Best of Kota Kinabalu -Part 3

Finally is my last part of my KK food hunt and holiday post! 

The best part of KK was the weather is very sunny and clear sky. This picture taken at Shangri-la Hotel @Tanjung Aru. This hotel not as new compare to Sutera Harbour and a bit far too. The hotel is facing South China Sea. Is it true that only Sabah is surrounded by 3 seas? YES! First is Celebes Sea, Sulu Sea and South China Sea. Thats the reason Malaysia have a place inside top 10 diving site in the world which is Sipadan island.

 Let's get back to food hunting at the city! =P

First meal of the day and haave you ever heard of this "sang nyuk mee" in KL? I guess we heard before but just don't know how it taste like. Adeline's uncle & aunty brought us here to try this before leaving  =D

From the picture looks like the ordinary pork noodle at KL. What makes Sinsuran Sang Nyuk Mee @ Lintas (RM.5.50) so special? I can taste the softness and the tenderness of the pork. If this is available at KL and I will order this instead of the ordinary pork noodle because I can taste there is no fat in the pork which I hate the most. They used charcoal to boiled the soup and making the soup even tastier

According to Adeline's relative saying that pork noodle in KL and "sang nyuk mee" cooked very differently in terms of the different part of the meat using and the soup. It is not the same and of course cannot compare.

This is the dry version of "sang nyuk mee" and actually is just the noodle dry . This will be serve with a small bowl of pork. I ordered this so I can try 2 taste. hehe

Here come the small bowl of "sang nyuk mee". This noodle is definitely must try if going to KK in future. I miss this noodle so much now.

Directions

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Address
Restoran Sinsuran Sang Nyuk Mee
Lot 19-0, Ground Floor, Lorong Lintas Plaza
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Business Hour
6.30 - 4.30pm

Me and Adeline walking around the city to get out lunch so ended up at Hong Kong Recipe because is near Center Point shopping mall.

I have decided to ordered set D which is cheese baked rice. This is one of the most expensive set and most of the set lunch very reasonable.

The set was served with 'ying yong' it tastes too much of coffee. Me & Adeline's don't really like this.

I ordered a set of their cheese baked rice and overall the taste is so dry, not cheesy and taste totally far different than Kim Gary Restaurant at Klang Valley.

This soup is part of the set. I love the soup instead of cream soup or borsch soup that serve at Kim Gary.

Adeline's ordered chicken katsu don (RM13.80++)

For her, it tasted good and the soup that came with it was just right: not too salty.

Address

G823, Lot No. B-06, Grd Flr, Block B

Warisan Square, Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens,

88000, KK, Sabah.

Tel

088-486644

Wifi

Available

*10% Service Charge

Boring of drinking Cha Time at Klang Valley? Try this Yoyo Cafe that offering variety of bubble tea. Adeline's ordered winter melon tea (RM3.30) and I ordered black jelly milk tea. The winter melon tea was not as sweet compare to Gong-Cha and my black jelly milk tea tasted normal to me. I have tried this previous trip and most of the Sabahan would go there for "yum cha" session with friends and family.

Location

1) Suria Sabah Mall 

2) Lintas Square

3) Damai

 4) Center Point

Best of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah -Part 2

Above the picture was my last visits picture at KK. Photo taken at Tanjung Aru beach for the sunset and the snorkeling area was Pulau Sapi. Those island was part of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park (Manukan, Mamutik, Sapi, Sulug and Gaya. My first visit was at Pulau Sapi which my aunt suggested me to go there where you can see a lot of corals and fishes instead of Manukan because that island too commercialized.

This place located at Sutera Harbour Resort. This picture taken at 9am near the marina. For more further information about the islands can be read through Adeline's blog.

My first visit to this UPPERSTAR Cafe & Bar. This was known as Chezzy Carozza with wedges (RM7.95) served very hot and waiting the longest among the others!

Grilled Chicken Burger (RM8.50) served with coleslaw and potato salad. Adeline's relatives let us tried the salad and I love the salad. Inside the salad have eggs too. Adeline's also love it.

The interior of the cafe is awesome! We ate at here during christmas eve for lunch.

                      Some decoration in the cafe.

Appearance of the shop looks expensive right? Actually you are wrong, inside of the cafe serving affordable food and cheap beer (RM40 for 1 Heineken tower).

