Chow Kit Market Kuala Lumpur – Chow Kit Market guide
Chow Kit is a traditional Asian wet market
If the delights of KL’s Central Market seems a little to sterile and tourist-orientated, then Chow Kit may just be the place for you. There are no designer labels or credit card receipts here, and rarely a foreign face in sight. For this is a traditional Asian market with all manner of goods on offer from stomach-churning oddities to weird and wonderful potions.
And it is a stark contrast from some of the palace-like shopping malls of the Golden Triangle and KLCC. Although the burgeoning Malaysian middle classes have begun to shun traditional wet markets in exchange for sanitised Western supermarkets, the daily shop at places like Chow Kit is still the norm for many Kuala Lumpur people and one worth experiencing for any visitor.
What to see in Chow Kit Market
Chow Kit Market (Malay name Bazaar Baru Chow Kit) is the largest wet market in the city and opens daily from 9:00 to 17:00. Here you can find vegetables, tofu, fruit, spices, fish and meat plus all manner of fresh (and often alive) seafood such as muscles, clams, lobsters and crabs.
But there are also a few small food stalls selling traditional Malaysian dishes such as Nasi Lemak and some dry goods such as silk, fashion, shoes, DVD movies and haberdashery items. The market is mostly covered but occasionally sunlight creeps through the awning giving a fierce blast of KL sunshine.
Navigating around Kuala Lumpur’s Chow Kit Market is not the simplest task, it is a narrow maze of dimly-lit alleys and passageways. The paths are usually wet with the water which traders splash on their fish in order to keep them fresh.
Spice sellers stand behind a kaleidoscope of powders while herbal medicine specialists can prescribe all manner of concoctions to cure every possible ailment. Men grind the flesh out of coconuts for use in an assortment of fragrant curries and soups while exotic jackfruits and durians can be bought for a pittance.
Chickens are plucked and ready for sale
Chow Kit market is a place to indulge your senses and experience a way of life for many local people that has not changed for generations. Everybody is so pleased to see tourists here that you will have no problem at all persuading stall holders to pose for photographs or explain what they are doing. There is no hard selling here like in Chinatown where every tourist is treated as a potential sale, everything is much more relaxed and genuine.
If you have never experienced the intoxicating wonder of a true Asian wet market then why not do some shopping at Kuala Lumpur’s Chow Lit Market. It is surely an eye-opening experience and one you are unlikely to forget for many years to come.
The easiest way to reach Chow Kit Market is to take the KL Monorail to Chow Kit station and walk back 100m on Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman. Chow Kit is on the left hand side but should you get lost then anyone will be able to point you in the right direction.
Travel Tip
Obviously all the spices plus fresh and dried fish for sale invokes a pungent aroma not for the faint-hearted, and it is also not wise to wear your best wardrobe on any excursion here as drips and splashes are commonplace.
