Yarl TTDI – Sri Lankan Restaurant KL
Words: Monica Tindall
Photos: Peter Tan
One of several locations, Yarl in TTDI is a casual place to enjoy flavourful Sri Lankan cuisine that won’t break the bank. This is my first visit, but my team have been several times and highly recommend aiming for off-peak periods as it’s a popular joint!
Parking is on the street, and it’s busy! You can pay with one of the online apps (80 sen per hour) or pay a bit more and be more likely to grab a spot at the TT Gardens parking station across the road from Yarl TTDI.
The setting is a simple design with several tables on the covered patio and the rest inside. The semi-open space is cooled with both air-con and a lot of ceiling fans. There’s a bar at the back where you can watch baristas pull coffee and tea, and a counter display of hot dishes in the bain-marie for lunch and dinner.
Yarl TTDI Menu & Prices
Yarl TTDI caters to Sri Lankan food enthusiasts throughout the day. Their extensive menu takes diners from breakfast to lunch to dinner. While most dishes are prepared in a central kitchen to ensure consistent quality across locations (The Row, TTDI & Brickfields), breakfast features aspecialselection of freshly made items like hotthosai, crispy appam, idli, idiyappam,puttu, andvadai. Lunchtime offers thali meal sets, displaying daily specials in the bain-marie. Thali Sets continue into the evening for dinner, alongside freshly prepared kothu, appam, and thosai.
Breakfast Menu & Prices
Carbs are the name of the game at Yarl TTDI with a variety of delicacies made on the spot, served with traditional condiments. Previously the breakfast items were only available in the morning, but the assortment was so popular that they’ve now made them available throughout the day.
From the sets menu, we try the Idiyappam Set (RM 9.50) and the Puttu Set (RM 9.50). The former comes with three string hoppers (rice noodles pressed flat into a disc-like shape), and the latter is another rice base; this time, ground Sri Lankan red rice is mixed with coconut, steamed and rolled into cylinders. Both are sauced up with iddi sambol (a spicy, dry sambol of chilli, lime juice, onion and coconut ground with a pestle and mortar), tomato onion curry (medium heat with a tang) and sothi (vegetables in mild coconut milk curry). The recommended procedure is to pour everything on top and dig in. The portions are large. I’m not sure I could finish one off by myself. I’m lucky I have a team of tummies to support.
We do love Sri Lankan pancakes or appam. Our photographer, Peter, and his wife are regulars here, just for the appam. These thin bowl-like structures are made from fermented rice flour and coconut milk. They’re generally easily digested and a delicious gluten-free alternative. The centre of a good one resembles the risen centre of a crumpet, aerated and springy. The Egg Appam (RM 5.50) is on the savoury side with a perfectly runny yolk in the middle, served with iddi sambol, while the Sweet Appam (RM 5.50) is sprinkled with jaggery and coconut milk. You can add a scoop or two of ice cream if you like dessert for breakfast. We can see why these are hits.
Made from rice and gram (a type of legume), thosai are also generally gluten-free. They resemble crepes with their thin, flat appearance but have an attractive paper-thin crunch when done well. The Mutton Masala Thosai (RM 19) is superbly crisp and resembles a large burrito with the mutton and potato rolled inside. It’s served with tomato onion curry, chutney and sambar (a lentil and veggie stew).
The Yarl Thosai (RM 6.80) is a departure from tradition. Instead of the common rice and gram, Yarl’s signature is made from wheat flour and a mix of spices – turmeric, ginger, onion and green chillies. There’s also a touch of gingelly oil, which is similar to sesame oil but made from toasted seeds. The thosai has a slightly thicker texture and sports an attractive canary yellow hue that’s golden brown on the edges. If you prefer thin and crispy, go with the traditional thosai, but if you like more flavour and texture similar to a thicker crepe, try Yarl’s signature.
From the kothu corner, both the Veg Kothu (RM 9.50) and Chicken Kothu (RM 15) are excellent choices. Guests can choose a base of idiyappam, puttu or roti, again giving gluten-free options (the first two are rice-based, and the latter wheat). The base carb is chopped finely and tossed together with fried veggies, onions and the protein (or veg) of your choice. Pictured below is the veg version with shredded string hoppers.
