We all love our night markets, also known as pasar malam. Nothing is better than the anticipation of having delicious and (more often than not) sinfully greasy street food, while taking a leisurely stroll among stalls selling everything from vegetables to clothes and everything in between. Here, we’ve picked our favourites from the Klang Valley, one for each day of the week, so you’ll never get hungry or bored in the evenings.
Monday
Where: SS2, Petaling Jaya
The SS2 pasar malam is considered the largest night market in Petaling Jaya, spanning almost the entire round of SS2’s commercial shop-lot area. As the area has a predominantly Chinese community, popular street food include lok lok, steamed buns, bubble tea, deep fried chicken chop, apam balik (sweet crispy pancakes), grilled pork skewers, fried lo bak gou (carrot cake), baked oysters, and tau fu fah. There are plenty of stalls selling fruit, vegetables, fresh seafood, and even one that sells frog meat! For the fashion-savvy, there are any number of stalls selling clothes, accessories, handphone accessories, and cosmetics.
Tuesday
Where: Bandar Baru Sri Petaling
One of the unique features of this night market in Sri Petaling is that there is a separate street where food vendors set up their tables and chairs for dine-in customers. You can savour freshly-prepared pan mee, Penang rojak-style taufu bakar, fried carrot cake, and asam laksa there, and snack on deep fried mushrooms, dumplings, dim sum, and yes, stinky tofu while strolling through stall after stall of the usual clothes, accessories, gadgets, shoes, toys, and fresh produce.
Wednesday
Where: Taman Connaught, Cheras
Formerly the longest night market in Malaysia (now overtaken by the one in Setia Alam), the Taman Connaught pasar malam is famous for being the best place to stuff yourself with street food. It has been said that you can enter one end starving, and arrive at the other end bursting at the seams just by trying some of the food sold there. One of the main attractions is the stinky tofu stall (which many love and some hate), while the asam laksa, pan mee, and cheesecake stalls are popular among locals. If you’re looking for a huge variety of phone cases and fashion accessories at affordable prices, this is the place to be. Be warned though, on Wednesdays the main road parallel to the night market is often congested and parking is difficult to find.
Taman Connaught night market (Photo: Lowyat.net)
Thursday
Where: Taman OUG, Jalan Klang Lama
Located off Jalan Klang Lama (Old Klang Road), Taman OUG’s Thursday pasar malam spans three roads around the shops in the commercial section of the housing estate. Firm favourites include asam laksa, bubble tea, char kuey teow, and fried squid rings. Residents from the area also frequent the night market for groceries and household items. Pasar malam staples like clothing, women’s accessories, toys, and other knick-knacks can also be found here.
Friday
Where: Taman Melati
The pasar malam at Taman Melati mainly caters to the surrounding Malay community, which makes its street food offering quite different but equally mouthwatering. Located on an open piece of land behind the Taman Melati shophouses, this pasar malam takes place every Friday evening, and you can expect to find lots of affordable clothing stalls, along with food such as asam laksa, burgers, fried chicken, and flavoured drinks. One of the stalls selling Kelantanese fare like nasi kerabu and nasi berlauk is very popular among locals.
Saturday
Where: Setia Alam, Shah Alam
Measuring a whopping 2.4km, the Setia Alam pasar malam is officially the longest night market in Malaysia. Visitors will never go hungry, with a selection of the best street food like apam balik, ayam percik, steamed herbal chicken, traditional kuihs, meat skewers, fried hot dogs, Japanese okonomiyaki, pan mee, asam laksa, Chinese dumplings, Nyonya fried chicken, grilled chicken wings, black tofu, shaved ice with fruit, coconut ice-cream… the list is endless! In addition to the gastronomic delights available there, fashion (clothes, shoes and accessories), gadgets (phone cases and accessories), toys, household products, and groceries also make for at least a couple of hours walk to absorb the scents, sights and sounds there.
Savoury Japanese and Korean snacks at the Setia Alam night market (Photo: HungryGoWhere)
Sunday
Where: Bangsar Baru
This night market in Bangsar Baru may be just a fraction of the super-long Taman Connaught or Setia Alam ones, but what it lacks in length, it more than makes up for in terms of quality traditional pasar malam fare. You won’t find Taiwanese sausages or Japanese okonomiyakis here, but do expect to find delicious asam laksa, fried kuey teow and carrot cake, satay, apam balik, pulut udang (prawn glutinous rice wrapped in leaves), putu bambu (coconut, sugar, and gula Melaka steamed in bamboo) and popiah. Fruits, vegetables and even fresh flowers are sold here! It is a popular spot for foreigners and expats to enjoy local Malaysian street food.
Seems like asam laksa and char kuey teow are a firm favourite, wherever they are! Do you have any pasar malam recommendations for us? Share with us in the comments. 🙂
