Experience the true taste of Malaysia 

Malaysian food reflects the traditions and diversity of its multi-cultural society. Malaysia’s culinary style is a combination of indigenous Malay, Chinese and Indian, with influences from its neighbours Indonesia and Thai as well as colonial Portuguese, Dutch, and British cuisines. This melting-pot of culinary style is what makes Malaysian food not only highly complex, but incredibly tasty too. Kuala Lumpur is the place to be to get a taste of the different styles of cuisines, in particular, Bukit Bintang. A shopping and entertainment district, located amidst several popular hotels, such as the Berjaya Times Square Hotel, for example, it is widely known for its restaurants that serve up delicious Malay food. Eating out is quite common for Malaysians, and a Bukit Bintang restaurant or vendor is guaranteed to provide a sumptuous selection that will leave taste buds jumping for joy.

Most dishes, unless specifically vegetarian, contain some form of meat, like either mutton, beef, chicken or fish, with rice or noodles. Malay food is halal, so if you want a pork based dish, you’ll have to head to the Chinese restaurants. Malay food is generally a combination of sweet and spicy dishes, with a hefty dose of spices and coconut cream used to achieve the perfect balance. Because the country shares a unique history with Singapore, it is not uncommon to find different versions of a particular dish on both sides of the border, like the delectable seafood laksa and steamed chicken rice. The same goes with Indonesian food, where shared food includes dished like satay, sambal and everyone’s favourite, rendang.

 
All of these dishes can also be found at various street food vendors. Malaysia has plenty of prominent hawker streets, where bowls of noodles swimming in spicy broth and mountains of syrup topped shaved ice are sold by the dozen. Whether you sit down for a meal at a reputed restaurant, or stand in line next to a street vendor, the aromatic spices and delicious flavours of Malaysia cuisine will surely have you ordering seconds.

Roland Lefevre is a travel writer who specializes in creating features on leisure as well as business travel destinations across the globe. Google+