Getting to know Kota Kinabalu thru its food

Landed in KK on 1 October 2011 at 8:00 am.  Took a taxi from the airport to the Promenade Hotel Apartment where I had pre-booked and paid for a suite in April.  Let me tell you, the taxi from the airport to the hotel costs RM30 which is quite expensive because the airport is not that far away (around 12 minutes with no traffic jam).  If I know the way, I could have walked but maybe it will take me around 3 hours to do that.  I tried to check in at the hotel and unable to believe my luck, I was allowed to occupy the suite as early as 8:00 am.  In the photo, the chef is checking out the bathroom and the closet.  There's also a full-length mirror behind him.

I had what the hotel called a Studio Suite and it costs RM58nett which to me is a fantastic deal but of course I booked through the internet and at a very early date.  I requested for a kingsize bed and what you see is a kingsize bed and beside that is a 2-seater sofa with a coffee table.  In front of the sofa is a 21" TV and a dressing table with mirror.

Beside the sofa is a small kitchen area and quite fully equipped with electric kettle, rice cooker, hair dryer, gas stove with gas, cups and saucers, glasses, fridge, washing detergent and sponge, wok, pot with lid, build-in cabinet, knife, bowls, dinner plates, rice ladle, soup ladle, table forks, table spoons and tea-spoons including a chopping board and an oblong tray.  Complimentary from the hotel are packets of sugar, tea, coffee and 2 bottles of mineral water.

That's the chef enjoying his first cup of coffee.

First stop is the Seng Hing coffee shop at Ruang Sinsuran 2 (opens daily from 7:00 am to 4:30 pm).  It's usually crowded so I was lucky to find a table.  

Ordered the fried KK's famous Tauran Mee - cost RM6 per plate.  Portion is average.   However, the taste is good.

Enjoying the Mee Tauran.

Same coffee shop has the Tom Yam noodle (signature dish) with prices ranging from RM8, RM10 to RM12.  I ordered the RM8 and the taste was great.  As you can see the prawns were quite big (5 of them) but with the heads intact which could be the chef's way of telling you the prawns are fresh but personally, I feel it looks dirty and the prawn's stomach smells, don't they?  You could get the same tom yam noodle/bihun with the same taste at Rejang Park in Sibu costing RM4 per bowl but in Sibu, there's no prawn but the lady uses fish slices and meat balls and her meat balls are fantastic.

Tried the laksa at the same coffee shop at RM5 per bowl.  Only 2 small prawns and the taste is okay although a little bit sweet.  Personally I like the Kuching laksa better.

One of the landmarks in KK

Along the waterfront

Another angle of the waterfront on the way to Suria Sabah shopping centre and Jesselton Point.

KK waterfront

Along the waterfront, saw a fisherman caught a fish called "Ikan Cermin".

Odd looking fish called "Ikan Cermin".  I was told this specie swims in groups.

Jesselton Point.  This is where you can make arrangements to go and enjoy a lot of water activities like swimming and snorkelling at the islands: Sapi, Gaya, Manukan, Mamuk, Sulug.  For locals, the boat rate to one island is RM17 per adult and a conservation fee of RM3 needs to be paid together with a terminal fee of RM7.20 per adult totalling RM27.20.  But if you wanted to cover 2 islands then the boat rate is RM27 so that comes up to RM37.20.  There's also a children rate which is cheaper.  The boat will only move with a minimum of 8 persons and with the weather so hot, I was not willing to risk my skin so the plan to visit the island was abandoned.

An express from Labuan berthing at Jesselton Point.

,

Took lunch at the coffee shop called "Fatt Kee" (opens 11:00 am to 2:00 pm (for lunch) and re-opens 5:00 pm till 12:00 midnight (for dinner)).  It's a small shop with no air-con and limited chairs and tables situated at the ground floor of Ang's Hotel which is near to KTS Trading and Capital Hotel opposite Wisma Merdeka.  The food is good and a lot of people constantly drops in to "tapau" (take-away).  I ordered meatballs (2 large pieces), chicken wing (1 piece) and fried brinjal with rice costing RM5.50.  For dinner, in order to get a table, you have to be there around 6:00 pm and the popular dishes are lemon chicken, sweet and sour pork, assam fish head, pig's trotter and fried noodles.

Not far from Fatt Kee is Melanian 3 coffee shop (opens 7:00 am to 2:00 pm).  It's famous for its mixed pork noodles at RM5.50 and the soup is good.  The meatballs are tasty and the lean meat is tender. It offers side dishes such as stuffed tofu and chicken feet although I was not able to sample them.  I regret I only have 1 stomach.  In between Fatt Kee and Melanian 3 is a corner coffee shop selling good bah-kut-teh but unfortunately it wasn't open when I was passing by.

The next day, I returned to the same coffee shop.  That's mixed soup without the noodles.

That's noodles with soup and veggie only.

That meal with the iced lemon tea cost RM10.

