Things to do in Kuala Lumpur
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Rohani Jelani
Book online for courses with cookbook author Rohani Jelani in her kitchen out at Sungai Penchala, 10km southwest of KL.
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Islamic Arts Museum
Containing one of the best collections of Islamic decorative arts in the world is KL’s outstanding Islamic Arts Museum. Aside from the quality of the exhibits, which include fabulous textiles, carpets, jewellery, calligraphy-inscribed pottery and an amazing reconstruction of an ornate Ottoman room, the building itself is a stunner, with beautifully decorated domes and glazed tilework. There’s a Lebanese restaurant offering a set lunch (RM43; closed Monday) and a well-stocked shop selling beautiful high-quality crafts products and art books.
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Batu Caves and Temple Tour from Kuala Lumpur
3 hours (Departs Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
by Viator
Discover Malaysia's multi-racial and multi-religion influences on this half-day tour to the Batu Caves from Kuala Lumpur. With your fun and knowledgeable guide,…Not LP reviewed
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Kampung Baru Hawker Stalls
Saturday evening is the best time to eat in Kampung Baru, when dozens of hawker stalls set up around Jalan Raja Muda Musa for the weekly pasar malam, which rolls through till early Sunday morning. You can find all sorts of Malay specialities here, from ikan panggang (grilled skate) to rojak (spicy fruit-and-vegetable salad), and the night market positively crackles with energy.
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Devi’s Corner
A pavement-cafe mood prevails at this food court facing the Bangsar Village II mall. The tray curries are excellent, with plenty of fish, prawns and other seafood. You can get dosa, biriyani and great satay here.
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Jln Alor
KL's biggest collection of roadside restaurants sprawls along Jln Alor, just north of Jln Bukit Bintang. From around 17:00 till late every evening, the street transforms into a continuous open-air restaurant, with hundreds of plastic tables and chairs and rival caterers shouting out to passers-by to drum up business.
Most places serve alcohol and you can sample pretty much every Malay Chinese dish imaginable, from grilled fish and satay to kai-lan (Chinese greens) in oyster sauce and fried noodles with frogs' legs. The best way to experience the food street is to stroll along looking at the signs and the dishes on the tables to see what takes your fancy.
Stalls to look out…
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Hawker Stalls in Chinatown
Chinatown has some of the best street food in KL. From late afternoon the pavements along Jln Sultan and Jln Tun HS Lee fill with plastic chairs and tables, and mobile kitchens are set up in the street, serving an astonishing array of Malay and Chinese dishes. Many of the food stalls stay open till midnight or later and you can get a filling meal of rice and spicy stir-fried beef with a cold beer for as little as around RM20.
Everything is prepared fresh so the food is almost always safe to eat, but stick to stalls with lots of customers.
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Menara KL
Built atop the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, the 421m Menara KL easily trumps the Petronas Towers when it comes to providing the highest view you’re going to get of the city, bar chartering a helicopter. The tower’s bulbous pinnacle is inspired by a Malaysian spinning top and, inside, the viewing deck is, at 276m, at least 100m higher than the Petronas Towers’ skybridge. One floor higher, you can have a meal or afternoon tea at the revolving restaurant Seri Angkasa.
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Cosmo's World
There are numerous theme parks and water parks dotted around KL. The most convenient is Cosmo's World located inside the Berjaya Times Square shopping centre. Despite the mall location, there's a full-sized looping coaster plus a good selection of thrill rides for teenagers and gentler rides for families. (Avoid the DNA Mixer unless you want too see your nasi lemak a second time.) You'll find more thrill rides and wet and wild activities at Sunway Lagoon, Mines Wonderland and Genting Highlands.
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La Bodega
This popular, trendy place is four venues in one: an all-day deli cafe serving good sandwiches, a chilled-out tapas bar, a formal dining room, and a lively lounge bar. Good wine and authentic tapas and paella complete the Spanish mood. The new branch at Pavilion KL ([tel] 2148 8018; Level 3, Pavilion KL, 168 Jln Bukit Bintang; open 7am to 3am) is known for its great cooked breakfast.
