Though sad about leaving the country that had been our home for a year, we were thoroughly excited to arrive in our next port of call – Kuala Lumpur. And to be honest, it doesn’t get any more dramatic than the view that we were greeted with outside our BLINGING hotel window…
It doesn’t get much more Kuala Lumpur-ish than that, right?! A tropical thunderstorm complete with sheet lightening and a killer view of the Petronas Towers, all from our bed. Life outside Korea might not be so awful…!
Of course, one of the main reasons we wanted to visit KL was to eat. So as soon as we had picked our jaws up from our hotel room floor, we were off to explore the heart of KL’s food scene – Jalan Alor, affectionately known as ‘food street’. Sounds like our kinda place!
Both sides of Jalan Alor are lined by endless rows of stalls and outdoor restaurants, interspersed with hawker stands selling fruits, barbequed meats, whole ducks, grilled bits and pieces; the smells are extraordinary and the buzz of the people both selling and eating is incredible.
Of course, all this choice, temptation and intoxication of foodiness creates one hell of a dilemma for two wee holiday makers who adore stuffing their faces – how on earth to pick what to eat? Which stall would be the best? Should we eat inside or outside? What amazing food to sample? Argggghhhhh. Once again our life was proving extremely difficult. 
In true waterfallandcaribou style we decided on the most sensible and effective decision – eat as many different things as we could until we got close to exploding. Turns out this was to set the tone for the next four days. Buffet pants, here we come again!
Chili crab was first on the ‘to-eat’ list. Words fail to describe just quite how delicious this crustacean was. He was swimming in an ambrosia of chili, garlic, ginger, tamarind and, we think, essence of something from somewhere resembling heaven.
It also seemed wrong to be here and not order the perhaps most eaten Malaysian dish – the stuff that has nurtured us through our first teenage jobs (Dan), kept us fed while living a rather poor boho lifestyle in Wellington and been the standard dish for many a gathering at the local cheap and cheerful. Laksa!
We were beginning to understand why everyone eating alongside us looked so damn happy and full of life!
So what next to sample after the close-to-perfection crabby guy? 
Grilling sticks of various meats had an insanely alluring smell so this seemed like a great place to indulge next. In the spirit of the night, we chose not to choose a single meat and went for a variety of delightful meatiness.
While H-J generally likes to drown her satay meat in about a ton of glorious peanuty satay sauce, this particular meat in question was so juicy, so flavourful from its basking over coals and so, so damn tasty that the sauce came off a definitive second best.
Jalan Alor is a hub of industrious people working super fast. The food takes next to no time to arrive and is so fresh, so delicious and blah blah blah. Just really awesome, basically. All the better for us to continue on our path of food-packed destruction!
Next on the agenda was a steaming heap of char kway teow, a noodle dish redolent with dark soy sauce, chili, shrimp paste, prawns, cockles, bean sprouts and chopped Chinese chives. Served on top of a banana leaf, it looked as beautiful as it tasted.
Still more room in our bellies to fill, it was time to order one our favourites from the Malaysian takeaways back home and see how its REALLY done – steamed chicken rice.
Added to the heaving table, it did not disappoint in its slightly greasy but oh-so-succulent gorgeousness.
Oh we also managed to squish in some delicious roti bread which was so good that we went for round two, this time ordering roti telur, a version made with egg and filled with cheese. This is the kind of stuff we’d eat for breakfast every day, given the chance! And who knew, perhaps in Kuala Lumpur we might just do that!
It was about this point that we reached out limit – oh yes, we actually have one! Even by our standards it was a pretty impressive couple of hours eatin’. Having only been in Kuala Lumpur for the evening thus far, we were excited about lay ahead over the next few days. In the meantime, it was back to our hotel room for one last glimpse of the towers before collapsing into a well earned food coma.
Oh that all looks SO good! Joe and I do the same thing at the night markets, we buy little bits of different things and then stuff ourselves silly. Such a good idea! Go hard you guys xxxx
Its the best approach, eh?! That way you miss out on nothing, hehehe.
Great to have you guys in KL!
We had SUCH a great time in KL – what an incredible city! Hopefully we can make it back sometime in the near future.
