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K-popped! visits Koreatown Malaysia (Ampang, Kuala Lumpur)

by Orchid | Tuesday, February 12, 2008

From the crew

K-popped! has gone all the way to Beijing in search of authentic Korean food. I think it’s high time we made a trip to Koreatown in Kuala Lumpur. Where would that be? Even though there are large communities of Koreans in Sri Hartamas and now Taman Danau Desa, Ampang is an area long known for its large number of Korean expatriates.

So one glorious Sunday morning, K-popped! Trio took a drive to Ampang. Since Rooster used to live in Ampang and was familiar with the roads, she drove us there.

roosterdrivestolittlekorea K popped! visits Koreatown Malaysia (Ampang, Kuala Lumpur)Rooster driving to Ampang


On the way to Ampang, we drove pass the magnificent Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers (KLCC) and Nikko Hotel. Although Nikko Hotel might seem an unimportant landmark to some, we were very excited to see it because it was where Rain and his entourage stayed during his 2007 visit to KL.

nikkohotelampang K popped! visits Koreatown Malaysia (Ampang, Kuala Lumpur)Nikko Hotel on the left, Citibank tower on
 the right at the Jalan Ampang crossroads

crossjunction jalanampang K popped! visits Koreatown Malaysia (Ampang, Kuala Lumpur)The legendary “Ampang Park” shopping
center at the Jalan Ampang crossroads

Without a proper tour guide, we decided to try our luck and headed to an area opposite Ampang Point shopping complex. The area is called One Ampang Avenue. To get there, turn right at the traffic lights directly after Ampang Point (the shopping center would be on your left).

ampangavenue K popped! visits Koreatown Malaysia (Ampang, Kuala Lumpur)One Ampang Avenue: You will see a Powerscreen
outdoor screen as you turn right into the area

We were so amazed and excited to see so many Korean shops! *duh* No wonder it’s called “Koreatown”! Except for two middle eastern shops, the rest were Korean shops. Korean restaurants, Korean hair saloons, Korean mini-marts and even a church!

Unfortunately since it was a Sunday, many of the shops were closed.

littlekorea koreatown ampang malaysia K popped! visits Koreatown Malaysia (Ampang, Kuala Lumpur)Koreatown on a Sunday afternoon

lottemart littlekorea ampang K popped! visits Koreatown Malaysia (Ampang, Kuala Lumpur)Lotte Mart @ Koreatown, Ampang

hanguk supermarket koreatown K popped! visits Koreatown Malaysia (Ampang, Kuala Lumpur)Another Korean Mart.
The Korean words read: Han-guk Syoo-peo-ma-ket

church koreatown ampang K popped! visits Koreatown Malaysia (Ampang, Kuala Lumpur)A church at Koreatown with church goers outside,
right after Sunday service

korean+tid+bits K popped! visits Koreatown Malaysia (Ampang, Kuala Lumpur)Some of the tid bits we bought from the various supermarkets


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  • kpop_rub

    OMG your cars are like in England…

    i am totally ignorant but what is ‘lotte’ i see it everywhere and have no clue what its all about

  • Farah Lisa

    wow. I never knew there’s such Korean town in Ampang. LOL.

    and seeing lotte mart is something interesting and got me and my sis really excited.

    definitely going to visit there soon.

  • Orchid

    hi kpop_rub…you mean we drive on the left side of the road. and the driver’s seat is on the right side of the car. yes like in England. :-) Not like in USA.

    I don’t know if the “Lotte Mart” in Ampang (or there’s also one in Sri Hartamas) has any association with the Lotte Group.

    There’s a Lotte World & Hotel in South Korea. It’s also called “Magic Land” if you watched Full House or Stairway to Heaven.

    Anyway, here’s the definition of “Lotte” from Wikipedia.

    Lotte Group is a large South Korea-Japan chaebol (conglomerate). Lotte Group consists of over 50 business units employing 38,000 people engaged in such diverse industries as candy manufacturing, beverages, hotels, fast food, retail, financial services, heavy chemicals, electronics, IT, construction, publishing, and entertainment. Today, Lotte is South Korea’s 5th largest conglomerate. Lotte has major operations in South Korea, Japan, China, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, USA, and Russia and continues to expand.

