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The 100 Best Places to Eat and Drink in Malaysia

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The best places to eat and drink in Malaysia, according to the experts: the Michelin Guide, The 50, and the Spirited Awards have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Dewakan comes out on top, and the good stuff runs deepest in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

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Restaurant au Jardin and Backdoor Bodega hold the next two places. The Michelin Guide shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with The 50 next.

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Cuisines

  1. Rank 1. Dewakan

    Contemporary Malaysian

    Fine dining on the 48th floor with a front-row view of the Petronas Twin Towers, which is either the most on-the-nose table in Malaysia or the perfect metaphor for what's happening on the plate. Dewakan holds two Michelin stars and works through a tasting menu built almost entirely on indigenous Malaysian ingredients, the kind most menus overlook. The juice pairing, made in-house, is less a concession to non-drinkers than a statement of intent.


  2. Rank 2. Restaurant au Jardin

    Malaysian French

    A fine-dining room hiding inside a former bus depot, where corrugated metal gives way to a plant-filled atrium and white tablecloths for eighteen. The chef blends Malaysian ingredients with French technique across monthly tasting menus that follow the seasons pretty religiously. George Town is famous for cheap, brilliant street food, so naturally someone built the opposite: a spot on Asia's 50 Best list where the bread course alone inspires debate.


    Address
    125, Jalan Timah, 10150 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia · Pulau Pinang
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11:30 AM

    Thursday 11:30 AM–2 PM, 5:15 PM–10 PM

    Reserve
    Make a reservation
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  3. Rank 4. Bar Trigona

    Cocktail Bar

    The bar takes its name from a stingless bee that nests in coconut palms and produces honey so prized it borders on precious, which tells you exactly where this cocktail bar's head is at. Tucked inside the Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur, it leans hard into Malaysian ingredients, with the menu organized by botanical profile rather than spirit. Marble, dramatic lighting, and a crowd dressed accordingly round out the setting.


  4. Rank 5. Akar

    Contemporary Malaysian

    The awards


  5. The awards


  6. Rank 5. Beta

    Contemporary Malaysian


  7. Rank 5. Chim by Chef Noom

    Contemporary Thai

    The awards


  8. Rank 5. DC. by Darren Chin

    Contemporary French


  9. The awards


  10. Rank 5. Terra Dining

    Contemporary Malaysian


  11. Rank 12. Gēn

    Chinese


  12. Rank 13. Penrose

    Modern Cocktail Bar

    Counter seating runs the full length of the room, and that's a design choice, not an accident: at this cocktail bar on Jalan Petaling, the format pulls you into a conversation with whoever's shaking. The team builds drinks around five fundamentals, alcohol and dilution among them, which sounds like a manifesto but lands quietly on the palate. Penrose ranked tenth on Asia's 50 Best Bars, and the room stays low-key enough that you'd never guess.


  13. Rank 14. Three X Co

    Speakeasy

    You enter through a pop-up barbershop in Bangsar Shopping Centre, which is either the best bit of misdirection in KL or a very committed hair appointment. Inside, the speakeasy goes full Gatsby: bottle-green walls, gold accents, dark leather, vintage glassware. The bar program leans into original cocktails alongside a serious back shelf of whisky and bourbon. Asia's 50 Best Bars has had it at number fifteen.


  14. Rank 15. Reka

    Modern Cocktail Bar


  15. A cocktail bar in a quiet Bangsar side street named after Ada Coleman, the Savoy bartender who invented the Hanky Panky, which already tells you something about the ambition here. Coley rotates through pop-ups, takeovers, and guest shifts from international bartenders, so the menu shifts too, from stirred and boozy brown spirits to lighter, longer serves. There's a spiked soft-serve, because why not. It landed on Asia's 50 Best Bars list.


  16. Rank 17. Firewood

    Malaysian

    Charcoal grills sit at the heart of the room, their glow doing double duty as heat source and décor. This fire-led grill restaurant in a George Town shophouse works dry-aged Australian and Japanese beef over live flame, with a menu that moves between land and sea through a distinctly Malaysian lens. The space is calm and material-forward, the service composed without being stiff. It holds a spot on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list.


  17. Rank 18. Junglebird

    Cocktail Bar

    Palm-print wallpaper, wicker armchairs, and over a hundred rums on the back bar: Junglebird is KL's original rum and tiki bar, named for the classic cocktail that was born at the Hilton down the road. The flights are a reasonable entry point if you're not sure where to start, and the cocktails lean into local ingredients like pandan and calamansi. It appears on The 50 Best Bars Discovery list, and it's the kind of place that earns regulars fast.


