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In the 1970s, Kuala Lumpur sprawled in all directions along newly constructed freeways, but toward the southwest — in Subang Jaya — it grew dramatically as vast rubber plantations were redeveloped by Malaysian property company Sime Darby into a number of different subdivisions.

Some subdivisions were better designed than others, but travelgasm.com's favourite in the area is SS 15. Nowhere near the tourist trail at the time we first penned this piece, and often written either with or without a space — SS 15 or SS15 — this science-fiction worthy district name is an abbreviation for the 15th subdivision of the matter-of-fact Sungei Way-Subang.

Although SS 15 originally was car-dependent entirely, it was designed with a tight, orderly grid and shophouses with covered sidewalks in front. It could be better, but it is quite walkable for Kuala Lumpur. In 2016, SS 15 received its own LRT station (KJ29) and this addition made the area far more attractive as a place to visit or live.

SS 15 is famous in Kuala Lumpur for its schools, most notably INTI International University and ALFA International College, but there are dozens of secondary, English language, and cram schools in the neighbourhood, too. As you might expect given this concentration of students, SS 15 is a hip, young area and well known among locals for its budget friendly restaurants, bars, cafes, and coffee shops.

A Future Vision for SS 15

We like SS 15 not only for what it is but also for what it has the potential to be.

Rubbish collection is much better than it once was, but there still are merchants and residents who store parked cars, piles of inoperable motorbikes, construction materials, and other junk between shophouses in wide corridors that were intended to be walkable but are blocked. Other merchants have recognised the value in these spaces and have instead made them pleasant — and profitable — with walkable throughfares that showcase their products for sale as well as outdoor seating for live music and dining. At least when a pandemic is not raging, people eating and drinking generate more revenue than inoperable motorbikes and junk.

Already, there have been some efforts in SS 15 to charge for street parking and shift to district parking — consolidating parking for the entire area in multi-story car parks toward the periphery — but it is not uncommon for locals to grumble about parking while idling one to a car while stuck in traffic. Parking enforcement — even of double parking — is lax, and it is not uncommon to see cars scattered haphazardly all over the place. Of course, you can avoid most of this vehicle-based mayhem by just using the LRT.

In addition to correcting inappropriate sidewalk usage and eliminating double parking through adequate law enforcement, it would make us quite happy to see SS 15 improved with wider sidewalks and street trees. It also would be worthwhile to have a reduced number of street parking spots at higher prices to encourage usage of district parking, mass transit, and walking.

What would really make the district special, though, would be to create a "pocket" for people next to the SS 15 LRT station and convert Jalan SS 15/4b into a walkable, tree-lined, people-only street from the station to the Subang Square mall. This enhancement would help to refocus the district and give it more of a sense of place. It also would significantly increase SS 15's LRT usage and the value and safety of the area while reducing parking problems and traffic.

The bones of the district are good and the retrofitted LRT station was well located. With a bit more effort and care, SS 15 very well could be a world-class neighbourhood.

Best Food in SS 15 Now

One of the best reasons to visit SS 15 now is to eat or hang out in one of the area's restaurants, bars, cafes, or coffee shops. Whether or not you ponder the future of the district is up to you. As is common for university areas, it wakes up late, so generally the best time to visit is noon or later.

Seven well-known, inexpensive eateries include:

1. Soi 55 - It might be heresy for one of your favourite restaurants in a neighbourhood in KL to be Thai food rather than Malaysian. Nevertheless, we especially appreciated Soi 55, not just for its food and decor, but also for its pleasant usage of its outdoor space. If all of the outdoor spaces in SS 15 were as well utilised, the district would be quite a bit nicer.
2. Ooi Noodle House - Established in 1988, this breakfast and lunch spot is locally famous for its pork noodle soup diligently prepared one bowl at a time. Be ready to wait regardless, but the queues likely will be shorter in the mornings.
3. The Toast House - A new hotspot that has quickly earned a good reputation for its Taiwanese style toast, pancakes, and sandwiches.
4. Oregi - This reasonably priced — simple, but clean — Arabic restaurant is open from 4 PM to 2 AM. Popular with a late night crowd. Closed Mondays.
5. JIBRIL - This speakeasy style lounge and restaurant has earned a well deserved reputation for its tasty butter chicken.
6. Peppercorn Cafe - Popular with students for its inexpensive Western breakfasts as well as set lunch options that generally include a generous slathering of spicy pepercorn sauce. Open for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, too. Closed Sundays.
7. Lim Fried Chicken - Founded in 1983, this local chain of fried chicken restaurants has a suspicious acronym, but locals often swear by its crisp and juicy chicken served with rice and sambal sauce.

Best Bubble Tea in SS 15

In the last few years, SS 15 has become a popular haunt for Taiwanese bubble tea (boba). In fact, one street — Jalan SS 15/4 — sometimes even is referred to as Bubble Tea Street, although tea shops continue around the corner on Jalan SS 15/7, as well.

If you have been to Taipei, you immediately would have recognised that the shops in SS 15 once mostly were major Taiwanese chains and franchisees rather than local stores. Given how trends often spread among students from one Asian city to another, it is not surprising to see bubble tea become popular in this part of Kuala Lumpur, either.

However, the pandemic hit the area hard and many of the chain stores did not stick around. Nevertheless, some of the more committed shops survived and new ones have started to emerge from the metaphorical rubble, too. A couple of the most visited shops in SS 15 remain Taiwanese chains Chawanjia (茶丸家) and Gong Cha (貢茶) and a newer, promising local option that got its start in the district is Pin Tea (品茶). If you would like to save a bit of money, you also could pre-purchase a discount voucher for Gong Cha that is accepted at the SS 15 location and select others in Kuala Lumpur.

Personally, we prefer a balanced flavour where it still is possible to taste the tea, which generally means reducing the sugar a bit from the default offering in Malaysia or Taiwan, either one. Commonly, we even choose to order bubble tea with pearls and milk but without sugar at all, but this is fairly atypical. Because these bubble tea places are all bunched together in the same area, it is easy to pick and choose to find your own favourites. You certainly don't have to share our boba tea preferences.

Below, we have mapped out the best walk to the restaurants and bubble tea street from the SS 15 LRT station. If you visit during the evening, remember that the LRT generally stops running around midnight, but also double check the official schedule for the day of your visit in advance. Keep your departure in mind should you wisely wish to avoid what would be a long and expensive taxi ride back to the core of the city — even if you could accomplish the quixotic task of finding an honest taxi driver in Kuala Lumpur. Have fun!

How to Get Here: Take LRT Kelana Jaya Line (Line 5, Pink) to SS 15 Station (KJ29). Use the East Exit (First Subang Mall) to begin our suggested walk.

travelgasm.com's SS 15 Subang Jaya Map (Full Screen)

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