Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

The Statue of Liberty wept for the likes of us; tourists paying lots of moolah ($$) for pathetic food … who am I kidding? Genting Highlands = Mecca of Good Food ?!!

Okay people, Friday rants again. The week flew by without any fanfare, conflicts, tantrums nor warfare. Good news, coming from someone who works in a volatile working environment; filled with last minute decisions, exams (yes, at this time and age!), pinnacle of bureacracy (can’t complain, given the nature of my job) and unplanned travels.

Speaking of the devils, I still need to work tomorrow on a lovely Saturday morning. Shucks right? Especially when it’s not in IPOH we are talking about, but somewhere down south. Maybe I’ll grab myself a piece of Tau Sar Pneah, or an overfried piece of fried chicken from Gulam Rasul. 🙂

Crispy, salty, sweet and very very addictive plate of thinly-sliced ‘fah lam yuk’ (pork belly meat) deep-fried and coated in a caramelized sauce. (RM15.00/USD4.50)

Since I am in no mood to do proper food reviews, let me share my food-hunting experiences (or lack thereof) in Genting Highlands sometime back in May. Word of advice …. do NOT put high hopes in discovering feasts of gastronomic proportions up in the highlands. Yeah, you may be feeling ‘on top of the world‘ or ‘dining with the angels from the sky above‘ … but unless you’re prepared to pay astronomical rates for a culinary indulgence, you’d be better off starving yourself or pray that you win enough chips for an abalone or two, or a meal at The Olive.

Read how we started off with a bang in Gohtong Jaya (the town before you reach the peak), then things started to go downhill from there ….. gastronomically speaking, of course ….

Clockwise from top left : Stir-fried French beans (‘kwai tau miu’), Triple Steamed Eggs (‘sam wong dan’), the complimentary/tester cup of dragonfruit enzyme drink, and the crunchy piece of their signature Crispy Baked Pork Belly.

Thank goodness for food blogs. A quick search revealed many good and worthy eateries in Gohtong Jaya, the town before you reach Genting Highlands. You’ll also pass by this town if you’re taking the cable car service. So named to commemorate the late Uncle Lim, the founder of the mega Genting group.

And amongst the many restaurants in Gohtong Jaya (and believe me, there are a LOT !!!) Chuan Kie stood out for their reasonably-priced seafood dishes and ‘chu char’ fares. A meal here will not break a hole in one’s pocket. Unless you go for the freshwater fishes (ahem …. freshwater fishes on the highlands?!), or seafood galore, then maybe … just maybe you’ll be held back before you even perform your annual ‘charity’ donation to the Genting group.

We wanted Sang Har Meen (braised egg noodles with huge river prawns), but a mixed up order gave us this plate of Chow Sang Meen (fried egg noodles with prawns and vegetables) instead. Not that we were complaining!

A feast for four came to RM49.40/USD15 only. But of course we did not go crazy with the orders for we have a rather heavy chapati breakfast at Moga Punjab earlier before setting foot on the journey. The dishes were delicious, none that disappoint, and certainly opened my eyes to the potential good food of Gohtong Jaya. I never dined in this town before, in case you’re wondering.

Faded signboard aside, Chuan Kie has another branch on the same road, about 10 or so shops away.

RESTORAN CHUAN KIE
29-30, Jalan Jati 1,
Gohtong Jaya, 69000
Genting Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia.
Telephone : +603-6100 1151/+603-6100 1153
Opens for lunch and dinner.

The tower at Chin Swee Temple … right before you set foot on the land of sins.

The Bakery @ Genting Highlands Hotel – Perpetually packed with customers looking for a light snack, or a full meal.

Upon reaching Genting Highlands, we were glad the crowd have yet to invade the highlands. This was a day before the Wesak holidays, hence checking-in into our hotel was a breeze. Eateries were not packed, and parking spaces were in abundance. Thankfully.

And we did not choke to death while calculating the odds, counting the chips and swapping our member cards. 🙂

Marinara Pizza @ Pizza Factory – As bewilderingly cheesy as this may look, don’t fall for this. We did, and regretted our decisions to eat there. But then again …. not many choice in Genting Highlands huh?

BBQ Chicken Pizza – Save for the chunks of chicken, nothing else was worth mentioning. Yup, not even the strong-tasting parsley

Genting Highlands ain’t that cool anymore, and nowhere near to her previous bone-chilling surroundings. It even rained on that evening we were there, and we managed to take a leisurely stroll outdoors, with nothing but our shorts and t-shirts on.

Talk about the effect of global warming. But of course, nothing could be better than away from Ipoh’s horrendously scorching climate, with her poor residents bordering on suffering from heatstroke on a daily basis. But I digress.

Tough/hardened toasted garlic bread, and tasteless chicken wings. And we wondered initially why the place looked all gloomy and barren. Hmm …..

We had a hard time choosing a spot for dinner. Not because of the obscenely wide array of cuisines to choose from (mostly Chinese food at double of the usual prices), or fast food restaurants (reasonable … but McDonald’s and Burger King all the way up the hills?), but rather I had no recollection whatsoever of eating good or at least, noteworthy food up in Genting Highlands.

Memories of taking away pizzas freshly-baked from the kitchen of Pizza Factory came washing over me, for waaaayyyyy back then, Pizza Factory’s pizzas were NOT as disastrous as the ones we had recently. A Family Set of two regular pizzas (Marinara and BBQ Chicken were our picks), five pieces of fried chicken wings, and garlic bread, as well as four soft drinks for RM78/USD23.60. Sounds like real value for money right? But trust Motormouth on this :

SAVE YOUR $$$ AND EAT IN THE CASINO INSTEAD. Or wait, go for the fast food outlets, or other restaurants. Even the kopitiam in First World Plaza, or the many Chinese restaurants around … but NOT any Chinese restaurants, mind you.

PIZZA FACTORY @
Level 2, HIGHLANDS HOTEL,
GENTING HIGHLANDS

Only Mee should be renamed to WHY MEE?!!!!!! (complete with the theatrics)

I don’t wanna get started with Only Mee‘s fares, since from the outside the choices of noodles and rice looked promising, and very reasonable (about RM10 per portion, and everything sounded so yummy). But the same intuition struck when the area was nearly empty while the other eateries were doing brisk business. Especially that kopitiam next to this, named Hainan Kitchen Restaurant.

My green curry noodles arrived as green curry rice, and ….. well, to sum to experience up; I’d rather be eating a cup of instant noodles. The other selections fared poorly as well, though initially presented in a very delighting manner (Look at the photo above). The rice was served in a metal container propped up on a wooden stand. For whatever reason …. maybe to avoid the hands getting torched from the heat.

ONLY MEE @ Ground Floor,
First World Plaza, Genting Highlands

It was the Wesak Day celebrations up on the highlands as well, as seen from this huge ballroom converted into a shrine of sorts.

Gui Ling Gao (Black Tortoise Jelly?) for desserts at Koon Woh Tong

Well, at least the bouts of ‘games’ rendered the journey worthy. Not to mention a movie watched at the cinema in First World Plaza. Which movie? Hmm ….now if only I can put my finger on it …….. 🙂

Oh, and Koon Woh Tong‘s herbal tea and Gui Ling Gao (herbal jelly with essence from tortoise shells) are sold for only a few Malaysian Ringgit more. I need that nourishment after those incessant bouts of shouting. Frustratingly. LOL.

A VERY HAPPY WEEKEND, DEAR READERS !!!