Old KL area guide

Discover the best restaurants, shops, cafés and things to do around old KL, including Petaling Street, Masjid Jamek and Jalan Sultan areas

Thursday 17 November 2016

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Written by Time Out KL editors

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Rediscover the birthplace of KL, a bustling community of shops, stalls and restaurants. KL was conceived here, the place that harbours the very essence of our city, where cultures, colours and creeds coexist. This guide includes places from around the areas of Petaling Street, Jalan Tun HS Lee, Jalan Sultan, Masjid Jamek, Lebuh Ampang and Jalan Masjid India.

Best restaurants in old KL

Restaurants

Soong Kee Beef Noodles

price 1 of 4

Soong Kee is easy to find – spot the tinted glass door and you’ll find crowds crammed together behind the entrance. The slurping sound is...

Restaurants

Laguna Restaurant

This restaurant near Lebuh Ampang may look a bit camp for a first-timer, but it’s the food that does the talking. Owner Mr Tan is passionate about...

Restaurants

Mansion Tea Stall

Located in one of the oldest apartment buildings in Masjid India, this restaurant formerly known as Al Amnah is famed for their teh tarik, roti sardin and roti...

Restaurants

Old China Cafe

price 2 of 4

One of the oldest restaurants in KL, spicy food has a starring role at this eatery although the less spicy options such as soya bean and tamarind are more than...

Best kopitiams and hawkers in old KL

Restaurants

Yong Bee

Come time for a kopi break, skip the tourist traps and head to a smaller site nestled on the crowded corner of Jalan Sultan: Yong Bee. Plus points for cultural...

Restaurants

Hon Kee Porridge Petaling Street

price 1 of 4

The best way to witness the sights and sounds of buzzing Petaling Street is with a hearty bowl of frog leg porridge at Hon Kee. Having been around since 1959,...

Restaurants

Lai Foong Restaurant

price 1 of 4

With a large sign in English that reads ‘Lai Foong Restaurant’ facing the road, you’ll find it hard to miss this decades-old coffee shop....

Restaurants

Kim Lian Kee

price 1 of 4

For more than 80 years, KLites have sought comfort in the city’s best hokkien mee at Kim Lian Kee – how can any noodle stall rival the birthplace...

Restaurants

Madras Lane asam laksa

price 1 of 4

Madras Lane, the dark, dank walkway that cuts through the middle of Chinatown’s wet market, boasts two stalls selling asam laksa. I eat there regularly...

Restaurants

Onn Loke Kopitiam

price 1 of 4

Hotel Loke Ann and its dearly missed kopitiam has been gone for about three years but Uncle Lee who ran the kopitiam is back in business. The kopitiam is now...

Restaurants

Yooi Kee

price 1 of 4

Usually sold out before noon, the velvety smooth chee cheong fun at Yooi Kee in Kim Lian Kee coffee shop is topped with a reddish sauce made of doubanjiang...

Restaurants

Rosli Mee Rebus

price 1 of 4

It's a simple and comforting dish: mee kuning in thick gravy served with taugeh, boiled egg, and garnished with both green and red chilli. It's spicier than it...

Best Indian restaurants in old KL

Restaurants

Restoran Bunga Raya Indah

price 1 of 4

One of the best banana leaf experiences in the city hides within a dim first-floor lot along Lebuh Ampang. In 1962, the operation moved from Malacca to KL and...

Restaurants

KL City Restaurant

price 1 of 4

Forgive the generic name of this 20-year-old Lebuh Ampang gem but we promise you the food here is anything but. The Chettinad-style food here...

Restaurants

Prasad Chetty Nadu Mess

The stairway leading up to what could be KL’s best banana leaf restaurant is an ominous one. There are signs of abandoned life all around; large pieces...

Restaurants

Jai Hind

3 out of 5 stars

For the last 60 years, Jai Hind has had one aim in mind: to serve darn good Punjabi food cheaply. Every day, owner Bhoopendar Singh wakes up and tries. The...