  • Clammy

    Lotte is a GIANT Korean company. They have everything from amusement parks like Lotte World in Seoul (the first time I rode a loop rollercoaster was there!), to machines and equipment, and even fast food chains (Lotte Burger).

    That’s funny that the korean market over there is just called Korean Mart or Korean Super Market. Here in L.A. we have Greenland market, Gaju Market, Hanguk Market, and the largest Korean food distributor in the U.S. is Aashi Market. There are also a lot of smaller markets. I actually know the family that owns the Aashi chain. A lot of korean food stuffs out in the U.S. is marked with their brand.

  • ladida

    Koreatown in KL. Awesome. But why would the shops closed on a Sunday?The city itself looks awesome. It looks very cosmopolitan. I want to travel to Malaysia one day. Does Malaysia have very strict laws against littering & vandalisms like Singapore? The streets/roads look clean

  • Clammy

    Ladida Is there a ktown in SF? I know a lot of people that live up there but they never mention a Ktown. I’ve only found like one decent korean restaurant open (all night) there.

  • Orchid

    Ladida – Clammy, you guys should hook up on Facebook! =)

  • ladida

    haha..Orchid, the matchmaker. Cute. ;P
    Clammy’s too good for me. He won’t fall for a dumb girl.
    Clammy: you know what, I don’t think there’s an official Korea town nor an officiallly disignated area for Korean shops/rests/etc. in SF. But if you go to Santa Clara, you’ll see a long strip of Korean shops/restaurants on El Camino or whatever it’s called.

  • Clammy

    ladida Yeah actually, there are a lot of koreans in Santa Clara and Pleasanton. I don’t mind if you want to hop on my facebook, I’m in the kpopped group.

  • Orchid

    ladida…hahaha you’re on to me!! :-P

    Yeah as Clammy said…hop on to the K-popped! Group on Facebook. It’s where like-minded people meet and mingle. It’s where dreams come true!

    * Okay Orchid will shut up now *

  • sezling

    thats so cool! i must go visit there next time i fly to KL ;D

  • kpop-rubba

    When I was in SF there was a map I was using that had a marked area called “Koreatown” it was adjacent to Japantown and only like 1 block! I highly doubt it’s officially designated…

  • Rooster

    ladida: about vandalism and littering in Malaysia, I’d say people cross the border to break the laws here.

    Ok, OK, I’m joking(Sorry lah, my M’sian brudders, play only ;p). Our laws aren’t as anal as Singapore, but we do our part.

  • Anonymous

    We have little communities of korean shops and churches here too.
    Oh oh I stay at the American Nikko Hotel everytime Im in SF! I feel kin to rain~
    ~A

  • seda

    you k-popped girls seem really fun.
    contact me if you come to seoul and need a tour guide :)

  • ladida

    Kpop girls have a personal tour guide in Seoul; i’m so jealous ;P
    Rooster. This is really off topic. I was going to post this yesterday but somehow decided against it. But…girl, you have a very nice even skin tone :)
    Kpop-rubba, thks for the corrections. Heehee..Clammy, i think you’re better off relying on someone who knows his/her way around SF

  • ladida

    oops, i forgot. thks for the invite guys. i don’t have a facebook acct yet (Gasp!), but i’ll activate one soon. I’ll def. give you guys a holler.

  • Orchid

    seda: thanks for the offer. yes we do need a tour guide if we ever go to Seoul! :-)

  • Liz

    Hello Seda, thanks for the offer! Yeah, we’d probably be lost without a tour guide. Kewl bananas!

  • Anonymous

    huuuu…. ampang avenue…
    i work & live around there :)

    eyka

  • shuxie

    omg.. i never knew there is korean town at ampang.. emmm

    i dont think i`ve been away that long huhuhuuh

  • Anonymous

    huu huu.. yaay you guys finally made your way to ampang ave. if you plan on having a meal, i’d say go for han wo ri or nak won. go on a friday/saturday and see all the koreans out in action.. lols

  • Orchid

    anonymous: Thanks for the recommendation! There are so many restaurants there, we didn’t know which one to choose!

