Food

7 Best Places to Eat in Perlis (2026)

From Kuala Perlis's legendary laksa and mee udang stalls to Kangar's old-school dessert shops and Padang Besar's border food scene, here are 7 real, currently-trading places to eat across Malaysia's smallest state. All seven were re-checked on 10 October 2026: every one is still open, but six of them have a weekly rest day, and no two fall on the same day. Kak Su Laksa does not open until 12.30pm, Poh Kee shuts twice a week, and Monday closes three of the seven.

Jamie Tan31 July 20268 min readUpdated 10 Oct 2026

Perlis may be Malaysia's smallest state, but its food scene punches above its weight — especially around the fishing town of Kuala Perlis, where laksa and mee udang (prawn noodles) are practically institutions. This list stays close to what's actually verifiable: real, currently-operating restaurants and stalls in Kuala Perlis, Kangar, and Padang Besar, rather than a padded top-10.

How eating in Perlis actually works

Three towns do almost all the heavy lifting. Kuala Perlis, on the coast about 15–20 minutes west of Kangar, is where the seafood and the famous fish-and-coconut laksa live. Kangar, the state capital, holds the everyday Malay restaurants, the nasi kandar shops and the old dessert houses. Padang Besar, 20–30 minutes north on the Thai border, brings the Chinese and Thai influence and a large market crowd.

The biggest planning mistake is not the hours. It is the rest days.

The rest days are the whole game

We re-checked all seven on 10 October 2026. Every one is still trading, and none has closed. But six of the seven close one day a week, and no two of them close on the same day. Miss that and a day in Perlis can lose half its list before you leave the hotel.

Here is the week, closure by closure:

Monday — Dalinda, Rali and Pin Ja all closed. 4 of 7 open, and no breakfast anywhere.
Tuesday — Kak Su Laksa closed. 6 of 7 open.
Wednesday — Hai Thien and Poh Kee closed. 5 of 7 open.
Thursday — Poh Kee closed. 6 of 7 open.
Friday — Anjung Keli closed. 6 of 7 open.
Saturday — nothing closed. All 7 open.
Sunday — nothing closed. All 7 open.

Monday is the day to avoid. Three of the seven are shut, and because Rali Nasi Kandar is the only place on this list that opens before 10am, a Monday in Perlis has no early breakfast on it at all. Rali's rest day is also the fact most often reported backwards — it closes Monday and trades normally on Sunday, not the other way round.

Poh Kee is the other trap. It is usually described as having one midweek rest day. It has two, Wednesday and Thursday, so a midweek dessert stop needs to land on a Friday or later.

The clock, corrected

The second planning mistake is assuming Perlis shuts at teatime. It does not, and the single most-repeated line about eating here is simply wrong: Kak Su Laksa does not sell out before 1pm, because it does not open until 12.30pm. Its business-updated hours run to 7.30pm. Treat it as a late lunch or an early dinner, never as a morning stop.

The genuinely early option is Rali, from 7am to 2.30pm. The genuinely late ones are Dalinda, 5pm to midnight, and Hai Thien, 4pm to 11pm. Anjung Keli runs 10.30am to 4pm, Poh Kee 12pm to 5pm, and Pin Ja 11am to 6pm. So a workable day, on any day except Monday, is: Rali at breakfast, Anjung Keli or Pin Ja for lunch, Poh Kee mid-afternoon, and Dalinda or Hai Thien for dinner.

What you'll actually spend

Perlis is cheap even by Malaysian standards. A standard bowl of laksa at Kak Su is about RM5, or RM7 for the larger bowl with extra fish and toppings. A full meal at Anjung Keli works out at roughly RM10 a head — three people eat with drinks for around RM30. The two dearest tables are the Chinese sit-downs, Hai Thien and Pin Ja, which Google puts at RM20–40 a head. Mee udang at Dalinda is listed at RM1–20 a head, though the whole-prawn specials push an order towards the top of that band. Two people eating three meals across a full day will comfortably land between RM60 and RM100 total.

