The capital of Pahang, Kuantan is a good place for Klang Valley folks to get an excursion from the hectic city traffic and life. It is a mere 3 hours drive along the East Coast Expressway from Kuala Lumpur and the journey usually is smooth sailing unless during festive period.
We brought our young toddler along for a short 3 days 2 nights getaway in Kuantan and she really loved this cozy coast cit. Here is our 3 days 2 nights itinerary in Kuantan, a list of recommendation of cafes and restaurants and our afterthought. It may not be a comprehesive itinerary, considering we are more to brining our kid for a leisure stay in resort
Itinerary in Kuantan
Day 1:
- Depart from Kuala Lumpur after brunch
- Reach Kuantan at 3pm
- Late lunch at The 92's Cafe (not recommended)
- Check in Swiss Garden Beach Resort, Beserah
- Free time at Resort (swimming pool time for the kid)
- Dinner at Muhibbah Seafood Restaurant
Day 2
- Breakfast at Rasa Sayang Cafe
- Visit Zoo Teruntum Kuantan
- Tea break at Cendol Air Putih
- Grab a cup of coffee at Kopi Mesin
- Free time at Resort (swimming pool time for the kid)
- Dinner at Lila Wadi Steamboat
- Can go to Teluk Cempedak if time allows
Day 3
- Wake up early for Kid's room activities in Resort
- Check out
- Buy Keropok Lekor and souvenir from Keropok Lekor Linda
- Late breakfast/lunch at Hoi Yin Curry Mee
- Tea break at Kula Cakes
- Depart
Top Food to Try in Kuantan
1. Muhibbah Seafood Restaurant
My friend in Kuantan recommended Muhibbah Seafood Restaurant to me and asked me to prepare for a long wait. Apparently, this restaurant is well known for their fried shark meat along with other Zi Char dishes.
The restaurant is located out of nowhere within an industrial zone and I was surprised at the 1.5 hours waiting time for my food to be served even on a weekday. We decided to skip the shark meat due to personal reasons, Steamed Grouper was fresh, and the other dishes were pretty standard.
You can go to the seafood supplier ship located opposite of the restaurant to handpick your favourite fresh seafood such as prawns, crabs, lobsters and fish then get the chef at Muhibbah Seafood Restaurant to cook for you.
Muhibbah Seafood Restaurant
Operation hours: 11am - 3pm; 6pm - 10.30pm daily
0129550395
2. Hoi Yin 海燕茶室 Curry Noodles
Hoi Yin is located at the touristy and popular Teluk Chempedak. Initially, I thought it will be a touristy eatery but it turned out many locals, including Muslim patrons as it is halal certified.
The curry noodles here is good and skewed toward the creamy curry soup type, instead of the fiery hot and enriched with santan in the northern states of Malaysia where we hailed from. Therefore, we still prefer the conventional curry noodles that comes with sharp red colour soup.
Hoi Yin Curry Mee 海燕茶室咖喱面
0129213732
Operation hours: 7am - 2pm (closed on Monday)
3. Kula Cakes
Kula Cakes is one of the biggest name among the cafes in Kuantan. They are famed for serving delicious Mango Cheescakes and a variety of other cakes. The cafe is often pack with crowd, and coupled with the slow services could render a long waiting time here.
You can choose to takeaway or having the cakes at the adjacent open space which belong to Kula Cakes.
Pro tips here. If you wish to enjoy the renowned Mango Cheescakes from Kula Cakes yet wish to escape the crowd, go to Lila Wadi or Rasa Sayang Cafe.
Kula Cakes
Operation hours: 11am - 6pm (closed on Monday)
0179711396
4. Rasa Sayang Cafe
Rasa Sayang Cafe is another cafe worth checking out in Kuantan. We were here to sample the renowned Mango Cheesecakes from Kula Cakes, but soon fall in love with the rustic ambiance of this cafe.
The cafe offers a small menu but the food is good. We recommend to try their Nyonya Laksa, toast and coffee but can skip their pasta.
Rasa Sayang Cafe
017-8761025
Operation hours: 10am - 7.30pm daily (till 9.30 on Fri, Sat & Sun)
5. Cendol Air Putih
Whenever you feel like grabbing a cool dessert to quench your thirst in the scorching hot weather in Kuantan, check out Cendol Air Putih. The shop churns out delicious Cendol with glutinous rice that would not hurt your pocket!
