (24)
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Malaysia
Trendy, yet still informally friendly, this city-centre bar-restaurant is contemporary KL at its best, all crisp, cutting-edge design, moody lighting and some rather fine food and drink.
There's a great view of the Petronas Towers too, in case you spend so much time in there that you forget where you are.
Ascott Kuala Lumpur, No. 9, Jalan Pinang, KL
+603 2161 7789
www.sevenatenine.com
This is a great way to take in a bird's eye view of the city and eat a lovely meal at the same time.
The restaurant at the top of the KL (Menara) Tower is a revolving one, so within an hour you'll have enjoyed a 360 degree view of the city while eating a whole array of tasty food at the fixed-price buffet.
It's also excellent value - although I'd advise you to stick to water and avoid the overpriced drinks.
Book yourself in for a sunset meal!
No. 2 Jalan Punchak, off Jalan P.Ramlee, 50250 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 2020 5444
www.menarakl.com.my
Sky Bar, Trader's Hotel, off Jln Kia Peng, Kuala Lumpur:
This bar has incredible views and the best time to get here is around 6.30pm to watch the sunset and the fantastic views of Kuala Lumpur. It is expensive and when busy with all the wannabees and wannabeseens, service can be poor. But it is definitely worth a visit.
Hakka Republic Wine Bar, Level 2 Menara Hap Seng, 1-3 Jln P Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur:
This Chinese styled bar has everything going for it. Great music, incredible wine and drinks list and innovative Western food all at a reasonable price. They have a popular set lunch and a great value Sunday Brunch. Good crowd that is focussed on food, drinks and having a good time.
No Black Tie, 17, Jalan Mesui, Off Jalan Nagasari, Off Jalan Raja Chulan, KL:
This quaint little bar that serves Japanese food is a pioneer of live jazz and music in Kuala Lumpur. Great atmosphere though slightly pretentious crowd. Call to find what's on and charges if any.
Sky Bar Tel 03 2332 9888
Hakka Republic Tel 03 2078 9908
No Black Tie Tel 03 2142 3737
This wonderful Chinese style bar is certainly one of the best in this lovely city. With great music, the best wine list in town and some incredible food at very reasonable prices it is quickly becoming the insider's choice in KL. Located just around the corner from the ShangriLa, it has 20 wines and champagnes by the glass and a menu you will not find anywhere else. This includes a great burger, steamed Wagyu beef (absolutely delicious), a scrumptious cod in miso and some great solid staples as desserts.
Level 2,Menara Hap Seng, 1-3 Jalan P. Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03 2078 9908
www.hakkarepublic.com
Monorail staion:Sultan Ismail
Roti cannai is a traditional dish and is a flat bread and a small bowl of curry. It is often seen as a poor person's dish but is really tasty and it is the one thing I remember from Malaysia and wish we had it here!
A lot of lower-end accommodation options in Kuala Lumpur for backpackers and people/families on a budget are quite poor (bed bugs being a common complaint). For £20-24 you can get a double room at the Swiss Inn, located right in the heart of vibrant Chinatown, close to Central Market and importantly, light rail inter-city transport links. It represents a great value option and comes with an excellent buffet breakfast. Room has TV and tea making facilities etc. Book online for some decent deals. No extra cost for children though they do not provide an extra bed.
Raju's serves south Indian breakfasts in the mornings and banana leaf tiffins (the Malaysian BLT - a pile of rice and curry served, as everything is at Raju's, on a banana leaf) in the afternoon.
Now, it is not on the tourist beat, it is not within sight of the Twin Towers, it's not even technically in KL but it is one of the best restaurants in the world.
It is situated next door to La Salle school on Jalan Chantek which is off Jalan Gasing which is off the Federal Highway heading towards Shah Alam. This is not the reason it's the best restaurant in the world though. It has a large outdoor dining area shaded by trees and with a charmingly bubbling storm drain running down one side. But this is not the reason it's the best restaurant in the world.
