Weekend trip tip: Best classic Chinese restaurants in Kuala Lumpur

Historically excellent Cantonese food since the heyday of the bell bottom, Pik Wah Restaurant has remained a mainstay feature for generations of Chinese diners since opening its doors in 1971. As is the case with all gastronomic treasures that are genuinely worth their merit, this classic banquet restaurant requires some searching, hidden well apart from Kuala Lumpur’s tourist clichés in Chin Woo Stadium. Searing clay pots of bubbling ginger chicken, gelatinous slices of Spanish pork ribs coated in luscious sauce, and steamed grouper split down the middle slow-cooked in superior soy sauce, all pair excellently with white rice.

Operating hours:

• 12pm – 3pm, 6pm – 10.30pm
• Opens daily

Another painfully overlooked and immaculately preserved bastion of traditional Cantonese food is Chef Wong Restaurant. While Pek Wah has already received its flowers, what with its retro banquet setting still drawing wedding receptions and special occasions for those who want a taste of the old world, Chef Wong Restaurant (formerly known as Hiong Kong Restaurant) in Pudu Plaza is notably more modest in its atmosphere. But a proper Southeast Asian gastronome knows that stackable plastic chairs and tube lights are key indicators of a great meal – which tends to be the case with the man of the hour at the helm.

The signature special platter, comprising five traditional Cantonese appetisers, is a prerequisite for the full experience. This includes everything from portions of fried prawns, to a chilled lobster salad and even a hill of kung po chicken held together in a deep-fried yam basket.

Operating hours:

• 12pm – 3pm, 6pm – 10pm
• Closed on Monday

Comparatively, Sek Yuen Restaurant may appear like low-hanging fruit where recommendations for old-school Chinese fare are concerned. Housed in a pre-war shop lot where lengthwise real estate affords a sizeable capacity for tables lit under fluorescence, dishes here take after an unfettered tether with tradition under the trained hands of a head chef whose expertise has fed the city since the eatery’s inception. Wizened hands work the wok to serve portions of relatively humdrum but no less commendable Cantonese food, including the all-too-rare jellied chicken, evocative of American aspics, served chilled.

Operating hours:

• 11am – 2.30pm, 5pm – 9.30pm
• Closed on Monday

A household name in the realm of Chinese banquet feasting in the Klang Valley, the Oversea group of restaurants needs no introduction come the festive period, what with outlets across most major neighbourhoods. While that may be true, the Jalan Imbi mothership remains the most significant for first-time diners, occupying the very same shops since its inception in the 1970s. Updated to feature all the comforts one would come to expect from its contemporaries, the menu strikes a good balance between appealing to palates both old and new – a whole roasted suckling pig with a toothsome crackle for grandma, and deep-fried squid topped with buttery egg floss for the kids.

Operating hours:

• 11.30am – 3pm, 5.30pm – 11pm
• Opens daily

Yut Kee Restaurant usually has the last word for Hainanese dishes, and there’s a good reason for that. Serving as unofficial cultural stewards of the the classic kopitiam experience that was first typecasted by their ancestors who migrated from the Hainan region in China, many heritage recipes continue to be lovingly dished out to eager tables that are packed from morning to early afternoon. Come early if you hope to beat the lines and savour a classic serving of Hainanese chicken chop, deep-fried with an eggbatter shell generously inundated with tangy brown gravy. Or if you’re especially early, swap out poultry for a cut of tender pork roulade.

Operating hours:

• 7.30am – 4pm
• Closed on Monday

For honest Chinese flavours that easily evoke memories of roadside dai chow (大炒) meals conceived from sheer will of memory and routine, Hup Kee Restaurant along Jalan Ipoh deserves a commendation, especially being allegedly the oldest restaurant along the major thoroughway. One may not think much of it, given its almost rustic appearance sandwiched between two shops with an awning keeping al-fresco diners from the elements, but its packed seats will tell you all you need to know about the quality of its fare. Perfecting the art of wok-cooking down to a tee, the assam fish is a suitable addition to introduce Hup Kee’s merits, where a deep-fried fish of your choice is served doused in their signature tangy blend of tamarind, spices, and of course, red chilis for just the merest glimmer of heat.

Operating hours:

• 11.30am – 3pm, 5pm – 10pm
• Opens daily

As its name would suggest, Teochew and Hakka Restaurant along Jalan Ampang Batu 4 has built its fortunes on establishing a firm command of both cuisines with great effect. Easily identified along a row of sleepy shop lots by the cast of an inviting amber glow and prominent lanterns out front, you will likely find nuclear families taking up perch here by merit of familiarity with comfort food.

The Teochew porridge station will best serve those with lighter appetites, while a full dinner spread should ideally include an order of steamed fish and bak fa boneless chicken tucked with fish paste. Better yet, the restaurant is pork-free, making it an ideal option for those bringing Muslim guests along.

Operating hours:

• 10am – 9pm
• Closed on Monday

Seekers of affordable Hakka cuisine, allow us to introduce you to Hor Poh Cuisine’s plethora of excellent menu offerings. Predictably unassuming, especially to diners whose presumptions of greatness are inextricably tied to grand aspirations of ambience and decor, this cornerstone of Segambut dining is renowned for serving what many have described as the best lei cha in the city, a credential readily vouched by the people at Michelin. A light, aromatic green gruel doused over rice, legumes, and finely chopped greens endear both the health-conscious fitness junkie and flavour-obsessed gourmands.

Operating hours:

• 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm
• Closed on Tuesday

Irreverent in its refusal to budge from one of the last remaining parcels of prime land smack-dab in the middle of the city, Hakka Restaurant remains one of the last fixtures around the Jalan Raja Chulan area from a figment of Kuala Lumpur’s pre-Pavilion past. Billed as the ‘oldest family-owned Hakka Restaurant’ within city limits, its humble Ipoh beginnings in 1956 have since evolved into a tourist stop in its own right, as evidenced by the line of buses that coast to a stop along the curb around its periphery.

But don’t be put off by the glamour, the food here is still unerringly approachable and familiar, boasting delicacies that include crab shells stuffed with a crab meat and pork mixture, to the increasingly rare morsels of gummy yam abacus stir-fried with minced pork, celery, and black fungus.

Operating hours:

• 11.30am – 2pm, 5.30pm – 10pm
• Opens daily

The restaurant may be new, but one particular name involved in its conception most certainly isn’t a fresh face to those who appreciate undeniably fantastic Chinese cuisine. Taking up a portion of the historic Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall building, which has served as a landmark along Jalan Maharajalela since 1934, Chinese Palace Restaurant was established with help from legendary chef Frankie Woo, whose take on contemporary Chinese food has populated menus in Shangri-La’s Shang Palace, to Concorde Hotel and The Regent Kuala Lumpur, to name just a few.

As one expects, the menu’s appeal is irrefutable, with dimsum brunch receiving top marks and a sumptuous dinner spread earning easy commendations in dishes that range from Sliced Cold Pork Knuckles with a fine layer of gelatinous fat braised in star anise and cinnamon, to the slide-off-the-bone Braised Pork Tendons cradled in a hot pot.

Operating hours:

• 11am – 2.30pm, 6pm – 10pm
• Opens daily