Food

Genting Highlands has cafes, restaurants and bars scattered within its various hotels and First World Plaza. Visitors can expect a decent range of local and international cuisine, but the food is mostly sanitised and uninspiring. Prices in the resorts are also much higher compared to eating in Kuala Lumpur, by virtue of its tourist branding, remote location and corporate exclusivity. For a more authentic culinary experience, Gohtong Jaya town below offers dining in traditional Chinese budget restaurants and hawker stalls. Called 'kopitiams', these restaurants are bereft of plush decor, modern styling and fancy ambience, the kind you find in Genting's resorts.

Seats are plastic and tables are circular wooden disks that rattle and roll with heavy elbow movement. Waiters are migrant workers dressed in shabby clothing that squak orders across tables. However, food comes surprisingly fast when ordered and prices are generally much more reasonable. Many of the restaurants offer hawker stall favourites, such as chicken rice, noodle dishes (char keow teow, hokkien mee, sang har min etc) and dim sum. Traditional steamboat - Meats, vegetables, noodles and seafood boiled in hot soup, and a style of cooking called 'Tai Chow', are also popular among the mostly Chinese visitors from Kuala Lumpur, Thailand and Singapore.

Tai Chow refers to a variety of Chinese dinner table dishes, including seafood, river fish, tofu, meat and local vegetables, freshly cooked in traditional styles specified by guests. For those unaccustomed to ordering such dishes by their traditional names, most restaurants provide menus with colour pictures to help guests. While there are many in Gohtong Jaya, you can only find one such restaurant on the peak which is hidden in the mushroom farm. Meanwhile, the First World Plaza has plenty of fast food outlets such as McDonalds, KFC and Burger King in First World Plaza, but prices are higher rather than following their standard franchise rates.

Fancy coffee houses such as Starbucks and Coffee Bean have opened shop too, but their prices are surprisingly the same as in major cities. Genting Hotel has most of the famous dining outlets on the peak, including the Coffee Terrace's international buffet spread, award-winning Olive Restaurant and Spice Garden for Middle East food. There also several highly expensive Chinese restaurants in Highlands Hotel, such as Good Luck, Ming Ren, Imperia Rama, Elite Palace and VIP Restaurant. Finally, if you're looking for vegetarian food, the Chin Swee Temple has one in Lim Goh Tong Hall.