Kuala Lumpur - Restoran Bunn Choon

Given the significant Chinese demographic of Kuala Lumpur, we decided that getting dim sum here was a pretty good bet, so one morning we had a meal at Restoran Bunn Choon.

The place stretched up over multiple floors of small dining areas and was packed, but we only had about a 15-minute wait to get a table.

We always take an opportunity to get some greenery, so we ordered some long beans - very well seasoned and delicious.

Some little shrimp dumplings with super-thin skins and an intensly shrimpy filling.

Sherry rarely passes up a chance to order chicken feet. These ones were great - nice and soft with a savory and slightly five-spice sauce.

Some pork ribs that were just ok, but the bits of some sort of sweet potato or winter squash that came with them were surprisingly tasty.

Bean curd stuffed with a pork mixture. Generous tasty filling, and the bean curd skin gave a nice texture.

Dumplings with the same sort of pork mixture, but with a chili oil sauce.

Overall, a very enjoyable meal. We availed ourselves of the "biscuit" counter on the main floor.

They wrapped things up in a pretty box (that's how you can tell that you overpaid for them...)

The egg tart was ok, but decidedly below average.

The lotus bun with salted egg wasn't a favorite. The lotus paste didn't have much flavor, and the egg yolk didn't add a lot.

The third was a coconut pastry which we really liked. Fluffy, with nice coconut flavor and shredded coconut texture.

Kuala Lumpur - Roti Canai at Pak Hassan

Kampung Baru is such a great place for breakfast. On this morning we opted for roti canai.

And this place was all about the roti canai - they were busily cooking them up one after another.

While we usually like our eggs soft-cooked alongside roti, this morning we went with the egg cooked in.

The house "gravy" was a big cauldron of curry sauce with chicken back bones and chicken feet cooking in it - very tasty.

Perfect breakfast in a very pleasant and friendly setting.

Kuala Lumpur - Heun Kee Claypot Chicken Rice

One evening we went out to the Pudu neighborhood of KL to have dinner at Heun Kee Claypot Chicken Rice.

The place was busy, but we only had to wait briefly - the wait was actually fun, since you can watch the guys cooking the clay pots over coals out in front of the restaurant.

We shared their standard clay pot chicken, which came with pieces of chicken, chinese sausage, and a tiny bowl of salted fish that you could add to your taste (it was very salty).

The chicken was very good, and while I don't usually particularly like chinese sausage, I enjoyed these ones - they weren't too sweet.

We also got a big plate of gai lan (yay vegetables!).

Everything cooks in the clay pot, and they add a savory sweet-soy sauce to it. The bottom part of the pot gets crispy and caramelized from the heat.

It was a tasty and satisfying meal, but definitely a big part of what makes it a go-to spot is the spectacle of them cooking the pots.

Kuala Lumpur - Chow Kit Market and Supermarket Fishes

Chow Kit wet market is a sea of fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, and fishes. We always enjoy taking a stroll through markets like this.

We were particularly envious of the bounty of beautiful large red chilies - they are hard to come by at home.

We bought some fruit and snacks, including a package of jackfruit that proved to be very tasty and aromatic.

Even the regular grocery stores in KL are fun to wander in. They had huge bins of dried shimp and tiny fishes.

The sheer variety of fresh fish was impressive - even compared to the large asian markets at home.

Kuala Lumpur - Brickfields Pisang Goreng and Other Snacks

The last time we were in KL, we tried to get pisan goreng (fried banana) from this stall, but we got there too late and they were out.

This time, we made sure to get there earlier and were rewarded with freshly fried banana fritters.

We also got one of their kuih bakul - a fried "sandwich" with nian gao (a sweet, sticky paste made from glutinous rice flour) between a slices of sweet potato and/or yam. And we got some curry puffs to snack on later.

We've professed our love for egg tarts before, and we've been snagging them here and there on this trip. This one was from a cart in a hawker center in Brickfields. Mildly sweet, and nice and eggy.

