Food Fling in Malaysia: Day 1

Nathalie and I are back from the Philippines (although I still have two more posts coming up shortly on that).  We returned to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia after shortly stopping here a month ago on our way out from Vietnam.  We enjoyed our two days here so much, we've decided to take four days (or maybe five or six) to enjoy being back in a city and more importantly, eat some of the best food we've ever had.  

To celebrate and document this joyous occasion, and to help introduce people to this largely overlooked cuisine, I'm posting daily recaps of the meals I've eaten that day.  Sorry for making you hungry.  

First, let's cover a bit of background on what Malaysian cuisine consists of.  Malaysia, geographically speaking, sits smack in the middle of ancient trading routes between China, India and the middle East.    Malaysia's nearest neighbors are: Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei.   Additionally, Malaysia is a former British colony.  Add all of these elements together and you wind up with both a population and diet that's incredibly diverse.

Here's how day one panned out: 

Breakfast

We have breakfast included in the hotel we're staying in.  And while continental breakfasts are the gold standard in the hotel industry, it doesn't mean that it was the only choice.  We were presented with a small menu to go along with the accompanying buffet.  I chose to take chicken patty served on  a toasted English muffin with a side of scrambled eggs, mixed salad, roasted tomato and baked beans. 

Breakfast (apologies for the poor image quality; the light was very dim and blue in the restaurant)

I've been spending the past few months having a breakfast that largely consisted of some sort of fried egg or omelette, bacon, toast, and if lucky, a bit of fruit.  This funky egg McMuffin was an excellent change of pace.  I especially enjoyed the roasted tomato, which I saved for the end.  I think I'll have this again tomorrow.  

Lunch

After spending a productive morning running a few errands and replenishing some supplies (I also got a much needed haircut), it was time for lunch!  For the second meal of the day, we went to an open air restaurant around the corner from the hotel.  This fine eatery, called Ali's (I think there's more to it; I'll confirm the name tomorrow and update the post accordingly) featured quick-service, high quality Malaysian food at an affordable price (think 3.50 EUR/3.85 USD per person, drinks included)

We wound up ordering the chicken biryani, which I've seen many times before in Indian restaurants.  If you're not familiar with biryani, it's a bit like a Spanish paella, and if you're not familiar with that, then it's nothing more than seasoned rice, chopped onions, carrots and peas, served with some sort of meat.  We took ours with chicken, which came out of a tandoori oven.  On top of the rice and next to the chicken thigh, there was a hard boiled egg (maybe it signified some sort of circle of life for the chicken).   The dish also came with a roasted vegetable resembling a beet but with hints of bell pepper. We also received a serving of dal on the side.  Nathalie ordered an apple juice which turned out to be freshly juiced.   Succulent! 

Sorry for the camera tilt: a) I was hungry and b) there was an
issue with my phone that I needed to get fixed that afternoon

Dinner 

We had another busy afternoon, running around town to pick a couple of items up from different stores.  According to the pedometer on my phone, I had walked around 14 km/8.5 miles by the time I sat down for dinner.  I earned the next meal.  

Feeling completely dead from all of the walking, we pulled the lazy card and went back to Ali's'.  This time, We ordered a plate of mee goreng, which is a type of fried noodle dish that came with chicken, a plate of mixed vegetable and a side of rooti, which is a type of flat bread.  What can I say? Ali did his magic again and we were once more back in flavor country.  Being inspired by Nathalie's apple juice from lunch, I ordered a fresh orange juice that was simply delightful to drink.  

The mee goreng came first and I couldn't help myself

Day one seemed to be a good success and operation "Stuff Your Face with Malaysian Food" is off to a roaring start.  I'm completely dead from walking and eating so much so I'm going to hit the hay.  Plus, the faster I go to sleep, the faster it will be morning, which means the faster I'll be eating again.