a lot of changes and reviews about some restaurants

After 5 years things have changed in Langkawi. Actually it's a more "alive" island now. When I left, even in high season, it was kinda couples getaway but now it's attracting more and more people. number 1 tourist area Pantai Cenang has grown significantly. This growth brought a lot of new restaurants, cafes and shops. I've tried some of them and I would like to share my thoughts.

Pantai Cenang Restaurants

Yellow Cafe

Well it's a cafe in a yellow theme because of the owner's nickname. He is my friend from my previous stay in Langkawi, a quite decent and fun guy. Back in 2007 it was just a tent renting jet-ski. Now there is a beautiful Yellow Cafe and just beside it Yellow Steak House. At my first night in Pantai Cenang we went to steak house for taste of good beef. I had rumsteak and my friend had a tenderloin. Service and food was very good. After dining, you can just relax in Yellow Cafe to have a few drinks and enjoy the night. There are nice events on special occasions like new year's eve. And people say they are usually very good.

Viva Italia

It's good to do one good and one bad review at a time. It was kinda late when we arrived here. This restaurants shares its kitchen with the Mexican restaurant next door. I first went to the kitchen as it was close to me asked if they are open, they said no. When I returned to my friends, guy on the door said they are open. So we went in. We ordered nachos, penne arabiatta, Italian salad and a margarita pizza. Penne was okay, came in a clay pot, but too much olives in it. But the rest was horrible; Italian salad didn't have any ingredients were listed in the menu, just some greens and onions, we couldn't see any mozzarella cheese on the pizza so when my friend asked the waiter where the cheese is, he said it's Italian style, not American. Nachos were also stale. We argued with the people a lot and in the end I was the only one had dinner. When they brought the check, there was also an error on it too, 3 drinking waters instead of 2. So we paid 47 rm (~$16) for almost nothing and a bad experience. Looked like a tourist-attraction-for-nothing to me.

my stay

before i arrived i was looking at the perdana beach resort which had an apartment looked nice in photos. it had a pool, nice flats, by the sea etc. my friends were also living there back than. but the truth is it's in the middle of nowhere. not many people are living in it and there is nothing around it. also because of the wave breaker the sea is dirty and muddy. actually generally it's muddy here, because of the current, because of the all sand sea base, it's always muddy. you can't see anything. and especially these times there are lots and lots of jellyfish here. and they are big, really big.

when i arrived my friend has moved to a house in pantai cenang (cenang beach). a nice house which needs hell a lot of repairs and renovation. the former owners were most probably living like animals (as my friend said after his first arrived). it was much better when i arrived. i stayed with them for 2 months. living around pantai cenang is the best thing a tourist can hope for, life is here. it's a very nice and long beach, close to other nice beaches, bars, pubs, restaurants, shops , all here. so you might like to stay in one of the resorts or guest houses here. btw; they are paying rm1000 for the house (~$285).

but as a long term resident i needed a house or flat with furniture. so i started looking for it. there was only perdana beach resort kinda close to cenang beach. but when i went to see it, i definitely didn't like it. also it was quite expensive for island standarts, rm1500 / month (~$428). than i asked around and found out there are 3 apartments with furnished flats in kuah. kuah is the town in langkawi island. i will give the details in another post. the three apartments are century suria, kondo istana and sri lagenda.

century suria is close to the west entrance of the town, close to the sea. the flats and furnishing is kinda nice. but the pool is too small, almost like a pond. flats have 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen and a saloon. view is really nice, if you have a flat on higher levels. most of the rich people of langkawi live there. price is rm1800 / month (~$514). it also has a small mart, gym and sauna in ground floor.

kondo istana is very close to the town center. looks like century suria, 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, open kitchen and saloon. very nice view (especially mountain side). when you ask the reception they say rm3600 (~$1000) / month. Yes, it's really expensive and believe me it doesn't worth it. if you are lucky you can find a home owner there and rent from them. than the price drops around rm1400 (~$400) which is logical. But the furniture might not be good.

sri lagenda is a budget apartment. monthly rents are around rm600 (~$170). Small apartment with poor furniture and no facilities.

than luckily, a guy from kondo istana has showed me a flat in chogm villa. that's the best place you can get if you intend to stay for a long time. or 1 month even. wonderful big and clean pool, single flats or doublexes in a very nice site. now i'm staying there with a very nice pool view. sauna and gym are right by the pool. very quite and windy. sometimes children are making a lot of noise by the pool but you get used to it. large windows to the balcony which i love. just open it all the way and enjoy your stay. we are paying just rm1200 (~$342) / month which is totally worth it.

the thing about staying in kuah is it's 25 min drive from pantai cenang. but it's okay if you like to drive, because the coast road is very nice and clean.