The Lord's Cafe, Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands (Second Visit)

I once wrote about The Lord's Cafe back in 2014 if you're interested to read it :)

The Lord's Cafe has always been a "Cameron Highland's" staple to me.  It has been around for years and I've never failed to visit it whenever I'm at Cameron Highland. I recently visited Cameron Highlands, and dropped by The Lord's Cafe again, after about four years since my last visit!

The Lord's Cafe is located above Marybrown in the "main streets" of Tanah Rata. There's a large parking space located right opposite the row shops here so you needn't worry about parking unless you're here on an extremely busy weekend!

The interior didn't change much since my last visit four years ago :) Rattan chairs, rattan trinkets, travelers books that have changed hand multiple times sitting on the book rack. This cafe is often quiet and peaceful - with the occasional burst of laughter from the other tables and the roaring of engines from the main road.

This is my favourite spot, even after all those years. :)

The Lord's Cafe is a self-service cafe - you have to take the menu and a piece of paper + pen/pencil to your seat to write down the order, and pay for + collect your order at the counter yourself.

I was surprised that the price didn't change much compared to four years ago! Prices were pretty affordable as you can see on the menu :) 

Cream Scone RM2.80 & Passionfruit Tea RM3.00

Banana Chocolate Cake RM3.20 & Chicken Pie RM4.20

The selling point of this place is definitely its pricepoint - it is hard to find a cafe with food and drinks priced below RM5 nowadays. The food to me tasted homey - it isn't mind-blowingly great, but I like it - I loved the simplicity of the food. I loved the homey environment. 

The Lord's Cafe is definitely a lovely place for you to unwind and relax while having some scones and tea :) Do note that they are closed on Sundays so do plan your visit!

The Lord's Cafe

No.4, 1st Floor, Main Road,

39000 Tanah Rata,

Cameron Highland, Pahang.

Contact Number: 019-572 2883

Opening Hours:

Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm (Closed on Sundays)

Casa Loma, Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands

Starting this post with a typical Insta-girl shot. Let me be :p

When I posted this photo on Instagram, I received a lot of interest regarding the location of this spot. This is the balcony of our room at Casa Loma, a lovely hotel/chalet located at Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands. 

Here's a short clip depicting the scenery/atmosphere at the balcony :) Listen to the peaceful rustling sound of the leaves, accompanied by birds chirping. You can see some birdies flying around and squirriels climbing around the trees too! 

Now I (think I) know what you're thinking - a place like this must be exorbitant, no? This may be subjective, but I find the rates to be pretty reasonable for the location (Tanah Rata) and experience - we paid RM200 (including taxes) for a night stay at the King room on a regular weekend, which amounts to RM100 per pax for a night. I thought it was okay for a hotel room in Tanah Rata with this kind of view!

If you know me well, you'd know that I always opt to just stay in an affordable guest house priced RM50< per pax when I travel. There are guest house priced below RM50, but I thought I'd just treat myself for this once, and I'm really glad I did. It was a really busy weekend at Cameron Highlands during my visit and it was lovely to have somewhere to escape the traffic and immerse in tranquility :)

I booked my room through booking.com. You may also book directly to them through their website. I booked through booking.com because the rates offered on booking.com were lower!

Casa Loma is located on top of a small hill at Tanah Rata, away from the busy main street, but not too far (it's about 10-15 minutes walk to the main street). From the parking lot, you'll walk on a short pavement with flowers on both sides that leads you to the reception.

The plants were well taken care of - I took a video because I figured it'd be easier to capture the beauty of that place through a video!

 View of the garden from the reception. It was a feast to my eyes, and it was quiet, peaceful and tranquil :) You could hear the bird chirping.

According to its Facebook page, there are only nine rooms on its premises.

The facade of our room - this building has four rooms - two on the ground floor and two on the first floor. We stayed at the room at the end on the ground floor.

I just realised that I did not take an overall photo of the room - but it felt as though we were in the forest, with the windows overlooking the trees outside :)

 View from the bed

Another highlight of this place - the shower which overlooks the greenery outside :p

The shower overlooks the trees outside. Some of my friends expressed concerns about peeping toms lurking around, but there's actually a curtain you can pull over to obstruct the view. Water pressure was amazing, I have to say. Strong water flow and consistent flow of hot water!

