Jerantut is a small town and district in Pahang, on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia. The town is a popular starting point for excursions into Taman Negara.
Jerantut is the main town nearest the gateway to Taman Negara. Other interesting places in the area are
- Kota Gelangi - Caving and abseiling
- Tekam Plantation - Palm oil plantation, fruit plantation and rubber estate
- Gunung Senyum - Caving, abseiling and flying fox
- Jeram Besu - Rafting, flying Fox
- . Lata Meraung Waterfall is a very nice place to go. But you have to charter a taxi for that purpose since no public transport is available.
- . Local Handicraft is available at reasonable price.
Local famous food that can be taken during lunch or dinner will be plain rice with silver catfish in durian paste or locally known as "Ikan Patin Masak Tempoyak". It is a popular and very savory dish and is in fact a traditional dish in the state of Pahang. Its popular in the inland riverine areas as the Patin fish is found in abundance in the rivers of Pahang, especially in the Sungai Pahang.
It will cost you in a region of RM5-15 per dish for a reared wild silver catfish, but don't get yourself caught by surprise as a single slice from the wild silver catfish dish quite can cost you around RM40-50 per slice.
Few eateries and stall available at evening/ night in Benteng where you can savour mostly with Thai like food, western and local food. Chinese food are also available at Sungai Jan and other parts of the town. Indian foods are available and scattered in various part of this small town.
Kentucky Fried Chicken is available in front of Jerantut's bus station.
Local fruits like durians, duku, langsat are relatively cheap but only available in seasonal.
As an Islamic town, alcohol is not permitted in many of the restaurants in Jerantut. There are several Chinese outlets selling bottles of local and imported spirits around the town to take away and many of the supermarkets and minimarkets have cans of beer. Of an evening, Chinese restaurants are the most similar thing you will find to a regular bar and many people go there just to drink without ordering food. There is one in the Tom Yam food court area at Jalan Bandar Baru and many more in the 'China Town' area of Jerantut just in the outskirts of town along the C9 road.
For an afternoon or early evening beer, Chong Heng Hotel which is two doors up from NKS Cafe / guesthouse has cans of Tiger for RM6.50 and the owner is also very friendly and informative about the area.
- Kuala Tembling