Getting between them

Public transport in Perlis is limited to local town buses, so plan on driving. Kuala Perlis, Sanglang and Padang Besar all need a car, and several of these places sit on residential streets or village lanes rather than a main road — Poh Kee is literally a converted house, and Dalinda is genuinely rural once you turn off the highway. Google Maps finds all seven, but phone numbers are still worth using: listed hours drift between directories, and the smaller stalls close on their own schedule.

One practical note on halal: nearly everything on this list is Malay-owned and halal. The exceptions are the Chinese-run spots — Hai Thien in Kuala Perlis and Pin Ja in Padang Besar — so don't assume certification at either, and check on arrival if it matters to you.

How to pick, in one line

If you only have one meal in Perlis, make it laksa at Kak Su — but go after 12.30pm and not on a Tuesday. If you have a day, do Rali for breakfast, Poh Kee in the afternoon and Dalinda or Hai Thien at night, and do it on any day but Monday. If you are travelling with people who won't eat catfish or prawns, Anjung Keli has chicken and a wide spread of sides, and is the easiest group table in Kangar — just not on a Friday.

And if your trip only covers a Monday, the honest answer is that this list gives you four places, none of them before 11am. Pull the day forward or push it back by twenty-four hours and you get all seven.

Where to Eat in Perlis at a Glance

Restaurant/Stall	Area	Known For	Hours (verified 10 Oct 2026)	Closed	Typical Spend
Kak Su Laksa	Kuala Perlis	Laksa Kuala Perlis, pulut panggang	12.30pm–7.30pm	Tuesday	RM5–7 a bowl
Hai Thien Seafood	Kuala Perlis	Grilled prawns, chilli crab, daily catch	4pm–11pm	Wednesday	RM20–40
Dalinda Mee Udang	Sanglang, near Kuala Perlis	Mee udang, nasi goreng udang special	5pm–12am	Monday	RM1–20
Anjung Keli	Kangar	Crispy ikan keli goreng, grilled dishes	10.30am–4pm	Friday	About RM10 a head
Poh Kee (保记)	Kangar	Ais kacang, cendol, rojak, laksa	12pm–5pm	Wednesday + Thursday	RM1–20
Rali Nasi Kandar	Beseri, Kangar	Nasi kandar, the only early breakfast here	7am–2.30pm	Monday	RM1–20
Pin Ja Restaurant	Padang Besar	Thai-style steamed fish, tom yum, dry chilli chicken	11am–6pm	Monday	RM20–40

Kak Su Laksa — Kuala Perlis

Widely regarded as the best laksa in Perlis, this modest stall at No 97, Jalan Siakap in Kuala Perlis is run by Abdullah Osman and his adoptive sister Su Nor, who have been making laksa together for decades using a closely guarded family recipe. The gravy is built on fresh village coconut milk rather than tinned santan, with mackerel from Perlis waters, and each bowl arrives with fine bihun, cucumber, daun selom, shallots and sambal belacan pounded fresh daily. A standard bowl is about RM5, or RM7 for the larger portion with extra fish and toppings; Google lists the per-person spend at RM1–20 across 241 reports, and it holds 4.0 from more than 1,690 reviews. One correction worth making loudly, because most Perlis guides get it wrong: this is not a morning stall. The business-updated hours are **12.30pm to 7.30pm, and it is closed on Tuesdays** — so there is no such thing as arriving early for it, and a mid-morning laksa run will find the shutters down. Come at opening if you want the full spread, or treat it as an early dinner, which is the option almost nobody writes about. They also do pulut panggang and ketupat sotong.

Photo: Jue Asna, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hai Thien Seafood — Kuala Perlis

A name virtually synonymous with Kuala Perlis dining, Hai Thien sits on Jalan Jeti Baru right by the waterfront and carries a 4.3 rating across more than 1,700 reviews — an unusually high volume for a town this size. It's a Chinese-run seafood house cooking fresh catch Malaysian-Chinese style, best known for grilled prawns and chilli crab, with daily specials that shift with what the boats bring in. It opens late afternoon, **4pm to 11pm, closed Wednesdays**, which makes it the natural dinner stop after a day around Kangar — but not a midweek one. Google puts the spend at RM20–40 a head from 84 reports, the joint highest on this list. Arrive early in the evening if you want one of the tables closest to the water. Don't assume halal certification here. Phone 012-469 9778.