  • Liz

    Hello anonymous, we actually went to Han Woo Ri for our lunch that day! Will blog about it soon.

    Han Woo Ri has an outlet in Subang Jaya as well!!

    As for Nak Won, there’s a branch in Taman Danau Desa now. :-) We didn’t go there though.

  • Rooster

    ladida: Haha! Thanks. :D

  • jzune

    ahh..Ampang Korean Town…I been there..gawd knows how many times..xDD found out that place in 2006…xDD and the shops always close on Sunday -_- well i think they wanna rest?? xD

    Somehow i prefer Sri Hartamas? been there more than 3 times but less than 10 times..XD too far…XD and kinda expensive too?? xD

    anyway, sometimes i like going there..cuz can get those korean cookies…LOL

  • Orchid

    jzune…which type of Korean cookies are nice?

  • alethea

    Oh! When you ladies go on a trip to Koreatown in New York we will have to meet up for lunch!!!

    : )

  • Orchid

    hi alethea…yeah we would love to visit Koreantown NY one day. :-)

  • wawa

    hey!hey!
    i found this blog when i was browsing the net to find news about korean thingy…hehehe!

    great blog people…neway, i’m a malaysian!i used to pass by the koreatown so many times…it looks great there…

    juz want to ask, if there any HALAL korean’s restaurant that you guys know here in KL…i’m craving to try korean food but it seems hard to find!

  • Liz

    Selamat datang!, 어서 오세요! Welcome to K-popped! wawa :-) Nice to see you here.

    I’m not sure if there are any HALAL Korean restaurants because Koreans love their pork, don’t they? I think I’ve yet to come across a HALAL Korean restaurant in Malaysia.

    If any of our readers have patronised a HALAL Korean restaurant in Malaysia, do inform us where it is. Thanks ;-)

  • Orchid

    @wawa: You could go to Sam Sam (삼삼) – Korean Cuisine. It’s a stall at Pavilion KL Food Court. Since it’s in a food court, i am quite sure they serve halal food.

  • ksw

    i love the packaging for the Korean chocolates. it’s too cute!

  • Anonymous

    Well i guess im pretty lucky since my house is really near to the korean town.But im not sure whether the restaurant served halal food.My mom did asked one of those koreans and they said no its not halal.I wonder if they offer any korean classes in ampang,because subang jaya and damansara is totally out of the way from my house.Thanks :)

  • .:[ ♦iaRe딜dAe♦ ]:.

    oh wow…….i’m malaysian and i never even heard of korean town…kekeke…

  • LOOPEY

    try NOLBOO in sunway piramid. its on level 1 next to Famous Amous and Mr Teppanyaki and uhm the japanese cream puffs. its pretty small, and they dont do pork. well the restaurant aint really like the one you kpopped sisters have went to. its pretty nice, and i like the owners :) the menu aint a lot, but the kimchi jigae is love. they put tuna on it :8D you have to try :D also try the famous yogurt icecream. its usually sold out o_o

    but have no fear! theres this new trendy yogurt icecream shop, at the same level only in the new wing near Sony Centre called uhhh -___- sorry i forgot yogurtberry maybe? something like that.

    you guys have to check it out :D

  • Orchid

    @loopey, thanks for the recommendation. Will try that if we happen to be shopping at Sunway Pyramid. But must do that when mom is not around. She isn’t too favourable with Korean food.

  • wawa

    hey guys!

    just to inform that in One Utama, just open a korean restaurant call Seoul Garden! it’s a bbq buffet style… and it’s totally HALAL (so…happy)the price is RM25++ per person (adult)

    i havn’t tried yet but i will soon! hehehehe

  • LOOPEY

    hey wawa, could you give the exact location in OneUtama? cause you know, OU is huge -_- and i would like to try it out (:

    please & thankyou

  • wawa

    @Loopey… well, i havn’t checked out the exact place yet but if i’m not mistaken it is somewhere @ the new phase… rainforest area i think!

