Eating Out

Eating out in Malaysia is a real gastronomic adventure. There is such a great variety – spicy Malay food, a seemingly endless variety of Chinese food, exotic cuisine from North and South India, as well as Nyonya and Portuguese food. Popular Malaysia dishes include satay, nasi lemak, rendang, roti canai, murtabak, laksa, chicken rice and fried noodles. Western cruisine is easily available. In addition, international fast fast-food chains operate in the major towns side by side with thousands of roadside stalls and food bazaars.

Kedah State
Malay, Chinese and Indians foods are easily available at restaurants and stalls scattered all over the state with reasonal cheap prizes.

The popular eating spots in Alor Setar are the stalls near the Stadium Darul Aman, the Pekan Rabu Market and numerous other places. It has a reputation traditional Kedah food, including the ‘dodol durian’, a sweetcake made from the durian. Kuala Kedah on the mouth of the Kedah river, about 10 km from Alor Setar, for fresh seafood.

Johor State
Eating out in Johor Bahru is always enjoyable because you can obtain a wide variety of western and Asian dishes at reasonable prices. All the Major hotels in Johor Bahru offer good Western food. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of western-style fast food outlets. But the visitor is more likely to want to taste local dishes. The ethnic mix in Johor is such that cooking styles have been influenced by a variety of cultural traditions. Apart from Malay, Chinese and Indian foods, there are also local variations that have evolved from traditional Javanese methods and the innovations of the locally born Nyonya Chinese.

The local habit of eating out (especially in the evenings) also works in favour of

The visitor. Roadside stalls are numerous and offer an almost endless variety of dishes to choose from. The two main places where you will find large numbers of food stalls are the Tepian Tebrau Stalls in Jalan Skudai (Skudai Road) along the seafront and the stalls next to the Central Market.

The State capital is noted for its fresh seafood, especially oysters, prawns, fried cuttlefish, chilli crabs and steamed crabs. The more adventurous might also like to try sea cucumber. The laksa Johor (rice noodle) and Lontong (rice cubes), both served in spicy coconut milk gravy are two well-known Johor specialities –definitely not to be missed.

Melaka/ Malacca State
Nyonya food, a combination of Chinese and Malay cooking styles, is a favourite with many people in Melaka. Among the common dishes are achar, sambal, duck soup with salted vegetable, jantung pisang (banana shoots) and crabmeat are cooked in coconut sauce. Another popular dish eaten by all races is devil curry, a spicy chicken dish of Portuguese origin. Several mouth-watering sweet meats should be tried. The ‘kueh kochi’ is made of glutinous rice flour filled with grated young coconut and cooked in rich syrup of ‘gula melaka’ (Melaka palm sugar). It is wrapped in a banana leaf and then steamed.

Perak State
Perak is truly a gourmet’s paradise. The many different ethnic groups that make up Perak’s cosmopolitan population have also contributed gastronomically to yield a seemingly endless range of delicious and appetizing cuisine. The popular eating spots can be found in all major towns of Perak such as ipoh, Kuala Kangsar, lumut, Teluk Intan. Ipoh is famous in Chinese foods such as Sar Hor Fun, Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun, Char Kuey Teow and Bean Sprouts chicken. Chinese hawker food can be partaken at the fan-ventiled food court in Jalan Clarke opposite the Excelsior Hotel, Wooley Food Centre in Ipoh Garden and Old Town Food Centre at Jalan Leech. Malay food such as nasi campur can be bought at many Malays restaurant or hawker (pedlars). Nasi Kandar (Indian food) restaurant can be found at Jalan Yang Kalsom, facing the Tanjung Rambutan bus station, around the Cathay and Lido cinemas are numerous restaurants. Famous edible products of Ipoh are Menglembu groundnuts, Kampar chicken Biscuits and Chart Tai (Bean Curd Sticks) A trip to Perak isn’t complete without a taste of pomelos and seedless citrus fruits usually the size of a soccer ball, and are grown exclusively in the state. Other succulent fruits include seasonal rambutan, mangosteens, mangoes and durians.

Labuan State of Wilayah Persekutuan
Options for eating out in Labuan range from in formal and casual eateries to more established restaurants and haute cuisine. Hawker centres offer fine local delicacies at very reasonable price. Favourite dishes include satay, grilled fish and chicken rice. Labuan has a good mix restaurants offering Asian cuisine. This includes Chinese, Indian, Thai, Malay and seafood. All major hotel restaurants in Labuan serve a mixture of asian and western foods.

Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian cuisine is exotic with an exciting range of flavours and culinary styles offering the uninitiated an endless gastronomic adventure. It comprises three main groups - Malay, Chinese and Indian with each having its own distinct style of cooking. There are also cuisines that have evolved from the meeting of cultures notably those of the Nyonya and Indian Muslim communities.

Western cuisine, especially Continental and Mediterranean fare, are also available in the major cities. Indeed, Malaysia as a meeting place of both eastern and western cultures has produced a most diverse culinary melting pot.

