Off Duty.

Natasha, Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur

Concierges know everything. The best table in town. The bar with no sign. The shop that's been there forty years. The little secrets you only know if you live there.

Most of it never makes the guidebooks. So I'm asking them.

This is Off Duty. Hotel concierges, off the clock, telling me where they actually go on their days off.

She's the friendly face behind the concierge desk. I grabbed her for a chat while I was staying there. Here's what she told me.

Natasha, right, with Kiran at the concierge desk.

Her day off

Concierge life is non stop. So on her day off, Natasha does what every KLite does best. She heads out with friends to eat and shop her way around the city.

She's out on foot. Mostly around Bukit Bintang, KL's buzziest shopping strip. It has a mini version of Tokyo's Shibuya crossing. Every light turns red at once, and the whole junction floods with people going every which way.

KL from above. The Petronas Towers at golden hour.

In Malaysia, hunting down a bargain is practically a sport, and Natasha plays to win. If there's a promotion on, she'll find it. And in between the bargains, it's all about the food. She grew up on mamak breakfasts before school, and she knows exactly where to eat. Squid on a street that never sleeps. Kunafa. Sweet coffee under very bright lights. And one spot by a lake that most visitors never hear about.

Want the details? Read on.

What she eats

Jalan Alor. By day it's a quiet back street behind Bukit Bintang. When the sun goes down, hawker stalls fill both sides of the road, plastic tables spill out, smoke drifts off the grills, and a lot of it keeps going until dawn.

She goes straight for the salted egg squid. It's crisp and golden, tossed in a rich, buttery salted egg yolk sauce. "I really love salted egg." They do it with prawns too.

Then kunafa. There's a cluster of Arab restaurants around Bukit Bintang, and that's where she gets her fix. "It's like a pancake, but it's not a pancake." It's shredded pastry baked crisp over melting cheese and soaked in syrup. Sweet, salty, stretchy. It comes plain, or with pistachio or chocolate. Shawarma on the side.

“It's like a pancake, but it's not a pancake.”

On her vegetarian days, she heads to the Indian restaurants nearby. Vegetable curries, soups, salads.

Her coffee

Mamak. These are the Indian Muslim restaurants on every other corner in Malaysia. Open late, always packed, and lit up like an operating theatre. Roti canai flipped at the counter. Football on the telly. It's where she went for breakfast before school.

Her local is NZ Curry House on Jalan Ampang. Five minutes' walk from the hotel, with the Petronas Towers lit up across the way. Very bright lights. She was very clear on that.

The coffee comes with condensed milk already stirred in. Super sweet. It's poured from cup to cup, high up, over and over, until it lands thick and frothy. "Made with love."

Her KL secret

This is the one tourists miss.

Titiwangsa Lake, just north of the city centre. It's a big green park wrapped around the water, with the KL skyline lined up behind it. Joggers, families, couples on benches.

Titiwangsa Lake, with the city lined up behind it.

From around seven, locals pull up, pop open their car boots and sell food straight out of them. Homemade sweets. Fried snacks. Little bites passed through car windows. It changes all the time, so there's no telling what'll be on.

Bring a picnic chair. There's nowhere to sit, unless you fancy the grass. Natasha thinks someone should start renting chairs out there. Someone should.

“Bring your own chair.”

And Bangsar? She's not fussed. It's offices and kopitiams. The lake wins.

Something to take home

Central Market, or Pasar Seni. It opened in 1888 as a wet market for the city's tin miners. The building today is pale blue Art Deco from 1937, and it was saved from demolition in the 70s.

Central Market. Trading since 1888.

Inside, it's stall after stall of batik, handwoven songket, wood carvings, pewter and odd little treasures. There are separate lanes for Malay, Straits Chinese and Indian crafts. Outside on Kasturi Walk, there are snack stalls and buskers.

Start at Merdeka Square, a big green field with the domes and clock tower of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building across it. It was built for the British administration. From there it's a ten minute walk. For anything unique, it's her pick.

Something green

Perdana Botanical Gardens. It's KL's oldest park, opened in 1889, with more than ninety hectares of lawns, old trees and a lake right in the middle of the city.

Head for the Orchid Garden. Thousands of hybrids trail over a curved pergola, and the ground dwellers sit in a rock garden below. Pinks, purples, speckled yellows. Right next door is a hibiscus garden, Malaysia's national flower.

If you're making a day of it, the Bird Park and Butterfly Park are in the same grounds.

With kids

Berjaya Times Square. From the outside it looks like just another shopping mall. Up top, it's Malaysia's biggest indoor theme park, stacked over several floors.

Thrill seekers get the Supersonic Odyssey roller coaster, looping around inside the building. Little ones get the gentler rides down in Fantasy Garden. It's fully air conditioned, so it's a lifesaver on a rainy afternoon.

Below that, floors and floors of shops. This is where Natasha hunts for bargains.

The question nobody asks

I asked what guests never ask her but should.

When to come. KL is hot, tropical and made for walking, so the weather decides everything. The heaviest rain falls from September to November. Her pick is July, when it's drier and the evenings are made for being outside.

“Knowing the weather is really important.”

Thank you, Natasha.

Staying at the Mandarin Oriental? Read my review here.

Want to go?

Natasha's KL. The details.

Bukit Bintang scramble crossing
Corner of Jalan Bukit Bintang and Jalan Sultan Ismail

Pavilion Kuala Lumpur
168 Jalan Bukit Bintang
pavilion-kl.com

Jalan Alor
Jalan Alor, Bukit Bintang. The stalls get going from sunset.

NZ Curry House
Lot 42, Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur
@nzcurryhouse

Titiwangsa Lake Gardens
Jalan Temerloh, Titiwangsa. Nearest MRT is Hospital Kuala Lumpur. The car boot sellers get going from around 7pm.

Central Market (Pasar Seni)
Jalan Hang Kasturi, 50050 Kuala Lumpur. Open daily, 10am to 10pm.
@centralmarketkualalumpur

Merdeka Square and the Sultan Abdul Samad Building
Jalan Raja, Kuala Lumpur

Perdana Botanical Gardens and the Orchid Garden
Jalan Kebun Bunga, Tasik Perdana. Free entry.
klbotanicalgarden.gov.my

Berjaya Times Square Theme Park
9th floor, Berjaya Times Square, 1 Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur. Get there on the KL Monorail to Imbi.
@berjayatimessquarethemepark