Night Markets in KL

Night Market SS2

The Malaysian night market, or as the locals call it Pasar Malam, can be considered a quintessential local cultural practice that has been around for a long time. It is basically a street market that is opened at night in certain residential neighborhoods. Here you can find a wide range of local food, electronics, clothing, household item and etc. The night market is a great place to taste various local delicacies all in one place.
As the night markets in KL are not commercialized, one is still able to get an authentic experience.

Below are the addresses of two of the more popular night markets in KL.

SS2 Pasar Malam

Opening hours: Monday, 4pm-12midnight

Taman Connaught Pasar Malam (one of the longest night markets in Malaysia, spanning over 2 kilometers long)

Opening hours: Wednesdays, 5:00 pm to 1:00 am

El Mesón

I came to this restaurant two days in a row. I was meeting a friend for lunch. The restaurant she wanted to take me to was under renovation. So we randomly picked this place which was across the road. This modern rustic open space bar/restaurant serves Spanish food and tapas. I enjoyed my dining experience that I brought my siblings the next day for lunch.

During the weekdays, the restaurant offers a 2-course lunch special for RM29. You get a starter, main dish, and a choice of either coke, sprite, or ice lemon tea. There is also a tapas special for Rm49 for 3 tapas and 1 side.

Since my siblings and I were there on a Tuesday, we decided to go for the 2-course lunch and tapas special.

As we were waiting for our food, we were served a plate of warm slices of bread with garlic aioli spread. The aioli was delicious!

Croquetas Caseras de Jamon

Piggy in a Blanket

Bacon Mashed Potatoes

Champinones A La Trufa

For the tapas, we ordered the croquetas caseras de jamon (deep-fried croquettes with jamon iberico), champiñones a la trufa ( sautéed mixed mushrooms in garlic wine, cream & truffle paste), piggy in a blanket (pork sausage wrapped with bacon served with honey mustard & carmelized onions), and bacon mashed potato (side dish).
The piggy in the blanket and mashed potatoes were decent. The croquetas were simply fabulous! These little creamy potato morsels were light yet rich and flavorful. The sautéed mixed mushrooms were delightful! It was cooked in such a way that the mushrooms absorbed the flavors from the sauce.

Ensalada espanola

Pumpkin soup

We had the ensalada española with tuna, tomato & olives, and 2 pumpkin soups for starters. The salad was refreshing. The dressing was light and sweetish. The soup for me was the highlight. It was different from the usual pumpkin soup. It was more savory and creamier with a hint of the pumpkin flavor. The bacon bits accentuated the soup. It was really flavorful.

seafood marinera spaghetti

Fish of the day

Pollo Asado

As for the main course, we had pollo asado, grilled spatchcock spring chicken served with homemade fries and mixed mesclun salad, fish of the day, and tagliatelle marinera with smoked garlic scallop, prawns & chili.
The tagliatelle marinera was good; it had a slight spicy kick to it. The seafood was cooked just right. The fish was tender and moist. The tomato-based sauce complimented the fish well. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the grilled spring chicken. It was bland and uninteresting.

Two waiters served us. One, in particular, an intern, was very friendly; he had a constant smile and attended to our table on different occasions to ensure that everything went smoothly. We enjoyed our food so much, so we asked the waiter to give our compliments to the chef.

We were overall delighted with the service and our meal.

I highly recommend this restaurant for an enjoyable Spanish experience.

El Mesón

Website: http://www.elmeson.com.my/

Telephone: +60 3-2282 8290

Opening hours: Daily 11:00 a.m. – 22:00 p.m.

Patty & Pie

My friend took me to a cozy pizza place for dinner in Aman Suria, Petaling Jaya that serves wood-fired pizzas. He claimed that this place serves one of the best pizzas in town and he was right! They serve one of the best wood-fired pizzas I’ve had.

We ordered the half and half pizza. I chose the Margherita and my friend chose the truffle (white sauce, mozzarella, truffle cream, provolone, egg, parmesan). I have never been a fan of truffle. It is one of those acquired flavors, either you like it or you don’t. So I was feeling skeptical yet full of anticipation.

Margherita

Truffle

**I do not own the pictures above. I accidentally deleted my pizza pictures. These are pictures taken by others who have dined there and I wanted to show you guys what the pizza looked like.

The pizza resembles a Neapolitan-style pizza crust with a poofy thin crispy crust yet elastic, soft, and moist on the inside. Each dough is formed by hand and tossed. The brick oven is located next to the restaurant bar so customers can watch the pizzaiolo perform the pizza tossing.

The Margherita was decent but the truffle was divine! It had a wonderful smokey flavor with a delicate hint of sweetness and fragrance from the oil and cheese. Furthermore, personally, I feel the egg accentuated and balanced all the flavors together. Each bite was memorable.

