Cameron Highlands restaurant guide: where to eat and drink

What to try

Start with steamboat: Wikivoyage suggests trying steamboat² while you’re up here. Each card below says where the facts put the dish or drink on the plateau.

Steamboat, breakfast and scones compared

Each of these has its own guide. Here’s how they compare before you pick one:

Tom yam

Tom yam (tom yum) is a family of hot and sour Thai soups⁷. The travel guide cameron.com.my says Restoran Highlands Tomyam serves tom yam soup, fried rice, noodles, egg dishes, chicken, seafood, vegetables and hot drinks⁸.

Where to eat and drink

Tanah Rata, the main commercial and tourist town¹, has the widest spread of cafés and restaurants. Brinchang, the highest of the three towns¹, has the night market. Cameron Highlands itself sits at the northwestern tip of Pahang⁹.

Tanah Rata

Public buses from Tapah run to Tanah Rata¹, so you can eat here without a car. The guide to the Tanah Rata bus terminal in Tanah Rata, Pahang covers getting between the towns.

• Yong Teng Café: open 7AM–5PM², for breakfast or lunch.
• Singh Chapati, No 1, Brij Court, open 1PM–9:30PM² (now Singh Chapati Urban Restaurant).
• Restoran Mayflower: Wikivoyage lists it for steamboat and Chinese food².

The map table below adds more Tanah Rata places:

• The Lord’s Cafe and Jasmine CafeHouse
• KHM Strawberries & Jam and Cameron Valley Tea House 2
• Pizzarella & Misokimchi and Barracks Cafe
• AyahMan Strawberi and Nasi kerabu lemak bakar Mek Timah Ayah Man (Malay)
• Highland Steamboat Cheese & Grill 2

What’s on in Brinchang at night?

Brinchang’s night market (pasar malam) is the main evening outing, opposite the police station². It opens on Friday and Saturday nights, and every day in holiday season and on public holidays² (checked October 2026).

The map table lists these other Brinchang places:

• OK Tuck Restaurant
• Rasa Soya Cafe
• Y.A.Z Steamboat N” Grill and Mummy Steamboat & Grill
• House of Scone
• Cado cafe

Up the road at Kea Farm, the table has Kensington Western Restaurant.

Resort and hotel dining

Cameron Highlands Resort lists its own restaurants:

• The Dining Room: breakfast and dinner¹⁰, overlooking the mountaintops and the golf course⁶. The resort says breakfast includes freshly baked pastries, seasonal fruit, artisan yoghurt and cereals⁶.
• The Jim Thompson Tea Room⁶: the resort’s tea room.
• Gonbei: the hotpot pavilion from the steamboat card above.

The Smokehouse Hotel is an English Tudor-style hotel built in 1939², and it’s in the map table as The Smokehouse Hotel & Restaurant By The Golf Course. If you’d rather eat where you sleep, compare hotel options by traveller type.

