To decide what the best PARAM (Pasar Ramadan) in Klang Valley is, there are several factors to consider: Variety, Access, Value for Money, Cleanliness, Atmosphere, and Food Quality. I, along with three other eager participants, went to go get food from our own favourite PARAMs to show you how our favourites fit in these categories. So… which PARAM is the best overall? We’ll let you decide.
Izzy’s choice: USJ 4
Variety: Izzy spent about a whopping RM80 in one go on a whole load of food—and with reason, this place has plenty of options. Stand-out items include the Roti John Beef Bacon and the murtabak, which had a one-hour wait.
Access: Parking is a bit difficult in this area. According to Izzy, it gets worse on weekends.
Value for Money: Izzy spent RM5 to RM15 on each item.
Cleanliness and Atmosphere: The PARAM was fairly clean according to the footage. It isn’t extremely crowded, either. But it could have possibly been because he went there around 4pm to 5pm—when peak hours would be a bit later.
Ray’s choice: Masjid Jamek
Variety: The PARAM near Masjid Jamek was a bit smaller than expected, but it still had a few popular options like Roti John, Cendol and Ondeh Ondeh.
Access: It’s near public transport, but parking would be a bit difficult—because it’s in the middle of the city. Ray took a Grab there from our office.
Value for Money: Ray spent RM4 to RM16 on each item.
Cleanliness and Atmosphere: For a place right smack in the middle of the city, the place looks really clean. The space, however, is pretty tight and it feels a bit crowded there.
Dza’s choice: Putrajaya
Variety: This place is huge—and it has so many options that it can be overwhelming. You can even get Japanese food like Okonomiyaki, and rare items like Tongmo.
Access: There’s plenty of parking, but the place is so popular that you might need to park pretty far away from the PARAM itself. It costs RM1 an hour for the paid parking area.
Value for Money: I spent about RM5 to RM20 on each item.
Cleanliness and Atmosphere: The area is clean, spacious, and grand. And even though there were a lot of people, it didn’t feel too crowded because of the amount of space there.
Sofie’s choice: Sungai Buloh
Variety: Well, it isn’t your typical bazaar. But Sofie swears that the Roti John itself is worth the lack of variety.
Access: Sofie was able to find parking extremely easily—right on the side of the road, and pretty much in front of his favourite Roti John stall.
Value for Money: Sofie spent RM4 to RM9 on each item.
Cleanliness and Atmosphere: The area is fairly clean, but it isn’t much to look at. Is it really a PARAM? It technically is, but it’s near his home so that’s all that really matters.
Food quality
At the end of the day, we “buka puasa” and taste-tested the items to judge which PARAM is the best one. Even though Izzy bought the most out of anyone, a majority of the food purchased in USJ 4 was pretty good. Putrajaya had quite a few options, but the flavours can be a hit and miss. Ray’s Masjid Jamek food was surprisingly disappointing—seeing how it used to be a popular place to buy food before COVID-19. And Sofie’s tiny PARAM had some of the weirdest tasting drinks we’ve ever tasted.
You can watch our experience in detail in the video above. What do you think the best PARAM is? Let us know in the comments!