  • LOOPEY

    @wawa: oh really, i’ll check it out. hm i saw seoul garden yesterday on my way to midvalley. its the building across Angkasapuri if im not mistaken, the one with the 2020 grass -_- its the opposite of it.

    i think the building is where the LRT goes through but yeah it was seoul garden alright, i dont know the building name -_-

    if you by any chance, are on that road on the way to midvalley using federal highway, you’ll see the building on your left :)

  • LOOPEY

    dear kpopped sisters. i went to search for it yesterday, but my mum & i ended up nowhere. we were lost. we turn right at the traffic light but there are only buildings of embassies -_- and we tried left, it lead us to KLCC. i think you guys came from the KLCC way right? i came from the other way from the US embassy.

    okay im so confused right now o_o

  • Orchid

    @loopey It sounds like you have not reached Koreatown yet. You can come from south or north Jln Tun Razak. Its fine. Just find the cross junction of Nikko Hotel/Ampang Park.

    Assuming you are coming from Jln Tun Razak south…(KLCC on your left, US Embassy on your right), then turn right at the Nikko Hotel junction.

    In your comment, turning right to the road with embassies sounds right. That’s Jalan Ampang. You will pass the French Embassy on left and China Embassy on right. Go straight down that road…pass Great Eastern mall & Gleneagles Hospital.

    You need to go straight around 15 – 20 minutes along Jln Ampang. You will then come to a flyover…go up the flyover and you will see Ampang Point on your left. After Ampang Point, turn right at the traffic lights.

    You were not there yet. Need to go straight along Jln Ampang.

  • LOOPEY

    oh now i understand (!!!)

    we went passed a lot of embassies, and Victoria Station. then we turned around at the traffic light. so we just have to go straight until we find a flyover ? loud & clear.

    thankyou so much :)

  • Orchid

    yes Loopey, you need to go straight some more until you come to a flyover! Hope you find it the next time!

  • wawa

    okay here are the details on Seoul Garden

    Seoul Garden
    One Utama Shopping Centre,
    Lot F235, 1st Floor Promenade (near One World Hotel)

    Price:
    Adult – RM25.88++ (lunch)/RM35.88++ (dinner)
    Child (12 yrs old & below) – RM16.00++ (lunch)/RM20.00++ (dinner)

    then they have a student meal and senior citizen’s discount!

  • Orchid

    @wawa, thanks for the info. Have you been there to eat? Good?

  • wawa

    @orchid…

    not yet. since it’s a buffet so i have to find few friends to join me… hahaha! it will not be nice to eat the buffet with someone who is not enjoying a food! seems like me & a few friends plan to wait for our salary! hehehehe…

    yalor… they stated ++ there! & who knows if i eat juz like a monster and i don’t bring enough money… wahahahah! sediakan payung sebelum hujan!

  • LOOPEY

    ladies i found it :D I FOUND IT I FOUND IT (:

    thankyou sooooooo much :) it was great my trip there was great.

    and the best thing is when i went into ‘Korean Mart’ my fav Bigbang’s song was playing and the cherry icecream was delicious.

    thankyou so much :)

    btw theres also a Seoul Garden in Plaza Pantai. opposite the Angkasapuri building on your way to Midvalley using Federal Highway. the plaza is on your left.

  • Anonymous

    Hahahah koool, the only korea town i noe is in manhattan new york hehe xD

  • George

    Geez you haven’t been to Flushing NY? The food there I found better were than Manhattan! Thanks for this blog, I can finally try out something different.

  • thetrystero

    can someeone tell me where the korean churches in k-town are (like the one in the photo)? thanks!

  • Jacky

    Hi there.

    I’m wondering how to reach the koreatown by means of public transport like LRTs or the buses?

    Thanks.

  • Rooster

    @Jacky: Sorry, a little late in responding.

    I use to take bus #23 that runs through Jalan Ampang. BUT that was many years ago. I haven’t taken the buses in a long time.

