This post features a lot of dishes but only two restaurants! We had a couple of meals at two sister restaurants in Kuala Lumpur and tried quite a lot of dishes there. They both had fun menus with interesting veganised local dishes, which is very much what we were looking for as our trip came to an end.

La Gula by The Hungry Tapir

We visited this spot twice for breakfasts – it’s not open super early, but it was fine for days when we had time for a lie in or a late start for travelling. On our first visit, Dr HH had the see-food sambol croissant. This had bits of mock prawns and konjac squid that were coated in batter and in a sweet and spicy sauce. This was all stuffed into a heated sliced croissant. It was an enjoyable dish, He liked the textures of the mock sea food, but didn’t think there was a huge difference between the two types. The croissant was good and flaky and a bit sweet. The whole thing was very tasty but just a touch too sweet. I was tempted by this dish, but knew it would be too sweet for me. I’m hoping to recreate the seafood sambol and serve it with something more neutral at home.

I was powerless to resist the LaGula big brekkie and it lived up to its name. The sausage was excellent, it was well fried with a good crispness to the outside and was delicious and meaty. The ricotta cheez we think was in a square croquette form and tasted very much like a smooth potato filling (it was tasty, but not really cheesy). The scramble was pleasant, not particularly eggy but it had a good texture and taste. The mushrooms were good, they were well cooked and seasoned. The beans didn’t really work very well, they were very heavily flavoured with dill and that didn’t really fit with that rest of the dish. Also, I hate dill.

On our second visit, Dr HH had the rendang croissant and really enjoyed it. The rendang had loads of mushrooms and the sauce was creamy and flavoursome. The croissant was flaky and crisp on the outside. Of course it was a little sweet again, but by this point in our trip we were all in on rendang and had it at almost every meal!

I had the sunny days bagel, which contained a fried egg, ham, and cream cheese. I was worried the cream cheese might be a little sweet, but it wasn’t at all and didn’t overpower the other flavours. The meaty slices were excellent. I loved the texture of the fried egg, but wish it had a yolk and an eggy taste. It felt like it only really contributed to the texture. Overall, it was really delicious and I only wish it had been bigger!

On the drinks front, Dr HH had a mocktail, the cranberries, which he really enjoyed, it was fizzy, fruity, and sweet. I had the oat of this world smoothie, which is thick and tasty but could have been a bit colder. In general we were pleased with the drinks selection.

We also got a bit bag of takeaway loot for one of our travel days. The no bacon or egg pie was the highlight. It was a big hearty slice generously filled with lots of pastrami and cooked onions. We didn’t really get much of an eggy flavour or texture to it though, unfortunately. It’s a shame we had it cold as I’d really like to have seen how it was when warm and a bit crispier.

The Cheez sausage with croissant probably would have been better if heated too. The sausage was tasty but there didn’t seem like much cheese, maybe on heating and melting it would have seemed more plentiful. This was tasty but the filling was just concentrated down the centre so most of it was just plain croissant. Maybe it would have been better to be sliced and have the sausages put in more like a sandwich.

The biscoff croissant was good. The croissant is well made and flavoured, and it was sliced and filled with a layer of biscoff spread. (Apologies for the blurry photo.)

The almond croissant was similar, it had a sweet almond spread on top and inside along with lots of flaked almonds – it was a bit too sweet overall.

The pain au chocolat was too bready and didn’t have a good pastry texture, unlike the other baked goods. There wasn’t a lot of chocolate filling so most of it was very dry. This was a bit of a let down.

The cinnamon bun wasn’t great either. It could have been a bit flakier or crispier, but it was all very soft. The flavour of the filling had a bit of a strange taste so it didn’t work for us.

Just when you’re thinking the sweet options here might not be that great – I also had a slice of chocolate mousse cake on one visit, which was basically a chocolate cheesecake. It was rich and delicious! I wish the biscuit base had been a little thicker, but no real complaints.

It was a really nice eatery, but we had one significant complaint which was that the music was too loud, at one point it felt like the bass was reverberating through my body. It’s not the experience I’m looking for during day time! Besides that, service is great and it’s a really light and airy spot.

The Hungry Tapir

We also visited this spot twice and really enjoyed ourselves. It’s owned by the same people, but has a different menu and is more of an evening spot – quite dark inside like a bar rather than a restaurant.

We tried two of the sharing plates. The fried cheeken was really tasty – battered and deep fried oyster mushrooms. The batter was crispy and well seasoned for a good savoury taste. They weren’t really much like chicken, but they were excellent fried mushrooms.

The satay was also excellent. There were six skewers. The mushroom chunks were tender and succulent, and the satay was spicy and well seasoned without being too hot from chillies.

We both loved the roti canai. This was the only time we saw a labelled vegan version of this dish during our two weeks in Malaysia, and I ordered it on both occasions because it was so good. The breads were perfect, really flaky and buttery. The sambal had lots of small pieces of tempeh in and was quite spicy. The dahl was well seasoned and quite mild. Our only complaint is that it was quite a small serving of dahl.

Dr HH also tried the jackfruit roti jala, which was a bit disappointing. The breads were fine, but the net-like style meant that they were missing the flakiness. The coconut raita was nicely flavoured, but the jackfruit curry was underwhelming. Despite this one not quite hitting the spot, we still rate this restaurant really highly.

There’s an extensive dessert counter, so I had the brownie which was rich and chocolatey but very much a cake rather than a brownie for me.

Dr HH had the banoffee pie which was sweet and creamy. The caramel was especially good, but the pastry could have been crisper.

We reserved a table for both visits, just to make sure we got in – especially recommended for the weekend as it was busy on Friday evening. We thoroughly enjoyed this restaurant!

Activities in Kuala Lumpur

Like most visitors to Kuala Lumpur, we went to see the Petronas Towers. We didn’t pay to go in, but enjoyed the view from the street below.

We also went to the Petrosains museum, which is about what you would expect from a science museum owned by an oil company! Online reviews suggested it was a fun destination for adults, not just for kids – but there were so many kids in that we couldn’t even get close to any of the hands-on exhibits, which is a shame. I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone without kids, to be honest. But it’s a fun opportunity to learn about how great the oil industry is!