  18. The awards


  19. The awards


  20. Rank 19. Aliyaa

    Sri Lankan

    The awards


  21. Rank 19. Anak Baba (Brickfields)

    Southern Peranakan

    The awards


  22. The awards


  23. Rank 19. Bee Hwa Cafe

    Malaysian

    The awards


  24. The awards


  25. The awards


  26. The awards


  27. Rank 19. Bridge Street Prawn Noodle

    Malaysian Noodle Shop

    The awards


  28. The awards


  29. Rank 19. Communal Table by Gēn

    Modern Peranakan

    The awards


  30. Named after a traditional Malay board game, this casual Malaysian restaurant sits on a quiet residential street just off the Bukit Bintang bustle. The kitchen leans into local classics that tourists call exotic and regulars call Tuesday, with the nasi ambeng platter as the centerpiece, a generous spread of spicy, sweet, and savory flavors built around sambal. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

    The awards


  31. The awards


  32. Rank 19. Duck Blood Curry Mee

    Malaysian Noodle Shop

    The awards


  33. Rank 19. Foong Lian

    Cantonese

    The awards


  34. The awards


  35. The awards


  36. Rank 19. Gulainya

    Peranakan

    The awards


  37. The awards


  38. The awards


  39. The awards


  40. Rank 19. Hot Bowl White Curry Mee

    Malaysian Noodle Shop

    The awards


  41. The awards


  42. The awards


  43. The awards


  44. Rank 19. Laksalicious

    Peranakan

    The awards


  45. Rank 19. Lama

    Peranakan

    The awards


  46. Rank 19. Leen's

    Middle Eastern

    The awards


  47. The awards


  48. The awards


  49. The awards


  50. Rank 19. MTR 1924

    vegetarian Indian

    The awards


  51. Rank 19. My Own Café

    Penang Peranakan

    The awards


  52. The awards


  53. The awards


  54. Rank 19. Neighbourwood

    Contemporary European

    The awards


  55. Rank 19. Nirwana

    Indian

    The awards


  56. The awards


  57. Rank 19. Penang Road Famous Laksa

    Malaysian Noodle Shop

    The awards


  58. Rank 19. Rasa Rasa

    Peranakan

    The awards


  59. The awards


  60. Rank 19. Roti by d'Tandoor

    North Indian

    The awards


  61. Rank 19. Sao Nam

    Vietnamese

    The awards


  62. Rank 19. Sardaarji

    North Indian

    The awards


  63. Rank 19. Sek Yuen

    Cantonese

    The awards


  64. The awards


  65. Rank 19. Sifu

    Peranakan

    The awards


  66. The awards


  67. The awards


  68. The awards


  69. The awards


  70. Rank 19. Teksen

    Cantonese

    The awards


  71. Rank 19. Thara

    Thai

    The awards


  72. The awards


  73. Rank 19. Winn's Cafe

    Peranakan Café

    The awards


  74. Rank 19. Wong Mei Kee

    Cantonese

    The awards


  75. Rank 76. Bar Mizukami

    Cocktail Bar

    The awards


  76. Rank 76. Cabinet 8

    Cocktail Bar

    A sign for "Neighbour Club" marks the door, which does nothing to prepare you for the dim, grown-up cocktail bar inside. Sleek wood, low brass light, and booth seating give it the feel of somewhere you linger. Tea runs through the drink menu in earnest, with oolong, pu'er, and lapsang souchong distillates worked into classics. It sits just off Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown strip and holds a 50 Discovery nod.

    The awards


  77. Rank 76. Frank's Bar

    Classic Cocktail Bar

    Bartenders in vest and tie pour a banana-infused Manhattan without a trace of irony at this cocktail bar tucked into Avenue K, a short walk from the Petronas Towers. Where most bars are sprinting toward whatever's next, Frank's is quietly doing the opposite, leaning into old-school formality as though it never went anywhere. A cigar menu is on hand if you feel the mood. Named a 50 Best Discovery.

    The awards


  78. Rank 76. Good Friends Club

    Cocktail Bar

    By day it's a boarded-up shopfront you'd ignore without a second thought. After dark this indoor-outdoor cocktail bar in George Town's Hin Bus Depot flips completely, with blue-vested barmen in crisp red ties working an aluminum counter framed by boxy tile and peeling paint. The menu runs thick as a novel, full of staff portraits alongside drinks that arrive trailing smoke or fire. The 50 Best Discovery list picked it up, which tracks.

    The awards



  79. Rank 76. Terumi

    Cocktail Bar

    The awards







  80. Rank 87. 888 Hokkien Mee

    Minnan Noodle Shop

    The awards


  81. The awards


  82. Rank 87. Air Itam Sister Curry Mee

    Penang-style Malaysian

    The awards


  83. The awards


  84. Rank 87. Atelier Binchotan

    Charcoal grill Japanese

    The awards


  85. The awards


  86. The awards


  87. Rank 87. Bar Kar

    Seafood

    The awards


  88. Rank 87. Bee See Heong

    Malaysian

    The awards


  89. Rank 87. Bidou

    Nouvelle French

    The awards


  90. The awards


  91. Rank 87. Blacklinen

    Steakhouse

    The awards


  92. Rank 87. Blanc

    Contemporary European

    The awards


  93. Rank 87. Bōl

    Peranakan

    The awards


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Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

    How we score →

    Drink Score

    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

      How we score →

      Stay Score

      Four fifths of the score is the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin Key outweighs a listicle. The last fifth is where it is: the ranked places to eat and things to do around it, and how safe the country is. When you sort by what's nearby, distance from you changes the order, never the score.

        How we score →

        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

          How we score →

          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. The places are 60% of it: the best of what's within reach, weighed by distance. The setting is the other 40%: how life goes in that country (how people rate their own lives, how long and how well they live, how safe they are) and what it's like right there (the air, and the weather). If the score looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.

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