Turkish Restaurants in Malaysia
Turkish Restaurants in Malaysia
There are not many Turkish Restaurants in Malaysia. Several attempts were made to open Turkish restaurants in Kuala Lumpur. However, they were closed due to low demand from people. I will try to discuss here issues related to Turkish Food Restaurant in especially Kuala Lumpur.
Why Turkish Restaurants in Malaysia?
Turkish restaurants in Malaysia are the first alternative for visitors from Turkey, some European countries, Iran and whole Middle East including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Emirates etc. This is because Malaysian taste or in general the taste of far east are so much different from those countries mentioned above. Turkish restaurants offer wide range of food products or meals appropriate for their taste. This is because Turkish cuisine inherited its Ottoman heritage which could be described as a fusion and refinement of Turkic, Arabic, Greek and Persian cuisines.Turkish cuisine also influenced these cuisines and other neighbouring cuisines, as well as west European cuisines. Ottomans fused various culinary traditions of their realm with influences from Middle Eastern cuisines, along with traditional Turkic elements from Central Asia such as yogurt. The Ottoman Empire indeed created a vast array of technical specialities. It can be observed that various regions of the Ottoman Empire contain bits and pieces of the vast Ottoman dishes.
Before my trip to Malaysia, I was warned by my some master students from Saudi Arabia that I should make a plan for food before going to Malaysia. They told me that they had to find fast food solutions in Kuala Lumpur since they could not eat sweety Malaysian food. I did not have big problem myself overall but initially really difficult to get used to too much sweet nearly in every food. My best friend Azmi took me to Malaysian restaurant with my daughter. We really enjoyed the food there. But as we said there was sugar or sweet in every food. If you are not happy with sugar in your fish then you have a problem. My friend offered me Kebab and he added ‘this is your food and you will like it’. After tasting, I said ‘Oh my God. There is sugar in this kebab. We loughed a lot’.
In my opinion, the Malaysian food is not very healthy due to high level of sugar concentration in daily diets. There is currently one Turkish Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur as far as I know. You could comment if you know another.
The Address for Turkish restaurant in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia is given below.
Some Comments about Turkish Restaurants in Malaysia
‘Great place for a change in Kuala Lumpur. Enjoyed decor a lot. Check it out.’
Have been to the restaurant many times with my family. I think they open only in the evenings, not sure about lunch. The place is great! Atmosphere is way cool, food is superb,… It is a no-alcohol restaurant. Overall, still one of the best in Kuala Lumpur!
‘I had lamb kebab and my very first baklava in a Turkish restaurant in Kuala Lumpur 3 years ago. I was looking forward to try out Turkish ice-cream, which the friend recommends. The Turks are renowned for their sweetmeats, and I was confident they would be equally adept with iced confectionary. In the end, our original intention to have authentic Turkish ice cream had to be postponed due to our overburdened stomachs. Which is just as well, as it gives me another good reason to visit this multicultural outpost of Turkish gastronomy.’
pixen said,
May 20, 2007 @ 2:26 pm
Merhaba,
i think KL is lucky to have at least one turkish restaurant… in Penang, there’s NONE! I’d been craving for good quality Turkish cuisine, dondurma, lokum or even find decent sahlep. I mean authentic Turkish Cusine! To the extend i learnt how to cook Turkish food but to achieve the taste it’s quite difficult cos of certain spices like sumac for example… The picture of lokum realluy made me wanted to cry…:-( Thank you for the address.. I definately wil go there when i’m in KL.
Hoşca kalın
Dr. Cetiner said,
May 21, 2007 @ 2:09 am
Merhaba,
I am happy that you like Turkish food. But just wait! do I miss something in our traditional taste? Because my wife rarely uses sumak. Sumak gives really good taste but not used in all dishes. Depending on different regions there are really very different tastes. Take for example Gaziantep area. They are very famous with baklava and they use garlic a lot in many of maeals (but not as much as Indians or Pakistanis).
BTW, I found the name of this restaurant on internet. I could not go when I was in KL 5 months ago. But I really want to give a trial when I come again (hopefully). Please share your experience with us when you visit.
pixen said,
May 21, 2007 @ 3:12 am
ha… no problem! I will definately inform u
Ooofffff Baklava! woaaaaa..now I like that dessert too…:-D I also hope the restaurant still exists!
Hoşca kalın
Dr. Cetiner said,
May 22, 2007 @ 12:53 am
Thanks in advance. I hope so..
