Where to buy a scone in Cameron Highlands, with prices

Scones and the highlands

Scones are a tea-time habit in Cameron Highlands, and the weather helps: daytime temperatures seldom go above 25 °C¹. BOH Tea calls scones synonymous with Cameron Highlands⁴, which is about what you’d expect a tea company to say.

The habit goes back a while. The tableland in Pahang¹ was developed in the 1930s⁵ and is one of Malaysia’s oldest tourist spots. Boh tea is the drink of choice¹ up here, so that’s what goes in your cup.

What a scone is

A scone is a traditional British and Irish baked good⁶. The name most likely comes from the Scottish Gaelic sgonn, meaning a large lump or mass⁶.

British scones are lighter and traditionally come with clotted cream and jam⁶. American scones have more butter and sugar⁶, so they’re richer and meant to be eaten on their own.

Devon or Cornish: cream or jam first

The old argument has a kind answer: in practice both orders are eaten in both Devon and Cornwall⁷. So nobody at the next table gets to tell you off.

• Devon method: split the scone, cover each half with clotted cream, then add strawberry jam on top⁷.
• Cornish method: split the scone, spread it with strawberry jam, then top it with a spoonful of clotted cream⁷.

Where to buy scones in Cameron Highlands

Scones turn up in budget cafés and old guesthouses around Tanah Rata, in hotel tea rooms, and at the BOH tea centres. Prices and hours are in the table in the next section.

Cafés and guesthouses

Tanah Rata, the main commercial and tourist town⁸, has most of the cheap options:

• Lord’s Cafe (T Cafe): up a flight of stairs at a corner¹ in Tanah Rata, and the place for a low-cost scone with local tea.
• Hillview Inn: a café serving hot snacks, tea and scones at No.17 Jalan Mentigi, Tanah Rata¹.
• Cameronian Inn: a cottage with a nice garden that serves afternoon tea and strawberry scones¹, also on Jalan Mentigi. Your stop if you came looking for strawberry scones.
• Smokehouse Hotel: tea in the gardens with scones, cream and strawberry jam¹. The listing behind this was updated in 2017¹, so check it’s still serving before you go.
• Bala’s Holiday Chalet: famous for its tea and scones, in one of the oldest colonial buildings in Cameron Highlands, once a school¹.

Hotel afternoon teas

For a sit-down afternoon tea with scones, the hotels are where to go:

• The Lakehouse Cameron Highlands (30th Mile Ringlet⁹): afternoon tea daily on the Lakeview Terrace³, as an English High Tea Set or an Afternoon Tea Set. If you’re staying, The Lakehouse says its Best Flexible Rate comes with complimentary tea and scones¹⁰.
• Jim Thompson Tea Room, Cameron Highlands Resort (by the golf course, between Tanah Rata and Brinchang¹²): afternoon tea with warm, buttery scones, clotted cream and jams¹¹. The resort calls the room a cosy retreat at any time of day¹¹.

Cameron Highlands Resort says it makes its own Cameronian jams from strawberries sourced from nearby farms¹¹, so here the jam is local.

For the rest of the Lakehouse end of the plateau, see Ringlet food and attractions. Heading further up the road from the resort? Here are more Brinchang details.

BOH tea centre cafés

BOH Tea names the cafés in its BOH Tea Centres⁴ as fan-favourite places for tea and scones. Its gardens include Sungai Palas¹ and Habu¹³. The BOH Sungai Palas visitor page has the details.

No car? The half-day Mossy Forest and tea plantation tour gets you to the tea side of the highlands without the driving.

What do scones cost in Cameron Highlands?

A café scone in Tanah Rata costs RM2.80¹ (checked October 2026) to RM3.20², and a tea set at The Lakehouse costs RM108 (checked October 2026) or RM160 nett³. For Lord’s Cafe, Wikivoyage gives the lower price and Cameron.com.my the higher one.

After tea time

Nights can drop to 12 °C¹, which is proper steamboat weather. See halal steamboat options in Cameron Highlands, or the Cameron Highland restaurant and café guide for everything else on the plateau.

Questions people ask