In Malay language, gua means cave and lepak is a verb, meaning to hang out, relax. Gua Lepak, the Hanging out Cave, has a restaurant inside a cave. We had dinner there on 15 February after Aric had read about it on the Internet.

The cave is one of the many caves in the Batu Caves limestone hill, famous for the Hindu temples inside the main cave. This cave is a much smaller one, about one km away at the south-eastern side of the hill. See the GE screenshot. Notice how the hill has been encroached on all sides by urban development.

It was an interesting experience. We needed Waze to find Gua Lepak, located in an industrial area. Parking was no problem, maybe difficult in daytime, but the Gua doesn’t open until pm. Entering we first passed a number of food stalls, most of them closed, a bit of a desolate atmosphere.

Before ordering our food, we decided to explore the cave first. Walking down a few steps, we reached the entrance. Nicely decorated. Although the neon sign might suggest otherwise, smoking is not permitted inside the cave.

It is clear that a lot of work has been done to make the cave easily accessible, with (often colorful) lights everywhere. A smooth walkway, here and there, paintings on the wall. Near the entrance we noticed tables and chairs.

In many places the ceiling is very low, easy to hit your head. Interesting rock formations everywhere.

It is not a large cave, after a few hundred meters you exit near where you entered. In the picture you can see the steps to go out.

At the exit, just outside the cave, again some fancy decoration.

Near the entrance there is a Malay stall where we ordered food and drinks.

We entered again and found a suitable table. They had given us a number, so they knew where to serve us.

Service was fast, and the food was quite nice.

It was not crowded, but there were a few more (Malay) customers.

Back home, of course I immediately Googled for more information about Gua Lepak. I found two useful STAR articles, both published on 11 March 2024. In the first one, concerns are voiced about an eatery in the cave, because it might endanger the efforts of the Selangor state government to create the Gombak-Ulu Langat Geopark in the state. The newspaper article contains a poll where citizens can give their opinion. The second one is an interview with the young Malay entrepreneur who, with his family, is managing the Gua Lepak complex. He argues that the rock formations in the cave have not been damaged, only some mural art has been added.

Not surprisingly, the result of the polls (~2000 votes) was that a large majority was against the eatery in the cave, less than 10% was in favour. A few days later, on 15 March, the STAR published a third article, that the Land Office had issued an eviction notice and closed the eatery.

End of story? No. A fourth article in the STAR of 21 January 2025 wrote that the eatery in the cave had reopened, already in October. Repeating concerns about the Goepark After this publicity I expected that the Gua Lepak would be closed very soon again. I suggested to go soon with our UK friend Rodney and only three days later we visited Gua Lepak again.

The atmosphere was the same, not much activity. I had read that the manager and his family actually had a license to operate food stalls in front of the cave.

Also that they had plans to add more options for families and groups of friends to hang out and chill. Like a karaoke room, a surau, a game room, and even a homestay. That explained the fancy decorations in this part of the establishment.

Entering the actual cave, after we had ordered food.

There were a few groups of Malays enjoying their dinner. I think not many other races will visit this place.

We had the same food package as during our first visit.

After our dinner, we showed Rodney the cave. He really enjoyed it.

In the STAR article, the manager had pointed out that they had not damaged the structure, only added some mural art. Some of the paintings are very Islamic.

They left the structure intact. Another activity they have added is rock climbing.

My expectation that the authorities would immediately close the eatery again turned out to be incorrect. In a fifth article in the STAR of 23 January, it was reported that the manager had applied for a temporary occupation licence (TOL). Maybe that request had been granted.

A few weeks ago we went again, this time with our friends Paul and Fahmi. There were no other stalls open, except this one where the lady recognised Aric ;-).

We ordered the same package again.

After the dinner we walked through the cave. Mind your head, especially Paul.

Some parts of the cave have a higher ceiling.

The cave still has a bat population. Aric managed to take a few pictures.

A few more pictures. In the last photo we are standing outside the cave, probably where there can be rock climbing.

We will see how the situation develops. It is a nice location to visit with guests from abroad. With proper management, it could become a major tourist attraction in KL I would have voted in favor of Gua Lepak in the STAR poll 😉