Btw, it is rare to find someone who can use ‘ş’ on keyboard unless you are Turkish or studying Turkish language professionally. You must have installed Turkish fonts.
Hoşçakalın
mohammed haizar said,
July 18, 2007 @ 8:22 am
Merhaba,
I think your friend azmi must be a kelantanese(state in east coast). Most of their dishes are sweet. For your information, Malaysian foods in general are not sweet, they are usually hot and spicy. The waiters and supervisor at Saray Restaurant could not speak turkish at all. The food are fairly good but still different from those in Turkiye. I really missed real Adana Kebab, shish kofte and dostlarim in Turkiye. Ne mutlu Turkum diyene.
Alma Hazirovic said,
September 17, 2007 @ 8:32 am
Merhaba!
This will most likely come as a disappointment to you all, but SARAY restaurant has been closed for some time now, probably a year or more. I did go there a couple of times while it still was operating, and it was good to have a place that smelled of familiar foods
Hope for some new similar places to start up in KL.
Alma
Dr. Cetiner said,
September 17, 2007 @ 10:17 am
I am really sorry. I was planning to visit there next month.
ahmad al_Libi said,
December 10, 2007 @ 6:37 am
salam..
merhaba!! (i guess this is the greeting for turkish)
how are you doing sir?
i’m one of ur student for CIM..
i was browsing to the blogspot u mentioned. and i’ve downloaded the slides.
then, i thought i give a visit to ur site. there’s a lot of new information here for me.
until i read this entry.. i smiled on my own.
anyway, i don’t have any specific comment about food and stuffs.
i just hope that u’ll be able to cope with the lifestyle here.
see u next wednesday..
wassalam
0338251
~(^_^)~
Dr. Cetiner said,
December 10, 2007 @ 9:12 am
Wassalam,
Thanks a lot for your good wish. This entry was made due to a seminar on search engine optimization. The restaurant was closed but I know from a friend that a new Turkish restaurant will be opened soon.
gnans said,
January 16, 2008 @ 10:26 am
Merhabalar,
Basically an indian was working in turkey for past two & half years…it’s nice to hear tha tthere is some glimse of turkish food avl. in KL too..i miss the healthy i repeat healthy turkish foods here in malaysia…
Turkiye cennath ve tukler sicak kanli…cok seviyorum turkiye ve turk bayrak…
gule gule
Dr. Cetiner said,
January 18, 2008 @ 11:58 pm
Merhabalar,
Thanks a lot for invaluable comments to all.
I was informed by some Turkish friends that there will be a Turkish Restaurant opening soon in KL. The area is near Bintang (Star Hill) where I bought my last notebook (spelling of Bintang may not be correct). He will be run by native Turkish people. I learnt that Saray restaurant had not run by native Turkish and was not a successful business. I am not so sure about this one. There are several restaurants claiming to be Turkish but none of them is real Turkish restaurants. I have been to some of them. They are either run by Iranians or Arab people. Nothing to do with real Turkish cousine at all.
Faisal Reza said,
March 1, 2008 @ 8:46 am
I am faisal from indonesia. I/my wife mad about turkish food, especially the shwarma and donner.
Any update on turkish restaurant in KL, is it opened already? any info on the detail address??
many thanks/wassalam
faisal
Dr. B. Gultekin Cetiner said,
March 2, 2008 @ 11:08 pm
Thanks for kind commenting. I asked the Turkish students around. They have also no idea. I will update the blog entry or make a new entry under the same category as soon as I learn something. Turkish cousin is very rich combining many different cultures due to heritage from Ottomans combining 14 different nations at that time. I think you should try main cousin,too since shwarma and donner are the takeaway versions only.
Bulent Karatas said,
March 15, 2008 @ 5:18 am
Merhaba,
I visited Kuala Lumpur in 2005 and was informed by few people about Saray Restaurant.
I still remember how i was amazed the moment i stepped in to the place.It was beyond wonderful.I enjoyed every single second i spent.I should count everything but it was superb.
I visited KL again last week (march 2008) dreaming to visit the Saray again but i couldn’t see it.I am pretty sure that i was in the same place but the restaurant was not there.I called their numbers while I was looking for it but the lines were out of service.Then i realized this wonderful restaurant was closed. I can not explain how disappointed i was.I spent my days looking for another one but didn’t have luck.
Finally I found this place called Tarbush.It was one of the worse experience in my life.Only one word will be enough..TERRIBLE.
Anyway.. I hope to see a new place in Kuala Lumpur next time I visit.
All the best.
