The best restaurants Malaysia

Timetable

Restaurant opening times vary widely, but can be divided into several categories. Traditional restaurants are open, as in France, for lunch and dinner, often with a weekly closing day. Small restaurants set up in shophouses are open for a single service eight hours a day. If the restaurant opens early in the morning, as is the case with dim sum specialists, they close around 2pm. Those that open late in the morning provide service until around 7pm. And then there are those that open around 5pm and close late into the evening. Food-courts with several stalls are open for lunch or dinner. Cafeterias are generally open 24 hours a day.

Budget & Tips

It's possible to eat very cheaply in Malaysia, especially in night markets where portions rarely exceed RM5. The same goes for small restaurants in traditional shop-houses or food-courts, where the bill will rarely exceed RM20 per person. Traditional restaurants are more expensive, mainly because of the setting and the fact that the rooms are air-conditioned. The price also correlates with the specialties served (shrimp will always be more expensive than chicken), whether or not the products are imported (as may be the case in foreign specialty restaurants) and the standing of the establishment.
You'll be asked to pay your bill in cash in smaller restaurants, and you'll be able to pay by credit card in more upscale establishments.

What costs extra

Prices are generally inclusive of all taxes. Sometimes, however, the 6% service tax introduced in 2016 is added to the total bill, as is the case in Kuala Lumpur. Taxes are often indicated at the bottom of menus.
Service is included in the price of the bill, and tipping is not compulsory. It is, however, appreciated and linked to your degree of satisfaction. Never tip less than RM1, as this would be considered insulting.

The local way

Malaysians are crazy about food. They don't hesitate to queue for a long time to taste the city's speciality in the best place.

Eat satays or roti canai at 3am, just outside the bars. You'll almost always find a cafeteria open 24 hours a day or a hawker set up on a busy sidewalk in the big cities.

Dine with family or friends at a food court, and invest in a large round table where dishes are placed in the center and shared among all diners.

Use chopsticks in Chinese restaurants and forks and spoons in others. Knives are rarely to be found.

To be avoided

Asking for alcohol in a restaurant run by Malays. Alcoholic beverages are forbidden in establishments run by Muslims.

Eating with the left hand.

Kids

Children are welcome in restaurants. Highchairs are often available, but children's menus are rare.

Smokers

A 2018 law prohibits smoking within 3 meters of any place where food is prepared, served or sold. Theoretically, terraces in front of establishments are non-smoking, but in practice this is rarely the case.

Tourist traps

In the more touristy night markets, such as Jalan Alor in Kuala Lumpur, touts wave their menus in front of customers and desperately try to get them to sit down on their terrace. Take the time to look at the prices and make sure the menu suits you before you sit down.