Kuala Lumpur should immediately go to the top of your travel wishlist. Photo / Getty Images
Kuala Lumpur should immediately go to the top of your travel wishlist. Photo / Getty Images
Malaysia’s capital is rapidly transforming into Asia’s coolest city. Here’s why it’s worth a visit – and why every visitor should explore beyond the Petronas Towers, writes Tamara Hinson
In the shadow of the twin-tipped Petronas Towers, an elderly lady tends to sizzling skewers of satay. Her workplace is one of the stalls on Jalan Raja Muda Musa, a street lined with wooden stilted houses dating back to the late 1800s. This is Kampung Baru, a small village in the centre of Kuala Lumpur, and a brilliant example of how reminders of the past are never far away in Malaysia’s capital.
In 1899 Malaysia’s British colonial administration created Kampung Baru (“new village”) as a home for Malaysian farmers, allowing them to continue to farm while living their lives free from the risk of development. In reality, the goal was to ensure their produce continued to feed the rapidly expanding city, but the fact that several of these wooden houses remain is a credit to both their inhabitants and the ancestors. It’s also one of the city’s most popular street food spots – not just for tourists, but locals, including some of Malaysia’s top chefs. “My heart belongs to Kampung Baru,” says Norazizi Taslim, executive chef at the St Regis Kuala Lumpur. “It’s steeped in tradition, and you’ll find fantastic street food, from juicy skewers of satay to ayam bakar (charcoal-grilled chicken), and every dish here tells a story of generations past.”
For now, Kampung Baru’s colourful stilted houses are safe, although 25 years after it was established, the Petronas Towers is no longer the only sky-scraping structure changing KL’s skyline. When the needle-like Merdeka 118 tower opens in late 2024, it will become the world’s second-tallest building. From the observatory on the 115th and 116th floors, visitors will be able to gaze down on Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, another neighbourhood with a rich history. On an exploration of the area led by Kiran, a guide from A Chef’s Tour, a foray down a deserted Chinatown laneway leads me to Kwai Chai Hong, a narrow alley daubed with beautiful murals depicting life here in the 1960s. One of the artworks, painted onto the side of a shophouse, shows a Chinese calligrapher at work, while another depicts a boa-wearing lady smiling seductively from her window – a reminder that this area once had several brothels.
Chinatown’s Kwai Chai Hong alley features murals depicting 1960s life. Photo / Tamara Hinson
Nearby, history and modernity collide once more inside the Petaling Street Market. This tourist magnet’s central thoroughfare is lined with stalls piled with everything from fake Chanel bags to “I love Kuala Lumpur” t-shirts. But I recommend exploring the side alleys of this covered market – this is where I discover tiny stores specialising in everything from jade to Chinese medicine, and tailor shops where elderly women hunched over Singer sewing machines produce beautifully embroidered traditional dresses. On a nearby street, I grab an impromptu caffeine fix at Pucks Coffee, a recently opened coffee shop and co-working space with artfully exposed concrete flooring, marshmallow-like sofas and a wall featuring local photographers’ artwork. Co-founder Ozier tells me the aim was to create an inclusive space where great coffee, music and art were big focuses. “This part of Chinatown is a true melting pot,” he says. “It’s both local and international, and there’s a lot of history here, too.” I find further proof of that juxtaposition just a few metres away, at the stunning Sri Mahamariamman Temple, the city’s oldest Hindu temple. Its exterior comprises a five-tiered gopuram (monumental tower), and inside, I discover a main prayer hall surrounded by ornate frescos and shrines dedicated to Lord Ganesha.
Chinatown is also a magnet for foodies. At Nam Heong Chicken Rice, I restore energy levels with the restaurant’s namesake dish. The restaurant was founded in 1938 and has since been given a Michelin Bib Gourmand award, presented to restaurants serving fantastic food at wallet-friendly prices. Nearby Lai Foong Lala Noodles might not boast the same history credentials (it was founded in 2008) but its most famous dish, lala (clam) noodle soup, certainly does. Owner Cindy Chai is a descendant of the Hakka, a seafaring people from Northern China who are regarded as excellent chefs.