Restaurants

Bakti Woodlands

price 1 of 4

Come lunchtime, it can be tough finding a seat at this popular Indian vegetarian joint. In the heart of bustling Masjid Jamek, there’s always a lively...

Restaurants

Betel Leaf

There’s a reason the area around Lebuh Ampang seems like a foreign country to me, and that’s because I have never walked through it. But a recent...

Restaurants

Restoran Santa

price 1 of 4

Kulwant Singh named his business after his father, Santa, and his signature chapattis have grown into the stuff of legends over the last 14 years. Tables spill...

Best cafés in old KL

Restaurants

Chocha Foodstore

While it’s easy to mourn the gentrification of Petaling Street and the proliferation of ‘hipster’ cafés in Old KL, we’re glad to...

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Restaurants

Merchant's Lane

price 2 of 4

The long stretch that is Petaling Street can get real touristy at times, so if you need to take cover, walk a bit further down the road and head to...

Restaurants

Coffee Amo

Walk into the Petaling Street Art House (first floor) on Jalan Sultan and you’ll find a café next to it with a name more appropriate for an...

Restaurants

Leaf & Co

By a congested corner of Jalan Sultan (opposite distinguished tailors Kwong Fook Wing) lies the newest café this side of KL – Leaf & Co....

Best drink shops in old KL

Shopping

Premier Wuyi Da Hong Pao

No exploration of Petaling Street is complete without a stop at this tea house. This little tea shop along Jalan Sultan (opposite the iconic Pak Tai photo...

Restaurants

Wu Zhong Tin

price 1 of 4

Way before tisanes were brewed in fancy tea houses, KLites have been downing cups of leung sui at mobile herbal tea stalls. Known to alleviate most illnesses...

Restaurants

Petaling Street air mata kucing

price 1 of 4

You bagging a bargain at Chinatown calls for a delicious drink – and make it cheap, cold and cooling. Seek shelter in the shade of the decades-old air...

Best attractions in old KL

Things to do

Sin Sze Si Ya temple

If there’s one place that witnessed the birth and growth of our city, Sin Sze Si Ya Temple is it. Its entrance is engraved with an acknowledgement that Kapitan...

Attractions

St John’s Cathedral

St John’s Cathedral is over 130 years old and whilst the interior has undergone significant changes over time, it still exudes an old world aura with its...

Attractions

Sri Maha Mariamman Temple

Built in 1873, this building was originally constructed by Thamboosamy Pillai as a private shrine for his family. Visitors, who are required to remove their...

Shopping

Central Market

Formerly a wet market, Central Market has undergone extensive refurbishments. It has been designated a Heritage Building and is now a Centre for Malaysian...

Attractions

Dataran Medan Pasar

Dataran Medan Pasar is lined with old heritage buildings and is located behind Central Market. It often plays host to events and performances.

Things to do

Dataran Merdeka

One of Malaysia’s most historic landmarks, Dataran Merdeka (Merdeka Square) has a special place in the country’s history. Situated in front of the iconic...

Things to do

Telekom Museum (Muzium Telekom)

Interactive phone stations provide a glimpse into conversations from the past. Apart from the mandatory cafe, the museum caters to school groups, with an...

Attractions

Illusion 3D Art Museum

If you've been avoiding Central Market for its touristy air, you might be tempted to give the blue hub another chance by becoming barber to Tunku Abdul Rahman,...

Best things to do in old KL

Nightlife

Under9

A place that plays underground music from literally, underground. Taking place in a basement, Under9 is an events venue championing the alternative, not just...

Things to do

2 Hang Kasturi

Medan Pasar's heritage OCBC Bank art deco building has played host to Urbanscapes and is slated to host more events.

Art

Raksasa Print Studio

Raksasa Studio is an independent print and art studio that focuses on silk screening. On weekends they have workshops, fabric printing classes, as well as...

Art

Lostgens'

White washed walls and bare cement floors dominate the simplistic interior of this self-managed alternative gallery that champions innovative artists who...

Health and beauty

Salun Gaya Rambut STYLO

You know what they say: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Just look at STYLO – it survived two fires in the last 40 years and a car (and...

