The Pasar Ramadan in Stadium Shah Alam is reportedly the biggest food bazaar in Malaysia. It opens once a year during the holy month (for Muslims) of Ramadan with various vendors from established shops to home cooks offering all sorts of delicious fare for people to buy and eat when they break their fast.
There’s a big stall with lots of BBQ chicken on spits turning over a charcoal fire offering just one item – ayam golek.
Ayam golek basically translates to “spun chicken” (I think) – and this particular stall sells it for RM 19 per chicken or RM 10 for half. The chicken is marinated in madu (honey) and rempah (spices) and it’s one of the most popular stalls there. It tastes really good!
Roti John stalls are also very popular. It’s basically a long loaf of bread stuffed with various ingredients – anything from beef to seafood.
I found one called Papa John with a fearsome queue – the Roti John is done up like an assembly line with a cook at the back and the French loaf sized sandwiches were flying off the table as soon as they got there.
We got the aptly named Extravaganza for RM 8. The regular ones are half the price but this contains generous slices of oblong burgers in addition to the minced meat (you can choose chicken or beef) that comes with the normal ones. It’s made a lot like a large Ramly burger.
Nasi Briyani Gam are also very popular with lots of stalls selling this special that hails from Batu Pahat, Johor. It’s a type of spiced rice that’s strained with a muslin cloth and served with chicken, lamb or beef. The kambing (lamb) is the best and goes for RM 8.
Funny thing about this stall is that it has no licence and *enforcement officers* were there giving them the good news. 
These enforcement officers roam around the bazaar to look for infractions – you need a special monthly (Ramadan lasts for a month) license in order to set up shop. This one didn’t have the proper license and I heard them negotiating with the enforcement officers, who fined them. It’s still one of the most popular ones though so I bought mine there…while the enforcement officers were writing the ticket. I reckon they’ll need the additional business. 😉
There’s also a stall selling durian crepes and Murtabak Singapore (a type of filled roti canai). It’s RM 10 for 6 pillows and it tasted really good. It’s supposed to be made with D24 durians.
It didn’t even last the trip home, we ate the last ones in the car. It’s supposed to be kept cold and it’s yummy when eaten chilled.
I also bought some fresh dates on a branch (quite expensive though) on a specialty date store that also sells various Iranian dates.
There’s also a stall that sells smoked duck – lots of the birds were hanging from a hook.
Ayam percik is another seasonal must have and my dear got a skewer for RM 3.50.
It’s marinated and chicken grilled over a charcoal fire with a unique sauce but it tasted horrible coz one side was burnt. I chose that one coz I thought it’ll impart some nice caramelization (like our honey spiced chicken) but it ended up being tough and bitter instead.
I did like the deep fried quail though.
The deep fried quail is simply called called burung goreng (fried bird) and just cost RM 4.50 for an *entire quail*! It’s small but delicious, if you like quail meat and it’s served with spices too.
The other good buy we made was at the stall that sells itik mandi minyak panas (duck bathing in hot oil). It’s apparently very famous – they had a bunch of articles in papers featuring the duck. The duck cost RM 38 each, which is about right (ducks cost about twice that of chicken) but we had bought so much stuff that we couldn’t even manage half. The man was kind enough to sell us a quarter (chose the duck leg portion) for RM 10.
I thought duck bathing in hot oil is a really funny and quirky name too and the guy manning the counter was very educated and spoke English with an Oxford accent!
There are ready made meals too but we didn’t buy those coz we already had a nasi briyani gam kambing.
Of course, being Ramadan, drinks are big at the bazaar too (since the fasting Muslims do this month includes not drinking during daylight hours). Sea coconut drinks are popular as well as the ubiquitous cendol.
I couldn’t resist this cendol stall that sells the shaved ice with palm sugar concoctions by the jug. There’s various toppings you can make too – tapai (fermented rice), pulut (glutinous rice) and durian.
One jug of ice cold cendol costs RM 6 with a topping (went with glutinous rice coz they ran out of fermented rice). I loved it! We got it in a huge plastic bag to go and I drank it for the next 24 hours. 😀
There was a massive traffic jam going back coz of all the people rushing back to break fast so we ended up eating the Roti John in the car in anticipation of the long drive.
We had a veritable feast when we got back! My dear promptly got food poisoning though and had to sit on the toilet a couple of hours after that. I was fine though, it’s the luck of the draw I guess, some of the food has been sitting there for hours.
Pasar Ramadan Stadium Shah Alam is very congested starting from 6 pm onwards and it opens at 3-4 pm. I still love going there though – it’s always very interesting to get different dishes to go at the food bazaar to eat at home. I spent a lot there coz I didn’t realize how the little things would all add up!
There are no seating arrangements and people don’t eat there coz it’s still fasting time but there’s such a lot of delicious things on offer that you’re bound to get more than you can eat. 🙂
This one in Shah Alam is really big and the food you posted is much different and interesting from others I have been to. I have not seen the Durian Crepe, Itik, Fresh dates and Chendol Durian flavour anywhere! I was buying yummy Ramadhan Food home for 3-4 times and just stopped because I was over buying them due to my greed! I could not finish them at all.
Talking about food hygiene, this is important as I have heard of other food poisonings too.
Yup, we made a trip there coz it’s supposed to have a lot of good food. 🙂
I heard about some on a radio channel while driving too.
The durian crepe is similar to the ones sold at some char chang teng, but better coz it doesn’t have as much cream.
I know what you mean! I spent a lot coz there’s so much things I want to eat too and it all adds up!
fresh dates and durian crepe are something that i would love to try! but the previous experience in one of the local pasar Ramadhan was bad, i had a severe throat infection after having some roasted chicken from one of the stalls, guess hygiene is seriously one main concern for me
I love fresh dates! 🙂
They sell those in certain hypermarkets too but those are mostly from India.
