Part 2: Little India, Kuala Lumpur - Lunch

We arrived at the hotel around 11am. Although the check-in time is 2pm/3pm (displayed as 2pm but confirmed over the phone at 3pm), there was already a room available for an early check-in for RM50. Thinking that the money should be better spent on food instead so we asked the ever helpful receptionist to help store our bags first, until we came back for check in.

After a simple refreshment of ourselves in the privacy of an early morning deserted hotel lobby washroom, we head back towards the LRT to our first target of destination: Lunch at Little India!

banana leaf mutton curry yellow rice

The Little India in Kuala Lumpur is one of the interesting destinations to visit, for me, mainly from the energy that’s racially unique, elevating the senses that are usually dormant to be awaken to the little things that is different here. It’s like the China Town experience, but without the noise and fried foods smell in the air.

To get to Brickfields, you can either take a grab or taxi from basically anywhere but we decided to be as touristy as possible, thus opting for the public transportations and walking to our targeted destinations.

Brickfields is about 10 minutes away by foot from KL Sentral. From the hotel, we took the same LRT back to KL Sentral and walked all the way. I had a soft wary that the walk might be too much for us considering the hot sun, the lunch hour Friday road traffic, and the crowd no less. To our surprise, walking outside in the open air turned out to be a welcoming change from the hours spending in air-conditioned circulated air from the covered spaces of the trains and buildings. In fact, joining the local crowd and tourists alike as we were passing by different buildings along the way, the walk was done mostly along covered walkways.

Hopping from one mall to another, crossing different streets and stopping at one traffic lights after another, a zebra crossing and short flight of stairs, we came upon what basically looks like the entrance to the Little India...

The Brickfields Arch.

Up-close with the arch.

It was a first time getting to Brickfields for me, if I may recommend, the walk was definitely a pleasant start.

I have usually relied on either Google Maps or Waze when it comes to mapping my route. This time, we tried a different app, Moovit, since it has been tagged as the one app for all your urban mobility and transport rides. It was all right. To be fair, we were already familiar with the trains we were going to be using and also, the information available was sufficient for us.

Considering another racially unique public holiday, Deepavali, looming in a few weeks, there were stalls setup along the roads in this area, selling clothes and cloths, tidbits food, jewelleries and shoes. One word, colourful.

Despite the distraction of all things bling and colourful, we managed to pick a restaurant for our lunch.

Since being vegan is normally a way of life for Indians, I always look forward to the variety of their vegetable dishes in their restaurants and this restaurant served a large selection of vegetable options, with fish curries and some varieties of mutton dish, complete with banana leaves for the base; and I have a particular weakness for dishes that are layered with banana leaves underneath. Sorry, there not enough time for pictures of the arranged dishes, our tummies were already growling.

vegetable dishes - fried and gravy options

banana leaf rice with 3 veggies and mutton curry

We finished off our lunch with a stainless steel cup of Rasam, a delicacy that is unique to Southern Indian. Rasam is prepared with selected spices in its ingredients that are not meant to be hot on the tongue nor the throat but rather for warming your stomach. I do agree with it having been described as being quite a treat to the senses. Perhaps I am biased for my inclination towards Indian foods, but I don’t think I can pass another treat of the distinctively tasted, Rasam, if it ever comes my way again.

The heart-warming, Rasam

To be continued.