It turns out there are some great alternatives to staying at overpriced and tiny airport hotel around KLIA, such as at Kip Sentral where I not only found a great little apartment, but some truly amazing food, not just of the street variety.
What the Kip Sentral?
Kip Sentral isn’t exactly on the tourist trail, but if you’ve ever found yourself needing a budget stay near Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), you’ve probably ended up here. This urban overspill zone is more about function than flair—built to accommodate the growing sprawl of KL and serve as an overflow hub for airport passengers and workers.
You’ll find a mix of cheap hotels, local eateries, and a weird array of barbers and for some reason a fuck ton of launderettes. Street food options lean toward Malay and Indian flavors, with plenty of late-night spots serving up roti canai, nasi lemak, and teh tarik.
Kip Sentral Street Food
What hit me when I first drove into Kip Santral – after a 5 hour drive from the Singapore border were the street food stalls, as well as the food trucks. And they were everywhere, despite this being an urban development and I have to love Malaysia for that. Instead of penalizing street food peddlers that add a degree of legality to it and let it do its thing.
For the most part and as mentioned it tends to lean on the Indian and Malay food scene rather than Chinese, but there really is a bit of everything. Hungry after having not eaten all day I first went for some Bakso Asli Jowo, what is a Bakso Alsi Jowo you ask?
Bakso Asli Jowo is the real-deal Javanese beef ball soup—springy, hand-pounded meatballs swimming in a rich, slow-cooked broth. Served with mixed noodles, sambal, and crispy shallots, it’s street food gold. Usually found in Java, or Johor, well you can also get it at Kip Sentral! Doused mine in hot sauce and honestly could have gone for a round 2.
I also went for Premium Smash Burger with cheese, fries, drink and a double patty. Now the naysayers might say this isn’t “real street food”, but just as in Port Dickson burgers are a thing here and Malaysian burgers are not just good, but bloody unique.
Following this I went for a walk to buy a a few bits, but was mesmerized by the wonderful stench of Durian! This took me to a fruit vendor where I went all out and purchased one for about $10. Really good, but I will avoid beer for after for fear of dying.
The Kip Sentral “Scene”
Kip Sentral is a bit of a quirky spot, offering a little bit of everything in a compact, no-frills package. Food-wise, you’re in luck—there’s no shortage of independent eateries scattered around, serving up all the local classics. You’ll also find a solid mix of local franchises alongside global fast-food giants like McDonald’s and Burger King. Whether you’re craving something quick and familiar or looking to dive into local flavors, Kip Sentral has you covered.
However, what really stands out here is the bizarre over-representation of barbershops and launderettes. Seriously, if you need a haircut or fresh laundry, Kip Sentral is the place to be—it’s like a grooming and laundry utopia. And then there is Kip Mall.
Kip Mall
Kip Mall is a bloody strange place in that on the outside it is indeed reminiscent of a mall, but inside it is a bot more feral and unorganized. Yes there are main stores like Watsons and even a Kenny Rodgers Chicken Roasters (he is the gambler), theres also a lot of randomness and independent hawkers.
Initial highlight was the supermarket, which was altogether a bit of a social hub and had a lot of candy. It was also very representative of the area with most people being Malay, or Indian with scant a Barang face in sight. In fact the only Chinese in the area seemed to have strolled over from the Holiday Inn, check the link you can see my room……
There were also a bunch of Malay selling cheap clothes (of course I picked up a t-shirt) and an unnatural amount of “gashapon” or “capsule toy machines” that are so popular in Japan, but have seemingly caught on in a big way, at least at Kip Mall…..
And Core Suite KLIA By DreamScape
The Core Suite KLIA By DreamScape was an absolute dream, pun intended particularly compared to the alternative. The rooms came to about $50 each, but essentially you get your own studio, rather than a tin can of a room, and not just that, but they even have a swimming pool, not that is used it.
Honestly though the place was not only a dream, but I imagine would be even cheaper when away from Chinese New Year. In fact I could even live here! Well I’d probably get bored to be fair…
Core Suite KLIA By DreamScape Address
Core Suite KLIA by DreamScape
Jalan KLIA 1/60,
Kip Sentral, Kompleks Pusat Perdagangan,
64000 Sepang,
Selangor,
Malaysia.
Quite literally 13 minutes by Grab from KLIA.