Kelana Jaya Ramadan Bazaar
If you’re looking to avoid the huge crowds at Ramadan bazaars in Klang Valley, the one in Kelana Jaya is one you should visit. Located in the heart of a neighbourhood street, on Jalan SS6/1, this bazaar is one of the larger neighbourhood bazaars, stretching almost 1 kilometre.
The bazaar also offers many more affordable food options than at other, more crowded bazaars in the city. Expect snacks to start at RM4, and more expensive dishes to start at RM18.
Here’s what we got for under RM50.
What can you get with RM50 at Kelana Jaya Ramadan Bazaar
Honey chrysanthemum tea
While most air balang stalls may be selling a varied line-up of colourful drinks, this stall at Kelana Jaya Ramanda Bazaar pulls a one-trick pony by only specialising in honey chrysanthemum tea. They’re selling roughly a litre and a half of honey chrysanthemum tea for just RM5.
It was sweet without being sickly and slightly floral, thanks to the chrysanthemum. Though we think the chrysanthemum flavour could be amped up more, as you could taste more of the honey than the tea itself.
Tauhu bergedil from Aunty Tauhu
Tauhu bergedil is one of the must-have snacks when you’re at a Ramadan bazaar, and the one from Aunty Tauhu in Kelana Jaya hits the spot.
For the uninitiated, auhu bergedil, or stuffed tofu puffs, are filled with potatoes and minced meat, either chicken or beef, before being deep-fried to golden perfection.
We ordered half a dozen of the deep-fried tofu puffs for RM12, and it was worth every ringgit. The bergedil were well-seasoned and weren’t overly greasy, while the potato and minced chicken fillings were generous, with each bite bursting with them.
The sambal kicap and the slivers of green chillies elevated the tofu puffs. The sauce was sweet, savoury, and alarmingly spicy, which helped take away some of the greasiness of the tofu puffs. Overall, this was one of the best dishes we’ve had from this bazaar.
Pita wrap from Lyn Kebab
Straying away from local delights, this stall at Kelana Jaya’s bazaar sells wraps inspired by Doner Kebabs from Turkey. Customers have a choice between three types of carbs: bread, pita bread, or a tortilla wrap to encase their proteins.
We had a choice between beef or chicken for the wraps, so we got a chicken pita wrap for RM6.
The pita wrap had generous portions of chicken, along with lettuce, tomatoes, and onions drizzled in sweet chilli sauce. The chicken was slightly tough and dry, but the accompaniment of fresh vegetables helped alleviate some of that dryness.
The wrap itself was filling, but there wasn’t anything to shout about it either.
Apam Balik from Apam Balik Adik Beradik
A Malaysian dessert present at every night market and Ramadan bazaar is none other than apam balik, a sweet pancake-like dessert with variations across Southeast Asia.
We ordered one with the usual toppings of corn and peanuts for RM4.
The pancake was thick, soft, pillowy, and slightly sweet. Most of the sweetness came from the filling, a brown sugar with crunchy peanuts and corn mix that also served as a great textural contrast from the soft apam balik. It’s a classic snack that fetches a reasonable price at the bazaar in Kelana Jaya.
What to get at Kelana Jaya Ramadan Bazaar in PJ
For a neighbourhood bazaar, we spent a total of RM27 on four items, which was still enough to share with two people. That being said, you could comfortably feed up to three hungry individuals for RM50.
While it isn’t as well-known as the bazaar in TTDI, for example, the Kelana Jaya bazaar had a fair amount of variety in its food offerings. Apart from the beloved traditional Malay dishes, you can also get Chinese dishes such as dim sum and chee cheong fun here, so you can have a pretty varied dinner without having to drive into KL.
Address: Jalan SS 6/1, Ss 5, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Opening hours: Sun-Thu 2.30pm-7.30pm | Fri & Sat 3pm-8pm
Cover image adapted from: TheSmartLocal Malaysia
Photography by Brooklyn.