Cendol Air Putih
Operation hours: 12pm - 6.30pm (closed on Monday)
6. Lila Wadi
We drove pass Jalan Teluk Sisik and realised there is a restaurant illuminated with lots of fluorescent light, totally contrasting the surrounding dim light. Hence we thought, why not we give this restaurant a try?
The restaurant turned out to be Lila Wadi, a popular BBQ steamboat restaurant. It is hard to get a table on peak hours and we had to wait for 15 minutes for a table even we came at 9pm on a weekday. The steamboat was lovely and it was satisfying despite the wait.
Lila Wadi Restaurant
Operation hours: 3pm - 10.20pm (closed on Saturday)
0129850095
7. The 92's Cafe
The 92's Cafe in Kuantan has an unique selling point, offering ownmade woodfire pizza baked on the spot in a giant woodfire oven in the cafe. We came with high expectations but the overall dining experience was subpar. The woodfire pizza was average in taste, and was not justified with the premium price tag slapped on the pizza.
The 92's Cafe
Operation hours: 12-pm - 10pm daily
09-5095877
Things to Do in Kuantan
Relaxing in Swiss Garden Beach Resort Kuantan
This trip was meant to be relaxing so we spent most our time in the ressort and enjoy the facilities. Although the resort was not in pristine condition along with old-fashioned design rooms and long time needed to check in, the facilities here were perfect for kids.
Our 2 years old had a fun time in the pool, shifting from the adult pool to the kids pool multiple times, enjoying the water slides and playing in the dancing water fountain. The large size pool can accomodate a sizeable number of kids so fret not of crowding.
We were impressed with the kids room in Swiss Garden Beach Resort Kuantan. It is not any simple room where the hotel simply dump some obsolete and filthy toys there but the kids room here is well maintained and properly segmented into different sections. The kids room is enormous in size and probably bigger than combination of all the pools, and houses different toys such as playground, cooking set, mechanical toys, drawing and colouring, and there is even a mini theatre where you can choose your preferred cartoon for the kid!
In conclusion, Swiss Garden Beah Resort is an awesome place to stay if you bring along your kid although the price may be slightly on a high side.
Visit Zoo Teruntum Kuantan
The main reason that brought us all the way from Penang to Kuantan is presence of Zoo Teruntum in the east coast city. Unlike conventional zoo that hosts a series of animals and insects, Zoo Teruntum hosts one of the most exquisite animals once living in the planet - Dinosaurs, albeit in the replica forms. As our daughter has developed a special affection toward dinosaurs since she was a young toddler, Zoo Teruntum is our must go place.
Indeed she had a very fun time seeing the big dinosaurs replica in Zoo Teruntum! On top of that, she also enjoyed feeding the deers, seeing the dinosaurs mascot dancing and witness various live animals in the zoo.
Although Zoo Teruntum is relatively small in size and not much of excitmenet in terms of animal variety here, it is worth the visit for us at least. The pricey ticket at RM 29 per adult may deter some of you off though.
Check out the video on how she enjoys Zoo Teruntum Kuantan!
Buy Keropok Lekor
There are many stalls selling keropok lekor along the stretch of road leading to Swiss Garden Resort Kuantan. Truth is, we were unsure whether the lekor here were any good in terms of quality and price, but we decided to buy some as souvenirs and trials too.
We randomly stopped at one of the stall - Keropok Lekor Linda and we saw the images potryaing our Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia patronizing this stall. We reckon that is a pretty strong testimonial so decided to make our purchase here.
Conclusion
All in all, Kuantan is a nice place to come and have a relaxing holiday to escape the traffic jam and human crowd. Though the food and cafe here offers less excitement than in Kuala Lumpur or Penang, but there are still a few stood out such as Kula Cakes that left us a memorable good time. Zoo Teruntum also offer one in a kind experience that my young daughter still remember till today.
If not of the long distance between Kuantan and Penang, I would definitely come back here again as there are still many things we have not done here, such as lingering in the town, staying in Hyatt Hotel and visiting Teluk Cempedak. Hope time permits for another trip here.
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