Food in Kuala Lumpur, especially near my work place which is just a stone’s throw away from Pavilion KL, is definitely not cheap. I can’t afford to eat at the food court in Pavilion KL everyday because a meal there can easily cost like rm8 (excluding drinks)! My budget for lunch is less than rm5 per day.

The closest vegetarian stall I can find is actually at the Wisma Genting hawker centre but I try to avoid going there because although it is a ‘hawker centre’, it is not cheap. A packet of rice with three vegetables can cost me rm5.50! I have asked the uncle before how he got rm5.50 and his reply was that it is based on portion I have taken, the type of vegetables (mock meat or real greens), etc… He also added the prices of vegetables goes up and down each day, so its hard to actually say how much each on costs!

Errrr… You think this meal is worth rm5.50?

I think it is expensive

Or what about this rm4.80 meal?

Nearby, there is a building called UOA (I think) with a food court. Again, it is not cheap… Rm5.50 for a plate of rice with just three vegetables… And no soup.

Luckily for me, a colleague of mine introduced me to this place called Chinese Village. It is about 5 minutes drive away but parking is free. Yes, it is FREE… Hard to believe but yes, parking is free for the first 90 minutes, if you are patron there.

You must be thinking… Food must be super expensive, right? Well, you’d be surprised to hear this… I’ve been there like more than 10 times now and I’m just paying rm3.30 for a plate of rice with three types of vegetables AND a bowl of soup. Yes, THREE RINGGIT AND THIRTY SEN. Tiga ringgit tiga puluh sen. In Kuala Lumpur.

Comes with free soup!

Hard to believe this is only rm3.30, huh?

Chinese Village is actually a food court. So you can find lots of other types of food there. My colleagues who join me for lunch have remarked that the food there is good and more importantly, cheap!