Islands in Malaysia

[kchowder]

I'm trying to plan a trip to Malaysia and am very excited about some quality beach time. But the guidebook makes it look as though most of the beachy destinations are package-tour kind of places where you get package-tour food.

What are your recommendations for the perfect combination of beach and good food?

[klyeoh]

Most Malaysian island resorts are located in really isolated, exotic spots - to heighten the "get-away-from-it-all" feeling, I guess. But the hotel outlets themselves are usually quite good & are dining destinations in themselves.

(1) If you're going to Langkawi Island, a good resort there is The Datai, which has a fabulous Gulai House (featuring Malay cuisine) and the Pavilion (a Thai restaurant perched atop giant tropical rainforest trees - imagine seeing birds of paradise flying by as you dine):
http://www.langkawi-resorts.com/datailk/dining.htm

(2) Tioman Island (on the East Coast) has one good resort:
http://www.berjayahotels-resorts.com/tiomanresort.htm

(3) Pangkor Laut Resort on Pangkor Island (West Coast of Malaysia):
http://www.pangkorlautresort.com/

(4) Malaysia's food capital is Penang, but its beaches are not as exotic as those you'd find in the smaller islands above. Penang's full of really, really good street foods which tourists from other states in Malaysia & Singapore flock to. I think only Bangkok or Saigon have street foods as good as those you'd find in Penang. Penang's Batu Ferringhi stretch is lined with beach resorts - a good one is Shangri-La's Rasa Sayang:
http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/penang/rasasayangresort

Penang's capital Georgetown is only 20 minutes' by car from Batu Ferringhi. It's full of delicious dining spots to discover - you can see from the many CH threads on the board, or you can Google for the many Penang-based foodie blogs.

(5) Another good beach spot, though not an island, is Club Med in Cherating:
http://www.clubmed.com.my/cm/villages...

[kchowder]

Thank you! That's very helpful. Thanks for linking everything, too. Have you ever been to Pulau Perhentian? It looks so stunning, but it doesn't seem like there's a local population to support non-touristy food.

[klyeoh]

Nope, haven't been to Pulau Perhentian. Closest I've been was Kuala Terengganu. One local delicacy to try there is Nasi Dagang - steamed semi-glutinous rice flavored with coconut milk, fenugreek, sliced shallots & ginger. Absolutely ambrosial! Usually served with tuna curry or chicken curry - at breakfast-time.

[bulavinaka]

We visited Langkawi a couple of summers ago. Although we stayed at the Berjaya, we did make a couple of side trips on our own to the small towns around the island. Kuah had some pretty decent food but timing can be an issue. We were hungry in between lunch and dinner, but the places that appeared to have the freshest seafood weren't open during those "tween" hours. By the way, the food at the Berjaya wasn't bad at all. We ended up doing the buffet meals quite a bit as we had our kids with us - it just made things a lot easier.

One thing that did take me by surprise was the large number of tourists from the Middle East. This was our second trip to Langkawi - our first was back in the mid-90s. I didn't recall seeing anyone on our first trip that I could easily recognize as being from the Middle East, but this last trip was markedly different. Mostly couples as well as families with the women fully covered in burkas. 90 degrees, humid as hell, and these poor women were dressed head-to-toe in black or dark blue burkas. With this in mind, it helps to consider the relatively conservative attitude of some of the guests...