#038: Street View - Street Food

This is my second entry into my Google Street View expedition. Although I am not sure, at this point in time, how many more of these Street View posts I’ll do. Mentioned in the previous blog post, I stumbled upon many street-side stalls around KL while wandering around Google Street View, and the collection below is some of what I’ve found along the way. The more I trawl through Google Street View the more interesting scenes I find.

Malaysia, like many other places, has a love affair with its street food. Ask almost anyone and they’ll most probably have their own favorite street-side stall or vendor that they love and frequent. This usually extends to corner shops and small establishments that creep onto the five-foot way, and also, some that extend right onto the streets during the after hours. Be it food trucks, temporary stalls under an umbrella, or some semi-permanent establishments by the side of the road, we all know where the best ones are, ones where we’d drive across town to get a bite to eat. Some even provide their own seats so you can eat right next to them. Quick, easy, convenient, and most of all, well most of the time, they are delicious. Hence why we keep going back for more.

Street food almost everywhere showcases the amazing food culture of the area you’re in. They will sell everything from small snacks, drinks, fruits, to entire meals. Kuala Lumpur then is one giant mixed bag of goodies. Every different area or suburb in the city has its own little flavour and/or specialty. And we love them all.

Unfortunately, this COVID-19 pandemic and the unavoidable “lockdown” Movement Control Order, has put a giant stop to almost all street-side vendors for a good couple of months. This included street markets, food trucks, and any food serving establishment throughout the country. Anyone with a street-side food establishment would have had no ability to set up shop and to earn a living. Regular restaurants however were able to do only take out food throughout this period, and most people used food delivery services to support these establishments. Here’s hoping that once this situation gets better, we can all go out and enjoy the delicacies that we love the most. And in doing so we support the local economy, especially these sole-traders, these mom and pop shops that are a part of our city life.

To all the street vendors and mom and pop run food stalls out there, stay strong, and we’ll all be back on the streets again soon to eat your delicious food.

Cheers.

All photos are screen grabs straight out of Google Street View and then post-processed to my liking.