These are from Tunisia, which I found to be better.
Yeah, you can get food poisoning coz some of the prepared food has been there for ages. We stick to the hot food mostly.
I haven’t been to one in a long while as I’m worried of the food hygiene; the last time I went to a Pasar Ramadan, I only returned with a packet of lemang. ^_^
I’ve tasted fresh dates before. It tasted rather crispy but seeing that it’s raw, I could handle three at a time.
No wonder I saw MPSJ officers patrolling the area while driving past one of the Pasar. I thought they were only there to man the traffic and buy some food to break fast with.
I love lemang too! 🙂
Yeah, fresh dates are awesome, although I can’t eat too much too. It’s nice coz the texture is different from the dates that comes from a branch.
I mean, these comes from a branch too, you just pick it into a box but the dried ones are the ones I love and I can eat *tons* of them.
Yup, the licence needs to be visibly shown apparently!
my friend and i went to a pasar ramadhan the other day, ended up at pasar malam =.= both look similar..but i knew something was wrong, it doesn’t look like pasar ramadhan so i ask the vendors and wrong place baybee! =.=
i love ayam percik! i bought few pieces from the pasar malam but not nice one.. wasn’t well marinated!
Haha! I would have though the two sells very different kinds of meat. 😉
I’m not a huge fan of ayam percik though, that’s the one I only ate a little bit of while my dear finished it so it could be that.
It’s cold after standing in the servers for so long while all the other stuff we bought were either still hot, made as we watched, or cold.
Aaahhh…. this is one thing I really miss about Malaysia. All the different foods and cuisines.
Bang, roti john satu!
Roti John is something I really love too! 🙂
As a kid, I always couldn’t finish the entire thing coz it’s as large as a French loaf.
I can now although I wouldn’t be able to eat other things! It has 3 (!!!) oblong burgers inside, they’re very generous with the filling, although it’s double the price of the normal ones with minced meat (which is in the Extravaganza too).
The roti John looks good! Hadn’t had one in years!
There’s a couple of places that sells it exclusively nowadays but it’s not something I eat often too! 🙂
I’ve always thought roti John was a Singaporean invention though, for whatever reason, used to read about that as a kid.
HB, sorry to read of Ying taken ill from the food. I too worry of street food if not eaten right away. Had some friends also food poison from street food. Fresh made and eaten right away but they took back to hotel to eat that what happened.
Thanks for the concern Vickie! 🙂
It’s all good now.
Yeah, some of the food that has been standing there a while can be a bit dodgy, which is why we stuck to mostly hot food, food prepared in front of us, and cold stuff.
One of your best posts in awhile, HB! I really enjoyed it! All that food is making me crazy!
I’m sorry your lady got ill. I hope she’s feeling better.
You mentioned the vendor with the English accent. How much English is really spoken there? We’re expats and move around a bit. I’ve always wondered how we would really get along in Malaysia.
Thanks!
You’ll be fine in most major cities in Malaysia! 🙂
Most people can understand and speak English to varying degrees.
Smaller towns can be a bit of a problem though…and by that I mean real rural areas. I think you’ll get along fine though.
Thanks for the concern Mari, she’s all good now!
Come on over, cities like KL are quite cosmopolitan (not to the extent of Melbourne or Singapore) but English can be understood by most people.
The ‘itik mandi’ and ‘ayam golek’ is by far the best local cuisine I have enjoyed. Even threw the last piece of chicken breast into our noodle yesterday..Also the cendol and crepe were a good buy!
Haha….thank goodness after sitting on the toilet for a couple of hours, managed to flush out all the toxics..Thanks for taking care of me, dear. Hugs
Yup, I liked the ayam golek too dear! 🙂
I ate the ones we couldn’t finish (except the last piece) the next day and the last piece lasted till yesterday! Haha!
Yup, the cendol and crepe was good, the former coz I kept drinking it during the night instead of water. 😉
No worries dear, glad you are okay. *hugs*
Oooo…I love those durian crepes. RM10 for 6? Can’t remember how much they cost at the malls – probably cheaper here.
I think it’s cheaper at malls and at the char chang tengs! 🙂
The total 6 pillows of durian crepes combined is smaller than a Shanghai 10 durian crepe (which is less than RM 10).
However, despite being more expensive, it tastes good though. The tiny coin sized durian pillows have more durian filling inside instead of the ones they sell at malls and char chang tengs, which is mostly cream.
I looked forward and enjoyed visiting the pasar ramadhan! Lots of food under 1 roof. hehe….(tam jiak person is liddat)..This Pasar Ramadan Shah Alam, the food prices looks okay. The ayam golek..Seremban selling at RM20/chicken. More expensive summore.
Yup, me too! 🙂
Wow! Seremban prices are more expensive than Shah Alam?
I’ve also seen RM 28 chickens but never bought the overpriced ones. That’s the most expensive I’ve seen in Pasar Ramadan Stadium Shah Alam but most are RM 20 and below.
I actually worked in KL twice – even had a category for it since I started my blog almost 11 years ago – once when I graduated from university in Melbourne 2003 and again in 2008. The first time I got a way better offer with stock options at a start-up in Kuching so I went back in 2004. I always liked the pasar ramadan here.
It’s a lot bigger than the ones in Sarawak with lots more variety! 😀
I try not to go to pasar ramadan too much… the food are usually tempting and I always buy more than I can eat!
I know what you mean! 🙂
We went and saw so much delicious food that we spent quite a lot and realized that it was more than we’ll have spent if we had gone out for a nice dinner. Haha!
All the little things that you buy will add up to the total cost.
It’s good to go at least once a year to check out the food though. 😀
Huge variety of food….