Roof Garden Lounge

As I was in my 'backyard vacay' mood in L.A Hotel (see previous post), I've decided that I got to check out their rooftop lounge since I've heard so much about it. And since my last experience going to such places solo (not a pleasant one I'm afraid), I've manage to roped in a pal of mine to come along. So off we go to the hotel's top floor (sorry, can't remember which floor exactly) and as we stepped outside of the elevator.... darkness! The only thing that we can see is the neon sign that says 'Roof Garden Lounge' and nothing else. I'm obviously baffled (and beginning to feel like an idiot for asking a friend to witness my stupidity) for like 10 seconds flat when this smiley waiter came to my (err, okay.. our) rescue and led us to the actual rooftop lounge. Note to hotel management -  I do understand that you're going for the half pub feel (it is called a lounge) but please put a brighter light at the 'arrival area' as not to scare away patrons (or maybe it's just me). So they actually divided their lounge area into 2 sections. There's the lounging (and possibly buffet area - as I did spotted some buffet like things nearby) area when you first entered the floor (which was very impressively decorated with bird cages.. yes people, bird cages) and then there's the rooftop area on top of the latter. But do mind your steps when going to the rooftop area as it is quite steep.

Now here's where I turned from my 'what-is-this-place' to 'I-loved-this-place' mode in just seconds. The view at this rooftop is just splendid. Sure, we might not have those sky-scrappers to drooled over but at night, Tawau is pretty darn beautiful with the right view point. Although it's a bit windy when we were there, but it's worth it for the view alone. But what about the food? I mean, I am writing about the food here before I go off with my lengthy babblings. So I've ordered their Mee Goreng Mamak (menu items are mostly Western food with some local dishes) and my friend ordered Mee Tuaran and our verdict? Err, average I guess. I'm actually very looking forward to taste their food but while it's not bad (it's quite tasty actually) it's not that mind-blowing delicious. We also sampled their Boxing Chicken and the sauce is pretty tangy and well-seasoned. But again, nothing out-of-this-world. There's also the Grilled Chicken Sausages & Grilled Roasted Chicken (again with the tangy sauce), their version of Chicken Nasi Lemak and the very simple-looking Roof Garden's Nasi Goreng which tastes meh!

I don't know about you guys but this is the first time I've seen a bouncer (yes, that big guy who has this walkie on hand and is giving you that evil eyes) in such place. So I was half expecting a brawl in the wee hours of the night but I'm happy to report that everyone was pretty chilled out to suddenly have the urged to dance on top of tables. The waiters are also very friendly and attentive.

*Side note - I do apologize beforehand for the very dimmed pictures below (which pretty much says that I needed a new phone) as the place is that dark.

** Current status - Has been reopened (as of April 2021)