Adeline's aunt love their Hainanese Chicken Rice (RM7.95). Appearance looks like Singapore chicken rice to me because of the sauces.

I have ordered Spaghetti Cabonara (7.95) and actually Adeline's aunt suggested me to order Lamb Massala Rice but the moment I wanted to order then it was sold out. The other visits at Suria Sabah was sold out too. The taste of the spaghetti was not too creamy and served with mushrooms, hams, capsicum and garlic. Adeline's said so-so only and for me was descent taste.

Baked Mushroom Soup (RM6.95) that ordered by Adeline's. She love the soup at here.

I ordered Grilled Chicken (RM14.95) during new year eve and this will be my 3rd times to this cafe throughout the whole trip. Again I wanted to order the Lamb Massala Rice was out of order but at other branches too. I didn't regret ordering this because this chicken chop well presentable for this price. Serving with garlic bread, coleslaw, potato salads, mashed potatoes and the chicken chop. The sauce is not too salty with the combination of white mushroom sauce and no chicken skin.

Their main menu of the cafe.

Chritmas, new year and valentine's day menu.

Free internet surfing at the cafe. Line was good at the dekstop but not the wifi at there.

The entrance of the Upperstar at Lintas branch.

Branches & Service

Upperstar cafe @Suria Sabah - Food portion was huge among the others according to Adeline's aunt.

Upperstar cafe @Damai          - Service was slow maybe because we ordered beer during afternoon.

Upperstar cage @ Lintas         - Free dekstop surfing internet and service was fast.

                                                                 

                                                         Address & Tel -Damai Branch

G35, Suria Sabah Shopping Mall

Tel : 088-487 233 (Suria)

Block C, lot 8, Ground Floor,

Lorong Okok kayu Manis,

Damai plaza Phase 3,

Kota Kinabalu.

(Same row as Coffee Bean)

Tel : 088-260 388 (Damai)

Lot 97-99, Ground Floor,

Lintas Plaza, Phase 2C

88300 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Tel : 088-233 636 (Lintas)

This dumpling was from Kedai Kopi Tenom @ Damai Plaza. There are 3 dumpling stalls on the same row with this coffee shop. That dumpling sometime consist of very little meat because we ate there few times on a week but sometimes is alright. The taste of the dumpling was decent to me.

 Me and Adeline's prefer the fried dumpling instead of the steam dumpling because it's more crunchy.

The price for the dumpling. We did tried the other dumpling stalls infront of Fook Yuen but the meat was not as good here although the skills of making the dumpling are better than here. 

Best of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah -Part 1

I have been to every state in Malaysia including Kelantan. Which state in Malaysia offers you the best experience of travelling ? Food heaven state definitely will belong to Penang. Most of my friends will ask me why are you going Sabah instead of somewhere else like Thailand or Taiwan since the airplane ticket price not much difference and I would reply them because Kota Kinabalu (KK) has it all from seafood, islands ,mountain and so much more! This post will added some of my holiday pictures.

The pictures were taken by me on my first visit when I flew from Miri to KK. The sunset was taken at Tanjung Aru beach. Those rivers looks like from Geography text books right? =D

Let's get back to food hunting ! Adeline's relatives brought us here to try this Yee Fung Laksa and was known as Sarawak laksa. I have been craving this since I went to National Service and my friends introduced this to me in Kuching. What made it so different between this laksa and the Penang version? Actually Sarawak laksa is more toward to curry version or spicy and the Penang version is more to sour. This laksa was not spicy and was not oily but one of the best one is still in Miri, Sarawak. Adeline's tried their ngau chap and she said it was good but she forget to take picture.

As you know KK cost of living is higher than KL and eating around the town wasn't cheap either. For large bowl cost about RM7 and small is about RM5.50.

The main entrance of the Kedai Kopi Yee Fung and is located at Jalan Gaya, which is the Sunday market street. This was our breakfast before heading to Mount Kinabalu for the 1-day tour.

While waiting for our tour bus, guess what I spotted ? An illegal jetty right in front of Wisma Sabah! There are 3 tourists going for a island tour or something but I didn't see them wearing life jackets. I managed to take picture while they were shaking hands. LOL.

