Renewing a passport at Pudu's Urban Transformation Center? The one-hour processing wait won't seem so long for folks who take the short stroll nearby to Safura Restaurant, one of KL's more accessible purveyors of Burmese cooking.
Noodles from Myanmar are Safura's highlight: Naturally there's mohinga (RM4), the laksa-like recipe of vermicelli in a fragrantly fulfilling fish-paste broth with chickpea flour, boiled eggs, fish cakes, crispy-fried onions, coriander & more.
Not rich but delicately & deftly nuanced; every mouthful left us anticipating the next, eager to discover what nutty, eggy or briny flavor might emerge.
A less-creamy version of noodles in fish soup is also available, though we know not its exact name. Could be a variation of Rakhine mont di, maybe.
Served with a terrifying green-red chili sauce that's complex & packs plenty of firepower.
Panthay egg noodles, reputedly a Myanmar Chinese-Muslim recipe. Essentially egg noodles with chicken & veggies in something of a soy sauce. Street food, soul food.
Most of the noodles here are served with chicken soup & assorted condiments.
Shan noodles, a sticky sort with echoes of glass noodles, with peanuts & tomato sauce.
The noodles are eaten with kitchen-made pickled radish that supply an addictive tang.
Saving the best for last: Si Chet Khao Swe, Burmese oily noodles.
Garlicky & meaty with pleasurably chewy chicken. All portions are princely, ensuring that an entire football team could eat here on one RM50 note.
No liquor is available, but it's only a minute's walk to Pudu's Ancasa, where Casa R&B might be one of the city's least-populated hotel lounges.
Two glasses of wine here (drinkable, barely) cost double the Burmese noodle dinner. Gosh.
Safura Restaurant,
Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. Ermm, street-level of what was Kota Raya. Think this is Jalan Silang.
