Please note that the opening times may have changed in the current climate. Do check with the respective eatery for opening times.

I was in KL back in January when I “discovered” spots in my kampung judged to be pretty good for makan. The reason for the inverted commas is that these spots aren’t new. I don’t know why I haven’t thought of giving them a try all these years.

Sister’s Kopitiam

Otherwise known as Sister’s Place, this branch is located in the Tun Mohd Fuad precinct only a few doors from Santai. Spartan looking place white white walls and a cement floor, with no air of pretension about it. The most important clue to whether the food is good – the place always has patrons! And more importantly, with the dearth of good Penang char kuey teow at my family’s usual haunt, I hear Sister’s do a mean CKT.

And Sister’s did not disappoint. Available in two versions (one with more than just udang going for RM13.90 a plate), each plate had a generous amounts of ingredients vital to my idea of CKT – kucai and prawns. Okay, I requested for no taugeh and kerang, but that’s just me. The menu is typical kopitiam – I also highly recommend the mee hoon soup, curry mee and chee cheong fun. Drinks like the kopi may be in a more modern slant as opposed to the ceramic white with blue patterned saucer/cup combo, but the hallmark spillage mark on the side of the cup is defo there. The (slight) downside is that the food has Taman Tun prices but as far as I am concerned, I now have a CKT haunt back and the family don’t have to travel all the way to SS5 anymore.

4 Persiaran Zaaba
Taman Tun Dr Ismail
60000 Kuala Lumpur
03 7729 8133
facebook.com/sisterskopitiamTTDI

Nasi kukus ayam goreng berempah

Now, I have no idea if this roadside stall has a name (it’s not on Google) but it’s located on Persiaran Zaaba, in between the aforesaid Sister’s Place and the PETRONAS station (just about where Homst is), but their ayam goreng berempah is freshly deep fried on site.

With some sambal belacan and veg on the side, the nasi kukus / ayam berempah combo is one of my favourite take away lunch spots in TTDI. I can’t really tell you about the other dishes they sell but pretty much typical makanan Melayu fare – ayah, for example, loves their ikan patin / pucuk paku combo. Interestingly, they sell nasi lemak kukus at night. And of course, with their ayam berempah!

Dough & Dolce

A good friend from my med school days brought me here for breakfast, located on the first floor of a shop lot (yellow door – you’ll not miss it) in the Datuk Sulaiman precinct, in the vicinity of Quartet and Thvrsday. Run by a husband and wife team (apparently one of them is my friend’s relation), the eatery serves bread, pastry and cake. The food is freshly made on site and you could see the bread being made in the kitchen at the back.

Shared a pesto/mozarella bruschetta and an apple strudel (think Schwarzenegger!) and ordered a flat white, all of which were pretty good. Worth checking out.

24A Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 1
Taman Tun Dr Ismail
60000 Kuala Lumpur
facebook.com/doughanddolce/

TTDI Meat Point Steak House

After another disappointment of a family favourite (somewhere in Damansara Heights), I booked a table at this steak place. It’s been in TTDI for a while and I heard/read that patrons get to choose the steaks from the fridge. The steak comes in grass or grain fed varieties (tenderloin, striploin, T-bone etc), and they also do Angus and wagyu ribeye. This was another spot filled with patrons, testament that the food should be good. I went for the Angus ribeye, medium.

The meat beautifully presented with a sprig of rosemary, came with chips, steamed veg and my choice of black pepper gravy, was pink, tender and succulent, and I took my time. The waiting staff was good, but as this eatery is popular, it may be a bit noisy. Next visit – wagyu ribeye. よし！

62 Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi
Taman Tun Dr Ismail
60000 Kuala Lumpur
014 360 4040
facebook.com/ttdimeatpoint