Lunch Menu & Prices
We’re at Yarl TTDI during that magical period between breakfast and lunch, so get to see how the menu begins to change throughout the day. The lunch deal is thali meal sets. Guests pick from the display of daily specials with vegetable and meat dishes on the bain-marie.
You pay for the rice and base protein (EG fish RM 16, mutton RM 10) and then add on veggie portions for RM 3 each. Our set is based on tenggiri fish curry and rice (RM 16), which is smooth and viscous and provides a slow, medium heat that tickles the back of the throat. We add on a bunch of vegetables. There are lots to choose from, and they rotate daily. We try a fresh gothukola sambol (raw pennywort salad tossed with coconut, lime juice, onion and green chillies), pumpkin and tapioca curry (soft and creamy), beetroot varia (dry, shredded stir-fried beetroot with coconut flakes), spinach coconut milk curry (mild and creamy), tapioca poriyal (crispy chips) and mango kuzhambu (tangy green mango quarters in curry). They’re all superbly fresh and there’s no oil residue that you often find sitting on top of similar dishes left in a bain-marie.
Drinks Menu & Prices
Tea, coffee, Milo, juice and yoghurt blends make up Yarl TTDI’s drinks menu. Most beverages can be served hot or cold and with a choice of fresh milk or creamer.
It’s a warm morning, so the Mango Yoghurt Blend (RM 11) and Fresh Coconut (RM 9.50) are excellent sippers that take the edge off the heat. The yoghurt drink is just the right size – large enough to quench a thirst but not too big to ruin an appetite. It’s made from Indian mango pulp, yoghurt and sugar (you can ask for no sugar if desired). The coconut is nicely chilled, and you can ask for a spoon to scoop up the soft flesh afterwards. Jun orders a cold Ginger Tea (RM 4) for something more zippy, and Peter reports that the Iced Teh Tarik (RM 3.80) is done well.
Pasum Paal Masala Tea (RM 5.60) with fresh milk is one of their signatures. It’s made on Yarl’s own Sri Lankan masala blend featuring cinnamon, cardamon, ginger and cloves. Nallen’s Bru Coffee (RM5.90), again with fresh milk, is named after a regular at Yarl in Brickfields. His daily order was Bru Coffee so they named the drink in his honour.
Lastly, if you’re not feeling the Sri Lankan-style bevvies, Illy coffee is a consistent backup, but we recommend going full Sri Lankan.
Yarl TTDI Review
We’ve had a lovely morning at Yarl TTDI. The food was fresh and delicious with plentiful gluten-free and vegetarian choices. The staff are kind and helpful, and the prices are very approachable. We’ll be back.
Reasons to visit Yarl TTDI: a casual and affordable spot for tasty Sri Lankan cuisine; indoor and covered outdoor seating options; plentiful vegetarian and gluten-free choices; must try the sweet appam, Yarl thosai, mutton masala thosai and go wild with the set lunch selections.
Yarl TTDI
46, Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 1, Taman Tun Dr Ismail TTDI
60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – YARL TTDI on Google Maps
+60 17 987 1761
@yarlrestaurant
*vegetarian options
**alcohol and pork-free
***Limited street parking with a paid parking lot across the road
Yarl TTDI Opening Hours
Daily 9 am – 10 pm
Yarl also has locations in Brickfields & Heritage Row.
Yarl Brickfields
50, Jalan Padang Belia, Brickfields
50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
+60 10 360 6624
Brickfields Hours: Daily 8 am-10.00 pm
Yarl Heritage Row
No 24, Asian Heritage Row, Jalan Doraisamy
50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
+60 12 375 9883
Heritage Row Hours: Mon – Fri (11 am-10 pm) Sat, Sun & PH (9 am – 10 pm)
Find more Sri Lankan food in Kuala Lumpur here, and stay up to date on the latest gourmet travel finds via The Yum List on Instagram and The Yum List on Facebook.
