I have travelled extensively across Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur to Melaka is an ideal day trip. Starting the day trip early in the morning is not a great idea, therefore, stopping over at Nasi Kandar restaurants across the road from where I was staying (at Furama Hotel) in Bukit Bintang was a great idea.
Exploring Best Malay Food in Kuala Lumpur
The Nasi Kandar restaurant is run by South Indian Muslims who migrated to Malaysia in the last century. The food offers a mix of Indian and Arab cooking styles with an emphasis on roti (paratha) or bread make on a flat metal pan.
Nasi Lemak is the national dish of Malaysia
There are plenty of stopovers if you are travelling on the freeways in Malaysia. The food courts offer inexpensive Asian foods including noodles, rice dishes and deep-fried seafood. Halfway through my trip, I decided to stop over for a Teh Tarek (Malaysian-style tea made with condensed milk).
Nasi Kandar is Indian-Arbian-styled food brought to Malaysia by Arab traders in a few centuries. Currently, most Nasi Kandar restaurants are run by Muslims serving halal Indian-styled food. I love to eat at these restaurants as the food style is very close to Pakistani food and fresh food is readily available. While staying at Furama Hotel in Bukit Bintang, I use to eat at a very nice Nasi Kandar restaurant located on the opposite side of the hotel.
Nasi Kandar Restaurant in Bukit Bintang
Foodcourts inside the shopping malls are great places to eat reasonably priced local variety of food. Berjaya Times Square Shopping Mall has a very nice food court on the Basement Floor serving over 50+ local variety of dishes (Halal food court)
Foodcourt in Berjaya Times Square Shopping Mall
Driving from Kuala Lumpur to Melaka
The stopovers offer a clean sitting area, restroom and ablution room for Muslim travellers. I always enjoy saying my prayers and stopping over for a hot drink. This time I wanted to try a small serving of deep-fried fish with rice served with chutney ( a mint sauce)
Rice with pickled cabbage salad and deep-fried fish served at the stopover en route to Melaka
Exploring the best Malay food in Melaka - Malaysia
Melaka like Georgetown is the culinary capital of Malaysia offering a wide array of local dishes ranging from Nyonya to Chinese & Portuguese food. The area is declared a UNESCO Heritage city because of its rich cultural history stretching over the last 500 years.
I explored the Jonker walk area on food and could not resist trying some local street side food including grilled radish and fishballs.
Grilled fish balls and seafood served by hawkers on Jonker Walk
More hunt for food - Best Malay Food
I explored Menara Taming Sari and the shopping malls ( Mahkota Parade & Dataran Pahlawan) on foot. Most of the places downtown are located within a walking distance of each other. There are plenty of nice cafes, bars and restaurants in symmetric white painted building blocks that stretch for miles in the old part of the town.
Soup dishes served in the food court near Jonker Walk
A food court near the Menara Taming Sari was serving a mix of local food. I decided to try fishballs and tofu coconut mild curry, topped with fresh herbs. The serving was amazing and cost around RM 6.
Tofu soup in coconut milk curry
I drove back the same day to Kuala Lumpur to enjoy the nightlife in the city. The foodie adventures continue...
Read more about my Adventures in Malaysia