Faisal said,
April 6, 2008 @ 9:14 am
I don’t know why it’s so difficult to find even the doner kebab in KL, I went home to JKT just for weekend holiday in where the situation is completely different.
The doner over there is marvelous well it’s quite close to the original taste (the iskander kebab).
thanks
faisal
Dr. Cetiner said,
April 6, 2008 @ 6:22 pm
Hi again,
BTW, is it so easy to go to JKT during weekend. I think it is not very close to Malaysia.
It is good to know it is available in JKT.
I saw some places near Lowyat plaza in KL. They have something similar to döner kebap. But unfortunately I could not taste.
Regards
Can Akan said,
April 14, 2008 @ 9:47 am
Herkese Merhaba,
I have a very good news for the ones who is dying to eat some fine Turkish food in Kuala Lumpur. Finally long waited the Bosphorus Turkish Restaurant in new Pavillion Shopping Mall on Jalan Bukit Bintang has opened. I was there over the weekend and I must say I’m very impressed with the menu selection. I was expecting a restaurant which you can find only kebaps and sort of dishes, but menu was so rich with Hunkar Begendi (Sultan’s Delight (Eggplant Puree with Cheese)), Karniyarik (slashed eggplant), Imam Bayildi (The Imam Fainted), other olive dishes and other fine Turkish kebaps, cold and hot dishes. Decoration and atmosphere are making you comfortable with white tones all over the restaurant and you can enjoy the food while watching the pictures of Istanbul from the flat tv on the wall.
I tried Mercimek Corbasi (Lentil Soup), Karniyarik, Cacik, eggplant salad and Turkish Pumpkin Dessert and Turkish Coffee and all were very fresh ( I waited around 15-20 minutes for Karniyarik) and delicious. I think for maincourses like Hunkar Begendi and Karniyarik you have to wait around 20 minutes as they cook everything fresh, but I must say it worths…
There is even small Turkish Carper Gallery attached to the restaurant. I chatted with one of the owners Selcuk Orman before I left, and he said they have been around the region since 1992 and they will also open a fast food restaurant in foodcourt of Pavillion within a month which will have Doner and kind of fast food. Below is address and contact number. They have also web site http://www.bosphprus.com.my but seems like not still on-air yet.
Bosphorus Fine Turkish Cousine
6.33, Level 6, KL Pavilion Shopping Centre
Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 KL
Telephone: +60-3-2142-4000
Fax: +60-3-2142-40001
Dr. Cetiner said,
April 14, 2008 @ 6:33 pm
Thanks very much for your invaluable information. We will hopefully try soon.
pixen said,
April 24, 2008 @ 4:40 am
Oh Woaaaa, that’s great news. I’m still planning to go to Pavillion. Thank you for the information Can Akan.
Dr. Cetiner - Merhaba! Now when you’re in KL, you shouldn’t have problem to find originale Turkish cuisine.
I just can’t wait to visit KL again. Wooohooooo!!!
Levent ŞENER said,
May 20, 2008 @ 3:06 am
Merhaba,
I am from Ankara Turkey, l use to run a restaurant in London UK as well as fish restaurant in Ankara. Right now l am planing to open a Restaurant in Malaysia, l have been in F&B since l was 17, as l was living in London l have had a friend from Malaysia who was studying there and l use to take him with me to dine and he give me to idea to start a real Turkish steak house which will serve real Turkish kebabs and Pide from real stone oven as well as Meyhane which will serve Aegean food. But, l have no idea how to start, like what to do and where to go for work permision or would they let me to bring my own employee. The other problem is that l can not speak native language, would that be a problem for me. Would you be kind to help me with this please. My E-mail is leventsener@gmail.com. Thank you for your interest.
Joan said,
June 30, 2008 @ 10:46 pm
I cant wait to go to pavilion to visit tat restaurant. I love DOENER KEBAP.. cant find it in kl here… disappointing.. the restaurant in pavilion open???
john97 said,
July 29, 2008 @ 11:38 pm
Tekrar Merhaba,
For Mr Sener, I think there won’t be any problem for you to open a restaurant here in malaysia if you could not speak local language. Bu hafta sonu, Pavilliondaki Turk Lokantasina gidecegim and I will give my comments. I am very sorry about the incident in Istanbul. Hope the culprrit can be caught.
Dr. Cetiner said,
August 5, 2008 @ 12:54 pm
Dear John97,
We are looking for your comments after you visit the restaurant in Pavillion. BTW, thanks for sharing the sadness in Istanbul Case. Good news is that they have caught the responsible people in that case. However, the connections to the specific organization is still missing.