For the visitor who is interested in dining out, Kuala Lumpur will prove to be a unique experience both in terms of the array of culinary delights as well as in the wide choice of settings. You can dine out as posh hotel restaurants, elegant charm restaurants, chic sidewalk cafes, and delicatessens or eat out at the many hawker stalls till the wee hours of the morning.

Malay Cuisine- Malay cuisine is rich and spicy arising from the use of hard spices and wet spice mixture of rempah and coconut milk. Malay cuisine varies from region to region. Kelantanese cuisine, akin to Thai cooking for example, has a sweetish taste due to liberal use of coconut milk and sugar in cooking. On the other hand, the cuisine of Kedah is spicier due to the influence of Indians who arrived here centuries ago during the spice trade.

For the adventurous, there is an array of popular Malay dishes to tantalise their taste buds. A favourite with Malaysians is nasi lemak, rice cooked in coconut milk served with anchovies, squid, eggs, cucumber and sambal (chili paste). An East Coast favourite is nasi dagang, fragrant unpolished glutinous rice steamed with coconut milk and served with tuna fish curry. Nasi Kerabu, another rice-based dish native to Kelantan, is served with local herbs and salted fish. A Malay banquet would not be complete without the ever-popular satay, skewered chicken or beef marinated in spices, then grilled over charcoal fire. It is served with peanut gravy, rice cubes, cucumber and onions.

Chinese Cuisine- a wide variety of Chinese cuisine is available in Kuala Lumpur. Among the popular styles of cooking are those of the Cantonese, Hokkien, Hainanese, Hakka and Szechuan communities. Generally, Chinese is mild in flavour but local influence has given it a slightly spicier taste. In addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner, there are elevenses where dim sum (steamed snacks) is served. Apart from hotel outlets and large chain restaurants, Chinese food is also available in most coffee shops around KL.

Nyonya Cuisine- Nyonya or Peranakan cuisine evolved out of a unique blend of Malay and Chinese cooking styles. It is characterised by sweet, sour, spicy and pungent flavours. Typical dishes include otak-otak (fish meat marinated in spices, wrapped in banana leaves and grilled) and itik tim (duck with salted vegetables). The cuisines are best tried in Nyonya restaurants, which have become popular in recent years.

Indian Cuisine- Contrary to popular perception, Indian cuisine need not be searing hot. Various spice blends are used in Indian cuisine to give a robust flavour to food but yoghurt almost always accompanies a meal at the end to cool down the tastebuds. Milder on the tastebuds are dishes such as kurma (mild meat curry) and tandoori chicken (chicken baked in clay oven).

Generally, Southern Indian cuisine is hotter than iys Northern Indian and Moghul counterparts and is characterised by the heavy use of cream, meat-based dishes and naan breads. Indian-Muslim cuisine is another local favourite one ought to try while in KL. Popular dishes include fish-head curry, murtabak (pancake with spiced meat mixture) and mee goreng (fried noodles).

International Cuisine- Foreign visitors will be pleasantly surprised to discover the abundance of international cuisine available in KL. Restaurants serving international cuisine can usually be found in major hotels as well as in the vicinity of Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan Ampang and Bangsar where there is a sizeable expatriate community.

Pahang State
Gourmets and gourmands will relish the delectable and astonishing unending variety of delicacies found in the vast cuisines typical to Pahang. Malay, Chinese (particularly Cantonese, Hokkien, Szechuan) and both North and South Indian food stimulate the taste buds and arouse the adventurer in each of us. A must for the uninitiated is ‘satay’-succulent morsels of meat skewered on palm-leaf sticks and barbecued on open flame and eaten with piquant, spicy peanut-based gravy. Accompanying dishes are cucumber, onion slices and ‘ketupat’ (rice boiled in woven palm cases). Generally, Malayi cuisine is spicy and punget in nature but once you have developed a taste for such tantalising flavours, it is hard to disassociate yourself from them. Rice is the staple food of Malaysians and is cooked in a variety of ways-one of which is ‘nasi lemak’, which is rice cooked with coconut milk and eaten with a spicy anchovy sauce, hard-boiled egg, peanuts and cucumber slices. Dim sum and its 30 over delicacies are among the many items on the Chinese menu. The incredible number of ways they cook rice and noodles prove that innovation and creativity know no bounds. If you visit Pahang and do not feast on the ample seafood available, you would be missing some of the best dishes the state has to offer. ‘Ikan bakar’ or grilled fish, is a hot favourite. The star attraction of Indian cuisine is ‘nasi briyani’, a rich moghul dish. With such a wide variety ofdishes, it is hard to decide which to choose as each has established its own popularity.

Tropical fruits are abundant during their seasons.’Durian’, which holds indisputable appeal for those who love it, often leaves the novice perplexed and intimidated as its overly pungent odour takes some getting used to. And it has culled lifelong fans even among westerners-those who have stayed here long enough to cultivate a taste for this exotic fruit. ‘Rambutan’, ciku, mango, watermelon, guava, mangosteen, papaya, pineapple and starfruit are some of the succulent fruits that offer delights to all.