In Malaysia, Indian cuisine is one of the finest cuisines you could ever experience and enjoy when it comes to food. Despite Indian people making up only 7.3% of Malaysia’s population, their influence in the national cuisine is immense, to say the least. With various foods such as curries, slices of bread, rice dishes, meat preparations, and more, there is plenty to discover and take your stomach on a gastronomic journey. Indian restaurants are the best way to experience Indian cuisine since these restaurants highly specialize in this cuisine. If you live in KL and are wondering “what are the best Indian restaurants near me?”, this article is here to help you find those restaurants to savor delicious Indian food.
If you’re looking for the best Indian food in KL, this article will list down 10 of them so you will not run out of options anytime soon. Indian cuisine has been a part of Malaysia’s cuisine for generations. With foods such as nasi kandar, banana leaf rice, pasembur, Maggi Goreng, and roti canai are unique Indian foods only exclusive to Malaysia? Breakfast dishes such as idli, vada, dosa (commonly spelled as thosai) and appam are also very common in Malaysia. With curry leaves, whole and powdered spices, a typical Malaysian Indian dish is likely to be redolent and contains fresh coconut in different forms. Ghee is still commonly used for cooking, although in home kitchens, vegetable oils and refined palm oils are now commonplace. It is customary to wash hands before a meal and cutlery are often not used when dining, with the exception of a serving spoon for each plate.
Let’s move on with the list of the top 10 Indian Restaurants in KL
1) Annalakshmi
‘Eat as you wish, give us as you feel’ was the concept first thought up and put forth at Annalakshmi, A humble restaurant founded in 1984 with the ambition of supplying the crowd with a selection of vegetarian dishes without a tag price on the dishes and the right to contribute to the patrons! Many years back, the scheme was upgraded and rates were fixed at night and a regular ALL YOU CAN EAT buffet lunch for RM188 (RM21 Friday to Sunday). The famous chapatis are the best place to start, but leave the room so that you can try anything, as with all good buffets. One can probably get anything and everything at Annalakshmi with an ala-carte menu range for the best price and ghee-some meals.
Address
116, Jalan Berhala, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Operating hours
11.30 AM to 3 PM, 6.30 PM to 9 PM. Opens daily
Contact Number
03-2274 0799
2) KAYRA Authentic Kerala Cuisine
Did you know that your favorite appam was originally from Kerala? Fun Fact: Kerala is a state on the Malabar coast in South India, famous for its beaches lined with coconut trees and many waterways. In terms of cuisine, the city is popular in all its permutations for its seafood dishes and preference for coconut such as fresh coconut, coconut oil, sliced coconut, and grated coconut. As in Kerala, the dishes here see distinct uses for mangoes (the state’s favorite fruit) as well as seafood, a combination that results in tangy flavors. The Alleppey Meen Curry, in which fish is simmered in ground coconut paste and raw mangoes for a cheerfully zesty curry. Check out their Meen Mappas for something similar to our home-cooked fish curry – spice-laden fish curry in rich and delicious coconut milk. In its mushroom version, the herbal Coconut Pepper Chicken performs almost as well as the Koon Pepper Fry. Check out Karya’s official or Facebook profile for more information on their menu.
Address
46, Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 1, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Operating Hours
11.30 AM to 10.30 PM Daily
Contact Number
03-7732 2009
3) Santa Chapati House
This chapati house can make chapati that any Punjabi mother will be proud of! For you to dive in with trays full of curries, serving Chapatis so fresh is so wonderful! With crunchy onions and a boatload of spices, tender chickpeas stirred in, best enjoyed with Chickpea Masala. Another lauded innovation is the Aloo Gobi (cauliflowers with potatoes), for more veggies.
Address
No. 11, Jalan Tun H S Lee, 50000, Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia, 50000 Kuala Lumpur
Operating Hours
6:30 AM to 8:30 PM Daily
Contact Number
019-269 9771
4) Anuar’s
The fish head curry at Anuar’s is so good, that you’ll be usually waiting for 45 minutes in queues before you can start enjoying their glorious fish head curry and meals for just RM3 including rice, curry, veggies, and chicken. However, the wait is totally worth it. Using only the finest ingredients and spices required for a great curry base, when enjoying Anuar’s fish head curry, the South Indian cooking style is evident.
