Kenanga Non Halal Food Court (Amazing Grade)

Food courts in Malaysia are not like those in Singapore. Across the Causeway, people crowd food courts because many hawkers have moved to these cleaner, more controlled environments, bringing their specialties with them. In KL, food courts are placebos. They make us full, but in rarity do not really do anything for real gastronomic experiences.

All this changed for me when I experienced the food court at the newly opened Kenanga Wholesale City. This mall is one of the newest in the city. Unlike the crop of high end stores, this one is down to earth. It is, as its name says, a wholesale mall, which is also open to the public for retail sales. Some shops post signs on their windows saying they are only for wholesalers, meaning ten pieces and above of an item. Others welcome both wholesalers and retail shoppers who are realizing just how much cheaper clothes and trinkets can be when purchased without the middleman.

The mall is a bit overwhelming in that there are three floors dedicated to women's apparel, two to men's and children, one to Muslim wear, and one to bags and luggage and accessories. It's a lot of walking and it can get very, very overwhelming.

As such, any option to rest is welcomed, and the sign for a non-halal food court on level seven really piques the interest. That any food court in this increasingly and concernedly more pro Islamic leaning country dares to be non halal is nearly as shocking as it is intoxicating.

Kenanga food court goes boldly forth into non halal territory. Yay!

The clean, bright food court is really a nice place. First off, it is cheery and modern. The white and orange furniture adds energy to the place, and the individual kiosks look clean and inviting.

However, the real ascent to greatness is the food. There is nothing merely passable or tolerable about the items we ordered. Across the board, everything we sampled was in the upper tier for taste, some surpassing restaurant food, others holding their own with some notable hawkers trading the same item.

A dedicated Hokkien mee stall. With lard!

Instead of calling themselves the noodle kiosk, the Hokkien mee kiosk proudly spelled out their best dish. Sure, they also did the other tai chow noodles dishes like loh mee (thick yellow noodles in thick soup) and kung ku chow (Cantonese noodles in gravy) but Hokkien mee was what they were about.

The Hokkien mee was even served on a banana leaf!

And it was great Hokkien mee. Certainly worth the 15 minute wait, the noodles were firm yet soft enough. They were coated with a high quality thick, black soya sauce which had been given enough time in the wok to slightly caramelize, bringing the signature smokey flavour to the dish. Well worth the RM8.90 price, since it also had quite a bit of sliced pork and prawns in it.

The future of fried kuey teow may be in Kenanga!

The fried kuey teow was as good. Again, the noodles were just moist enough, to give that slightly sticky feel which bonds the egg and flat rice noodles together. The bean sprouts were fresh and plentiful, and the cockles the perfect consistency for the dish, which is just about cooked and still plump and reddish.

Just ducky. And porky.

Roasted meat platter.

Dad ordered a combination of roast meats to share, and these were good too. The duck was succulent and not too fat or greasy; the roasted pork was right up Kit's alley, being mostly lean meat, and the char siew was sweet, with a slight sticky top. A really good mix of items for RM10.

The best Korean in any food court, ever!

I had some of the most delicious Korean food at this food court too. Sure, the food took time, but it was made from scratch, by a real Korean (okay, so the Korean took orders and assembled when the Myanmar sous did the cooking, but let's not split hairs!), with very good ingredients.

Delicious dol sot bibimbap.

The rice in stone bowl (dol sot bibimbap) set in beef and with kimchi soup was RM19.90, about the price of the dish in Kimchi Korean in Tropicana City Mall, but the flavours and the quality of the dish were so much better. There was a real, distinctive flavour of Korea, with the gamey beef, the sweet bean sauce, sesame vegetables and slightly crunchy rice coming together beautifully.

Tteok bokki (rice cake noodles).

The spicy, sweet, chewy rice cake noodles was another hit. Many places don't offer Tteok Bokki, as they feel it lacks appeal. But the Teochew in me finds synergy with this Korean ingredient simply because the Teochews have these rice sticks too. However, I much prefer the Korean style of preparation with the sweet, spicy sauce infused with blended chilli and chives. The vegetables are barely cooked, giving the dish crunch via the cabbage and spring onions, while the constant is the toothsome, quite calming effort of chewing, chewing, chewing the rice cake. At RM11.90, this is a dish I'll keep ordering if I can find enough people to eat it with since the portion though not large in size, is really filling.

Drinks were not the steepest in town, by far. Mineral water cost RM1.80 a bottle, and there are a few interesting drinks, such as homebrewed sugar cane and eight treasures tea.

Towering ice mountain.

The ice kacang was a heaping, towering mound of pink and brown ice, quite finely shaven, with the usual nuts, chendol and cincau interior. RM3.50 was pretty fair for the large helping, I think.

Pulut hitam.

The black glutinous rice soup was a tad too thick for me (possibly being from being kept on boil in crock pots all day), but had the right flavour, and was not skimpy on coconut milk. At RM3 a bowl, it is as filling as a full meal for small appetites.

If the quality of food at the rest of the stalls are as good as what we already tried, this place is going to be a hit. I have already ear marked the claypot rice, sizzling noodles and old fashioned toast and kaya to try on my next visit. It would seem it's looking that I will bypass the six floors of stuff in order to stuff my face on the seventh!

Kenanga Food Court
7th Floor
Kenanga Wholesale City

Jalan Gelugor

Kuala Lumpur

Get directions

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Tel: +603 9221-8081