Delicious & Happiness Cameron highlands restaurant — Restaurant in Pahang

For those who think a 4.5-star review is everything, do read this! I usually only post when something is really good, but this restaurant really deserves a review — so here goes:

Chanced upon this place on Google while searching for dinner on our way to Cameron Highlands. After almost 5 hours of driving, we were excited because of the high rating and promising reviews.

The lady who served us was friendly and patient at first. The menu had variety, prices were affordable, and the food was okay. But having travelled around Western Malaysia (Johor, Muar, Malacca, Ipoh, KL, Penang) and Southeast Asia countries (Thailand, Singapore) with similar Chinese food, this place doesn’t seem to hold a candle to any of those — so I guess they’re lucky to be high up in the highlands with less competition.

Most seafood here is frozen — which the server told us honestly, and that’s understandable given the location.

However, what really spoiled our experience was how they handled a mistake. One of the vegetables we ordered was sambal Kang Kong (water spinach). The lady likely keyed in our order wrongly — she knew what we initially ordered and even admitted it was her mistake — and we were served another vegetable cooked in the same sauce.

When the dish was first served, we naturally gave them the benefit of doubt and tried the dish first, assuming it might be a variant of Kang Kong. Any seasoned traveller knows dishes can differ by region so we thought it might be the case. After tasting, we checked with them and found out it wasn’t Kang Kong at all.

In any respectable restaurant, if the waiter admits it’s their mistake, they’d replace the dish or cancel it. She admitted it was her fault and apologised — albeit it feeling quite insincere. Then she told us they couldn’t cancel or switch it because we had already “tried” it and the restaurant would suffer a loss as they would have to cover the cost. First time hearing this logic — so the customer has to pay for the server’s mistake and now has to double check the waiter’s work?

If we hadn’t tasted it, would they just serve it to another table? Or to someone who couldn’t tell the difference, just to ensure they didn’t suffer a loss on the dish, as this was a main point raised?? We didn’t press the issue further and just accepted the vegetable even though we didn’t eat it.

Her reasoning made no sense to me. What if there was a cockroach in the dish and you discovered it only after eating — would you still pay? I mean it’s their mistake but you did taste the dish right? Maybe her reasoning is normal up here, but you, a potential customer, can decide.

She even said the vegetables were “very different” (they’re not — both have similar hollow stems) and told us “no free tasting” when we voiced our displeasure at her business ethics. Please madam, nobody is trying to get a free meal out of your 15 RM dish — we’re not rich but we can still afford it, relax.

Eventually, she gave us a 50% discount on the wrongly served dish, so we still paid 7 RM for it.

What made it worse was how she raised her voice even though the restaurant wasn’t crowded (it was around 9pm). Maybe to scare or embarrass us — we’ll never know and won’t bother going back to find out. She even kept justifying herself loudly to her coworkers or other customers while we were still eating.

We ordered quite a bit for 3 people: 2 vegetables, prawn egg omelette, creamy buttermilk chicken, and salted egg fried tofu. The salted egg tofu was the best dish of the night.

If you want to visit, go ahead — they’re well-rated and supposedly crowded based on other reviews. But in my opinion, you’ll get better food and service elsewhere. The lady server was friendly to other customers who didn’t raise any issues, so maybe you’ll have a better experience. For us, it was terrible.

Environment and atmosphere is as you would expect of such places so no issues with it.

For those who think this restaurant has great food — good for you! Wait till you try other places in Malaysia of...

Mini Cameron Highlands Series - Part 2

Perfect cure for hunger

Our itinerary of the day didn't go the way that we'd planned. The attraction that we'd gone to was packed with people, to the extent that what the Chinese would say "people mountain people sea". We tried to hang out for a while but fearing for close proximity and the risk, we decided to leave. But not without getting caught in the massive traffic jam in Brinchang area. Speaking of this.. Cameron Highlands traffic is getting worse especially on weekends and public holidays.

Everyone was already fungry by then, which was perfect as our lunch place was just nearby. I have been keeping Delicious & Happiness Kitchen in my list for a while now.. and the fact that this restaurant has a high rating make me wanting to go there asap.

It was a basic restaurant and not those fancy shmancy ones. But I saw someone's post praising the overall quality of the dishes and that's why I wanted to go there.

◾Claypot herbal braised pork ribs - my dish of the day! Packed with the flavour of various herbs and the pork ribs were such a delight to chew on. ◾sizzling taufu with minced meat - I love how the sauce was still sizzling on the hot plate when served. It somehow elevate the appeal of this normal beancurd dish. ◾sweet & sour pork - the hungry son walloped half the plate. ◾mantis prawn with salted egg yolk - crunchy and savoury dish that all of us quickly finished. ◾stir fried yacon with chicken, fungus and capsicum - gotta love the crunchy texture and thee sweetness of the yacon, something that I seldom see elsewhere. ◾stir fried long bean with carrot slices

They also do steamboat because this is one of the most commonly found dish in the Highlands, and because steamboat feel so right especially in the...

Update (19 October, 2023): One more for the road - it's pork belly with preserved mustard greens (mui choy in Cantonese) and bitter gourd and chicken in fermented bean paste. The resto was running quite full when we arrived but waiting time for dishes was still very reasonable. And the taste was just as good as always.

Update (18 October, 2023): I've lost count how many times I've been here and until today, it's still the five-star food and service I've come to know from many years ago. There is only one cook/chef in the kitchen for all the items and cooking styles in the quite-extensive menu - from steaming to stir- and deep-frying, stewing and braising - all these without any discernible drop in taste and quality! For years! The bonus is, waiting time is still acceptable! This time, we had the tamarind (asam) steamed tilapia, stir-fried potato leaves and aubergine with minced pork. This is THE place for me in CH. A word of caution - go very early to avoid queueing and crowd, as seating is somewhat limited.

17, April, 2023: Tucked away in the quieter part of Brinchang, this is the haunt of locals. Simple home-cooked dishes to come back to every time I am in CH. FYI, they don't do fried noodles any more, so if fried noodles is what you want, try 'OK Tuck' or 'Home Taste...