Let's Eat

As promised, here is a post on food. Since we have arrived in Asia, two things have happened. First, we have been exposed to almost every kind of cuisine imaginable. Second, Ken has been replaced by a robot who will try almost anything. In Hong Kong we have eaten food from Nepal, Morocco, China, Mexico, Japan, American burgers and dogs, pasta and much more. Since arriving in Malaysia our horizons have both expanded and become very authentic. 


With May Lene as our guide we had Indian food on our first night. Tuesday was our tour of KL and it was a tour of more than the scenery. We began with breakfast at an Indian open air restaurant which made the best roti kanai. (I apologize for any spelling errors to those who know the correct forms.) 

Food is served on palm leaves and pots of dipping sauce sit on the tables. There are many types of food to order, and we tried three different kinds of roti kanai. My favorite was the one with bananas fried into it and the coconut dipping sauce. After eating we walked around the space and watched the various forms of bread being prepared. One variety even gets tossed like pizza.


Following breakfast we began our tour (covered in the post Kuala Lumpur) and at lunch time we found ourselves at the Petronis Towers mall. We ate at a Malaysian cafe and guided by May Lene we tried several Malay favorites including mixed fruit in sauce, a rice dish with cockles and prawns and a third selection that I cannot remember the name of but it tasted good.

While we were in the Chinese market, we loved looking at the fruits that we cannot get easily in the US. The vendor let me try the one on the left with the spines (sorry, name slips my mind - it may be rumbala) and it was great. We bought some fresh lychee fruit (on the right) to save for later.

Dinner was definitely the high spot of the day's cuisine. We went to a part of town that reminded me of a cross between Little Italy and the boardwalk in Wildwood, NJ. This long street was lined with restaurants and open-air food booths with tables and chairs spilling into the streets. It was very much a carnival atmosphere. We washed at an open sink and our chef came over to take our order. The specialty of the house is bar-b-qued chicken fish.

That's right, chicken fish. When May Lene first told us about it, we were a bit skeptical. She said it is a fish that tastes like chicken. She was right. It is coated in some spices and then grilled and it is delicious.  

Chicken fish along with lemon chicken, fried rice and asparagus with garlic comprised an amazing dinner in an amazing setting. We ate leisurely and May Lene chatted with the chef. We told him how much we enjoyed the meal.


Along with our food from the restaurant, we enjoyed the fresh lychee fruit we had purchased from the market earlier in the day. For those of you who have never had a lychee, the outside is a shell which is quite firm and must be cracked. Inside it is a pure white soft globe about the size of a small plum. It is sweet tasting and aromatic. I love Lychee. There is one other fruit we tried that night.

It's name is durian and it is known as the king of fruit. You know when someone nearby has a durian because of the scent. Actually, that is putting it delicately. The king of fruit smells something like a natural gas leak. It has this pungent odor which stops many people from even trying it. The shell is very hard and spiny. If one fell on your head it would hurt - a lot. Inside there are three chambers filled with fruit pods. The center of each is a hard seed and the fruit itself is a creamy covering that is also somewhat gooey. I actually ate one seed's worth of durian which May Lene says is very good for a westerner.

With our meal finished, there was only one thing left to do. Go for a drink at the Skybar and get a night time view of the Petronis Towers (see KL post for photo). The bar is on the 33rd floor of the Traders Hotel and the center of the bar is a swimming pool. It is actually the hotel pool during the day and is transformed each night into Skybar. Lights float on the water and windows are open to let in the warm evening air and fantastic views. May Lene and I had mojitos to help our breath after our encounter with the king of fruit. Ken had a Tom Collins and our three drinks equaled the cost of all of our meals for the day. But the view was worth it.

Driving back to the hotel was like driving through a party. The streets of central KL are all lit in white and blue. For blocks on end you can see trees festooned with lights making the drive most beautiful. So our holiday in KL was also a holiday in culinary heaven. Now to plan tonight's dinner!