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HainaneseChinatown
Ho Kow Hainam Kopitiam, open since 1956 and now run by a fourth generation, serves Hainanese breakfast on Jalan Balai Polis in Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur.
OrderOrder the kaya butter toast with soft boiled eggs and a cup of cham.
TipTake a ticket and scan the QR code for the virtual queue, then walk Petaling Street until your number is called.
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Pan meeChow Kit
Kin Kin Chili Pan Mee in Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur, is the shophouse credited with inventing the dry chili pan mee that copies across the city chase.
OrderOrder the dry chili pan mee with a poached egg, then mix in the sambal at the table.
TipThe soup version exists but almost everyone here orders the dry chili pan mee with a poached egg.
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Hokkien meePetaling Street
Kim Lian Kee, founded in 1927 and on its Petaling Street corner since the 1930s, is credited with the dark, lard rich KL style of Hokkien mee in Kuala Lumpur.
OrderOrder the Hokkien mee, noodles fried dark with soy sauce and lard the way KL invented it.
TipThe original tin-roofed corner shop sits across the street from the larger air-conditioned Kim Lian Kee, and the outdoor tables fill after 19:00.
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CantonesePudu
Sek Yuen has cooked old school Cantonese food in its Jalan Pudu dining room in Kuala Lumpur since 1953, still best known for its butterflied pipa duck.
OrderOrder the pei pa duck, the butterflied roast duck the house is best known for.
TipBook ahead for weekend lunch; the restaurant now spreads across three shops on the same stretch of Jalan Pudu.
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IndianBrickfields
Sri Paandi serves banana leaf rice in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, from 09:00 until 23:30 most days, with a dry mutton curry that regulars order by name.
OrderOrder the banana leaf rice with dry mutton curry, the dish regulars come back for.
TipThe dry curries are the strength here, ask for extra on the rice rather than the wetter gravies.
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CantoneseBukit Bintang
Wong Ah Wah anchors Jalan Alor in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, grilling the chicken wings that made this hawker street's night market so famous.
OrderOrder the grilled chicken wings, charred over charcoal and the reason for the nightly queue.
TipSeating spills onto the street, expect to share a table once the evening crowd arrives.