A Michelin Guide that elicits loud controversies, protestations and indignant responses is nothing new.
Hence the recently released list of the best restaurants in Kuala Lumpur and Penang for 2026 was sure to evoke some fiery responses.
Editor’s Note: The Michelin Tyre company made its first Guide Michelin France in 1900. The first Michelin Guides were just driver’s handbooks with tips for vehicle maintenance and nearby petrol stations.
The Malaysia Michelin Guide was first launched in December 2022 for the 2023 edition, covering Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
As sure as night follows day, social media was abuzz with those who made the cut and what was the judging criteria.
One such reaction was by chef and hospitality industry entrepreneur Logarajah Sinnappu who was sneering in his contempt for the tyre company’s attempt at establishing a dining cognoscente in Malaysia.
In a lengthy tirade on Facebook, the self-described food activist accused Michelin Malaysia as being “the biggest scam of the year”.
Famous mamak stalls/Malay restaurants missing
Rounding on the deciding panel as being too “Mat Saleh” or just plain “biased”, he felt that “this list feels like it was written in one night by someone Googling”.
Labelling the list “a joke”, “an insult” and “a circus”, the self-proclaimed food visionary wondered where were the heritage restaurants, popular mamak stalls or famed Malay and nasi kandar eateries? This alone reflected a poor understanding of Malaysian gastronomy.
“You can’t evaluate Malaysia by sitting in fine dining rooms drinking wine. Malaysia lives in the heat, the smoke, the sambal, the chaos not in curated tasting menus designed for tourists,” he passionately argued.
“Michelin came into the greatest food nation in Asia … and managed to embarrass themselves so badly that even KL’s traffic jams have more credibility. Right now, the Michelin Guide in Malaysia is nothing but …, ” he caustically remarked.
The former chef at KL Shangri-La Hotel’s Lafite restaurant’s no-holds barred opinions elicited a fiery debate as expected when Malaysians engage in that heated topic of food.
Agree to disagree
One commenter accused the poster of “rage baiting and trying to get a reaction from the ignorant masses to garner engagement to your profile”.
Defending the Michelin Guide as a voluntarily published list, it was argued the tyre manufacturer did not need to satisfy the whims and fancies of this fiery poster.
This brought an impassioned response from the chefreprenuer who pointed out that a list that rewarded a shutdown restaurant reflected ignorance – not excellence.
There was a more conciliatory tone later as it was agreed that the poster did have valid points and that a lot of the nuances of local makan culture is not reflected in the list.
One commenter just saw it as good publicity for the country as a tourist destination. Just more places to visit when here.
It can be said that Michelin Guide for every notable foodie destination will elicit plenty of fiery responses. And perhaps that is the point of such lists – to encourage healthy debate about what constitutes great grub.
The livelier the chatter, the better. This ensures great publicity for all concerned – not least Visit Malaysia 2026 (VMY 2026). – Nov 18, 2025
