Restaurant recommendations for KL
 

I'm leaving for Malaysia in 9 days and realized I haven't asked for any restaurant recommendations! I took note of Kathie's suggestion of Frangipeni on a different thread. Does anyone have any other favorites? We like most kinds of food, Chinese probably being the least favorite of Asian cusine but I think that's because there aren't any really good Chinese restaurants in my neighborhood. If someone can steer us to a super Chinese restaurant, it would be much appreciated. Also, Malay, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Italian. In other words, any and all suggestions are welcome. We will be at the MO but the restaurants don't have to near there.

Also, suggestions for Georgetown, Kuching and Sandakan are also welcome. Thanks!

one of my favorites, hamedia's in gt.

best chinese in KL is Noble House 19 jln delima(off jln imbi) tel 21458822

best french is cilantro at MiCasa hotel tel 21798000

best malay is the small shoplots but a good r'rant is Bijan, 3 jln ceylon tel 92854827

good peranakan is Bon Ton at 3 jln stonor tel 21443848

good northern indian isSagar, one bangsar tel 77842532

one of the best jap is Ozeki at Menara TA, jln P Ramlee opp rim jungle club.

best in penang are the hawkers

Thanks for those recommendations, I've taken note of them. Anyone else have any?

last time i was in georgetown (years ago now!) there was a really nice restaurant called hot wok. it is nyonya/peranakan food. i really enjoyed the squid sauteed in dried chili. other famous peranakan dishes would be ju hu char (combi of turnip, carrot, cabbage and the most imp ingredient - dried cuttlefish or ju hu all stir fried together. we eat it wrapped in fresh lettuce with a bit of sambal belacan) and tamarind prwwn and fish head curry.

in kl, i tried the japanese buffet at shangrila availabale only weekends. must book ahead - the rest is called zipangu. very good spread and worth it for about 1RM100.

in kuching, you must try sarawak laksa. everybody has a different opinion as to where the best one is but my favourite is chong choon. only for breakfast and looks like a shack. lots of pressure eating there coz very busy place and sometimes people stand over your table hoping to urge you to finish quickly. there is also good popiah at the coffee shop near the grand continental hotel. also breakfast.

for pricier and western fusion food, you can try magenta ( off town centre but everywhere is fairly close in kuching) it has a nice ambience. junk is in town and walkable from hilton, western meal. the restaurant has loads of 'junk' as its decor. tom's at padungan road has got quite a nice lunch and the best cake in townm, called the napoleon, coffee not the cocoa. beccari at merdeka palace is our best italian.

most tourists will head for top spot (at the top of a car park and again down the hill from hilton) for seafood. the one i normally frequent there is called abc. try the pepper crab, mango fish , if you are adventurous, you can ask for chut-chut (balitong is the west malaysian name) cooked in chili. it is a snail like looking thing (small) and to get the flesh from it, you suck on the smaller end and then suck really strongly on the bigger end and voila. not easy the first time around.

must also eat midin/bidin. a young jungle fern usually cooked in red wine or garlic or belacan. you cant find this elsewhre, malaysia or otherwise apparently. i have yet to know anybody who did not like midin.

there is really fabulous peking duck at li garden. but the rest of the food is so-so only. must book ahead for the duck.

well, that took longer than i thought it would. enjoy

I second the recommendation for Hot Wok in Penang. Unfortunately the branch in the Garage adjacent to the E & O is closed. It would be a cab ride away on the outskirts, but worth the ride. Excellent Nonya, all asian diners. For Nonya, avoid Dragon King...dreary. The night we went, there were 2 other tables eating, both western, guide books in hand. Our best meal was at Yee Loo Restoran, a Kopi Tiam, with 3 stalls. Junction Jalan Macalister & Lorong Selamat, near the Sheraton. From one stall we had Oh Jian=Teochew Oyster Omlette, we then proceeded to the seafood stall, amazing, we
had Chilli crabs, better than Singapore, alive when ordered.

The hawker food is the best and sanitary. The least intimidating experience would be Gurney Drive, fabulous almost carnival atmosphere. I would start out there, and you'll get the idea of Penang food. Also try Penangtalk.com--a good website with a forum.

There's a wonderful book "Penang Food Odyssey" by Yvonne Tan which is invaluable for Penang eating.

in penang, hawker food is best. some famous hawker food would be the penang laksa (fishy smell because of the prawn paste, therefore an acquired taste for some), char koay teow (flat, tagliatale-like rice noodles stir fried with combination of eggs, bean sprout and clams . clams are optional.), the indian muslims have pasembur (kind of a local salad) , roti canai, roti masala.

by the way, nyonya refers to the straits chinese. the straits settlements were penang, malacca and singapore. these are chinese who have assimilated a lot of malay influence in their cooking, clothes and language

Thanks hornbill and twofortheroad. I'm printing out your posts and bringing them with me. hornbill, too bad we will miss each other in Kuching. It would have been so nice to get together and meet. Perhaps some other time in Kuching or someplace else in SEA.

perhaps. i would look forward to it.

