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Food and Accommodation in Malaysia

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When people talk about accommodation in Malaysia they usually say it's not cheap. Indeed it is harder to find cheap accommodation in many cities. However, with some effort you can keep your stay in Malaysia reasonable cheap.

Too lazy to sort out your hotel? No Problem use our specialized searchbox for your favorite hotel or city:

Kuala Lumpur

In cities like Kuala Lumpur, you can find reasonable cheap hotels around Puduraya. Penang also has it's share of cheap hotels and hostels. Prices from RM 30-50 have to be expected for the cheapies.

Another area with cheap hotels is located near the Kuala Lumpur Central Railway Station. It's also a good location with the monorail to other parts of the city and the bus to the airport available.

Here is a selection of hotels in Kuala Lumpur

Penang

In Penang there are several areas travelers stay. Batu Ferringhi is a long time favorite of budget travelers. There are along the road several cheap guesthouses located close to the beach.

In case you don't like to stay here, there are many good hotels in Gurney Drive and Georgetown. All hotels are in walking distance of several food malls and shopping centers (with their own food malls). In the vicinity of the Penang UNESCO heritage, the Armenian Quarter, there are also many good hotels.

Here is a selection of hotels in Penang:

• Batu Ferringhi
• Gurney Drive
• Georgetown Hotels
• Other Areas

More about Penang

More about Penang Heritage City

The variety of food in Malaysia is endless

Malacca

In Malacca, the second UNESCO Heritage city of Malaysia, you have to do a little more work to find the cheapies as they are located outside the direct vicinity of the city center. We have a selection of decent hotels in Malacca here

Malaysian food

The food in Malaysia is the pride and joy of many Malaysians. Many travelers soon realize that when meeting a Malaysian, the discussion within 5 minutes moves to their local food. The Malaysians are proud of their food and not for nothing. The food in Malaysian is excellent.

What is a bit more expensive for accommodation is easily earned back for the food. The variety is endless. With the mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian food you will find a mix hard to find anywhere else.

Of course, Penang and Kuala Lumpur have the best options. Where KL as the capital has the obvious choices, Penang has the better choices. The endless food malls offer the best quality. For RM 5-10 you can eat until you can't walk (excluding beer). Benefit of the food malls is that all stalls can not afford to offer lousy and/or expensive food as they will be outranked by the competition. Thus the food courts are the place to be.

Look around and choose. Some travelers complain that in Malaysia you can only eat fried rice and fried noodles. In fact, after 5 years in Malaysia, I only eat this if I really can't get anything else, which is almost never.

The three distinctive different cultural groups, Malays, Chinese and Indians all have their own style food. What Malaysia differs from other countries is that the cultural groups mix their own food with that from other groups.

Even though the racial groups have their own typical dishes, there are some everyone eats. You could say that nasi lemak is the national dish: rice with sambal, fried eggs, cucumber, sotong (squid) or chicken. Very popular is roti canai, a kind of pancake eaten with sauce. Both are popular and easy to find breakfast dishes but can be found all day.

If you like soups, you are in the right place too. The variety is endless. Tom yam, curry mee, mee rebus, mee ketjap, kuay tow soup are a few to mention soups. Laksa is very popular (the best laksa I found was in Ayer Itam, Penang, where there is a very famous roadside stall on the way up to Kek Lok Si. This is a must try.

Drinks can be anything, popular is ice-coffee, Chinese tea, balik but pepsi, soy milk and beer (in Chinese and Indian places only) are available. The typical Indian milk tea (teh tarik) is also popular and everywhere available.

Eating during the Ramadan

Ramadan is the fasting month of the Malays (Muslims). During the Ramadan the Malay restaurants and food stalls will be closed during day time.

Chinese and Indian restaurants and food stalls are normal open. During the Ramadan it is worth to explore the Malay food in the evenings. Many special dishes are prepared to break the fast.

Do not be surprised in many hotels there are special Ramandan buffets in the evenings.

Food courts are always very popular, here in Gurney Drive in Penang

At the east coast, where the Chinese/Indian population is smaller then at the west coast, it may be a little more difficult to find your breakfast or lunch at day time. All over Malaysia the Kampungs are more traditional Malay and it will be harder to find food. Even shops in the Kampungs might be closed. In the cities you will always find a place to eat.

However, pay respect to the Muslim population and do not eat in front of them during the Ramadan.

Cooking Class in Penang

The Tropical Spice Garden in Penang offers a Cooking Class in Penang where you learn to cook like the Malaysians in a traditional way. It might be a bit off topic for you cyclists, but I can assure you, Nazlina, the local Malaysian cook and teacher, is herself a cyclist and exceptional chef!

The Tropical Spice Garden, where the cooking class is held is 5 minutes away from Batu Ferringhi and even if you do not want to learn to cook, you should visit the Tropical Spice Garden

• Here's more about Nazlina's cooking class in Penang

More about the Tropical Spice Garden in Penang

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