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Jalan Petaling
The commercial heart of Chinatown is one of the most colourful and busiest shopping parades in KL, particularly at night when stalls cram the covered street. It offers everything from fresh fruit and cheap clothes and shoes to copies of brand-name watches and handbags, and pirated CDs and DVDs. Be prepared to bargain hard.
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Food Stalls at Lorong Tuanku Abdul Rahman
The best time to visit Little India is during the Saturday pasar malam on Lorong Tuanku Abdul Rahman, the alley between Jln TAR and Jln Masjid India. From mid-afternoon, this narrow lane becomes crammed with food stalls serving excellent Malaysian Indian food, as well as favourite dishes of the Chinese and Indian communities.
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Kedai Kopi Lai Foong
Chinatown has a number of informal hawker-style restaurants, with various food stations serving classic Malay Chinese dishes. Almost all offer fried rice, fish curry, rice porridge, mee (thin noodles, fried or in soup) and tofu dishes - a meal should cost less than RM20. Kedai Kopi Lai Foong is recommended.
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Seri Angkasa
Watch KL pass by from this revolving restaurant atop Menara KL (KL Tower). The very decent lunch buffet (noon and 2.30pm) is RM66.70. Book for evening meals, especially for sunset dining. There’s a dress code, but the staff will provide men wearing shorts with a sarong (to cover the legs).
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Guandi Temple
The 1886 Guandi Temple is full of atmosphere. The main hall is hung with fragrant coils of spiral incense, paper clothes and money that are burned to bring good fortune to the ancestors. The temple is dedicated to Kwan Ti, a historical Chinese general revered by Taoists as the god of war.
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Restoran Yusoof dan Zakhir
A huge banana-yellow and palm tree-green canteen opposite Central Market serving huge portions of delicious mamak food. Fresh coconuts are chopped open at the entrance to provide a refreshing natural accompaniment to the spicy dishes served inside.
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Petronas Towers
Anchoring the huge Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) urban development (with a park, convention and shopping centre and world-class concert hall) are the iconic Petronas Towers. A visit to KL just isn’t complete unless you’ve been here.
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KL Bird Park
The highlight of the Lake Gardens is undoubtedly the KL Bird Park, the world’s largest walk-in aviary with some 200 (mostly Southeast Asian) species of birds. Check the website for different birds’ feeding times throughout the day.
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Restoran Oversea
An unpretentious banquet restaurant that should feel comfortingly familiar to anyone who has spent time in mainland China. Specialities include pork belly, fish (cooked in various styles) and streaky bacon cooked in a pot with dried chillies.
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National Planetarium
The quirky National Planetarium shows short generic international science films (RM1 to RM6) in the theatre at regular intervals throughout the day. It’s an interesting place to take children for a fun educational experience.
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Delicious
Stylish delicious cafes are popping up all over KL; this is one of the biggest branches, serving its trademark chunky sandwiches, big salads, pastas, scrumptious cakes and other desserts. The afternoon tea set (RM69 for two) is a good deal.
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Alexis Bistro
Asian favourites such as laksa mix it up with more European fare at Alexis, a Bangsar brand that’s spread its wings around the city; check the website for details of branches at Ampang’s Great Eastern Mall and the Gardens, Mid Valley.
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Old China Café
The old guild hall of the Selangor & Federal Territory Laundry Association is the atmospheric home for this fine cafe specialising in Nonya dishes from Melaka and Penang – its speciality is the spicy coconut-milk soup, laksa.
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Al Nafourah
The opulent Ottoman-style décor at this posh Levantine restaurant at the Mèridien is worth a visit all by itself. Happily, the food matches the ostentatious surroundings. There's even a resident belly dancer.
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Si Chuan Dou Hua
For a break from Cantonese seafood and dim sum, head to this sleek modern place in the Parkroyal hotel and try fiery Sichuan dishes from southwest China. Green tea flows freely from giant long-spouted teapots.
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