On our way to Mount Kinabalu Park and Poring Hot Spring. You can see the Mount Kinabalu from KK if the weather is good. You can see Mount Kinabalu in the middle of the picture and of course it's the highest one. The tour guide pointed out to us XD

Some random shot from the bus on the way up. Majority of the people inside the bus were Koreans and only both of us are Malaysians. So I was considered as a tourist also I guess. haha

The bus stopped us somewhere near the village and all the tourists went down the bus and took pictures of the mountain. Got 1 aunty holding an iPad to take picture of herself by using the front camera. Looks amazing right?

This tour included us one meal before we head into the hotspring so we had our meal at Poring town which is located outside the entrance of the hot spring. This picture was taken last year but this time that suspension bridge is off-limits to tourists. You can no longer walk on the suspension bridge anymore because they have builded a new concrete bridge further down which cannot see the beautiful stream from the river.

There is another canopy walk inside the hot spring. Something like Taman Negara? You have to walk 800meters up to reach the top and the total journey was approximately an hour. We didn't know we had to walk so long and we wore slippers. Oh no! One of the tourists asked the tour guide why the forest floor was wet and did it rain the day before? In my mind, my first thought was they never been into jungle. Another tourist wore high heels (wedges! Guys cannot differentiate female shoes! XD) hiking into the jungle! I was like this aunty so "GENG" than us wearing slippers. LMAO

Before I joined this tour and I had been searching for a Raflessia tour online and calling the Sabah Tourism Board to confirm whether there is a flower blooming around the mountain or not. To see this biggest flower in the world and was only found in South East Asia you have to pay another RM20 to see but no touching. I asked most of my Sabahan friends or Adeline's relative and they have never seen this flower before. There are flies flying around the flower and surprisingly no smells maybe because it was day 5 of blooming I guess. 

 While calling the hotline, a funny conversation took place.... 

Me                             :    Hi, can I know whether there is Raflessia blooming in the forest?

Sabah Tourism Board :   Let me check with the other authority first and give me a second sir.

Me                             :   Okay.

Sabah Tourism Board :  There is Raflessia blooming at Poring near the hot spring. You have to confirm  again with the Poring centre.

Me                             :    Hi, can I know whether there is Raflessia blooming in the forest?

Poring                       :    Sir, there is some villager put the flower spotted sign by the road side but I don't know whether they have the flower or not! 

In my heart, like that also can? Really "zadou"                      

After searching online, calling all the hotline and finally we took a taxi to the town to double confirm again with the tour operators. Walking around the town asking few of the tour operators and one of the tour told us that there was Raflessia blooming at hot spring which the flower was already day 4. This means that in another 3 days the flower will die off. Adeline and I decided to join the tour and this tour operator looks professional. If you told them that you are Malaysians then you will eligible for some discounts. 

The tour hasn't end yet after the Rafflesia. In the bus, Adeline ate the Loh Mai Chee her uncle bought for us to eat in case we do not have enough to eat during the journey. It is also from Kedai Kopi Yee Fung. The Loh  Mai Chee in Sabah is bigger in size than the ones I bought in Kampar. The Loh Mai Chee form Kampar is smaller and softer. It was Adeline's first time eating it and it tasted like apom balik for her. She likes it.

The bus also stopped by the roadside stalls in Nabalu Town on the way back. There the Koreans went crazy over durians. We asked the stall operator what durians were those but they did not know. Jungle durians XD The smell of the durian was not strong and the Korean family we befriended seem to love eating the durians a lot! Crystal Pineapples (real pineapples, edible ok? :P 'Sui Jing' aka crystal) were sold there as well. I wanted to ask the stall operator to help me cut and put in the polystyrene box but there wasn't enough time so I didn't end up buying.

Recap/ Food in this post:

• Yee Fung laksa/ Sarawak laksa
• Ngau Chap
• Loh Mai Chee
• Durian
• Crystal Pineapple

Kedai Kopi Fook Yuen @ Damai Plaza, Kota Kinabalu

Good news for bread lovers and tea lovers ! In this coffee shop you can get the best Teh-C and Roti Kahwin (Coconut spread/ kaya with butter) in KK, Sabah. I had this before previous trip at Fook Yuen at Asia City branch opposite Cititel Express. The drinks at that branch was not as good compared to the first outlet at Damai Plaza and the Roti Kahwin tasted good at both branches.  