It is situated in a stand of shops which includes a picture framers, a photo shop and a barber's in a suburban residential area, populated by rather well off Malaysians, with Indians rather more plentifully represented than is perhaps the average. But this is not the reason it's the best restaurant in the world.
The reason it's the best restaurant in the world is because it serves, in the mornings, roti canai - which is the best breakfast in the world.
Basically a paratha-style flatbread of many calories, it is griddle fried freshly so that a crisp, friable crust forms on the dough, which is then punched and broken up before serving. Fairly boring, really. But then add some dal, some fish curry kuah (the gravy, not the actual fish) and perhaps a small piring (dish) of mutton curry, or a piece of fried tengiri, then add to this a teh tarikh (tea made with condensed milk which has been "tarikh'd", i.e. "pulled" through the air from one vessel to another to aerate and cool) and heaven, my friends, is a place on earth.
So. Be seated. There is no reservation, there is no plate captain, no "This way sir" - this is Malaysia old-style. There are many south Indian waiters in white shirts and blue trousers however. Call one over and ask for "roti canai" (pronounced "rotty chan-eye") and a teh tarikh. The dal, some carrot chutney and some coconut chutney are dumped unceremoniously in front of you along with a damp banana leaf. It is perfectly permissible to dry off the leaf with a tissue. I don't bother. And wait. A short time later (longer if at the weekend) and the roti, steaming, fragrant and - a sticking point for many - slightly smaller than average disc of bread is casually clapped onto your leaf. Serve yourself with dal, chutneys in small pools around the circumference. Some pour great ladlefuls of dal all over the roti, mash it into a mush and devour it sloppily in handfuls. A perfectly acceptable way to eat it in my opinion.
But we will choose the dainty option (though not the daintiest - forks and spoons are available, and widely used).
Tear off a small piece of roti, drag it through the dal (whilst arguing with your friends about whether or not the best nasi lemak is to be found in Ipoh or Penang) and pop it in your mouth. There is a faint cuminy, asafoetida tang to the dal, a faint sweetness (not too sweet, oh no) to the roti and a mouth feel (as Mr Blumenthal would have it) which is crunchy, soft, full-flavoured with mild spice (but not too mild, oh no) and completely satisfying. Tear off another piece. Pick up a perfectly tender piece of curried mutton - and although I never had a bad mutton curry when I lived in Malaysia, Raju's has to be the best - and once again, those curious contrasts are there. Crunchy/soft, spicy/bland, tangy/sweet. Take a sip of your scaldingly hot teh tarikh: it is foamy, sweet, strong and in combination with the roti and the curry as precisely perfect as any of the great pillars of Malaysian food when made perfectly. nasi lemak, laksa, prawn mee, char kway teow - roti canai. These are the five. Now you know one. Seek the rest.
Raju's Banana Leaf Restaurant, nearest LRT Taman Jaya, but it's quite a hike in the heat. Take a cab and ask for "Jalan Gasing, PJ" (pron. "gassing" pron. "peejay") then take the first left after the elevated LRT line. Raju's is at the end of the stand of shops on the right hand side of Jalan Chantek.
A bit off-way from KL city is Bangsar. There's so much to do at Bangsar; hip pubs, good food (hawkers and restaurants), night market, shopping malls. A very popular place with the local expats.
Take a taxi from KL city, ask the taxi to go to Jalan Telawi in Bangsar - that's where all the good stuff is (less than RM10)! There are some good hotels in Bangsar too.
Take the Putra LRT to Bangsar station, then a feeder bus to the main strip around Jl Telawi.
You get to stay in a very clean, and homely place right in the KL city. Cheap and good! Not many people have heard about them yet (i think.)
travelmalaysiaguide.com/rainforest-bed-breakfast-hotel-hostel-kuala-lumpur-malaysia/
27 Jalan Mesui , Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur
If you intend on going up then go early to queue for the tickets.
There's a limit of 1320 per day and tickets are often snapped up early in the morning.
Go around 7:30am.
Eating is almost the best thing in Kuala Lumpur, there's so much selection, from the gourmet in high class restaurants to the cheap food in markets.
