Seiyo Grill

I was scrolling through the pictures in my phone recently and noticed that I have (yet again) forgotten to post out a couple of places that I've been to months ago  🤦‍♀️ But then again better late than never right? 

So this first one is an eatery not that far from where I'm currently living (specifically within the Utara Business Hub, Jalan Utara Baru.. at the backside of the shoplot). Both my mom & dad were regular customers but me and my hubby had only tried them out once thus far. It's not that because they not good or anything, it's just that we'd often overlooked them due to their somewhat hidden location. We've tried their Nasi Sate Ayam and Grilled Chicken Chop. Both dishes were good but I found their satay lacking in terms of taste. Not enough marinate I supposed? My mom did commented that their menu items has expanded since we'd last been there so there might be an updated version of the menu that I've posted below so do try them out to see for yourselves. 

** Current status - Still in business (as of August 2026) 

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Outward Vacay: Showcase Hotel

I can honestly say that this is the first time that I've actually resided (slightly) outside of the KK main city area, mainly because I wanted to try out this particular hotel. Located at the Aeropod Commercial Square, overlooking the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), there are approximately 3 hotels within the area (apart from the homestay apartments available). But the one that I was most interested in was this hotel; the one most hidden from plain sight. You can easily spot the other 2 hotel's signage as soon as you entered the area. This hotel however doesn't exactly have an official lobby area but you can check in via their cafe Lugo on the 2nd floor (but do press for the 3rd floor if you're using the lift & it's advisable for you to take the lift that's in between Orange & Tealive, as it's nearest to the cafe/lobby). 

Now ever since I saw posts about the hotel's airplane view rooms, I became very intrigued. Watching the airplane landing and taking off has always been one of my fave pastime and being able to do so at the comfort of a room is even better. Granted, the room that we've been given were on the small side (tall people might have a bit of a problem with the bed setting), but I do like the overall comfy ambience. As I was mainly there for airplane spotting activities as well as to try out the daily food night market at the backside of said commercial area, I didn't mind the no channel TV. Also even though you do need a key card to enter the room area, the lifts leading up to the rooms were public so security might be a slight issue especially for women who travels solo. 

Type - Aero View Room

Room - 5/5 (again, it's mainly for the airplane view) 

Price - 4/5 (still within the 'reasonable' range) 

Service - 4/5 (appreciate their effort to guide us to our rooms, as the rooms.were not labeled) 

Decor - 5/5 (simple & comfortable) 

Facilities - 4/5 (haven't tried out their cafe but it seems to be frequently closed for private events which should tell you something) 

Location - 5/5 (the area is pretty self sufficient even though they are slightly outside of the main city area - plenty of eateries around) 

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The Bretzel Co. Bataras Tawau

It seems that more and more of my hubby's fave food joints are making their way to our shores and this snack franchise is the latest one. Located within Bataras Hypermarket at Jalan Chong Thien Vun (specifically in front of the Rotiboy shop), we'd only visited their booth recently after we made sure that all those 'early curious long lines' had diminished. We've tried some of our all time faves such as the Triple Cheese Pretzels, Chocolate Bretzel Stix and Bretzel Sausage Bites and everything tasted good, like the ones we had before. I'm currently into their Jumbo Kaw Kaw Cheese Sausage as it is big in portion and very filling. 

** Current status - Still in business (as of July 2026) 

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Salero Padang

Since me and my hubby were big fans of nasi padang, we were quite excited when we heard that such eatery is opening at the Perdana Jaya commercial area at Jalan Chong Thien Vun (formerly where Mini Bean is and next to Han's Bakery). 

But then we discovered that the eatery might have a different concept than what we were used to when you say 'padang dishes'. Instead of multiple pre-cooked West Sumatra dishes prepared beforehand for the customers to pick out, they had a menu with fixed set items such as the Set Ayam and Set Udang that we had. It screams more like a 'penyet' dish rather than nasi padang. Both food were quite ok tasting but we did feel a bit disappointed as it wasn't what we'd expected. I also ordered their Ayam Pop ala carte since I was curious. Unfortunately I discovered that it wasn't my cup of tea (a bit weird tasting for me).

** Current status - Has been closed (as of August 2026)

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Pecok Tawau

I've seen similar looking dishes while visiting several food festivals and must admit that their variety of sambal does attract my attention. The only thing that hinders me from actually trying them out before was my current health (that prevents me from eating spicy dishes often). But since my hubby assures me that there are less spicy sambal available, we finally decided to try out this eatery located at Jalan Belian, right in front of the former Empire building & yellow DIY building.

So basically a 'pecok' dish is when you pick out your main ingredient (such as chicken, fish or squid) with its accompanied sambal (which includes sambal ijo, sambal tomato, sambal merah, sambal mangga & sambal madu 3). I decided to play safe and ordered their Pecok Bakar while my hubby tried their Pecok Penyet Ijo. Thankfully mine wasn't that spicy and it was succulent but not that noteworthy. My hubby also commented the same thing with his dish plus a slight oversalting taste. Drink choices were also limited & mostly pre-prepared so if you wanted to try other dishes then you might want to go somewhere else. But if you're a fan of the ayam penyet or ayam geprek (which seems to be everywhere nowadays) types of dishes then you should try them out. 

** Current status - Still in business (as of July 2026)

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