Klang is an unexpected city with full of surprises. Who would think that a sleepy town like the royal city of Selangor is in fact, a tourist gem that most people miss due to their preoccupation of chasing the sparkling lights of Kuala Lumpur. Klang is definitely has more to offer than old buildings and gangster fights. How do we know this? Well, let’s say the whole team at Butterkicap decided to go have a day-out on a beautiful Friday morning and take an hour’s train ride to Klang.
Our trip entails a day of discovering and understanding the life of a person living in Klang based on the variety of food that this town has to offer. Clearly, we were not disappointed! Let us take you to some of the places we had the chance to visit two Fridays ago.
Breakfast
Breakfast starts as early as 6am in Klang (yeah, we know!) People in Klang really take the saying, ‘the early bird catches the worm’ seriously. So, if you ever want to have a great breakfast experience in Klang, make sure you wake up early and have an early start on your Klang trip.
Why early? Because usually, most of the good shops there will run out of food by 9 in the morning. So, do not miss out on a great meal just because you feel that sleeping for an extra 30 minutes will do you good.
You want to get the best of Klang in the morning? Head down to Chong Kok Kopitiam for its creamy hot coffee and roti bakar or a plate of piping hot nasi lemak. This kopitiam has been a local favourite for a very long time and even though there are other restaurants or kopitiams opened around it, it is still the number one choice for people to satisfy their morning hunger pangs.
Not really a fan of heavy meals in the morning? You can choose a light snack from an array of traditional kuih set aside on a huge table that you cannot get easily today!
M: +60 3-3371 0996
A: 5, Jalan Stesen, Kawasan 1, 41000 Klang, Selangor, Malaysia
Klang’s Hidden Gem #1: Little India
While waiting for your stomach to rumble again and beg to be fed, let us walk around the area. Klang is a town filled with old shop houses and classic-looking buildings that you just know are older than your parents. The air there seeps with history and untold stories which unfortunately still stay a mystery because there is nothing much being shared about the events that actually transpired there. However, do not fret! We have the perfect place for you to pass your time till lunch time.
Just a stone’s away from Chong Kok Kopitiam, a row of Indian shop lots, dubbed Little India will beckon you to come and visit with its festive music and wonderful colours. Little India is similar to the ones in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur and Penang but what makes this one a little more special is the two family-owned spice shops we found there.
Muthu Pillai Spice Shop is one of the many spice shops opened for the local Indian community get their prayer necessities and exotic spices that we have not heard of or even seen. Secretly, we think these spices might be the key to the delicious, thick Indian curries that we all love. Sadly, we cannot ask much or get more information about the types and functions of each of the spice sold there due to language barriers but we make a vow to return, learn and study the different purposes of these spices in the Indian culture.
M: +60 3-3372 6927
A: No. 87, Jalan Tengku Kelana, Klang, 41000, Klang, Selangor, Malaysia
Besides the spice shops, you can always have a look around at the jewellery and traditional clothes stores that sell beautiful Indian sarees and suits that are simply a sight for sore eyes. If you are feeling a little superstitious, stop by the few fortune tellers and holy men sitting along the pavements to get some blessings or luck.
Lunch
Stomach rumbling as noon arrives? Walk back down to the KTM station and have a satisfying banana leaf restaurant nearby. What is so interesting about this shop is this three-generation old banana leaf business is operating side by side with a chinese kopitiam INSIDE the shop. Yes! Who says two businesses in the same building should be rivals?
That is the beauty of Klang. Old values and generations are given more important than profit and money. According to the owner of the kopitiam, the space was being rented out for the banana leaf business since the 1960s. Incredible, isn’t it?
What makes Yap Kee such a crowd-puller is due to the unbelievable cheap price of the food served there. Even though the price is cheap, the quality of the food is as good or even better than most upscale banana leaf joints available in Klang and Kuala Lumpur.
Want to try it yourself? Do come to the address below!
A: 26, Jalan Besar, Kawasan 1, 41000 Klang, Selangor, Malaysia
Klang Hidden Gem #2: Jalan Tali Ayer
After such a heavy meal, you do feel like you need to stretch your legs for abit. Instead of facing the traffic just to get to other tourist spots, why not go back to Little India and continue exploring? You will be pleasantly surprise to find out some hidden gems such as the one we accidentally found while strolling about Little India.
At the end of the road in Little India, you will find a row of stalls selling various kinds of Indian sweets that you cannot just ignore and walk past just because you are full. Do not act hastily!
Take a dessert break and enjoy a nibble or two of the sweet jelebis or ladoos or gulab jamuns to satisfy your sweet tooth. If you are more of a savoury person, the soft pakodas and crispy samosas are the snacks for you. Pack some for you to enjoy at home because you will be craving for them later.
Where are they? Find this sweet treats along Jalan Tali Ayer, Klang.
Tea
It is almost 5pm and you are ready to call it a day. We felt exactly that after walking around for hours at Klang. We decided to get some snacks for tea before leaving Klang even though we were full so we can proudly say, our day trip to Klang is somewhat complete. We decided to venture a little bit far and came across two normal-looking restaurants with one fantastic meal each that managed to tempt us to try.
Situated at Lorong Menalu, Love Mom Restaurant looks like an ordinary restaurant with minimal decorations but trust us when we say that there is nothing ordinary about its paal appam or milk apam. It’s a newly opened Sri Lankan restaurant and still do not have a proper menu to offer since they are still in the midst of preparing one.
However, they do not disappoint us with their delicious paal appam that is soft, fluffy and of course milky to the taste which only whet our appetites to come back and try more dishes.
M: +603-3381 2053
A: 12, Lorong Menalu, Taman Chi Liung, 41200 Klang, Selangor, Malaysia
After that delicious appam, our appetite came back and thought we will try something heavy so we will not end up eating too late at night (Sadly, we ate again that night). We dropped by to A1 Kopitiam, a shop loved by the local Klang community for its spicy milk fish head noodles. We were quite thrilled to try a unique dish such as this since it uses milk AND fish in the dish.
So, we could not help but wonder if the combination works or not. To our relief (and slight disappointment), the milk used is actually santan. Therefore, the dish was like a soup-like lemak cili padi and is quite pleasant to eat as a teatime meal. A1 Kopitiam, that dish is indeed A1. Two thumbs up for you!
M: +60 12-392 2788
A: No. 8A, Jalan Serunai 1, Taman Klang Jaya, 41200, Klang, Selangor, 41200, Malaysia
We know there are more places waiting for us to try but time is never sufficient! We hope we will be able to come again to Klang for another adventurous day in our endless search for other hidden gems there.
Do you live in Klang yourself? Tell us where to go and what we should try next in the comment section below!