Hello you two: So nice to have you back on deck, especially nice to read about all that delicious food. Photos are awesome. I finish work tomorrow for ONE MONTH!! Yippee!! When do you start work?
Life ticks on over here – Andrew and Stacey have sold their house, have to find another by 1 March, my daughter is home living with me for the mo, and the gorgeous Harry will be 1 year old in a couple of weeks. Unbelievable!
Much love, Elaine xxx
One month off works sounds fantastic!!! We started on the 3rd of December, so unbelievably three weeks into it already. All going smoothly other than the fact we have so much blogging to catch up on! How time flies…especially hearing that Harry is now 1. WOW! Love to everyone!
Oops!! Andrew and Rachael have sold their house, I mean. How on earth did I do that, I wonder? Don’t tell!!
Oh Ma Gawd! *Wipes drool off keyboard*
You’ve made me miss home sooo much! Lucky am heading back there in a few days…. food food food here I come!
Oh wow, you’ll know all the great local spots to hit! Enjoy your trip home!!!
Wow, wow, wow and wow again!
That sums up how we felt too! Hehe.
wow its very nice
It WAS really good!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not Jalan Alor, the famous tourist trap of a sub-par local culinary experience. Noooo pls LOL. You guys deserves better come on. Experience real local delicious stuffs, not made for tourists and backpackers. You still here?
*Blush* We had SUCH a short time there to explore – but keep in mind that was just day one!!! We followed your advice one night…
… and it wasn’t exciting enough? 🙂
Haha no, that wasn’t the implication – we meant wait and see in a future blog! BTW, any tips for great Malaysian food in Hong Kong?
Reblogged this on Eylizar Langkawi Homestay and commented:
Great Blog…nice photo
Thanks!
Ok..
I don’t know how you do it. You both eat so much food yet going by the photos neither of you are the size of a house.
Wish I could enjoy all those yummy looking meals. But alas, my body will not allow me to eat chilli. I’m missing out on so much.
*Shucks* – actually, post-India we’re both feeling a little bit chunkier. EVERYTHING is either sugar or carb or both! I’m sure life will settle down a little bit soon though and we can start eating like normal people again. Or not! Haha.
Such a shame you can’t eat chilli but thankfully there are so many other great foods out there in the world to eat 🙂
Holy Moses. You guys went on an eating rampage! I how you guys hustle. Nice legwork.
An eating rampage sums it up nicely! And that was just day one…my belly is grumbling again though – lunchtime!
Too much good food, can’t take it any more!
Imagine how we feel?! Hehe. Actually, nah, we love it…
I can understand your dilemma. I was there 16 hours. Definitly not enough time.. Nice post. I would like to taste! 😉
Its a fantastic city, right?! We were blown away by how interesting and diverse it is and we’re definitely planning a return visit.
I’m salivating just reading that… 😀
Me too, hehe. Lunchtime!
Your pictures showed that you guys had an awesome time eating! But there’s much more good food out there other than Jalan Alor!! *hint* make another trip here!! 🙂
Teehee, yeah you’re not the first person to say similar (see above!) but we promise that wasn’t the only eating adventure in KL – you’ll just have to stay tuned. And we would LOVE another trip back there, for sure. It has quickly become one of our new favourites cities in the world!
Wow – sounds amazing. I need some buffet pants!
Stretchy goodness!!!
So JEALOUS :-D!! What a good life!!! I would love to visit that night markek one day~
Its a great market! I think that’s probably the thing we’ll miss the most about Asia, the gorgeous markets everywhere. So spoiled!
Great to see this post and read your thoughts on KL! Just in time, as I’ll be attending the London job fair in a few days and may be interviewing for job in KL! One question: Is it a loud city? I mean, is there a lot of honking? A year a half in India has made me pretty averse to beepiness.
I don’t recall Kuala Lumpur being noisy…but everything seems quiet after India. Ohmygod…we’re just starting to write our blogs about India at the moment and its impossible to capture the true ear-harassing, constant NOISE of those f**king horns…But yeah, KL is awesome! Its definitely a city we’re keen to explore more of : ) We’re totally interested in how you find it and how your interview goes!!!