Malaysia bags top honours award at Travel and Leisure India Awards

April 9, 2015, New Delhi…: Malaysia bagged The Best International Destination –Food and Drinks 2014award at the Travel + Leisure India’s Best Awards held in New Delhi. It was also double honours for Malaysia with the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) winning the Best International Duty Free Shopping award. Hosted by the world’s leading travel and lifestyle magazine, the winners were decided through a nation wide poll amongst its readers.

On receiving the awards, MrManoharanPeriasamy, Director, Tourism Malaysia said, “We arehonoured to have been conferred this recognition. Shopping and Food -both are an integral part of travel and to be recognized for this motivates us to intensify our efforts to position Malaysia as a leading shopping and gastronomical destination to our guests.”

“Food is much more than just nourishment. It connects people. Since Malaysia is resplendent with diverse cultures, our food also reflects the ethnic mix of the local population spanning traditional Malay cooking to migrant Indian and the colonial Portuguese cuisine making Malaysian cuisine delectable for every taste bud”, added MrPeriasamy.

The Travel + Leisure awards is a significant achievement for Malaysia, a country that prides in its gastronomical delights. Malaysians are serious foodies.With their diverse cultures, celebrations and activities, there is always an excuse to meet and eat – whether it is at a restaurant, a fast-food outlet, or just a stall beneath the tree.

Besides the favourite ‘Satay’, some of the popular Malaysian dishes include NasiLemak, NasiKandar, Char kueyteow (flat rice noodles with shrimp, bean sprouts, egg and sweet Chinese sausage), Hokkienmee (egg noodles in a pork broth with prawns, egg, bean sprouts and water spinach) and Asamlaksa (thick noodles in a spicy fish broth with tangy asam, a sour tamarind paste).While in Kuala Lumpur a walk down the famous Bukit Bintang areais a good way to experience Malaysia’s street food. Gurney Drive, in Penang(the food capital of Malaysia) is another must visit place to see the deluge of hawker delights and exciting restaurants that come alive at night time. 

It’s said food creates memories and Malaysian food will leave you with some lip smacking ones. The readers of Travel + Leisure will vouch for this.