KL's food scene,
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Bubbly Boo, JAM PJ

Bubbly Boo is a gelato shop at JAM PJ, run by a team that moved out of downtown KL, and it scoops both Italian and distinctly Malaysian flavours. The name is the co-founder's nickname for his daughter. What to Order at Bubbly Boo Hazelnut is the classic to judge them on — naturally nutty rather than sweetened into submission. The Malaysian side is where it gets interesting: Cameron Strawberries laced with real fruit, Blue Boo coloured and flavoured with tangy bunga telang, the delicate Tau Foo Fah, and a sweetly aromatic Gula Apong. The shop also plans open mic nights for live music, poetry and comedy, so it may become somewhere to sit rather than only a place to pick up a scoop. For gelato in Petaling Jaya or Malaysian flavours done properly, Bubbly Boo is the local one worth choosing over a chain.

Tangerain Cafe, Ara Damansara

Tangerain is a bright, easy-going cafe in Ara Damansara with a menu that spreads deliberately wide — the kind of place that works when nobody at the table wants the same thing. What to Order at Tangerain Cafe The savoury range runs from poke bowls and pastas to fish and chips, sourdough sandwiches, salads and soups, with French toast for anyone eating breakfast at an unreasonable hour. For teatime the house suggestion is the ice cream croissant — crisp pastry against cold cream — with a mellow hojicha latte to keep it from being too much. For a cafe in Ara Damansara or brunch in Petaling Jaya with something for everyone, Tangerain is the safe choice in the best sense.

Gentler approach to making wine

Thai Garden Village Seafood & BBQ, Kepong

Thai Garden Village Seafood & BBQ has spent eight years off Jalan Kepong, and the surprise is the setting: a garden with a water feature and live fish, a quiet pocket a stone's throw from a train station and the traffic around it. The cooking is a Chinese-Thai fusion rather than strict Thai. What to Order at Thai Garden Village Start with the Mango Salad — sour and spicy, and the right thing to wake the palate before heavier plates. The Signature King Prawn Glass Noodles is the main to order: firm, pleasantly chewy prawn against springy glass noodles. Owner Lily Chan says the dish has been adjusted for Malaysian palates rather than kept strictly to the Thai original. Geng Song Siakap — a spicy, sour barramundi curry — is the other must, and it wants steamed rice alongside. Chan imports the herbs and spices for the gravy from Thailand. For Thai seafood in Kepong, or somewhere with a garden to sit in off Jalan Kepong, this one has quietly held its spot for eight years.

Bar Trigona, Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur

Bar Trigona is the award-winning bar at Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur, and one of the few Malaysian rooms to make Asia's 50 Best Bars. Its menu, Nectar of Time, is arranged as a progression through an evening — you start at First Light, work through progressively deeper chapters, and finish with nightcaps and dessert drinks in After Dark. What to Order at Bar Trigona The Trigona Bee's Knees is the signature that survives every menu change — a refined take on the gin-and-honey classic, built on trigona honey whose oaky richness is infused with coffee beans from the My Liberica estate in Johor. The bar's habit of finding local substitutes is where it gets interesting. With the dirty martini back in fashion, the team went looking for an alternative to olives and landed on Nyonya acar, the Peranakan pickling tradition, which is a more Malaysian answer than most bars would attempt. Address: Level 6B, Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Ampang. For cocktails in KLCC or one of Asia's best bars in Kuala Lumpur, Bar Trigona is the benchmark.

Mana Ramen, Shah Alam

Mana Ramen is a ramen shop in Shah Alam that cuts its own noodles and simmers its own broths — and roasts its own coffee beans, which is not a combination you often find under one roof. What to Order at Mana Ramen Tantanmen is the recommendation to start with: thick, nutty and smoky, topped with teriyaki chicken, a jammy egg, spring onions and chilli oil. Spicy Miso Ramen is the richer, more robust classic, served with chicken chashu. If you would rather not have noodles, the Karaage Rice Bowl is a straightforward donburi with deep-fried chicken kept crunchy outside and juicy within. For ramen in Shah Alam or house-cut noodles in Selangor, Mana is worth the wait it asks for.

Kinfolk, PJ Sea Park

Kinfolk is a pork restaurant in Sea Park, Petaling Jaya, and it does not hedge about it — the whole menu is built around the animal, nose to tail. What to Order at Kinfolk Start with porchetta di testa: a thin-sliced rosette of rolled cheek, tongue, ear and skin, collagen-rich but clean-tasting and supple rather than heavy, cut through by house-pickled cornichons. The Perak-cultivated oysters are the other opener, layered with lardo and a kitchen-spiced hot sauce. Lunch is where it gets playful. Spaghettini comes tossed with nduja and marinated cockles, and the pad kra pao arrives under a substantial pile of crackling. Leave room for the Smoky Porky Cake, which is the destination dessert and exactly as odd as it sounds — gently savoury-sweet with cured pork, candied fruits and walnuts, served warm with rum and cream. For pork in Petaling Jaya or nose-to-tail cooking in Sea Park, Kinfolk is the most committed version of it in PJ.

Blue @ Sky51, EQ Kuala Lumpur

Blue is the rooftop bar at EQ Kuala Lumpur, with a straight view of the Twin Towers and a cocktail list built entirely out of Malaysian ingredients. What to Order at Blue The Go Lokal menu is the reason to go — eight signature cocktails from head mixologist Boy Fazy, each reimagining local fruits, spices and dishes as drinks. Some are built from food: there is a cocktail drawn from the rich, piquant flavours of laksa, and others take classics and turn them local. The more unusual bottles come from Borneo. Fazy works ingredients from his home state of Sabah into the list, along with Sarawak rice wines — langkau and tuak — which almost no other bar in the city is pouring into cocktails. For a rooftop bar in Kuala Lumpur or Malaysian-ingredient cocktails with a Twin Towers view, Blue is the one doing something specific rather than generic.

Dapo & Dough, Shah Alam

Dapo & Dough is a home-based bakery-cafe in Shah Alam — a small, sunlit room built around sourdough rather than a full restaurant kitchen. What to Order at Dapo & Dough The sandwiches come out oven-fresh and warmly fragrant; the one to order is smoked salmon with herbed cream cheese, cherry tomatoes and baby spinach. The more interesting plate is the house take on Turkish cilbir — creamy eggs over tangy yogurt, finished with melted butter and chilli flakes, with crackly toast for pushing it around. It runs Monday to Friday and is built for a family breakfast rather than a quick one. For sourdough in Shah Alam or a weekday breakfast in Selangor worth sitting down for, Dapo & Dough is the neighbourhood version done properly.

Cocktails paying tribute to KL\u2019s iconic districts

Nasi Lemak Ajak, Bandar Glenmarie