Malaysian Food

Eating Culture

Malaysians are united by one thing: Food.

Food is our Freedom, Food is Constitution, Food is Religion and Food is Sports. This is not a drill. Food is serious business.

Events, social gatherings and meetings are scheduled in between or around mealtimes. A typical Malaysian schedule is broken down as follows:

• 6am-10am: Breakfast
• 10am - 1pm: Brunch
• 12pm - 2pm: Lunch
• 3pm - 5pm: Tea time
• 6pm - 10pm: Dinner
• 10pm - 2am: Supper

Do not simply assume that nothing happens between 2am and 6am. Restaurants and cafes cater to students, people who watch soccer/sports in different timezones, or the post clubbing crowd.

What to Eat

This wikipedia page of Malaysian cuisine is pretty exhaustive and is comprised of many different ethnic cuisines: Malay cuisine, Malaysian Chinese cuisine, Malaysian Indian cuisine, Peranakan (straits chinese), East Malaysia (Sabah & Sarawak) cuisine. T

National dish is called "Nasi Lemak" which is a breakfast dish of coconut rice served with spicy sambal and condiments such as anchovies, eggs and fried chicken.

The Classics

• Nasi Lemak
• Roti Canai
• Satay
• Murtabak
• Laksa Assam

A Note on Laksa

Laksa is a generic word for a noodle soup dish that has a fish/seafood based broth. Every region has a specialty laksa. If you're in KL, the generic word laksa refers to Penang-style laksa or laksa assam. If you're in Taiwan or USA, laksa usually refers to curry based laksa.

Malaysians love sweets

A lot of food and drinks have added sugar. When ordering drinks, as a default, ask for less or no sugar.

Fruits

Fruits grow wild and organic in Malaysia. There are hundreds of types and species of fruits, various strains of bananas, jackfruit, durian and more. Go ahead and try:

• Durian
• Jackfruit
• Mangosteen
• Starfruit
• Rambutan
• Duku
• Papayas (Malaysian papayas > Mexican papayas at American grocery stores)
• Mangos

How to Order

• Drinks are generally made extra sweet - always ask
• "Takeaway" means "to go". At fast food places you will be asked if you are getting it for "here or takeaway"
• Service can be a bit slow. Nobody will rush you out so please ask for the check/bill when you are ready.
• Do not be shy to raise your hands to flag down your server. In many instances, you may or may not have a dedicated server.
• Tipping does not exist. Service charge is already built into the price.

Where to Eat

• <pending list of recommendations from Kat's mom>
• Night market for street food
• Wet market for fresh fruits and vegetables
• "Mamak" - Indian style outdoor cafe, 24 hours
  • Roti canai
  • Teh tarik
  • Roti telur
  • Rojak
  • Mee goreng
• "Kopitiam" - Chinese style cafe
  • Soft boiled egg with toast
  • Kaya (coconut jam) toast
  • curry laksa
  • white coffee
• Chilli crab @Fatty Crab
• Nasi lemak @Village Park Restaurant
• Banana Leaf cuisine @ Sri Pandi Restaurant
• Dim Sum @ Dolly Dim Sum - various outlets at Pavillion Mall or Avenue K next to KLCC