Burger Bakar HS (KK FoodieVenture #30)

I have reviewed a burger stall in Tawau called Burger Bakar HS and had said that it is originated from a stall in KK. So here I present to you its KK counterpart, the original Burger Bakar HS. It has been previously grilling its burger goodness at Signal Hill but had recently moved downtown and is now more accessible at Fatt Kee Seafood Restaurant (at Hilltop, next to the Prudential building).

The menu for the KK based stall does not differ that much from its Tawau branch. They also provide delicious Grilled Chicken Burger and Grilled Beef Burger, according to any number of patties requested by the customers. But they also have recently improved their burgers by steaming (yes, like a 'pau' bun) the patties first before grilling them, making them more tender and tastier. Not too sure about this but I could've sworn that the latter was named Steamed Burgers by the stall. And I'm not just making that up either, I swear. Hehehe...

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Fatt Kee Seafood Restaurant (KK FoodieVenture #29)

Now this restaurant is practically an institution in Kota Kinabalu. I kept hearing people recommending this establishment to me every time I'm in town. Unfortunately I usually either forgot to visit the place or was thinking of going there but was already full in the stomach. So when a friend of ours insisted on taking me and my partner there one night, we jumped at the chance. But do not confuse this place with another famous eatery called Kedai Kopi Fatt Kee situated within the KK town area at Jalan Haji Saman (as I previously did). The seafood restaurant was previously known as Jin Jin and is sitting nicely at Jalan Lintas (at Hilltop, right next to the Prudential building).

The most popular dish from this place (now operating at night as well, since I've heard that they usually only opened during the day) was by far the Mixed Fish Mee Hoon and Fish Head Noodles. I mean, that's all people kept telling me about. My partner decided to have a go at the latter and definitely loved the freshness of the fish dish (but I totally neglected to take a picture of it - sorry folks). But I wasn't in the mood for something soupy that day and decided to try another dish highly recommended by our friend, that is their Fried Rice with Fish Fillet, which was really good. Again, you can't possibly beat the freshness of the ingredients within said dish. And the side soup provided with the dish really complimented the flavours as well. Like any other respectable seafood restaurant, they also provide other typical cook-to-order dishes. And if you wanted to try something else, there's also a couple of food stalls within the premises that provides other types of food such as grilled burgers (more on that in the next post), Nasi Lemak and satays (see pictures below).

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Centre Point Food Court (KK FoodieVenture #28)

If you've frequented the Centre Point shopping mall (or more affectionately called CP by the locals) as many times as I have, than it will be no problem for you to point out their main food court (which is at the Lower Ground level, at the backside of the floor). There's also another food court at the 4th floor of the mall but that pales in comparison with the basement food court in terms of food variety and spaces to eat.

So I thought it would be a crime not to review the food court, since I've been coming to the place for years now. I have also sampled almost all of the stalls there except for a couple of newly opened ones. And I would say that overall, the food varied in terms of quality and pricing. There are several stalls that catered to pre-cooked dishes (as well as cook-to-order ones) with mind blowing variety, as well as other specialty stalls such as the in-famous Nasi Ayam CP shop. Service wise, the latter might be at the bottom of my list, what with their rude, pushy staff and they can also be pretty dismissive while you're trying to tell them your orders. Funnily, it happened multiple times throughout my years of visiting the place, with different waitresses from the same place. Cleanliness might also needed to be looked into by the food court management team especially during peak hours. But still, I found myself coming back to the place multiple times mainly because of some of their delicious food such as the Soto Ayam (from Restoran Sri Malawali) and Nasi Campur (from the Javanese stall right beside the latter, sorry I can't seem to recall their name). My partner also tried out the CP Chicken Rice this time around to see if the food was as good as their pricing (arguably still one of the cheapest in Centre Point) but he only gave a 'so-so' comment.

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Dotts Egg Tart (KK FoodieVenture #27)

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Can't believe that another year has passed us by just like that. Let's just hope that the year of Hihi, Haha & Yangyang (sorry, but I just couldn't resist those 3 cute sheep on TV) will bring all of us an even greater fortune..

So with that out of the way, let's continued on with another one of my light snacks reviews (like I'd said, I just can't get enough of them this time around). The Dotts kiosks can be seen in and around KK for years now and the one that we frequently went to was their Warisan Square shopping mall counter. They'd manage to focus on a product that they know they can make (very) well and now, their egg tarts are practically a local icon. Trust me when I say that I've tried other egg tarts before and while some of them are quite good, those are still not as special as Dotts. The crust was just crunchy (without being too crumbly like one of their rivals - wink wink) while their egg custard was just at the right flavours (not to sweet or 'eggy' which was a plus). They're also selling tasty curry puffs and is currently promoting their brand new cookies (well at least they're brand new to me) called the Belgian Chocolate Cookies. I haven't got around to taste them but I'm sure that they're yummy as well (come on now, practically anything that has got to do with 'belgian chocolate' usually tasted lovely).

