Kuala Lumpur-nummeret
Kuala Lumpur's sambal streets in four hours and 15 tastings
Four hours in the evening, Chow Kit to the Saloma Link by way of Kampung Baru, stopping more than 15 times for Malay, Indian and Arab cooking.
Av Suresh ManiamBanana leaf before noon
The walk starts at 17:30 on the corner of Jalan Raja Alang and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, outside the Hilton Garden Inn, and finishes four hours later on the Saloma Link. In between come more than 15 tastings of Malay, Indian and Arab cooking, at RM 245 per person. The whole route, Chow Kit into Kampung Baru, is walked.
What the four hours cover
A Chef's Tour's Sambal Streets walk (Jalan Raja Alang) runs 17:30 to 21:30 through Chow Kit and Kampung Baru. Eight guests per departure is the cap, and you understand why once you see the stops: counters, warungs and back-lane grills with a handful of plastic stools to their name. If you want your own party on its own departure, book that direct with the operator.
You spend most of the evening standing up and eating. Nasi lemak is handed over in a banana-leaf cone, charcoal grills smoke at the kerb, and the ordering happens in front of you, at steel counters loaded with side dishes. Behind the stalls sit Kampung Baru's timber houses, tower lights above them.
The last stretch lifts the group onto the Saloma Link, with the Petronas Twin Towers framed at the far end. It runs seven days a week.
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Chow Kit in the morning
Bazaar Baru Chow Kit (Chow Kit) is Kuala Lumpur's largest wet market, and it is where all of this starts as raw ingredients: mounds of red chillies and banana-leaf bundles under corrugated roofing, wet concrete aisles, fishmongers working behind tiled slabs. Entry is free, and snacks and fruit run RM 2 to RM 10. Walking groups are routine here, but the aisles are narrow at peak trade, so go single file.
Restoran Kudu Bin Abdul (Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman) has been a Chow Kit Indian-Muslim fixture since the 1960s, and hand-stretched roti with curry is what it does. Roti canai gets slapped and flipped on a flat griddle at the open front of the shophouse, with steel trays of curries behind a glass counter. Plates run RM 8 to RM 20. You walk in and order at the counter, and the kitchen shuts 12:45 to 14:30 on Fridays.
Capital Cafe (Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman) opened in 1956 and the second generation still runs it: marble-top tables, slow ceiling fans, a tiled floor, satay smoking on a charcoal griller out on the five-foot way. Dishes are RM 8 to RM 20, with satay sold by the stick in the evenings only. A party of more than six will struggle in the room at lunch, so the satay counter is the easier approach. It closes Sundays.
Restoran Yut Kee (Jalan Kamunting) has traded since 1928, is now third-generation, and sits five minutes off the Chow Kit route. Hainanese chicken chop arrives on a metal plate, kaya toast on marble-top tables, in a corner room with white-tiled walls and green window trim. Dishes are RM 10 to RM 20. Tables are shared and turnover is fast, no reservations are taken, and groups get seated as space frees. It trades 07:30 to 16:30 and closes Mondays. Come before the walk.
Sambal and nasi lemak in Kampung Baru
Nasi Lemak Wanjo Kampung Baru (Jalan Raja Muda Musa) is the nasi lemak everyone in Kampung Baru measures the rest against. Banana-leaf cones stack up on the counter under warm strip lights, beside big aluminium trays of sambal, rendang and fried chicken. Plates run RM 5 to RM 15 and the warung trades 06:00 to 00:00. You queue at the counter, and cash still rules here.
Nasi Lemak Pak Aji (4 Jalan Raja Muda Musa) is the stall older guides still print as Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa, and the current name is the one to use. What it leads on now is smoked beef daging salai, sliced thin and charred on the grill at the corner lot, and the salai sells out. The base plate is RM 5.50 to RM 7 and fried chicken is RM 10 to RM 13. You stand and point along the steel counter of side dishes.
Sambal Bakar Malaya (95 Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz) is the sambal these streets are named for. Fish, chicken and squid arrive lacquered in thick dark-red sambal bakar on sizzling hotplates in a bright shoplot, RM 15 to RM 40 a head. It is hot, and a spice-shy eater should say so when ordering. The shop opens 11:00 to 21:30, later at weekends, and Friday and weekend evenings are the peak.
Ana Ikan Bakar Petai Kampung Baru (Jalan Raja Muda Musa) lays whole mackerel and stingray over a smoking charcoal grill and spoons sambal petai, stink beans and all, over the top. Seating is open-air plastic tables that stay busy late, at RM 20 to RM 50 a head. The floor is big enough for a party of eight or more, and midweek needs no booking. It serves from 17:00, 16:30 at weekends, until 01:30 to 02:00.
Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru and the Saloma Link
Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru (Jalan Raja Alang) stands on the same street as the meeting point, white and green with onion domes and slim minarets, palm trees in the forecourt and glass towers rising behind. It is a working community mosque with a donation box and no ticket. Cover shoulders and knees, remove your shoes, and keep to the courtyard unless you are invited in. Avoid Friday midday prayers entirely.
Saloma Link (Pintasan Saloma) is a 69-metre steel-and-glass pedestrian bridge clad in 4,100 diamond panels, linking old Kampung Baru to KLCC. It is free and open around the clock, and lifts and ramps make it step-free. At mid-span in the evening you are shoulder to shoulder with photographers.
Petronas Twin Towers and KLCC Park sit at the far end of the bridge, the twin spires lit above Lake Symphony's fountains, with palms and curved walkways in front. The park is free and open to all, and the fountain shows run into the evening. Walk the park if you reach the bridge late off the food walk.
Jalan Masjid India and an air-conditioned hour
Jalan Masjid India bazaar is the Indian-Muslim trading quarter just south of the walking corridor, a narrow pedestrian street hung with awnings, sari and textile shopfronts, strings of flower garlands, halal snack carts and kuih trays. Nasi kandar, roti telur banjir and kuih sell from mid-morning to 22:00, some stalls later, and snacks run RM 2 to RM 10. Masjid Jamek LRT is the stop. Weekends are packed tight.
Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery (Jalan Dato' Onn) is the nearest proper museum to the Chow Kit end, and it is free. Glass cases hold tin ingot currency and old Malay banknotes behind Sasana Kijang's woven-rattan-patterned facade, and a gold bar is set into a plinth for visitors to lift. It opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:30, and closes Mondays. The Level 3 art gallery and the Islamic Finance gallery are shut for redisplay.
Jalan Alor and Madras Lane
Jalan Alor (Bukit Bintang) is the street every visitor holds Kampung Baru up against. More than 50 stalls fill a 200-metre strip of red and yellow plastic stools under dense neon, woks throwing flames and roast ducks hanging, from 17:00 past midnight. Most dishes are under RM 20, at RM 8 to RM 25 a head. Restaurants push tables together on the street, touts will compete for you, and it is busier and more touristed than Kampung Baru. Many stalls close Mondays.
Madras Lane hawker stalls (behind the Petaling Street wet market) give you Chinatown in daylight after an evening of Malay food. Stall holders ladle curry laksa and lift yong tau foo from steel trays in a cramped zinc-roofed back lane, frying to order as they have for more than 50 years. Yong tau foo is RM 2 a piece and bowls are RM 2 to RM 12. The window is 10:30 to 14:00, it closes Mondays, the best stalls sell out by early afternoon, and each stall seats six at best.
Best time to go
Take the market early, 07:00 to 10:00, because many stalls sell out and pack up by early afternoon. Nasi Lemak Wanjo is quietest 06:00 to 08:00 and holds a real queue from 12:00 to 13:30. The Saloma Link runs its colour lighting 19:00 to 23:00, and the 17:30 departure reaches the bridge inside that window.
Queues and what to book
Book the walk ahead. Departures fill steadily and each one holds eight people. The street stops run on queues, and the counters take walk-ins as they come. The Petronas observation deck and Skybridge work on timed tickets with daily caps and they do sell out, so book those separately or stay in the park. A party of more than 20 has to book the Bank Negara museum ahead by email.
Is it worth it
It suits an eater who will stand in a back lane and wants the Malay, Indian and Arab strands of this city's cooking inside one evening. You pay for that with four hours on your feet, Chow Kit to the Saloma Link, in a group of eight.
Before you go
Mondays close Restoran Yut Kee, Madras Lane and many Jalan Alor stalls, Capital Cafe closes Sundays, and Restoran Kudu Bin Abdul shuts for the Friday prayer break. See the Kuala Lumpur guide and the Kuala Lumpur hotel search.
Før du drar
Where and when does the walk start and finish?
The walk meets at 17:30 outside the Hilton Garden Inn, on the corner of Jalan Raja Alang and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, then goes through Chow Kit and Kampung Baru until 21:30 and finishes on the Saloma Link.
What does it cost and how much food is included?
RM 245 per person covers more than 15 tastings of Malay, Indian and Arab cooking over the four hours.
How many people walk together, and can we book it privately?
Each departure takes eight guests at most, and you can book a private one for your own party direct with the operator.
How spicy is the food, and do I need cash?
Sambal Bakar Malaya on Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz cooks hot, so tell them when you order if you are spice-shy. Carry cash for Kampung Baru: Nasi Lemak Wanjo still runs on it.
Which days does it run, and what is closed?
The walk runs seven days a week, but Restoran Yut Kee, Madras Lane and many Jalan Alor stalls close on Mondays, Capital Cafe closes on Sundays, and Restoran Kudu Bin Abdul shuts from 12:45 to 14:30 on Fridays.