I am looking forward to my next visit!

Patty & Pie

Website: https://www.facebook.com/PattyandPie/

Opening hours: 12:00PM – 3:00PM, 6:00PM – 10:00PM

Telephone: +60 12-223 1009

Address: 40, Jalan PJU 1/45, Aman Suria, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Inside scoop ice cream

A friend took me to an up-and-coming local ice cream parlor call Inside Scoop. We went to the Damansara Jaya branch.

Inside scoop started off as one store in Bangsar. Now it has expanded and they have 17 outlets throughout Selangor and in other states. I liked that they created unique local flavors such as durian, teh tarik, and cendol using local ingredients such as local tea and gula melaka (palm sugar) to the ice cream.

We ordered the peanut butter cup, strawberry, and durian. It cost 18.50 ringgit for a triple scoop. The ice cream was smooth, creamy, and rich in flavor. It exceeded my expectations.

Inside scoop can definitely compete with international ice cream chains.

Inside scoop ice cream (Damansara Jaya)

Website: https://www.insidescoop.com.my/

Opening hours: Daily 11:30 a.m. – 19:30 p.m.

Address: 57, Jalan SS 22/19, Damansara Jaya, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Kuching delicacies

I made a trip back to Kuching, Sarawak two weeks ago to visit my grandmother. It has been 3 years since my last visit. Kuching has many unique local foods. Here are some that I had.

Sarawak Laksa

The Sarawak laksa, or as the locals call it Kuching laksa, is a dish of an array of flavors. The main ingredient is a paste made of a wide range of local ingredients which is then added to the broth. It is usually garnished with prawns, chicken and omelet strips, bean sprouts, freshly chopped coriander, and lime. The soup is tangy (from the lime), spicy, creamy (coconut milk), with a hint of sweetness.

Kuching laksa can be found in most hawker centers in Kuching.

Kolo Mee

Kolo mee is a signature Kuching dish. It is dry egg noodles in a light sauce topped with minced pork, shallots, fried onion, slices of char siew (barbecued pork), and white pepper. It is a must-have whenever I visit. My mother, who is from Kuching, says that one of the best and authentic kolo mee is at the expert food court. The map below shows the exact location of the food court. The expert food court is not available on google maps but I’m guessing the vegetarian foods stall is located within the expert food court.

Crispy tomato ketchup noodles

This dish is only exclusively available in Kuching and is one of the local favorites. As one can tell from the name of the dish, it is basically deep-fried noodles in ketchup sauce. My mum and cousins love it. I, on the other hand, am not too fond of the dish. It only tasted like ketchup to me. However, if you had not had this dish before, it may be worth a try. Who knows? maybe you might like it.

Hakka Lei Cha

Lei Cha (tea rice) is a traditional Hakka dish. The Hakkas are Han Chinese people whose ancestral homes are chiefly from the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhejiang, Hainan, and Guizhou. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakka_people). The soup base consists of grounded tea leaves, herbs, peanuts, and sesame seeds, thus giving the soup a greenish color. The soup is accompanied with a bowl of rice topped with chopped green vegetables and beans, tofu, pickled radish, and crushed peanuts. The toppings vary depending on the person who makes them. As the soup consist of the herb Kulixin, it can be somewhat bitter to some people. Even though it is bitter, I find this dish really fragrant (from the roasted peanuts). It took a few tries before I started liking the dish. Nonetheless, it is a very hearty and healthy dish!

Not a lot of stalls make this dish well. The one I had that was really good was at the expert food court located at Jalan Datuk Amar Kalong Ningkan.

Sugarcane with Coconut Flesh

This is a popular drink in Kuching. It is a concoction of fresh sugarcane juice, fresh coconut juice, and coconut flesh. It is perfect on a hot day. The place to get this drink is at Song Kheng Hai hawker center.

There are so many more delicious food Kuching has to offer. I hope I get to share more in the future.

Durian buffet SS2

Durian is my favorite fruit of all time! I absolutely love it! To others, though, the smell of the durian can be repulsive.

If you are a durian fan like me, then the durian SS2 in Petaling Jaya is the place to go! Some of the best durian varieties are sold here, like Musang King, D24, and XO. The prices of the durian vary depending on the type of durian and weight. The workers will help you choose the durian based on the variety requested. Before serving the durian, you are allowed to taste the pulp. If you are dissatisfied, you can request another.

I had the D24 and XO during my last trip back. The D24 was more expensive than the XO. The D24 was between 70 – 80 ringgit (per durian) and the XO was around 55 ringgit. Both the D24 and XO had a creamy texture and a bittersweet taste.

They are opened from Monday to Sunday, from 10am to 12am.

Telephone: 012-234-5619

Website: https://www.durianss2.com/