Places to eat and drink

Place	Area	Type	Hours and season	Google rating	Map
The Lord's Cafe Tanah RataPhoto: Google Maps	Tanah Rata	Cafe	Mon–Fri 10:00–18:00; Sat 10:00–17:00; Sun closed	4.1 (1,889 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
KHM Strawberries & JamPhoto: Google Maps	Tanah Rata	Cafe	Mon–Thu 08:00–17:00; Fri–Sun 08:00–18:00	4 (2,229 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Pizzarella & Misokimchi @Tanah Rata - Halal Western, Japanese, Korean, Steamboat, Vegetarian Restaurant & Catering ServicesPhoto: Google Maps	Tanah Rata	Eclectic restaurant	Mon–Fri 11:00–22:00; Sat–Sun 10:30–22:00	4.8 (3,021 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Cameron Valley Tea House 2Photo: Google Maps	Tanah Rata	Tea house	Mon–Thu 08:30–18:30; Fri–Sun 08:00–19:00	4.2 (7,091 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
AyahMan Strawberi Cameron HighlandsPhoto: Google Maps	Tanah Rata	Malay Restaurant	Mon–Fri 08:00–15:30; Sat–Sun 07:30–15:30	4 (516 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Jasmine CafeHousePhoto: Google Maps	Tanah Rata	Restaurant	Mon–Sun 12:00–20:30	3.9 (453 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
BARRACKS CAFE CAMERON HIGHLANDSPhoto: Google Maps	Tanah Rata	Restaurant	Mon closed; Tue–Thu 11:00–20:00; Fri–Sun 11:00–22:00	4.2 (1,175 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Nasi kerabu lemak bakar Mek Timah Ayah ManPhoto: Google Maps	Tanah Rata	Malay Restaurant	Mon 08:51–16:00; Tue 08:52–16:00; Wed closed; Thu–Sun 08:00–16:00	3.6 (65 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Highland Steamboat Cheese & Grill 2Photo: Google Maps	Tanah Rata	Hot pot restaurant	Mon–Sun 17:00–00:00	4.3 (1,138 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
OK Tuck Restaurant Brinchang Cameron HighlandsPhoto: Google Maps	Brinchang	Restaurant	Mon–Sun 11:00–22:00	4.8 (7,479 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Rasa Soya Cafe Cameron HighlandPhoto: Google Maps	Brinchang	Dessert restaurant	Mon–Sun 08:30–17:00	4.3 (270 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Y.A.Z Steamboat N” GrillPhoto: Google Maps	Brinchang	Restaurant	Mon–Sun 16:30–00:00	4 (592 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
The Smokehouse Hotel & Restaurant By The Golf Course Cameron HighlandsPhoto: Google Maps	Brinchang	Hotel	–	4.1 (2,061 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Mummy Steamboat & GrillPhoto: Google Maps	Brinchang	Restaurant	Mon 16:30–00:00; Tue closed; Wed–Sun 16:30–00:00	4.4 (55 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
HOUSE OF SCONEPhoto: Google Maps	Brinchang	Restaurant	Mon 10:00–22:00; Tue closed; Wed–Sun 10:00–22:00	4.8 (449 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Cado cafePhoto: Google Maps	Brinchang	Coffee shop	Mon–Sun 10:00–22:00	4.3 (910 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Kensington Western Restaurant (Cameron Highland)Photo: Google Maps	Kea Farm	Western restaurant	Mon–Sun 11:00–23:00	4.6 (397 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map

Names, ratings and hours come from Google Maps listings (via DataForSEO), checked October 2026. Places are grouped by town and never ranked by rating, and none of them paid to be here.

Drinks and nightlife

Hotel restaurants are the surest place for a beer or wine: the big ones aren’t certified halal because they serve alcohol, but apart from Chinese restaurants they generally don’t serve pork³.

• Jungle Bar (Daniel’s Lodge, No.9 Lorong Perdah²): a jungle-themed bar with a nightly bonfire.
• Brinchang’s night market: the other evening option, open on the nights listed above.
• Tea: the Jim Thompson Tea Room, Cameron Valley Tea House 2 in Tanah Rata, or the estates themselves (see visiting the BOH Sungai Palas plantation).

Practical: paying and Ramadan

Bring some cash, and set up a QR wallet if you can. Both are easier than relying on a foreign debit card.

Paying for food

• Cards: accepted in most Malaysian shops, restaurants and hotels³, though skimming can be a problem in dodgier outlets.
• QR payments: more widely accepted than credit cards³. The two main systems are DuitNow and Touch ’n Go eWallet³.
• Touch ’n Go eWallet: download the app and link it to a credit card³.
• Cash: carry some in case your debit card is rejected³.

Ramadan

What it means for your meals:

• Many restaurants close during the day³, and those that stay open keep a low profile.
• Most Chinese stalls and restaurants stay open³.

Questions people ask