We'd heard that KL's Chinatown has been up-and-coming in recent years, but you wouldn't know it from our visit to the Petaling Street market stretch. Still just packed with stall after stall of knock-off shoes, bags and watches.

As on our previous visit, the one highlight is the soy milk stall in the middle.

Tau foo fa - soy milk pudding - topped with a brown sugar and ginger syrup. Comforting and refreshing.

Kuala Lumpur - Revisits to Mansion Tea Stall and Restoran Kin Kin

Roti canai spots are everywhere, and you can get a breakfast of roti and eggs at any of them, but Mansion Tea Stall has a special place in our hearts from our first visit five years ago.

Their "roti banjir special" is two soft-cooked eggs with a chopped up roti canai drowned in curry sauce with a splash of sambal on the side.

Paired with a teh tarik, this is a perfect breakfast. In addition to getting a plate each, we shared an extra roti.

Another place we loved on our previous visit was Restauran Kin Kin. They are famous for their chilli pan mee, and it is easy to see why once you've tasted it.

This dish is a perfect example of the whole being greater than sum of its parts. Wheat noodles, ikan bilis, minced pork, a soft-cooked egg, and a bit of dried fish flake and chopped green onion.

Mixing it all up, the ingredients come together deliciously with the addition of their magic chili flakes. The chili isn't super spicy, but because it tastes so nice you add a lot and the spice builds to a pretty punchy level.

The dish is served with an extra bowl of light broth with bits of egg and some stewed leafy greens in it.

Kuala Lumpur - Laksa Kg Baru and KLCC Mall Yong Tau Foo

One rainy evening (most evenings have been rainy for an hour or so during our visit), we had dinner at Laksa Kg Baru.

The owner was very friendly and helpful, and took us through the menu.

They specialize in Laksa and Kari Mee (curry laksa).

We made a bit of a mistake by both ordering curry laksa. We got slightly different versions - one with mee (wheat noodles) and one with bihun (fine rice noodles) and chicken and beef added. We prefered the bihun version, as the texture of the mee was a bit too soft. Favorite parts were the bits of fried tofu and tofu skin soaking in the broth.

Another evening, we found ourselves hungry in the KLCC mall (we'd come there in search of an ATM that would take our debit card). We ended up having Yong Tau Foo for the first time in the mall food court. You pick a set of ingredients (we got water spinach, bok choi, fish cake, fish balls, eggplant, bitter melon, and a big chili all stuffed with fish paste, and tofu skin), tell them how you want it (we got soup with rice noodles), and they prep it up for you. We really enjoyed it, and look forward to having Yong Tau Foo again in a non-mall context.

Kuala Lumpur - Nasi Kandar Pelita

On our previous visit to KL, Nasi Kandar Pelita was one of our favorite places. Since our hotel was within easy walking distance, we visited again twice this time.

Pelita has multiple stations, but the most important one is the Nasi Kandar station. Here you order a plate of rice and pick what toppings you would like.

It was late on our arrival day in KL and we didn't want to overeat, so we shared a plate with a couple of pieces of lamb rendang. We also got it "banjir" style - with a little bit of gravy added from each of the dishes.

Most other dishes are ordered from your table. We ordered a naan bread - which they make in the tandoor oven in the back.

On our second visit, we also were not super hungry, so we decided to go with a couple of dosas.

We got one plain dosa, and one onion dosa. The plain was perfect - super thin and crispy. The onion dosa didn't have much noticable onioniness going on, and it was folded over and thicker - more like an uttapam. We much prefered the plain one.

Both dosas came with a very nice dahl, and what I think was a slightly cococut-flavored raita. We also couldn't resist getting a chunk of lamb from the nasi kandar counter.

Every time we've visited Nasi Kandar Pelita it has been pleasantly busy, but not super packed. It remains a favorite place of ours.