Asia Mega Tour 2026 - MALAYSIAN GASTRONOMIC EXTRAVAGANZA

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I have had the opportunity to eat in so many of the world's great eating destinations. Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand. And I have loved them all, really loved them. But I will put Malaysia up there with them all. 

First, there is the fact that Malaysian cuisine is, in fact, a mixture of different cuisines as there is native Malay, Malayan Chinese, and Malayan Indian. When you go to the equivalent of a Malayan 'diner' you will find elements of all of these. 

But then you have the fact that Malaysia is a major tourist and business destination for people throughout East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East. So, if you are one of the many cosmopolitan cities of the country such as Kuala Lumpur, George Town, Melaka, Johor Bahru, or the tourist mecca of Langkawi, you will find great exemplars of all these other cuisines as well.

And on top of all of this is the price. Restaurant food here is so inexpensive it is almost unbelievable. Wife and I never spent more than $20 for a meal (when we were over buying to bring home the leftovers) and more often were paying $12 or less. Total. Not per person. Total. With this type of quality to value ratio, it is hard to not get excited. 

Here then is a little over a week's worth of eating in JB

 Kopi - Malaysian Coffee

Strong, Dark, Rich

 

Some kind of vegetable salad with noodles ordered by #3

 

 Salmon Belly Sashimi - a first course at a Ramen place

 

Tongatsu Style Ramen made with chicken since this is a Halal place

 

 The just barely cooked eggs were killer

Stir-Fried Noodles - Ubiquitous Everywhere

 

 An interesting dish with Mushrooms wrapped in a thin Beef Wrapper

 

 Deep Fried Chicken on a bed of Rice with a Layer of Scrambled Egg between

 

 A different type of noodle (there are so many types) with Roasted Chicken and Fried Wonton

 

 Compressed Rice Cake with Veg, Deep Fried Tofu Skin, Egg with Sambal in a Coconut Milk, Turmeric Curry

 

 Curry Laksa - Laksa is a classic Malay/Singapore noodle soup

 

 Shaved Ice with Flavorings - These were pretty tame. You can get them with all kinds of (to us) weird things

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Need your Kopi fix and are at your apartment? One cup self-brew sachets

 

 Another version of Chicken in a Curry type sauce. This had a sweet, hot edge. My waiter tried to dissuade me. Lucky for me it wasn't too spicy.

 

 Yet a different version with black pepper and sweet soy sauce

 

 Roti Telur - Breakfast of Champions

A Crepe like Pancake with an Egg cooked inside with Curry sauce, Dal, and Sambal

 

 Accompanied with a piece of Ayam Goreng - Fried Chicken

 

 Hand cut Noodles in Chicken Soup

 

Cold Cucumbers Marinated in a light Soy, Vinegar Dressing. There were a Crap load of chiles, red and green, in the dish, yet it was not that incendiary

 

 

Stir Fried Broccoli with Soy and Chiles

 

 

Classic Fried Rice (with a great Wok taste) and Chicken Dumplings that had been deep fried

 

 

Fresh Coconut Water is the Natural Electrolyte and most refreshing

 

 

Watermelon Juice that was just...Watermelon Juice

 

 

Teh Tarik - Pulled Tea 

They take tea, milk and sugar then pour it from container to container at height to create a foam

 

 

Chicken with Curry on Noodles

 

 

An Appetizer of little cups of deep fried, crispy Wonton wrappers filled with bean sprouts and a spicy dressing. Next to it is a warm dish of bean sprouts in a light soy based sauce

 

 

We went to this one restaurant in the mall near us because they had a lot of good Malay classics, was air conditioned, and open when we wanted to eat. Plus the food was very good. This is the way most restaurants put out the utensils, in a box of some kind. Those are three kinds of hot sauces on top

 

 

Hainanese Chicken Rice - A classic dish here and in Singapore

 

 

Nasi Lemak - Another classic with Rice cooked in Coconut Water

 

 

 

 Malaysians love (what to me are) weird drink combinations with various fruit components, condensed milk, etc. This was a pretty simple one.

 

 

 

 And Last but not Least, another version of Ayam Goreng

 

 

 

 Come to Malaysia and Eat!