Laurieco - can you post a report on the E & O when you return please?

MaryW, of course. I plan on doing a full trip report and the E&O will be included.

For excellent malay in georgetown head to Nasi Padang International on Transfer Road or Eliza Restaurant in City Bayview hotel (right across the street from E&O). For good Mamak food (Indian Muslim), give Line Clear a try - it's a hole in the wall place on Penang Road. Hot Wok still exist along the Tg Bungah Road (last time I was home).

In Kl, an excellent Thai place would be Sri Ayuthya in Medan Damansara. Upmarket and authentic Indian can be had at the excellent Bombay Palace. The Chinese restaurant at MO is excellent. A good nyonya in KL is Madam Kwan in the KLCC, always packed so get the MO to book for you. Also try Sundan House, also on the same floor as Madam Kwan - this place's good for the food of a little known Indonesian region - the Sundan. Whatever you do avoid the Thai restaurant in the KLCC - can't remember the name though. To experience all the food under one roof (Italian, Japanese, Chinese and western grill) try the Shook at Starhill. These are howevever, on the upmarket of things, the best are always the stalls by the road and backlane which give so much character to the whole food experience in Malaysia. If you're not too fussy about the environment then give them a try and I'm sure you'll have the best meal of your life for pittance :-)

Twofortheroad, there's also the kltalk.com forum similar to Penang's forum. It'll give you some idea of the places in KL. Enjoy yout trip.

Sorry, I was not clear...Hot Wok on Tanjung Bungah Rd. is open and is a cab ride away from the E & O. The branch of Hot Wok in the Garage across from the E & O is closed. Everytime I try to get KLtalk.com, I get ACCESS DENIED.

i disagree about madam kwan in klcc. had heard about it and tried it out last i was in kl and was quite disappointed (of course ordering hawker food in a restaurant seldom makes sense)

however, unless food quality has changed, i would recommend little penang cafe at the midvalley megamall. very good penang laksa and cendol.

cendol is a dessert - ice shavings in coconut milk with a bit of palm sugar and little short green noodle-like looking things, which are actually rice flour coloured using pandan leaves. and with red beans. you seldom get the real thing anymore (IMO) but i think the little penang cafe comes close.

Tried Hot Wok in Tg Bungah and was disappointed. It's not as good as when it was at Gurney Plaza.

There is a new place called The Bagan opp PorThay high school in Bagan Jermal not far fr Gurney Dr which serves peranakan. ANybody tried it? the atmosphere is wonderful.

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. It looks as though we will be eating very well in Malaysia!

Been to Bagan, atmosphere is good but for food wise I still prefer go to 32 or 68 for western. As for nyonya Hot Wok still the place for me but that's just me. I tried the tanjung bungah Hot Wok is much better than the Gurney.

Penang food is fabuluos, tried the food at Hot Wok in tanjung tokong was cheap and great especially the assam prawn,curry fish n the ju hoo char compare to the hot wok in gurney plaza was expensive and not that tasty. Also the laksa at gurney drive hawker center is awesome. As for Bagan where is this place? I might heard from people it's from the same branch of 32 and 68 kelawai am i rite. Been to 32 quite pricy the food and the wine but who cares for the enviroment is superb. char koay teow in lorong selamat was good also but waited long n it's worth the wait.So going to come back to Penang to enjoy all the delicious food.

Food is just 40% of what Penang have to give.I suggest HOT WOK cause of its Peranakan Culture still weel preserve in Penang.Since it first open in Tanjung Tokong in 1994.We are the 1st batch of Penang Heritage Trust Member were fused how does a ex Hotelier I mean a Banquet Manager manage to open a theme restaurant and makes us confused into the old restaurant era.It was a good job handed by Mr.Robert Yeoh also a PHT member.The heart of HOT WOK still pumping till today and I see the new outlet in Tanjung Tokong is promising.The food there is much more improved than before.Thats all I can say.For the food at BAGAN it is not Peranakan and for money wise rather quite expensive as Rm3.00 for a plate of plain rice....I still like to go 68 than 32 and BAGAN.SALSA's a very nice cozy place to go if wanted to have continenal food.WELCOME TO PENANG FOR ITS BEACH AND FOOD.

Hot Wok Nyonya Restaurant in Penang is among the top restaurant. Bravo to them. Really love that place n the food. No bad critics about Bagan coz been there food was ok not good rate 4/10 n they charge me a plain rice for rm3 just imagine that...

Hope penang will always have this good food like laksa,hokkien mee n char koay teow ... yum yum...