Photo: DTW, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Dalinda Mee Udang — Sanglang, near Kuala Perlis

Tucked away at No 752, Kuala Sungai Padang in Sanglang — 02800 Kangar on paper, but genuinely rural once you turn off the main road — Dalinda specialises in mee udang (prawn noodles) and its nasi goreng udang special, both built around whole fresh prawns rather than small peeled ones. Google lists the spend at RM1–20 a head (from 8 reports, 4.2 from 125 reviews); the whole-prawn Mee Udang Special is the order that pushes you to the top of that range. It opens in the late afternoon, **5pm to midnight, closed Mondays**, so treat it as a dinner destination rather than a lunch stop, and never as a Monday one. It's far enough off the beaten track that calling 012-585 6690 (the number on its Google listing) before driving out is genuinely worth doing.

Photo: Mdsheth1986, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Anjung Keli — Kangar

One of Kangar's most popular Malay restaurants and an ASEAN Tourism award holder, Anjung Keli sits at Medan Sri Pulai on Jalan Behor Pulai and is built around catfish (keli). The crispy ikan keli goreng is what most people come for, alongside grilled plates like daging bakar, perut bakar and paru bakar, plus a wide spread of vegetable sides — and chicken, if catfish isn't for you. Three people can eat with drinks for around RM30, so roughly RM10 a head. It's a large room with plenty of parking, which makes it the easiest group table in Kangar. Hours are **10.30am to 4pm, closed Fridays** — half an hour later and half an hour shorter than most listings claim — so a quick call to 019-443 3384 before the drive is sensible.

Photo: Ketupat, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Poh Kee (保记) — Kangar

Poh Kee is a house on a quiet Kangar residential street at 13, Jalan Seri 2, Taman Perlis that was converted into a dessert shop — easy to drive straight past, and well worth not driving past. The draw is the ais kacang: finely shaved ice, gula melaka, basil seeds, sweetcorn and peanuts in a ratio that stops well short of cloying, often crowned with a scoop of durian ice cream. Cendol is the other order, and the kitchen also turns out rojak and laksa if you want something savoury first. It keeps afternoon hours, **12pm to 5pm, and it closes twice a week, on Wednesday and Thursday** — the only place on this list with two rest days, and the detail most guides miss by reporting a single one. So this is a mid-afternoon stop, not an after-dinner one, and not a midweek one at all. Phone 012-525 2981; at 4.6 it holds the highest rating here, off a small base of 38 reviews.

Photo: Andrew Bogott, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Rali Nasi Kandar — Beseri, Kangar

A long-standing nasi kandar stop in Beseri, 02450 Kangar, Rali serves the northern Malaysian rice-and-curry style — you point at what you want, the gravies get ladled over the rice, and the cabbage and fried chicken do a lot of the work. Its rest day is the one most often reported backwards. Hours are **7am to 2.30pm, and it is closed on Mondays, not Sundays** — Sunday is a normal trading day here. That makes it the only genuinely early option in Perlis and a sensible first stop if you're heading north toward Padang Besar afterwards, and it also means Monday leaves the state with no early breakfast on this list at all. Phone 019-418 1255. Go before the 12pm rush if you want the full spread of lauk still on the counter.

Photo: Wiki Farazi, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pin Ja Restaurant — Padang Besar

Right by the Thai border at 51A Pekan Lama, Padang Besar has its own food identity, and Restoran Pin Ja is the town's most established Chinese sit-down option — the cross-border flavour mix that makes this corner of Perlis distinct from Kangar and Kuala Perlis. It is run by a husband-and-wife team who reply to reviews themselves, and the kitchen's signature is Thai-style steamed fish, alongside tom yum and dry chilli chicken. Two corrections to the way this place is usually described. It is **not** the thinly-documented entry it was once treated as: it holds 4.1 from 107 reviews, and Google's own per-person figure, from 28 reports, is **RM20–40 a head — the joint most expensive on this list**, not a cheap fill-up. And it keeps daytime hours, **11am to 6pm, closed Mondays**, so it works as lunch after the border market but not as dinner. Phone 012-595 9392. As a Chinese-run restaurant, don't assume it's halal — check on arrival if that matters to you.

