Marriott Bonvoy’s The Malaysian Kitchen returns in its second year, bringing five of its talented chefs across Malaysia to showcase heritage flavours inspired by their personal journeys.

If there is one thing that unites Malaysians across every cultural and generational divide, it is the love of food. More than a national identity marker, Malaysian cuisine is a living archive of trade, migration, and the insistence of communities that refuse to let their best recipes disappear. For some of us, that insistence is personal—the dish a sibling has been trying to get you to try for years, the shop that was always sold out, the flavour that only arrived when a chef was given a bigger stage.

Marriott Bonvoy is speaking up in that conversation with the return of The Malaysian Kitchen, a nationwide culinary series now in its second edition. Launched on 31 March 2026 at The St. Regis Kuala Lumpur, the campaign brings together five chefs from Marriott Bonvoy properties across the country, each presenting two signature dishes rooted in their home regions. All 10 dishes will be available at participating hotels from 10 April, either on à la carte menus or buffet lines.

READ ALSO: The Malaysian Kitchen 2025: Marriott Bonvoy Showcases the Soul of Malaysian Cuisine

The Chefs and Their Dishes

At Putrajaya Marriott Hotel, Sous Chef Mohd Hairi Sahmizam brings more than 25 years of experience cooking the food of Negeri Sembilan and Johor. His two dishes for The Malaysian Kitchen are daging masak lemak cili padi—beef slow-cooked in coconut milk with bird’s eye chilies and fresh turmeric—and ayam kuzi with roti jala, a festive classic of tender chicken in aromatic gravy served with lacy turmeric crepes historically reserved for weddings and celebrations.

Renaissance Johor Bahru Hotel‘s Executive Sous Chef Hamizi Abd Hamid turns to Johor’s cross-cultural culinary identity, presenting kacang pool and mee rebus daging tetel. Kacang pool is a slow-cooked bean dish with Middle Eastern roots, absorbed into Johor’s breakfast culture across generations; it remains largely unknown outside the state. The latter, Mee rebus daging tetel—rich and deeply spiced—completes a pairing that reads as a portrait of Johor’s culinary diversity.

In East Malaysia, Le Méridien Kota Kinabalu presents the flavours of Sabah through Executive Sous Chef Kelvin Kilin, who draws from 18 years of experience and his own roots in Tuaran. His hinava ikan tenggiri—mackerel cured in citrus with ginger and chilies, a dish closely related to ceviche in technique—is clean, bright and a direct expression of Sabah’s coastal identity. Alongside it, sinalau sapi, a smoked beef preparation rooted in Kadazan-Dusun highland tradition, offers a counterpoint in savoury depth and character.

At Courtyard by Marriott Kuala Lumpur South, Chef de Cuisine Hasnaerdawaty Md Hanapi draws from family recipes passed down through generations, presenting nasi dagang tradisi kelantan with gulai ikan tongkol—fragrant coconut rice paired with slow-braised tuna curry—and daging kerutuk kelantan, beef slow-cooked in a toasted spice and coconut blend. Both dishes are rooted in the culinary traditions of Kelantan and Terengganu, regions whose food remains underrepresented in KL’s dining landscape.

Rounding out the programme at The St. Regis Langkawi, Sous Chef Mohd Fauzi Hashim brings over 30 years of experience in Langkawi’s kitchens to bear on two Kedah coastal classics: gulai panas ikan tenggiri, a sharp and aromatic fish curry, and laksa Kedah—also known as laksa telok kechai—a regional variation distinct from its Penang counterpart, based on the fishing village traditions of the north.

Hotel Dining, Reconsidered

There is a persistent assumption that hotel dining trades on convenience rather than quality: the food is adequate, the prices elevated, and the experience designed for guests with nowhere else to go.

However, recent data suggests otherwise. Marriott International’s Future of Food 2026 study found that 68% of Malaysian diners now choose local Asian cuisine over international fare, and 74% of hotel chefs are still serving traditional recipes prepared with traditional methods. Comfort, the report concluded, has become the new luxury.

READ ALSO: What the Future of Food in Malaysia Looks Like According to Marriott

The Malaysian Kitchen sits squarely within that narrative. These are not chefs replicating heritage dishes for novelty. They are cooks with decades of experience presenting the food they know most intimately, in dining rooms that give those dishes the context and craft they deserve.

The Malaysian Kitchen 2026 is available at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels and resorts across Malaysia from 10 April 2026.

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