Malaysian comfort food: Madam Kwan's

The challenge in Malaysia, as Jericho Rosales found out, is finding food that is not spicy.


When my London housemate W treated us to dinner at the extremely popular Madam Kwan's at Suria KLCC, I went for a huge plate of Char Kuey Teow, the Malaysian version of my favorite Pad Thai, which is nowhere near spicy. The restaurant was full when we arrived and full when we left. We stayed for quite some time, so the staff were probably hoping we'd leave, to no avail.

I had cendol, strips of green bean flour topped by ice and coconut milk, over which you pour a coco jam-like brown sugar syrup. W had ABC. Too sweet, she said. Spicy or sweet, I enjoy Malaysian food a lot.