Thai-style steamed fish with lime, chilli and garlic — the kitchen's signature style. Photo: Mattes, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which day should I not go to Perlis, and what closes on each day?

Monday is the day to avoid. Three of these seven are shut — Dalinda Mee Udang, Rali Nasi Kandar and Pin Ja — and because Rali is the only place here that opens before 10am, Monday leaves the list with no breakfast at all. The rest of the week loses one place at a time: Tuesday closes Kak Su Laksa, Wednesday closes Hai Thien Seafood and Poh Kee, Thursday closes Poh Kee again, and Friday closes Anjung Keli. Saturday and Sunday are the only two days all seven are open, which is worth knowing because Rali being closed on Monday rather than Sunday is the single most commonly reversed fact about eating in Perlis.

What exactly is mee udang, and why is it a Perlis specialty?

Mee udang is a spicy, curry-like noodle dish served with whole freshwater or river prawns, closely associated with Kuala Perlis and nearby fishing villages thanks to easy access to fresh prawns. It's typically eaten with the shell on, best enjoyed with your hands.

When is the best time to visit Kuala Perlis for seafood and laksa?

Late afternoon into the evening, and this is the opposite of the usual advice. Kak Su Laksa does not open until 12.30pm, so a mid-morning laksa run finds it shut; it trades until 7.30pm and is closed on Tuesdays. Hai Thien Seafood next door in town opens at 4pm and runs to 11pm, closed Wednesdays. So one late-afternoon trip to Kuala Perlis can cover both: laksa when Kak Su opens, seafood from 4pm. Any day except Tuesday and Wednesday gets you both in the same visit.

Is Perlis food generally halal?

Yes — the vast majority of Perlis's food scene, including nearly every spot on this list, is Malay-owned local cuisine and halal. Padang Besar, being a border town, does have some Chinese and Thai-run establishments, so it's worth checking individual outlets there if halal status matters to you.

How far are these food spots from Kangar town centre?

Kuala Perlis is roughly a 15-20 minute drive from Kangar, Sanglang (home to Dalinda Mee Udang) is a bit further out and best reached by car, and Padang Besar is about a 20-30 minute drive north toward the Thai border. Anjung Keli, Poh Kee, and Rali Nasi Kandar are all within or just outside Kangar town itself.

Which places to eat in Perlis are open at night?

Four, which is more than most guides say. Dalinda Mee Udang in Sanglang runs 5pm to midnight (closed Mondays) and Hai Thien Seafood on Jalan Jeti Baru runs 4pm to 11pm (closed Wednesdays) — those are the two proper dinner options. But Kak Su Laksa also trades until 7.30pm (closed Tuesdays), and Pin Ja in Padang Besar until 6pm (closed Mondays), so an early dinner has more range than the reputation suggests. The genuinely daytime-only spots are Rali Nasi Kandar, which closes at 2.30pm, Anjung Keli at 4pm, and Poh Kee at 5pm. Arriving late on a Monday is the one combination to avoid: Dalinda and Pin Ja are both shut, leaving Hai Thien and a 7.30pm cut-off at Kak Su.

How much should I budget for a day of eating in Perlis?

Less than almost anywhere else in Malaysia. A bowl of laksa at Kak Su is about RM5, or RM7 for the larger portion. A full meal at Anjung Keli comes to roughly RM10 a head — three people ate with drinks for around RM30. The dearest meals are the Chinese seafood and Thai-Chinese tables, Hai Thien and Pin Ja, at RM20–40 a head on Google's figures; Dalinda's mee udang is listed at RM1–20. Two people eating three meals across a full day will land comfortably between RM60 and RM100 in total, excluding fuel.

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