If you are in Kuala Lumpur you should never miss out on a trip to Jalan Alor Food Street. Located very nearby to Bukit Bintang, the heart of the city, it is a haven for (street) foodies. Getting to Jalan Alor is easy, it is within 5 mins walk of Bukit Bintang MRT Station. It is quite crowded, though not as crowded at Tokyo’s Takeshita Street. On one side of the street you have the individual food carts, On another side, you have the eating houses where you can order a variety of dishes including popular seafood dishes. You could hear the food vendors shouting across the street. You could spend whole night eating if you have a big appetite.

The first stop for our evening was the deep fried potato swirl, RM10. The potato swirl was lightly coated with batter and deep fried. The batter was crispy and the potato was slightly moist. They came in two flavours: spicy or salty. We opted for spicy. Unfortunately, the vendor made a mistake and sprinkled both, resulting in the potato swirl being overly salty. The spicy portion was great with a great spicy aftertaste.

As we walked down the street further, each and every eating place was crowded. We finally decided to try fried carrot cake and fried rice from one of the zi char restaurant. They sold a variety of food, seafood, meat, poultry, vegetables and many more. The interesting part of the eating place was not only they had a main kitchen, they have a few small stalls within their premise selling fried carrot cake, chicken rice, fried Penang Fried Kway Teow. If you like to soak into the street atmosphere, opt for street seats. We chose to enjoy the air-con seating area. After ordering, payment was collected. Total cost RM18, RM8 for the carrot cake and RM10 for the fried rice. No service charges applied. Prepare to wait for your food.

Finally after a long wait, our orders came. The fried carrot cake not only look appetizing, it also tasted really good. You could see chunks of carrot cake fried with good amount of chai po and bean sprouts. Loose pieces of eggs could be seen. The Malaysian style carrot cake is totally different from the ones we have back in Singapore. They are slightly darker in colour and not coated with eggs. Each bite of the carrot cake was soft and firm (oxymoron?). Ok firm on the outside and soft on the inside. What about the fried rice? The fried rice portion was large, suitable for 3 diners. We mentioned to the person who took our order not to add prawns but things did not turn out right. The fried rice was grainy and a little too salty. Too many long beans were added to the fried rice.

[pictures of the carrot cake and fried rice will be uploaded when I find them!]

Straight after the mains, we went for some finger foods and dessert. On two separate occasions we have tried these food at Pandan Leaf which offered hot and cold dessert. Hot almond cream (RM8), hot cashew nut cream (RM10), Passionfruit Thai Soda (RM10), Signature Pandan Leaf Cendol (RM9), Nyonya Pandan (RM8). You could also ordered BBQ chicken wings, fries and pork lard rice from another vendor whom they collaborate with.

My wife liked their hot desserts. The almond cream was smooth and silky lightly almond fragrant could be taste each mouth of it. However the hot cashew nut cream outshined the almond cream. The rich intense flavour of the cashew nut could be tasted. The cream was really smooth and silky.

According to the lady boss, The Nyonya Pandan was made from their home recipe. We anticipated it eagerly. When it was served we could smell the richness of the pandan. The pandan pancake was pan fried. Slightly light brown on the outside. With each bite you could taste the richness of the pandan flavour. It had a similar texture of a chiffon cake. Light and fluffy texture filled with kaya.

[pictures of the Nyonya Pandan will be uploaded when I find them!]

The chendol was a letdown despite the beautiful presentation. There was a lack of flavours of gula melaka syrup and coconut.

The Passionfruit Thai Soda was a highlight. Lot of shaved ice in a cup served with passion fruit aside. At the base of the cup was filled with pea flowers syrup. It gave a tinge of blue colour to the drink. The middle portion of the drink was filled with soda. Pour in the passion fruits and give it a good stir, and a magical transformation could be seen. The whole drink would turn from blue to purple colour. The passion fruits gave a little sour taste to the drink. The drink gave a refreshing punch.

The BBQ chicken smelled great when they were served. Eat them while it was hot. The vendor was really thoughtful. Plastic gloves were provided. However, you will need to eat them together with the skin. The skin was coated with the BBQ sauce. Without the skin, the meat is tasteless, as the chicken wings were not marinated at all. The fries were really great. Top up with meat sauce and melted cheese. The fries that were lightly soaked with the meat sauce were flavourful.

We will definitely revisit these stalls and try new stalls again the next when we are back to Kuala Lumpur