A Singaporean diner and his friends were shocked by a RM902 bill for patin fish at a Genting Highlands restaurant. The high price stems from ordering a rare and expensive variety of patin, 'patin buah,' rather than the commonly available and affordable 'patin biasa.' The article explains the differences in price, farming, and sensitivity of the two types of fish.
Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter, or Telegram and WhatsApp channels for the latest stories and updates. There is a fish swimming through Malaysian rivers that most people think they know — the patin, the humble, fatty catfish that has fed Malaysians at affordable prices.
But recently, 13 diners at Loong Kee Restaurant in Gohtong Jaya, Genting Highlands, ordered one, and the bill came to RM902 for two fish.A Singaporean senior citizen known as Jimmy visited Loong Kee with twelve friends — 10 of them fellow Singaporeans — for what looked like a straightforward dinner that also included vegetables, beancurd, braised pork, eggplant claypot, egg foo yong, and live clams. When the bill arrived, the fish appeared twice: RM479.96 and RM422.50, listed as “Wild River Patin Buah” in two separate entries. Jimmy described it as one fish charged in two halves — though the receipt tells a more curious story, with each entry carrying a different weight: 1,420g and 1,250g. The fish was portioned before cooking, priced at RM 338 per kg, totalling RM 902.46 – the math is clean, there are no hidden charges. One Word on the Menu That Changed Everything What nobody at the table had thought to ask, before ordering, was what kind of patin they were getting. The fish at your neighbourhood restaurant is patin biasa — common patin, farmed in bulk, ready for market in about a year. The fish on that Genting bill was patin buah: same family, entirely different animal in terms of price and prestige. According to Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority , patin buah retails at RM 40 per kg at the farm level — more than double common patin — because it takes nearly two years to reach market size. It is very sensitive; even people walking across the cages can stress the fish — it refuses to eat, grows more slowly, and takes longer to sell. Wild, Firm, and Priced Accordingly Then there is the matter of wild patin buah, which is what the receipt explicitly states, with 野生 printed clearly on both lines. Unlike farmed patin buah, which is already considered premium, wild-caught specimens are richer in flavour, firmer, less fatty and significantly harder to source — commanding prices that make even farmed patin buah look modest by comparison. Gourmet diners seek it out precisely because no two fish taste quite the same, shaped as they are by the currents, diet, and seasons of the river itself. By the time wild patin buah travels from a Malaysian river to a restaurant perched more than 900 metres above sea level in Genting Highlands, the price has multiplied at every step of the chain. Loong Kee’s RM338 per kg sits well above typical wild patin buah retail prices of RM80–200/kg — though it bears noting that retail prices reflect raw, uncooked fish. By the time you add restaurant overheads, skilled preparation, highland logistics, and a tourist-destination location, a significant markup over raw market rates is standard industry practice.Ask Before You Order Jimmy’s group saw “river patin” on the menu and heard a familiar word — the fish they knew, the fish that costs almost nothing. What they missed was the word after it: buah, that single word is the difference between a fish averaging around RM12 to RM16 per kg for retail and a RM902 bill. The Singaporean himself acknowledged it plainly: “We realised we had no case after failing to question its price and weight beforehand.” The restaurant, for its part, said staff had explained pricing and weight at the time of ordering, while acknowledging there was “room for improvement in how the portion size was communicated.” There is a Cantonese idiom that fits this story perfectly: 食米唔知米貴 — you eat rice, but you don’t know the price of rice. Next time you see a fish on a menu at a tourist-area restaurant, ask three questions before you order: what variety, what weight, and what is the price per kilogram.This story is based on report by Stomp Share your thoughts with us via TRP’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Threads.
Patin Fish Restaurant Bill Genting Highlands Patin Buah Food Prices
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