Sentul Surprise

Sometimes we try to see Kuala Lumpur as we imagine first-time visitors (most of whom probably don't make it far beyond the Golden Triangle and Merdeka Square) do. The view isn't particularly inspiring. Beyond the majestic Petronas Towers (even folks like us who are saddened by the pellmell highrise-ization of Asian cities must admit that those twin towers are spectacular), KL is a mish-mash of uncharacterful buildings populating a poorly planned, stridently pedestrian unfriendly urban landscape.

One could spend days in the city and come away with no clear sense of what Malaysia is and what it's about. That's because much of KL has been developed at the expense of neighborhoods. Shopping malls and 'entertainment districts' are all well and good but they don't lend much to the feel of an area. Only the people who inhabit a section of a city - who eat and sleep and play and shop and live there - can do that.

We've been asked why we seem to prefer spending time in what might be called KL's 'seedier' sections. The answer is simple: it's primarily the parts of Kuala Lumpur that haven't yet been targeted for planned 'modernization' that still exude character and soul. In these areas, there's a there there, and it's usually pretty interesting.

Take Sentul, a district about 15 minutes from the Golden Triangle. Googling brings up pages of crime reports; a tour by car turns up lots of Indian temples, a few Tamil schools, churches and mosques, tumbledown houses and concrete tenements, weedy vacant lots and more than a few cows grazing on medians. Sentul is a bit rough around the edges. On the surface it would seem to hold no attraction for anyone who doesn't live there. But it's got good eats. And it's got a lively little market that's probably one of our favorites in KL.

Pasar Sentul is a true neighborhood market; we reckon few shoppers treck from other parts of Kuala Lumpur to troll its stalls. Part of the market is housed in an old building with maybe 3 or 4 short aisles. The rest covers an adjoining conreted outdoor space. Decidedly urban - it sits astride busy Jalan Sentul, not far from a shopping center - it nonetheless has a kampung (village) feel. And it's mixed, vendors and their produce almost evenly divided between Malaysia's three main races and cuisines -  a little microcosm of the country.

Nyonya, Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese, Malay, Sumatran, Tamil, Punjabi - name a cuisine found in Malaysia and you will come across ingredients for it at Pasar Sentul. There's cincaluk, a fermented shrimp product that figures prominently in Melakan Nyonya food, and mangga telur ('egg' mangoes), dimunitive, tart green mangoes to slice and dip into a spicy sambal or shred for a refreshing Malay salad.

Long branches of curry leaves perfume the air,

as do flowers to be strung for offerings at Indian temples and petals and leaves for the mandi.

A couple stalls sell whole banana plants - dissected: trunk for adding to soups and curries, bananas for deep-frying, blossoms for tossing in a salad.

On a Sunday at about 10am, Indians arrive after services at a nearby church. Dressed in gorgeous saris and shalwar kameez,

they pick up ingredients for the family's day of rest meal: seasonings for a curry

and homemade lime pickles (these are, by the way, exquisite - fresh and limey, bitter from the peel, with a good hit of heat).

At the end of it all, of course, is a snack or two to be had.

Next to the nasi lemak stall, across from the halal char kuey teow, and kitty corner to the freshly fried chickpea flour vadai and chewy-crispy appam, a sweet lady of a certain age, known by most every shopper who passes her establishment on the way into Pasar Sentul's outdoor section, serves Malay mee.

 

Mee sup, yellow noodles swimming in a rich, beefy broth, is plain and simply satisfying.

Mee bandung, more yellow noodles in a thickish sauce that's more tomato-ey and less sweet potato-ey than that cloaking other versions we've had around town, is spiked with plenty of chopped fresh chilies, cilantro, and fragrant fried shallots, a perfect pick-me-up after a spot of marketing.

Pasar Sentul, Jalan Sentul. Daily from about 6am. Things seem to wind down by 10:30am or so. Mee vendor can be found to the left of the market building (if you're facing it), in the 'courtyard' leading to the market's outdoor section.

Comments

[osh]

i totally agree with ur comments about KL..it becoming souless and empty. but try googling around Kampung Baru. i think it has his own charm....

[Gini]

Wow! What an amazing array of photos. Seems like the Indian community is well represented there. Love the picture of the mangoes. Nostalgia!!

[Chubbypanda]

Beautifully written, and an excellent argument for the continued touting of the mom & pop, hole-in-the-wall, real locales. I applaude you.

- Chubbypanda

[phiz]

your blog really is the most wonderful advertisement for Malaysia. It cheers the heart, especially after reading a miserable article in the SCMP this morning about some Malay-Chinese furore over a monument put up to honour "communists", according to the Malays, "patriotic freedom fighters" according to the Chinese.

[Jem]

Good for you...make the discoveries and enjoy it while you still can isn't it? Consider what you would have discovered if you had come here ten years before.

[Robyn]

Thanks all. It's good to be back!

osh - we like Kg Baru a lot. See May archives for a post on the area. Lots more to explore there, and we nNeed to get back at nighttime.

phiz - I'm still waiting to get a call from the tourism bureau. ;-) Malaysia is great, no doubt about it, silly political squabbles aside.

Jem - I would have loved to have known KL 10 yrs ago (even better, 20)! But it's still a great place to be ... and there's so much of it we still don't know.

[Fong]

still remember me? anyway being busy with work :(
just want to wish you merry xmas and happy new year.

Keep update the blog. happy food hunting :)

[Robyn]

Thanks Fong, same to you! Yes, updates should be more regular ... though our slide scanner is still in the repair shop. :-( Happy holidays to you!

[tokyorosa]

hi! i followed a link from the girl who ate everything's blog. your photos are beauts. so many of us enjoy neighborhoods like you depict and not the big shopping malls and chain restaurants that city planners think we want. have you ever thought of offering your services as a KL tour guide? ;~)

[bayi]

Merry Christmas! Hope we have enough in Malaysia to keep you from being homesick! :)

[toniXe]

Its great that your eating blog sees things from a slightly different perspective, as in other interesting( supporting ) things around what I will refer to as the main course. Like a photo essay or documentary which is quite nice really !

[Robyn]

tokyorosa - welcome! and thanks for the compliment. Frankly I'm not sure too many tourists would be esp interested in the things we are .... nor would they be willing to wait 10 minutes before every meal while the photographer gets all his shots in! ;-)

bayi - over Xmas wknd we sampled a couple new (to us) Hokkien dishes, observed food preparations for a Malay engagement ceremony (and sampled the results - yum!), attended a Xmas open house, and enjoyed a fine nasi lemak and assam laksa. Homesick? Not a chance!

tonixe - thanks - we love to eat but feel the context is as important and interested as (as you put it) the main course. Food is fine, food culture is even better. Happy New Year to you!

[susan]

no way.. I for one would be absolutely thrilled to join any tour group that you guys lead. Put the word out, I bet there's a real business in it for you.
PS I notice that tourism.gov.my is being advertised (google adwords) but would you believe, the site's been down the last two days. Tsk tsk. Keep up the great job - I'm sure the government site doesn't have a patch on eatingasia *grin*

[Jackie]

Came across your site from another blog. Great pics! I used to go to school in Sentul (SM Convent Sentul, primary school too!). This brought back so many memories. I am now living in Norway and missing M'sian food! Keep up the good work. :)

[Avia]

Amazing pictures with wonderful color.