The Malay Tea House

The Malay Tea House is nestled between a fruit bar and a dry foods store. Walking in is like going back in time and landing in an old kampung house kitchen, complete with wooden benches, tiled table tops, oil lamps and keroncong music. Malay Tea House even offers pegaga, hempedu and other teas with healing properties. I would stay away from hempedu if I were you. Tea, healing properties or not, comes either in a pot or with ice and sweetened with jungle honey. All tea costs about RM6. A must-try is the Pink Guava Leaf iced tea that can kick iced lemon tea butt any day.

Another nostalgic element of the Malay Tea House is its menu—serving the regular Malay fare with a more traditional twist. The dishes here have names like Nasi Goreng Bonda and Nasi Ayam Herba. Appetizer selection is unfortunately limited to otak-otak, but it was pretty good. The laksa on the other hand, is no jaguh kampong. Possibly the best laksa you’ll get that’s not homemade; it was spicy and tangy with generous condiments. The fish broth will have you scraping your bowl dry.

Not everything on the menu was available, so I didn’t get to check out their Sago with Gula Melaka for dessert. I wasn’t interested in their selection of Malay cakes because there wasn’t much variety. The fried egg in the Nasi Lemak Rendang Tok came out cold and dry. But the side order of rendang it comes with was another story—dark, savory and tender. Prices range from RM1 for otak-otak to RM6 for a bowl of laksa. You might catch yourself reminiscing about your childhood, having a meal here is like being in a P.Ramlee movie.



Contact:
Shop 29, Ground Floor,
Central Market,
No. 10 Jalan Hang Kasturi,
50050 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-6280 3503

Website:
N/A

Operating Hours:
Opening Hours: 10am - 8pm (daily)

Cuisine:
Mediterranean