KL's food scene,
curated for you

The WoodFire Club, Subang Jaya

Torinana, PJ Section 17: New Menu 2026

Video: Tsukishima Monja Koboreya, LaLaport BBCC

A mother's Persian table in Malaysia: Leily Amini nourishes the soul at Nooshe Jan

Nooshe Jan is Leily Amini's Persian kitchen, running Thursday to Saturday nights inside Fari & Ali's in Bukit Damansara — the cafe belonging to her daughter Samira and niece Athirah. Leily left Tehran for Kuala Lumpur thirty-five years ago. She starts cooking dinner at six in the morning: no industrial cauldrons, no machinery to rush meat toward tenderness, just low flames until the lamb gives at a fork's touch and the herbs and spices settle into it. Ghee, butter and olive oil, used lightly. Nothing deep-fried. What to Order at Nooshe Jan The cooking stays faithful to generations of Persian mothers: ghormeh sabzi, zereshk polo ba morgh, adas polo — dishes that build their depth through dairy, dried fruit, nuts and spice rather than heat. The saffron, barberries and kashk come from Iran, which has become harder and more expensive this year as transport routes have been disrupted; some of those prices have doubled. For Persian food in Kuala Lumpur, this is a three-nights-a-week kitchen worth planning your week around.

Nero Nero: Chef Mattia Fois brings irresistible Italian flavours of Sardinia to KL

Nero Nero is where chef Mattia Fois cooks the food of Sardinia in Kuala Lumpur — and it is the first Malaysian restaurant to serve su filindeu, one of the rarest pasta shapes in the world. Fois is 25 and has been cooking since he was eight, learning from grandparents and parents before stints in Michelin-starred kitchens in Barcelona. The menu runs regional Italian tradition through reformist European technique rather than treating the two as opposites. What to Order at Nero Nero Besides the su filindeu, the handmade pastas to look for are malloreddus and culurgiones, with bottarga pizza and pardula pastries rounding out the Sardinian side. Start with the Tagliatella di Seppia con Gamberi: cuttlefish sliced into supple ribbons taking the shape of tagliatelle, with sweet prawns and citrus-cured onions over a clear lettuce emulsion, sharpened with leche de tigre and scattered with fried fregola for a nutty crunch. For Sardinian food in Kuala Lumpur or handmade pasta in KL, Nero Nero is cooking something nobody else in the city is.

Natalina Italian Kitchen's summer specials: A seasonal sojourn through salmon, saffron and sunshine

Natalina Italian Kitchen is head chef Stefano Maria La Penna's kitchen in Kuala Lumpur, part of the Cinnamon Group, cooking regional Italian rather than a single house style. Its summer menu is the seasonal showcase, and it moves around the map: basil from near the Ligurian coast, saffron out of the Abruzzese highlands, Roman tomatoes, ricotta in Sicilian pastry shells. What to Order at Natalina Start with Battuto di Gamberi Rossi — red prawn flesh and head butter worked into a supple mince, perfumed with pesto so the marine sweetness meets a basil herb garden, with a Parmesan tuile for saline snap. Capesante, Zucchine e Zafferano brings Hokkaido scallops with courgette and saffron. The rest of the seasonal run covers salmon ravioli, hand-cut pasta, charred lamb, pistachio cannoli and bomboloni with lemon custard. These are summer specials, so the exact list changes with the season — check what is on before booking around a particular dish. For Italian in Kuala Lumpur or a seasonal Mediterranean menu in KL, Natalina is the one following the calendar properly.

Restaurant JIE reimagines Cantonese, Hakka and Teochew classics

Tell Me by Picasso Media: Part Six

Tell Me by Picasso Media: Career vs Marriage

Tell Me by Picasso Media: Parents' Sacrifices

Scruffee Cafe, Taman Desa

Scruffee is a cafe inside a doggy daycare in Taman Desa — a collaboration between Scruffee and Soulbrew, which means your coffee arrives with a soundtrack of happy barking. That is either the appeal or the warning, depending on you. What to Order at Scruffee The bagels are baked in house, crisp, and studded generously with real pistachios, served slathered with raspberry jam. Drinks go slightly off-piste: orange americanos, coconut lattes, and strawberry milk for anyone not drinking coffee. For a dog-friendly cafe in Taman Desa or bagels in KL south, Scruffee is the only one where the dogs are the point rather than the concession.

Parkroyal Collection, Kuala Lumpur