Sek Yuen is an iconic Chinese restaurant in Kuala Lumpur that dates back to the 1940s. The restaurant is one of the new Bib Gourmand awardees in the 2024 Michelin Guide selection. Photo: Filepic
The Michelin Guide today announced the list of restaurants in Kuala Lumpur and Penang that have made it onto the Bib Gourmand selection for 2024.
Bib Gourmand is ascribed to restaurants and street food eateries that provide value-for-money meals, as decided by anonymous Michelin inspectors.
A total of 45 restaurants are now recognised with the Bib Gourmand title, up from last year’s 32 eateries. In this year’s Bib Gourmand selection, 14 restaurants are newly awarded the Bib Gourmand recognition – five new entrants from Kuala Lumpur and nine from Penang.
Two of these new awardees – Kuala Lumpur’s Sri Nirwana Maju and Penang’s Bibik’s Kitchen were originally Michelin Selected restaurants in 2023 but have now been redesignated Bib Gourmand titles.
Street food eateries make up nearly 50% of Penang's Bib Gourmand selections. Photo: Filepic
In total, Kuala Lumpur now has a total of 20 Bib Gourmand eateries with over 10 different cuisine types while Penang has 25 Bib Gourmand establishments with the state’s famed street food taking centre stage as nearly 50% of the selected eateries fall under the category of street food.
Notable new entries include Kuala Lumpur’s famed Sek Yuen, which traces its humble roots all the way back to the 1940s when three brothers began peddling wantan mee from a cart. Since then, it has grown into a formidable mainstay in the annals of the city’s Chinese cuisine scene.
KL’s 30-year-old Jalan Ipoh Claypot Chicken Rice is another new entrant that is famed for – as its name implies – chicken rice cooked to order over charcoal.
The other three Bib Gourmand newcomers in Kuala Lumpur include north Indian eatery Roti by d’Tandoor, Hakka restaurant Hor Por Cuisine and Sri Nirwana Maju.
Siam Road Char Koay Teow is known for the long, serpentine queues that trail it. This year, the street food icon earned a Bib Gourmand. Photo: Filepic
From Penang, notable new Bib Gourmand restaurants include the hugely popular Siam Road Char Koay Teow initiated by octogenarian stalwart Tan Chooi Hong.
There is also Sister Yao’s Char Koay Kak which is run by three sisters, who inherited their father’s business, which began in 1963, and features the Teochew specialty of char koak kak.
Other new Penang Bib Gourmand entrants include Penang Road Famous Jin Kor Char Kuey Teow, My Own Café, Hot Bowl White Curry Mee, BM Cathay Pancake, Ghee Lian, Bibik’s Kitchen and Ah Boy Koay Teow Th’ng.
"These newly recognised eateries enrich the local culinary landscape, showcasing the vibrant food scenes in both regions. Especially in Penang, where our inspectors were delighted to discover abundant street food and small shops with personality and quality food presenting different kind of local snacks,” says Gwendal Poullennec, the international director of the Michelin Guides.
The complete selection of Michelin Guide Kuala Lumpur and Penang restaurants will be unveiled on 17 November 2023.