The balcony, in my opinion, is the highlight of this place. Behind the trees is actually the main road of Tanah Rata. We could hear cars whizzing past occasionally, but it was still really tranquil. 

We spent most of our time on the balcony - having tea, drinking, having dinner, and so on. There is no restaurant on the premise so we take away some food around the vicinity just so we can enjoy the balcony :) 

at night

There are a few things which I hoped could be improved though - we could hear the footsteps from the first floor, and the pillow was kinda soft. There is no refrigerator in the room too :( Wished there's one so that I could keep my drinks cold :p Parking on-premise is limited too, but you can park outside around the apartment units too!

But I'd definitely chose to stay here again when I visit Cameron Highlands in the future :) Would love to stay here for more than a night.

Some pointers:
- Try to book early - there are only nine rooms here so it might get sold out fast, especially on weekends
- Try to request for the rooms on the first floor (based on my experience hearing footsteps from the upper floor while staying on the ground floor)
- Do keep your volume down staying here :) It's a peaceful & serene place, and voices travel far from the balcony

Casa Loma

Bungalow Green Hill, 

Green Hill Resort Tanah Rata

Contact Number: +60 19-627 2199

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/admincasalomacameron/

Sunrise Overlooking Boh Tea's Plantation @ Cameron Highlands

"Want to wake up early to catch a non-existent sunrise across the tea plantation?" I (half-jokingly) asked my travel companion, since I've read that sunrise may be hard to catch in Cameron Highlands, due to the fog and frequent rainfall obstructing the view. I've read many blogs and online forums stating the best way to catch the sunrise is by hiking to the top of Mt Brinchang, which is the highest peak around Cameron Highlands, where you'll be above the fog. Some suggested going to the tea plantation but there's a high risk of not catching any glimpse of the sunrise (due to the fog!)

We decided to try our luck anyway and drove out to Boh Tea's plantation with zero expectations and...well...I was utterly taken aback (in a good way). I guess having zero expectations elevated the wow-factor too.

So sunrise view in Cameron Highland at the tea plantation is possible. Since I didn't manage to find much info about this place, here's a rough guide/write-up I hope will be helpful for you to plan your visit :)

The lookout point where the above photo was taken is marked as "Roberston Rose Garden" on google maps - it is en route to Sungai Palas Boh Tea's Plantation. 

If you've been to Boh Tea's Plantation, you'd have known about the notoriously narrow and windy road leading into the tea plantation, and the lack of space to stop or park your car along the road leading into the tea plantation. 

We left our hotel before the crack of dawn (around 6.20am) when it was still dark out there. There are no street lamps as far as I know along the road leading into the tea plantation, and I am not confident with my driving skills navigating through the narrow road. Hence, I decided that I will not drive into the tea plantation, and parked my car right at the junction where you see the Boh Tea's signage, at the very start of Jalan Gunung Brinchang. 

There are actually proper parking spaces there. There are some newly developed shop lots that are not updated on maps yet (as of July 2020). Alternatively, you may park opposite the road, around Cameron Square. 

Anyway, it actually got pretty bright when we reached the parking lot (around 6:40am) even though it wasn't sunrise time yet (sunrise time was 7:08am on the day of visit), so the lack of street lamp...might not be too much of a concern.

From where we parked, it was a 10-minutes (950m) walk to Roberston Rose Garden. I wished I had brought along my scarf when we started the walk, as it was rather chilly. But we warmed up soon after we started walking so it's all good. We started walking around 6:40am, so that leaves us about 28 minutes before the sunrise time (7:08am). Plenty of time to spare, no?

The walk wasn't strenuous as there was no steep uphill inclination. We kept stopping along the way to admire the sky - the colour kept changing and it was just utterly beautiful, albeit being obstructed by trees/villas.

I didn't realise that we were spending so much time stopping and taking photos, and it was almost sunrise time! We were really taking our time because we were under the impression that the sunrise might not happen but judging from the skies...we deduced that we might be able to see the sunrise! 

boleh jadi iklan x?

At this point, I started running - because I didn't want to miss out on the sunrise over the tea plantation, and the changing skylight/pattern of clouds forming. I'd always thought the skies before sunrise is somewhat...limited edition (pardon my lack of imagination in describing this) - you'd never get the same sunrise view. The skies are different every day, and I want to take in every moment of it. 