 The softness of the bread and the thick butter together with the kaya combination tasted so great. In my own opinion, this bread softness was so much better than the one in PappaRich, Klang Valley.

Hot Teh-C cost RM1.90 and Teh-C Ice cost RM2.50. I'm a big fan of tea. I can really taste the tea with the smoothness of the milk of their Teh-C.

This is "San Yuk Pau", which is pork pau, are sold at the same row as Fook Yuen. There are 5 coffee shops on the same row right opposite and beside each other so you can try out a lot food there including this San Yuk Pao. I don't really like this Pao in KL because for me it was too salty when I ate it but this is very different version of it. After eating it was just nice for my stomach and not too full.

The coffee shop is located at that red umbrella and remember to sit according to the color of the chairs and tables because there are other coffee shops around Fook Yuen. It is a covered area so it is not too hot. 

This Yau Char Kuey for hi-tea session. I forgot the price but we ordered only one piece and it was not the ordinary size we have in KL. It is considered huge and looks like a butterfly if you view it from the top. This is from a coffee shop opposite Kedai Kopi Tenom which is the same row and it is easily spotted.

Don't underestimate the texture of this fried noodle and this noodle is called Tuaran Mee (RM7.50) . Is is yee mee? It is fried yee mee. It is very hard to describe but the taste was nice (Adeline: Awesome ah!) You should try this and this is located at Kedai Kopi Tenom .You can order over to Fook Yuen to eat and this is one of the Adeline's favorite food in KK. 

Direction 

                                     View Larger Map

 Address

Damai Plaza PH.4 .Jalan Damai, Luyang

Kota Kinabalu Sabah, 88300.

Tel

088-232794

                                                                          

     Business Hours

Tuesday - Sunday (7.30am- 1am).

Branches

Damai Plaza (Main), Kolombong, Karamunsing Capital, Asia City (Next to Cititel Hotel) and Gaya Street.

Website

Featured in Lonely Planet 

Welcome Seafood Restaurant @ Asia City Kota Kinabalu , Sabah

This will be my second visit to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. As you know that KK (Kota Kinabalu) is famous for live and fresh seafood. I love to look at those seafood (marine life? sea creatures? Ah you know what we mean XD) swimming inside the aquariums.

The first time I went to KK was with my friends and it was a coincidence that I have eaten in this restaurant before because the location was near the hotel that I stayed in. Last time my friends ordered the tiger prawn and it cost me about RM100 for that plate of prawn when paying the bill @.@!.

 This was the prawn that cost a bomb, taken the first time I was in this restaurant. I didn't know the prawn can cost a bomb to us but it was delicious and very fresh. Can really feel the tenderness of the prawn.

You can sit inside the air conditioned room or outside too. As a reminder, come earlier around 6.30pm to 7pm to get a table for a dinner because it is always crowded with people. 

This crab (RM18 per kg) can be cooked with 2 flavours which is Kam Heong or Salted Egg. Adeline's relatives ordered both but the colours looks the same until I tried other plates so in the end I managed to take one picture of a plate instead of two plates =.=!. Overall of the crab tasted so good for the salted egg flavour plus the freshness of the crab was like the best seafood ever for me. Most people don't like the crab legs part but the crab legs that day were full of meat.

Its scallop time! This scallop was cooked with ginger and onion leaves. I love the scallop too and it was really fresh! 

The fish was fried grouper and the taste for me was just normal and the vegetables also tasted so-so only. Can you spot the crab eggs or crab roe? It is so rare to find in the seafood restaurants in KL. The coconut pudding tasted not really sweet for me and it is smooth.

 This was the entrance of the restaurant. It is easy to spot this restaurant because it is located at the corner lot of the street. The whole meal cost RM142.90. 

We recommended this place to a Korean family we met during our trip but another Korean family decided to try this restaurant right away instead. Let's hope they managed to find this restaurant. :)

Directions

                                      View Larger Map

Address

Welcome Seafood Restaurant

Lot G12-18, Ground Floor

Kompleks Asia City

Phase 2A, Jalan Asia City

88300 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Website

http://welcomeseafoodrestaurant.com/

Business Hours

Daily 2.30pm-12.00am