Malaysia has an interesting mix of cultures all with distinctive culinary traditions. Being fans of many different cuisines, we were right at home.
As mentioned in a previous post, our hotel in Kuala Lumpur has a dedicated roti chef making fresh roti at breakfast each morning. He was a very busy guy and they could easily have had two roti stations to keep up with demand.
We had a few lots of satay and I can’t decide which were the best.
We ate Nasi Lemak on a few occasions and this one was quite special and well presented.
The Nyonya food at a place called Nancy’s was interesting and tasty. Roo had a roast pork loin dish with a sort of caramelised onion and star anise sauce. I had an aromatic chicken curry. Both were quite delicious.
Asian desserts are quite different from western desserts as a rule, but we found the sweet things to be quite delectable. The pineapple tarts that we found in Melaka were hot from the oven and quite ‘westerner-friendly’. The more gelatinous items with pandan leaf, coconut or raw sugar cane syrup are subtle and have a foreign texture, but we had tried some at home and enjoyed the contrast.
Overall, the food experience was excellent. We also ate Chinese meals in Chinatown in KL and in Melaka, mainly Chicken Rice and variations on it.
Malaysia has many reasons for a person to visit, and the food is right up at the top of list as well as the friendly people and organised cities. Out hotels were comfortable and clean and we had a really great time winding down after the more frenetic pace of India. The humidity was a bit full-on though so I recommend not trying to do too much in a day and paying extra for a place with a pool! We hope to make it back some day…