Hawker food is the best choice if you want to get a variety of the Asian cuisines. There's just SO SO many places to get good hawker food in KL.
travelmalaysiaguide.com/hawker-food-in-kuala-lumpur-malaysia/
Hopefully this helps in making your choice.
Kuala Lumpur, everywhere
This place is awesome. I noticed a recommendation for the Backpacker Travellers Inn, well my brother and I went there first and this place after and it is much better in my opinion.
There is a really communal atmosphere, the Chinatown night market is a stones throw where you can buy cheap DVDs and watch them on the huge screen they have there.
Also if you can't go without a football fix during your travels this place has all the cable channels so you will never miss a match and there will always be someone to watch it with, even if it is at 3AM!
The best bit however is the food stalls right outside the hostel. Amazingly spicy fried rice for RM 3 and tasty chicken or beef satay cooked in front of you over charcoal for 60 Sen. Superb! If you do visit watch out for a guy named Aru - bit of a resident there and a great guy to chat to.
No.80 Jalan Sultan
This is a fantastic hotel right in the centre of the city's swanky Golden Triangle district. A top class hotel at a pretty reasonable price, friendly staff and nice pool too.
Jalan Conway, KL
www.princehotels.co.jp/kuala_lumpur-e/
At the Petronas Towers you can do a free tour, which includes the brilliant bridge-walk across the walkway connecting the two buildings. Get there earlyish to make sure you get tickets as places are limited. The park around the towers and shopping centre at the base are well worth taking in too.
Go to eat in Chinatown, but instead of being persuaded into one of the main restaurants by a tout, get off the main street and find one of the places where you sit at outside tables on the street and the chef cooks everything in a huge wok right in front of you. The food is fantastic and so much cheaper than you'll pay in the other restaraunts.
I can recommend this hotel. If you book from the UK through a travel agent it is only £50-60. The Mandarin has an outdoor pool on the 11th floor, great views of the park below and is situated next to the Petronas Towers and close to bars and restaurants. If you want to go up the twin towers, make sure you go early to get your ticket.
Though not much to look at from the outside (just a steel gated door leading up some stairs) the Backpackers Travellers Inn is THE place to be for the budget traveller. Located in the heart of Chinatown, near the markets of Petaling St, the BTI claims to be the first backpacker hostel in KL and provides all the usual hostel amenities, including tourist information and organised tours to the local Batu Caves, etc. These are supplemented by the wide range of local facilities, including banks, shops and the bizarrely named Despotic Salon. There's no curfew, and the rooftop bar (four or five storeys up) provides an excellent spot to meet fellow travellers and have a cool beer (this is all they sell) while looking out over Kuala Lumpur. A very welcoming and lively venue.
60b, 2nd floor, Jalan Sultan, Kuala Lumpur
As a (semi) vegetarian, I found KL surprisingly difficult to locate suitable food in. It will help you, in the food halls, if you know what "Carrot Cake" is. It's made of white radish and rice flour.
See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chai_tow_kway
Another snippet of advice: Many places seem to add to chicken to most dishes - including otherwise veggie dishes. The vegetarian counter at the Mid Valley Mega Mall boasted a chicken roasting on a spit.
I'm not a natural shopper, but positively enjoyed spending money in this emporium. Instead of piling high the usual tourist fare, they've given a lot of thought to what to stock, and how to present it. Very good value (without being cheap). If you're after a pan-cultural eclectic mix of home furnishings, jewellery and gifts then go and enjoy Peter Hoe's.
Chinatown; near Central Market; if you can find it, go to the (much larger) 2nd floor shop: No. 145 Jalan Tun H.S.Lee, 2nd Floor Lee Rubber Building. (Don't be put off - it looks a bit like a residential building!). Smaller shop: No. 2 Jalan Hang Lekir.
Irish/British pub serving great quality British style meals and beer on tap.
Home of the Kuala Lumpur Celtic Supporters Club.
40, Changkat Bukit Bintang, 50200, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Phone: 03-2141 9924
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