CULINARY TOUR

Day 1 : Kuala Lumpur  (- / L / D) 

Upon arrival at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, we transfer to the hotel for check-in with some free time to freshen up before starting our exploration of the country’s array of cuisine.

We start at Little India, located in an older section of the city. It is a riot of colours with shops selling saris, garments and the many spices used in Indian cooking, and restaurants serving scrumptious sit-down banana leaf meals. Here, we feast on a banana leaf lunch of white rice served on a banana leaf with an assortment of vegetables, meat or fish in a South Indian restaurant. We continue on our walking tour before returning to the hotel.

In the evening, we indulge in an authentic regional Malaysian dining experience at Makan Kitchen at Doubletree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur. A live interactive show kitchen displays the enormous diversity of Malaysian cuisine, with several cooking stations featuring iconic specialties from Malay, Peranakan, Chinese and Indian cooking traditions.

Overnight at The Kuala Lumpur Journal.

Day 2 : Kuala Lumpur (B / L / D) 

After breakfast at the hotel, we head to bustling Chow Kit Market, which is packed with stalls selling fruits, vegetables, meats, fish and spices. We then visit a Batik outlet where we will try our hands at Batik printing based on a pre-designed motif. For lunch, we will sample bak kut the, a popular Chinese dish made up of pork ribs simmered for hours in a complex broth of herbs and spices, including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dang gui, fennel seeds and garlic.

The afternoon is free before we spend the evening dining in style at the exclusive Atmosphere 360 Revolving Restaurant. The modern and elegant revolving restaurant teeters 282 metres above ground level and is located in the world’s fifth tallest tower, Menara Kuala Lumpur – also known as KL Tower. The menu takes in a range of local delicacies, ranging from rendang tok, stir-fried chili crab and stir-fried venison fillet with black pepper sauce to assorted dim sum.

Overnight at The Kuala Lumpur Journal.

Day 3 : Kuala Lumpur – Malacca  (B / L / D)

After breakfast, we depart for Malacca, Malaysia’s historical heart. Upon arrival, start our exploration with a UNESCO Walk around the compact city. We will stop along the way to taste local street food, including Malacca’s speciality the chicken rice ball, rice boiled in chicken stock flavoured with ginger, garlic and shallot and make into balls that are served with boiled chicken and garnished with cucumber, spring onion and chilli sauce, and popiah, spring rolls with scrambled egg, fried onion, lettuce, turnip, bean sprout and may include fried pork lard.

We then continue to the hotel for check-in, with dinner at a Peranakan restaurant that showcases the best of Baba/Nyonya cuisine. This is the result of inter-marriages between Chinese immigrants and local Malays, which produced a unique cuisine where local ingredients including chilies, Malaysian shrimp paste, lemongrass, galangal and turmeric are used. 

Overnight at Hotel Puri Melaka.

Day 4 : Malacca – Cameron Highlands (B / L / D) 

After breakfast, we make our way to Cameron Highlands, referred to as the Giant Green Carpet of Malaysia due to its picturesque rolling hills, tea plantations and farms. En-route, we stop at Putrajaya for lunch at the Botanical Garden where our guide will introduce us to more local delicacies such as satay – marinated, skewered chicken, mutton or beef served with a mild-spicy peanut sauce – and roti John, an omelette sandwich with minced chicken or mutton, onion, egg, sardines, tomato-chilli sauce and a baguette.

We then continue on our journey to Cameron Highlands. Upon arrival, we visit the market and a vegetable farm to get an insight into the lives of local farmers. We then check-in at the hotel before a steamboat dinner in the evening. Steamboat is where a simmering metal pot of soups is placed in the centre of the table. Ingredients, such as thinly sliced meat, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, egg dumplings and seafood, are placed into the pot and cooked at the table.

Overnight at Strawberry Park Resort.

Day 5 : Cameron Highlands - Ipoh   (B / L / D)

We start the day early with breakfast followed by a visit to one of the many tea plantations and factories that dot the area. This is followed by a refreshing tea tasting session. We then depart for Ipoh with a stop for lunch at Kampar. Here, we will try famous curry chicken bread, a signature dish that hails from Kampar and sees curry chicken stuffed in a giant bread.

After lunch, we visit the famed Perak Caves, where a Chinese temple is nestled within a natural limestone hill. We then check-in at the hotel, with a break to relax and refresh before sampling another local delicacy, clay pot chicken rice for dinner. Here, rice is cooked in a clay pot over a charcoal stove, giving the dish a distinctive flavour. The ingredients are chicken, Chinese sausage and salted fish. Note: The tea factory is closed Mondays and public holidays. 

Overnight at M Boutique Ipoh. 

Day 6 : Ipoh – Penang  (B / L / D) 

We enjoy an early breakfast before departing for the foodie hub of Penang. En-route, we make a refreshment stop at Kuala Kangsar R&R before continuing to the Tropical Spice Garden in Penang. The garden serves as a bio-diverse living museum of spices and hosts cooking classes, which we take part in. We start with a tour of the grounds and introduction to some of the ingredients we will be cooking with. Led by professional chefs, we will cook up a feast of local dishes that will be enjoyed for lunch.

We then drive to the hotel for check-in, with the rest of the afternoon free to refresh ahead of dinner. Famed for its diversity of street food, Penang is a foodie’s heaven. In the evening, we head to either Gurney Drive or Queen Street, both famous for their smattering of hawker stalls that serve all kinds of Malaysian street food.

Overnight at Sunway Hotel Georgetown.

Day 7 : Penang (B / - / -)

After breakfast at the hotel, we have the rest of the day at our leisure until departing for the airport.

End of the Tour