    If you can get to Ampang Point, then you’re really close to Ampang’s little Korea.

  • silverchainsaw

    i went there just now
    but it seems a bit boring..
    theres alot of restaurants..
    theres no souvenir shops there??

  • Anonymous

    hey kpopped! i would like to ask you guys. is the korean mart halal? because im dying to go there! im just afraid if the foods there is not halal. but im praying rite now may it be HALAL,amen! and kpopped sista rocks! :D D

    xoxo,
    shahera

  • Anonymous

    for halal korean food, just try at Midvalley/Pavillion/ KLCC foodcourt… For me, I always have my Korean food dish at Haeun Khon Restaurant at Amcorp Mall PJ. The food is fabulous n affordable:)

  • Anonymous

    For muslim, you gotta check the ingredients for Korean candies or snacks… it may contain non-halal stuff (lard, beef gelatine).

  • - blek -

    Hi guys,

    Anyone knows is there any pub playing K-pop??

  • E-V

    oh, this is so cool… i’ve gotta go there someday… but it’s kinda troublesome to take a pulic transport coz i’m staying at wangsamaju. sigh..

    would really like to check out their church too ^^

  • shancq

    I'm in need of desperado help here!! Can anyone pls… PLS!!!! Go there n take some really awesome pics n describe how it was coz I need to do an ICT project which the topic is 'interesting places in malaysia'… I dont hv any idea wat to do but this..I've been there… But I can barely remember how it looks like since I was like, 7?
    oh, n the biggest obstacle here is.. I'm in 8-hours-away-from-kl, KELANTAN!! So.. pls!!! PLs!! Begging here XD

  • John

    KL is just another piece of "empty shit" city, looks kinda like alrite from the outside, but a piece of shit on the inside. Lots of snatch thefts, burglaries & etc etc. It's not clean at all, it's just another piece of chaotic shit. I was born in KL but I loathe it until the point of indifference, like KL? Whatever… a piece of shit. BTW, did I mention that their service attitude is the worst? Avoid this shitty piece of hypocrite land called Kuala Lumpur at all costs.

  • Miss Healerzz

    ^geez brudder, keep it to yourself will ya? This is not the place ==;

  • peikei

    Hi Trio,
    this is an amazing site with a lot of korean info :D
    i would like to ask if you know where to get hwatu decks in malaysia? do they have it in the local korean supermarkets?

    keep up the good work!

  • Koürni

    hi, do you think we can find home decorative items (ie lamp, curtain etc) at korean town, ampang?

  • Liz

    Hi Kourni, unless the supermarkets carry those items (which I think they don't) then you'll find home decorative items at Korea Town, Ampang.

    The last time we went, the shops were mostly grocery stores, restaurants and hair dressing shops. :-)

  • kaerun~

    sorry asking..is it lotte mart have halal ? i want to try buy at that mart if halal…rice cake in malaysia not popular right like fish cake or anything else..?

  • Liz

    Hey kaerun~, it's best to check the label before buying anything.

  • kaerun~

    thanks liz…

  • prydox

    hi.
    juz wanna ask if u happen to kno where i cn get the dvd of korean kpop dance game for ps2 that compatible with dance mat.plez..
    thanks

  • prydox

    hi.
    juz wanna ask if u happen to kno where i cn get the dvd of korean kpop dance game for ps2 that compatible with dance mat.plez..
    thanks

  • kaerun~

    i want to know in gochujang have what ingredient?muslim can eat or not?
    and why in malaysia rice cake not have?they call that as what/?

  • fizzyhasan

    @kaerun~ i'm muslim and i ate gochujang. it's like chili paste. i believe you wanna make ttokbokki?
    it's hard to find ttok[rice cake] here in malaysia.
    however, can you try and look at http://aeriskitchen.com?
    i think she shared how to make ttok yourself.
    hope this helps.

  • http://twitter.com/muniemuniratul munie muniratul

    hi guys, i plan to go there tomorrow with my friends. wish can go to some interesting place there. =)

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