If you like seafood you’ll absolutely adore the Bangsar Seafood Village, situated in Bangsar suburb, a magnet for the city’s trendy set. Recently they’ve expanded from their core seafood business and now offer Chinese cuisine at “the Hut” and their “Claypot Corner” has some cheap local dishes which you can sample whilst taking it easy on their open air terrace. Try their house speciality, baked crab in butter, for a heavenly, melt-in-the-mouth experience.

Bangsar has loads of other quality restaurants and it’s also well known as a great place to go shopping; the sprawling Bangsar Shopping Complex, whilst not the height of architectural modernity, has a great selection of boutiques selling everything from textiles to antiques.

To experience some of the best Malay-style dishes, head for the Bukit Bintang area. This upmarket district houses most of KL’s luxury hotels, as well as some fine restaurants. For great home style cooking, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, try out the Rasa Utara restaurant in the Bukit Bintang Plaza. Although they’re part of a chain, which usually denotes neon lighting and plastic furniture, the interior recreates the colonial period and the food is divine. They specialise in Kedah cuisine (their name translates “taste of the north”): Passambur Kodiang (assorted vegetables mixed with prawn fritters, fried hard boiled eggs and garnished with thick peanut sauce), Special fried rice, Mi Rebus Pa'Abu (steamed noodles), to name only a few.

Although I love the feeling of luxury the above selection of restaurants provides, my schoolteacher budget doesn’t stretch to eating at such establishments all the time. Instead I turn to either my underdeveloped kitchen or, more often than not, the vast expanse of street stalls that line Kuala Lumpur’s roadsides. These “hawker stalls” present a fantastic selection of stir-fried noodles, soup, fried rice and an endless selection of seafood dishes.

Malaysian food’s influences can be broken down into 3 main categories: Chinese, Indian and native Malay. Malay cooking incorporates ingredients such as lemon grass, pandan and kaffir lime leaves, as well as fresh herbs such as daun kemangi (a type of basil), nutmeg, turmeric and bunga kantan (wild ginger buds). Traditional spices such as cumin and coriander are used in conjunction with Indian and Chinese spices such as pepper, cardamom, star anise and fenugreek. The result is aromatic, spicy and unforgettable.

One of my favourite dishes is also one of the main staples of Malay cooking. Nasi lemak is a simple dish made with rice and coconut milk, usually accompanied by anchovies, squid, eggs, cucumber and sambal (chilli paste). Sounds odd, smells odd, but tastes wonderful! Another option, if that sounds a little too extreme for your palate, is nasi kerabu, a rice-based dish native to Kelantan, which is served with local herbs and salted fish. A Malay banquet would not be complete without the ever popular satay; skewered chicken or beef marinated in spices, then grilled over a charcoal fire. It is served with spicy peanut sauce (which I could eat on its own); rice cubes, cucumber and onions and makes a great starter.

Another firm favourite is keropok, a popular fried snack originating in Terengganu, made of fish meat, ground to a paste, and mixed with sago. It comes in two different forms; the long chewy ones are called lekor, while the thin, crispy ones are called keping. Keropok is best eaten hot with its special chilli dip.

As you can see Malaysia’s food is amazingly diverse and absolutely delicious, and I’ve only scratched the surface of what’s available both in terms of restaurants and dishes. So please, if you visit KL, don’t spend all your time in McDonalds or restaurants serving western food. Pull up a plastic stool, sit back and watch the bustle of life surrounding you and enjoy a truly unique gastronomic experience.