That's Yee Fung coffee shop (opens 7:00 am to 4:00 pm) at No. 127, Gaya Street (tel: 088-312042). Labelled as the best laksa in KK, it was established 25 years ago.  I was lucky to find a table at the back of the shop and it offers laksa, claypot chicken rice and beef noodle called "ngau chap".  

Laksa at RM6 per bowl.  The taste is similar to Seng Hing Restaurant's laksa but I still prefer the Kuching laksa.

Claypot chicken rice at RM6 per claypot.  The taste was okay but again I personally prefer the claypot chicken rice in Kuching.

Foo Phing Dim Sum (tel 088-259692) at Lot 6 & 7 Ground floor at Kolam Centre, Phase II, Jalan Lintas, Luyang is a very busy dim sum eating place.  Similar to Kuching's golden arch shopping centre, the dim sum restaurant occupies 5 to 6 shoplots and really takes eating dim sum to another level.  It's a bit out of the city so since I stayed at the Promenade Apartments, I decided to take a bus.  The bus station is only around 3 minutes' walking distance.  At first, it was quite difficult but all you need is a lot of hit-and-run questions.  I discovered the key word to this place is "Taman Hilltop".  We waited at the bus-station under the sign "Luyang" for a few minutes and finally the bus arrived.  It happens to be the no air-con small bus with small seats where half your bum is hanging in empty space.  The bus driver and his assistant were very helpful and I should mention that they were also very cheerful people.  Even though they do not know the place but they will try to drop us somewhere near the Kolam Centre/Taman Hilltop.  Wow, it was an interesting experience because once the bus moves out of the parking lot, the loudspeaker blasted off a Lady Gaga song with a very catchy tune.  I had Rihanna and J Lo accompanying me on my 15 minutes' journey and at one point, there's this song that sounds like ..... put your hands up, put your hands up....................  The bus dropped us off the the Prudential building and all you need to do is to walk to the back of the building, turn right and walk along a row of shophouse, cross the road to the opposite side and walk up a flight of stairs to this big open arched building.  Since it was a Sunday, it was very quiet on the roads and I did not meet anybody but wow, when I entered this restaurant, it seems to me the whole town is here!  Did I mention the bus fare is RM1.20 per pax?  I had discovered the theory of taking buses.  On the return journey, all you need to do is to go to the opposite side of the road where the bus drops you - Easy as ABC.  It makes sense though - what goes up north must return down south.

Glutinous rice with chicken fillings wrapped in leaves.

Steamed pork ribs.

Braised chicken claws.

Siew Mai.

Fish balls.

Steamed dumplings with prawns.

Glutinous rice in leave but quite difficult to eat without a spoon.

Prawn wrapped with meat and spread with mayonnaise.

Yam basket with filling.

Filling inside the yam basket (with cashew nuts).

That's the bill - RM37.50 for 2 persons' breakfast.

Killing 2 birds with 1 stone.  This is Kah Hiong Ngui Chap (opens 7:00 am till 3:00 pm).  After eating dim sum at Foo Phing, I walked further towards the back and this restaurant serves very good beef noodles.  Even though Foo Phing Dim Sum has the whole town, this shop can hold its own.  On the wall, I can see AFC channel, Jason was here from the newspaper cuttings pasted on the wall behind the cashier.

I was quite full from the dim sum so ordered one Konlau mee with beef soup - RM7.50 for this set.  

Beef, tripe, beef balls and 2 big chunks of white carrot

Konlau mee is actually noodles with black sweet and slightly thick sauce topped with minced meat.  This is a specialty of KK.

These are egg tarts from "Egg Tart Prince".  I bought these at Centre Point food court for RM1.20 each.  Surprisingly, they are good.  The filling is not too sweet and it melts in your mouth and the crust is crispy - very crispy.  I thought to buy some to bring back home but flying nowadays is a hassle with so many new rules and restrictions so I had second thoughts.  On my numerous journeys and trips around the city, I discovered there's another shop with the same name at Wisma Merdeka and along Gaya Street or somewhere there, there's actually a small bakery with the same name.  I was thinking, eh, not bad, this is some sort of franchise or a chain of shops selling egg tarts, cakes and swiss rolls, etc.   Oh, I saw that bakery has a sign showing durian swiss rolls or something like that.  I couldn't quite remember but the egg tart is good.

I saw a lot of yellow mangoes with prices ranging from RM10, RM15 to RM20.  I bought these at RM10 and wow, they re-arranged my teeth!!!  I was informed they came from the Philippines and I bought these at the wet market.  They looked so nice but in fact, they were very sour.

This is at "Little Italy" right on the ground floor of Capital Hotel next to KTS Trading.  I thought to order pizza  or maybe a plate of  macaroni/spaghetti but my two-legged compass was not keen so I ordered a slice of tiramisu cake and a glass of lemon juice.  It's a pricey place but of course, it's air-conditioned and the ambience is good and the place was quite packed (mostly by foreigners).  The tiramisu was below expectation but the lemon juice was refreshing.  But 2 items at RM24 is not a place I will frequent.


Wait for my next post on the wet market and the Filipino market!