Best bars in old KL

Bars and pubs

The Berlin KL

price 2 of 4

To be a hidden bar (note: not a speakeasy), you need to be a well-kept secret with no ostentatious indication of your whereabouts. Roll in The Berlin KL, the...

Bars and pubs

Omakase + Appreciate

We like Omakase + Appreciate for many reasons. First, it’s a speakeasy bar. Although liquors and drinking are absolutely legal here, its secretive...

Bars and pubs

PS150

Located in Chinatown, what was previously a brothel, house and warehouse (in no particular order), is now PS150, a cocktail bar headed by famed bartender Angel...

Bars and pubs

The Attic Bar

While The Attic Bar doesn’t claim to be a speakeasy, it certainly has the attributes of one. It’s located discreetly on the rooftop of the Travel Hub...

Best shops in old KL

Shopping

Yan Kee Records & Recording

Chinese classics, warm and waltzing, still pour out from the shop today – much as they did in the ’50s, when Yan Kee first opened. Alongside its...

Shopping

The Basket Shop

The Basket Shop is as good as its name – aptly, it peddles baskets, boxes, hampers, trays and other basket-related products, especially those of the...

Shopping

Daisheng

Of course, there are the classics – Barbie dolls, Lego and Ultraman figurines – but this emporium and toy exporter and importer truly has it all....

Shopping

Kwong Fook Wing

The 101-year-old shop on Jalan Sultan exudes an air of sagacity – a sense of tradition that cannot be easily dismissed as owner Datuk Khong Kim Lyew cuts...

Shopping

Chop Sang Kee

You can do up an entire Zen-looking home with just rattan furniture from this 85-year-old shop. Chop Sang Kee has existed since KL’s pre-war days where...

Shopping

Lin Ho

If your mum is not a fan of Topshop, there’s always Lin Ho. This iconic KL department store has three floors of womenswear and shoes. There are some...

Shopping

Kwong Yik Seng

There’s no shortage of olde Chinese charm in this crockery shop stocked with flower-crested porcelain, oriental ceramics and Yuan dynasty-inspired...

Shopping

Lee Wah Florist

One of the oldest names in the business, Lee Wah has been plying the flower trade on Jalan Tun HS Lee for decades. The store itself is not glamorous – buckets...

Best bookshops in old KL

Shopping

The KL Commercial Press

This small bookstore on Jalan Sultan is one of the last booksellers in the area. Patrons have been flocking here for over 60 years for Mandarin books,...

Shopping

Junk Bookstore

It’s one of KL’s longest-running secondhand book stores, and packed to the brim with literary gems, comics and LPs. You’ll have to scrabble a...

Best food shops in old KL

Restaurants

Chiap Tong

Walking into this 1942 institution is like getting sucked into a time warp. There’s a sense of drowsiness that envelops this non-descript shop, and oftentimes,...

Restaurants

Bunn Choon

Imbi Market's Bunn Choon now has a second outlet on Petaling Street, which means you can get the fresh-out-of-the-oven egg tarts with the flaky pastry and...

Best medicine halls in old KL

Shopping

Tuck Heng

Petaling Street institution Tuck Heng moved into its current comfortable air-conditioned premises a couple years ago. Stock up on goji berries and cordyceps as...

Shopping

Kien Fatt

The many yok choi pou (Chinese medicine hall) on Petaling Street have been refurbished to keep up with the onslaught of modernised pharmacies like Eu Yan Sang....

See more guides

Things to do

Bangsar

Bangsar has gone through many phases – unobtrusive residential area, clubbing haven, arts and culture quarter, and now, café district. From the...

Things to do

Hartamas

Populated by expatriates and upper middle class families, Hartamas is fancy – even its name says so (‘harta’, treasure; ‘mas’,...

Things to do

Damansara

The wide land that is Damansara has the privilege of being both KL and Selangor. It can be confusing – Bukit Damansara for example, is not exactly near...

Things to do

KL City

Your cheat sheet to all the best restaurants, shops and things to do in the main areas of the city centre including Bukit Bintang, Petaling Street and Pudu.