*Plays Aerosmith - I Don't Want to Miss a Thing*

So aku lari.

Anddddddd I made it.

Note: You may see the sunrise along the route but the view may be obstructed. Don't need to lari macam orang giler macam saya. I just wanted an unobstructed view and my sunrise photo over the tea plantation.

Wished I could catch a glimpse of the fluffy clouds tainted in red as shown above across the tea plantation but I was a little too late for that. But I'm still grateful to be able to catch this breath-taking view :)

"patutlah kamu lari!" (that's why you ran!)
a group of tourist commented when they saw this view :p

It started getting crowded with visitors around 7.15am armed with their cameras and phones, "oooohhh" "ahhh-ing" over the beautiful view.

Again, I felt that my photographs did no justice to the beautiful sunrise :) You really have to see it for yourself!

Word of advice:

- Come early. Perhaps at least half an hour before sunrise to get that "limited edition" view :p 

- There are some spaces for a limited number of cars to park by the roadside of Roberston Rose Garden. But it is very very limited (probably could fit up to 3~5 cars tops, and it seems like a private property so I wouldn't really recommend it. Apologies for the vague description - as it was just a patch of land at the side of the road which I can't really quantify it properly)

- I really recommend that you walk instead of drive, mainly because of the lack of parking space, and also there are some really nice views along the way which may be hard to enjoy if you're on a car :) 

- You may also join a tour organised by locals for the sunrise. I've seen shops promoting sunrise packages for RM10-30 per pax, which includes transport arrangements into the tea plantation so you don't have to worry about it! 

The Lord's Cafe, Cameron Highland

My family has a sorta yearly tradition to visit Cameron Highland during one of the weekends, thanks to dad's company who owns a Vacation English Cottage there. So for this year, we decided to visit Cameron last weekend to escape the heat!

So we drove there after my classes & brother's work last Friday! The places we visit every year is the same so let me introduce you my family's favourite places for onomnomnom in Cameron Highlands!


The Lord's Cafe

Formally known as the T Cafe, this humble little cafe is tucked on the second floor of the row of shoplots in Tanah Rata (above Marybrown). The little cafe has drawn attention of tourist all over the world for its SCONES!

Their scones & pastries are freshly baked every day, and even though their opening hour is stated till 10pm, their scones are usually only available till about 3pm as it sells like a hotcake & get out of stock fast!

The Full Menu. We were told by the owner that The Lord's Cafe no longer serve hot food due to shortage of manpower. They only serve pastries & teas now.

I really love the interior of The Lord's Cafe. So quaint, charming & peaceful, with the cold, fresh breeze of Cameron Highland blowing in, my mind was instantly calmed as I set my foot into this little cosy cafe.

Our order for the day. (And we just had breakfast 30 minutes before we visited this place)

Boh's Passionfruit Tea RM2.90

Fruity & Aromatic. Definitely my cup of tea :)

Cream Scone RM2.50

Note that they serve the scones with whipped cream rather than clotted cream. Rich & wholesome buttery aroma, flaky texture & warm scones, paired up with the fruity strawberry jam & airy whipped cream, it was a delight to my taste buds. The warm scone definitely won my heart.

Moist Banana Chocolate Cake RM3
The banana cake wasn't too cloying, and the addition of the fluffy whipped cream gives the cake a airy & smooth taste. One of the most affordable banana cake that I've ever had :p

Apple Pie RM3.60

The apples were soft & perfectly caramelized. Each bite packs a pleasant punch of caramelized sugar taste. The shortcake crust was flaky and crispy on the side. I loved this apple pie so much I devoured one whole slice by my own.

You can also opt to top the apple pie with a scoop of Vanila Ice-Cream! :)

Chicken Pie RM3.90

Like the apple pie, the chicken pie's crust was the bomb. So rich, flaky & with a slight crisps on the side. However, I didn't quite fancy the fillings, I felt that the fillings were a little too "Malaysian-ized" as the taste of certain herbs were too overpowering. My whole family enjoyed it though so it's a case of preference I guess :)

The Lord's Cafe
No.4, 1st Floor, Main Road,
39000 Tanah Rata,
Cameron Highland, Pahang.

Business Hours:
Monday- Saturday 11am – 10pm

Closed on Sunday