Rating: 8 / 10

Hands up, I was not expecting to eat great Sri Lankan food in Brickfields. Sure there are hundreds of phenomenal South Indian banana leaf and roti places, but Sri Lankan doesn't have the biggest representation in this part of town.

It is possible to churn out authentic, delicious local food and still be a tourist hot spot. Teksen have managed just that.

Though you no doubt have heard me wax lyrical about authenticity and local tastes, this spot will challenge a lot of punters. Asam Laksa, most definitely not my favourite of the Laksa incarnations, divides people if made correctly due to the insanely pungent "fishy" flavour. If you cannot even handle an anchovy in your putanesca THIS IS NOT FOR YOU.

I realise the irony of trying to be taken seriously as a food blogger in Malaysia, but then recommending "non-halal" ramen shops to a nation that invariably avoids pork.

Kagura and Marutama still the fears of porcine desecration, offering chicken-friendly versions.

​I've been known to change travel plans for a bowl of ramen. I've also spent hours in taxi's or on the back of moto's to drive to far suburbs in the hope of discovering a hidden gem.

More often than not it ends up being an exercise in futility, this too was no different.

"Get the green bowl! Make sure you get the green bowl!!"

Such were the instructions from my hotel clerk, and also a few online blogs beseeching me to not fall trap to the "wrong" curry laksa stall on Madras Lane...

Naturally I discovered right after checking into my hotel that there was a ramen place in Ipoh, two infact. 

I resisted the temptation to go there on night one, and opted for some legendary Curry Mee which hit the spot. Day two, I succumbed...

This hip cafe sits across the main roads heading into Bukit Bintang. Slightly off the tourist route, you'll most likely run into local caffeine addicts and ex-pats here. 

My tip would be to grab your coffee and head upstairs to the glass room overlooking some far spreading trees.

I'll walk to the ends of the earth for a great masala dosa. No, really. Having spent my childhood in tamil nadu, dosa's were a treat we'd get on saturdays, running down to Kurinji's opposite Chellarams to order one followed by some ice-cream. Those childhood flavours sat with me all through my adult life.

Situated along the main road from Bukit Bintang to Chinatown, this oft overlooked restaurant holds the keys to the kingdom of flavour. I'll say it right off the bat, if you're one of those people who eeks over oily food or runs from suspect buffets, then don't bother coming here.

This is authentic Pakistani home-cooking the way you eat it at family gatherings from Lahore to Karachi.

My experience at NR Sweets was definitely clouded by an unspeakable horror that does not reflect on the restaurant itself. As I sat in the corner, pummeled by an overactive fan, sipping my sweet chai and waiting for a delicious masala dosa to strenghten my resolve, a group of Chinese tourists sitting opposite me discover that their little baby had made a deposit.

Lauded to the stars in Singapore, what started as a humble chicken rice stall has evolved due to international fandom. Having been unable to visit Singapore for a while, I was happy to find out they opened a branch in KL so I could see what all the fuss was about. Snaking through the tourists in Chinatown I found the shopfront between lunch and dinner, the time least people are out.

It is tantamount to criminality if you spend more than a few days in Georgetown and do not hit up Kapitan. Sure, you might think visitors to Malaysia should be eating "Malay" food, but then you'd be sadly misinformed. This great country has three distinct ethnicities making up the numbers: Malay, Chinese and Indian. Of that Indian minority, the families that made it over surely didn't leave all the best cooks at home.

I could hardly turn down the chance to try an 85 year old Wanton Mee recipe, especially not since they set up a branch at Lot 10 where the air conditioners are fierce.

Rammed to the rafters with locals every single day, accidental lunch-time spot for intrepid backpackers who dare to enter such shabby joints, purveyor of delicious soups for decades, Shin Kee truly is one of KL's gems. 

Banana Leaf halls in KL are a dime a dozen, and whilst it's quite difficult to find a terrible one, there are plenty that fall into the run-of-the-mill category. A handful stick their necks out from the herd and prepare truly mouthwatering dishes that the locals inevitably flock to.

Similar to the problems faced by Bangsarbabe I too tried to go to Cowan Street Ayam Tauge three times before finally catching them on a rare open day. I'm not quite sure what the thinking is behind their restaurant hours, but it seems to confuse a great deal of potential customers.

Raised in the blue mountains of Tamil Nadu, my love affair with the humble dosa dates back to the 80's. My idea of the perfect breakfast is either a plain dosa or a masala dosa with a glorious bowl of sambar, some coconut chutney and a tomato one thrown in for good measure. I personally am a believer in the crispy, thin dosa but with enough white flesh underneath so it's not like eating a sheet of glass.

As the old guard is replaced by shiny armour with soulless sleeves, the memory of past is washed under fervid instagram posts. Entire neighborhoods succumb to the invasion of the hipster. Old barber shops have to compete against "Retro Barbers" with their 12 week old beards soaked in vegan oil, a canvass of (new) old school tattoo's, heavy denim and moustaches that defy gravity.

Hokkien Mee, one of the "must do" meals of anyone visiting Malaysia, has a few stalwarts of tradition simmering around Chinatown, and none are as loyally visited as Lian Bee. For over 70 years they have been smashing out simple plates of noodles from this strange little alley opposite Shin Kee Beef Noodles.

Heritage buildings are in short supply in Asia as the cost of keeping up repairs outweights the temptation to knock them down and replace them with soulless concrete boxes. Georgetown Penang is a fine example of an area where they decided to protect the old houses and restore rather than remove. Taiping is another spot where walking down the small central drag will thrust you back a hundred years.

Before flying to KL I had been doing my usual hugely productive activity of Youtube surfing, ending up watching an episode of (an unknown to me) Mark Wiens and his trip to eat this fabled smoked duck curry. I made a mental note that when back in KL I would heed his advice and strangle my will to allow a day to be spent on the conquest of webbed feet gorging. ​

To be honest, the proud engravings of NO MSG on a menu, does little to impress me. I am not one of those paranoid androids who shudders at the thought of ingesting Ajinomoto, riddled with the anxieties bestowed on them by a million sceptics. If it tastes good, i'll eat it, I don't care what's in it. Bottom line

Having made my position sufficiently clear, I'll get back to what's important: Laksa.