More of the Sri Mahamariamman Temple. Photo / Tamara Hinson
Elsewhere, I discover a growing number of chefs serving up modern takes on traditional Malaysian cuisine. I’m not sure what Cindy Chai would make of Eat & Cook, a Michelin Guide-listed restaurant that describes itself as the world’s first Malaysian-style omakase, but it’s typical of KL’s culinary diversity. “Many restaurants are now focusing on fresh, locally sourced ingredients and heritage flavours which celebrate Malaysia’s agricultural richness,” says the restaurant’s founder Chef Lee Zhe Xi. His favourite dish is the paku (fern) salad with coconut sauce, fish garum and fermented coconut cheese. “It’s a dish which combines history with a modern twist of local flavour,” he says.
And these nods to Malaysia’s heritage are more accessible than ever before. Take the afternoon tea offered by the Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur. Here, alongside classics such as coronation chicken sandwiches, you’ll enjoy nods to the region thanks to treats like the blueberry and coconut scones. Other highlights include the Sabah black tea cake with bergamot jelly and a ginger compote with a fig leaf mousse.
Afternoon tea at the Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur. Photo / Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur
The Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur is in Bukit Bintang, and part of a wider downtown area known as the Golden Triangle, although as the city expands other hubs are emerging. Chef Lee Zhe XI’s restaurant, Eat & Cook, is in Bukit Jalil, an area south of the city centre being referred to as its newest CBD, while KL’s newest leisure district is being touted as Exchange TRX, a sprawling downtown complex with a 400-store shopping centre and various hotels, restaurants and bars.
In late 2025, Malaysia’s first Kimpton hotel will open here. Incidentally, it’s one of several brands clamouring to open properties in Malaysia’s capital. The first Waldorf Astoria will open in the city centre by the end of 2025 in Bukit Bintang, where I spend an hour trying to escape from Malaysia’s largest shopping centre. Berjaya Times Square has over 1,000 stores and is so large it’s got an indoor rollercoaster. My top tip? For a retail therapy fix, head to nearby Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, which has a slightly less intimidating 700 stores. It’s also just across the road from my base, the Westin Kuala Lumpur. Stay here and you’ll have easy access to Pavilion but will also be just a short walk from the Petronas Towers, the Petaling Street market and Chinatown.
The Pavilion Kuala Lumpur is a shopping centre Bukit Bintang with over 700 retail establishments and restaurants.
Weirdly, despite the city’s expansion, exploring KL is a breeze. Transport options include an LRT, MRT, and monorail network. There’s also the lightning-fast KLIA Ekspres which takes just 28 minutes to speed from the airport to KL Sentral, a transportation hub that will undergo a major redevelopment in 2025. The city now has a hop on, hop off bus which offers two routes – a red route taking in city centre highlights such as the Petronas Towers and the National Library, and the green route, which I opt for. This one covers sites further afield, including the Jamek Mosque, Perdana Botanical Garden and the National Palace. On sunnier days, I recommend steering clear of the open-air top deck to avoid feeling like a satay stick cooking on a grill – the views from the enclosed sections are just as stunning.
Explore the city with the KL Hop On Hop Off.
On my final night, I head to Bukit Bintang’s Jalan Alor night market, where hungry locals share plastic tables with tourists sipping bottles of chilled Tiger beer. Personally, I recommend the nasi lemak or the rendang, although a quick peruse of the menu reveals no shortage of traditional cuisine – there are around a dozen varieties of frog-based dishes, for example, while pig’s intestines appear to be equally popular. I’m initially slightly confused by the large number of frog dishes involving a Marmite marinade, then I remember Chef Lee Zhe Xi’s comments about the growing popularity of dishes that honour the city’s history while incorporating a modern twist. And, let’s face it, Marmite-marinaded frog is surely a perfect example.