Address
Bangsar At the corner of Lorong Ara Kiri 3, Lucky Garden, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur
Operating Hours
9.30 AM to 5 PM.Closed on Sundays
Contact Number
016-677 7703
5) Anjappar Authentic Chettinad Restaurants
While banana leaf rice is very comparable to this cuisine, Chettinad uses a lot of spices, making it one of India’s most aromatic, spicy, and hearty meals. And if you want to try everything without actually trying everything, their delicious biryani will round it up for you! One of there must-try meals is the Anjappar’s Chettinad chicken masala. Drenched in a stunning brick-red sauce fragrant with cumin, cinnamon, cloves, and in particular, black pepper, chicken pieces of tender bone-in chicken definitely live up to the reputation, leaving a tingling sensation on your lips and tongue in flames.
Address
136, Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Operating Hours
10 AM to 11 PM. Opens Daily.
Contact Number
03-2273 3812
6) Kanna Curry House
In serving one of Kuala Lumpur’s finest banana leaf dishes, this 30-year-old restaurant was a visionary. The seafood and meat choices are common as the flavors and spices are reflective of a traditional South Indian palate. There’s also an outdoor and indoor seating area in the Kanna Curry House, one of Kuala Lumpur’s most prominent Indian restaurants, and we recommend the daytime air-conditioned indoor seating. Go ahead and check out the outdoor frying station and select among a vast array of seafood selections while waiting for your banana leaf rice!
Address
29, Jalan 17/45, Seksyen 17, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Operating Hours
7 PM to 10 PM. Opens Daily.
Contact Number
03-7958 4814
7) Tengga Biryani
In this revolutionary Indian restaurant, where most dishes are served on the inside of a coconut, get in love with coconuts all over again! Inspired by Kerala’s cuisine, this restaurant whips up a whole bunch of herbs and spices with rich and aromatic biryani and serves them inside a tender coconut to infuse the traditional sweet nutty taste into the rice. It’s very difficult to say no to a second serving, steamed inside a coconut and served along with a hard-boiled egg!
Address
3, Jalan Margosa SD 10/4b, Bandar Sri Damansara, Selangor
Operating Hours
11 AM to 9 PM. Opens Daily.
Contact Number
016-301 3016
8) The Ganga Café
This hearty café serves among most of Kuala Lumpur’s healthiest vegetarian cuisine, free from additives and MSG. The Ganga Café obtains its supplies from a family-owned farm, providing fresh and organic ingredients. Balanced and nutritious are the moderately priced comfort food choices, while delicious and scrumptious are the extravagant Gujarati gravies and curries. The banana leaf thali is a fan favorite, for it integrates the classic Indian meal while adding a Malaysian twist.
Address
19, Lorong Kurau, Bangsar, Wilayah Persekutuan
Operating Hours
Monday to Saturday 8 AM to 10 PM, Sunday 10 AM to 3 PM
Contact Number
03-2284 2119
9) Jai Hind
This sixty-year-old restaurant offers one of the city’s most delectable and flavorful curries. The old-style Indian restaurant located in KL will certainly remind customers of India’s 60’s era dining houses, Jai Hind takes food from Punjab very seriously. They also serve fried carrots on one end to mutton bones stacked thick in dark gravy, but on the other hand, mind-boggling imitation meats tasting just actual meat, that you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference! The sweets are also must-try-with fresh ghee and top-notch ingredients, the north-Indian sweet bites are made on site.
Address
13, Jalan Melayu, City Centre, 50100 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Operating Hours
8 AM to 8.30 PM. Opens daily
Contact Number
03-2692 0041
10) Satti Sorru
Today’s a perfect day to change it up a bit and set your taste buds in flames and thrill with this new one! Every clay pot is made from scratch using their trademark herbs and spices and combined with rice, meats of your preference on high heat to get a potent loaded flavor at each bite. This is one of the local favorites so make sure you come as early as 10 am to get a chance at enjoying one of their Claypot chicken and curry rice.
Address
Jalan Loke Yew, Pudu, 55200 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Operating Hours
12 PM to 3 PM, 6 PM to 11.45 PM
Contact Number
018-962 4036
