Back to VFQ Base Camp Kuala Lumpur

Having enjoyed local vegan life in Melaka for the last 6 weeks we were sad to leave but also looking forward to heading back to our Official VFQ Base Camp – the DoubleTree by Hilton, Kuala Lumpur. We knew they would look after us making sure our vegan needs were catered for and a super comfy bed, rooftop terrace in the Executive Lounge and lazing by the pool were all very tempting.

Business calls from the roof top executive lounge at the DoubleTree KL

The next few months will see the vegan luxury levels reaching new heights with some fantastic meals and hotel stays confirmed in Kuala Lumpur, Java & Vietnam and we were excited to hit the road and get going with our vegan luxury tour…

We left our apartment (and newly made friends in Melaka) the day after Germany (deservedly) won the World Cup which meant that Paul, despite knowing that ‘the best team won’ was a little disappointed that yet again the German football team were in a different league to the group of English players that he struggles to call a team.

Our new friends in Melaka – thank you for your kindness!

Up bright & early and on the local number 17 bus (which did us proud during our time in Melaka) heading for Melaka Central for our bus to KL, everything went according to plan and we were checking back into DoubleTree by Hilton KL just after lunch time…

Lovely executive room, super friendly staff and tasty vegan food meant that despite having stayed here more than anywhere else during our Vegan Food Quest it was NICE to be back.

We spent our first day lazing by the pool and making the most of our room before heading to the executive lounge in the evening for a few beers and some delicious vegan snacks specially prepared for us – thank you!

Tasty roasted vegetables in filo pastry served in the executive lounge

Day 2 saw us with an important date at the Shangri-La Hotel where we were being hosted in their legendary Shang Palace fine dining Cantonese restaurant. We put our best clothes on, did our hair & make up and headed across town to see what all the fuss was about.

All we can say is WOW, it was delicious with six courses of vegan Cantonese cuisine served in a private dining room by attentive staff who, along with Chef Tan, explained every dish in detail. We were joined by Coraline & Mariam from Shangri-La who, despite experiencing their first vegan meal, enjoyed it as much as we did.

Mock fish (which is our favourite dish) at Shang Palace

Thank you Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur for your generosity, and for those of you who want to know all about it you can read our restaurant review here.

The next day was spent wandering around the mall and eating cendol (we do love a good cendol snack) before heading to Kampung Baru. As well as being some of the most expensive land in KL, Kampung Baru is the home to many residents who have refused to move from this piece of land which is slowly being engulfed by KL growing around it.

Old & new living side by side in KL

We got lost, it was hot, we argued and to be honest by the time we arrived we had both had enough of exploring but we still managed to get a flavour of how life must be for these remaining residents of Kampung Baru – it made us wonder if they can they hold on to this piece of land in the face of multi million ringitt developments going on all around them?

Another visit to see our friends in the executive lounge rounded off day 3 where we were yet again treated to superb service and more tasty vegan delights… we have quickly got used to all the vegan luxury.

Our 4th day at VFQ HQ saw us invited to Makan Kitchen for a vegan meal. This is the flagship restaurant at DoubleTree KL and the Executive Chef, Adam Watson and his team took time out to personally welcome us and show us around this concept restaurant which has 3 ‘live kitchens’ each delivering their own cuisine.

Team Makan Kitchen meets VFQ

The food was fresh, tasty, inventive, vegan and plentiful leaving us struggling to try everything with the underlying concern that we may miss out.

Outstanding pasta & aubergine rendang ‘fusion’ dish from Makan Kitchen

It was a great vegan dining experience (read about all the yummy vegan food in more detail here).

As we prepared to leave KL we were sad to be leaving the DoubleTree behind (we really were very at home) But we were really excited to be heading to Java which was a new location on our quest to ‘Find, Eat & Write about the best Vegan Food in the World’.

We flew out of the brand new KLIA2 where we were both looking forward to checking out the ‘Be Lohas’ vegetarian restaurant.

A vegetarian restaurant at the airport was certainly a first for us and we were excited to see they served a whole array of vegetarian & vegan meals alongside lots of health food products. We were a bit disappointed that they didn’t do takeout though…