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Baskin-Robbins (KK FoodieVenture #26)

I'll admit it, my biggest vice throughout my lifetime was none other than chocolate ice-creams. Just give me one of those babies and I'll stay quiet for the rest of the day (well, maybe for 30 minutes or so). So it is a no brainer for me to drop by the Baskin-Robbins franchises whenever I'm in KK. And not just one, I'll made sure that I'll stop by both of their stores in 1Borneo hypermall (right at the main entrance, can't possibly missed them) as well as a booth in Suria Sabah shopping mall (on the 1st floor).

It took me a while (and by that I mean around 5 solid minutes before I got an understandable 'ahem' by the waiter over the counter) just ogling at the available choices of ice-creams. I think I've asked for their regular Chocolate (awesome rich tasting chocolate) and Chocolate Mousse Royale (OMG! delicious) flavours, since I'm a die hard chocoholic. I was halfway through mine when my partner (casually) mentioned to me that I forgot to take any pictures of my yummy cup of ice-cream, hence the not so flattering picture below (sorry folks, my bad). Thankfully my partner was not as gluttonous as yours truly and I've manage to take his lovely Fun Sundae with regular Chocolate and Peanut Butter & Chocolate flavourings.

The 1 Borneo branch store (ground floor)

The Suria Sabah booth (on the 1st floor)

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Outward Vacay: Zara's Boutique Hotel

Next on my list of hotel hopping (this is a 'disease' that has been inflicted to me and my partner for sometime now) was the Zara's Boutique Hotel, right at the main road entrance to the Harbour City commercial area. Our main reason for choosing this accommodation was because of our budget, as the pricing was very reasonable (but if you booked with them through the internet via their own website). And it does not hurt that one of my favourite food joint Kak Nong's Restaurant was just at the opposite end of the hotel. But do be warn though - the place was a bit out of the main city area, so having your own transportation is a great plus.

Since me and my partner were planning to go all out on our last choice of hotel (more on that on a much later post) we'd decided to choose their Superior Room. We'd tried out their Deluxe Suite Room before (yes, we're returning guests) and even though the room was huge in size, I honestly thought that the room was quite bare looking (as the hotel has supposedly prided itself for being a hotel 'with feminine touches'). Unfortunately the room that we were given recently were pretty much the same bare, very plain looking but is otherwise spacious. I was a bit disappointed though since I was hoping that they would do some changes in terms of adding more furniture and decorations inside the rooms. Cleanliness might also needed to be looked into as we found the floor were a bit 'hairy' upon our arrival. The view that we got was of the back of the hotel (see below pic). It's actually a pretty good deal should you prefer a quieter night (as oppose to the front view of the hotel, facing the busy main road) but there's a gathering of modified cars enthusiasts on the weekend when we were there so you could hear them 'testing' their cars all through the night. And since we choose the bargain pricing for our room, breakfast was not included so I could not give any comments regarding that matter. But on the plus side, you won't have any problems with free parking here and the lobby area actually looks very inviting and elegant. Now if only their rooms reflected the same elegance...

Type - Superior Queen Room
Room - 3/5 (some minor refurbishments might do the trick)
Price - 4/5 (very good pricing via online booking)
Service - 4/5 (the ladies at the reception area were pretty friendly & helpful)
Decor - 2/5 (the back side corridors is in dire need of refurnishing, what with the peeling wallpapers)
Facilities - 3/5 (they do have a meeting room & cafe though)
Location - 4/5 (as I've mentioned above, it's right at the main entrance to the Harbour City area)

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Peppermint Vietnamese Restaurant (KK FoodieVenture #25)

So while me and my partner in crime were staying in at the Palace Hotel, we'd decided to venture out to the nearby Karamunsing Capital on foot (the stairs from the hotel's cliff side made the trip possible of course) one night and pretty much snubbed the Karamunsing shopping mall due to some unpleasant experience earlier on. The Vietnamese restaurant has another branch at Jalan Gaya which again we regularly passed by but never actually visited.

My partner was the one who'd walked into the place first, due to being curious over the food provided within the establishment. Hey, it's not everyday that you can find Vietnamese food right? So after some very thought out food selecting (like 15 seconds flat - yup, we pretty much just instinctively pointed at the pictures which looked nice), we decided to try out their Spicy Chicken Rice (surprisingly not that spicy at all, it's actually sweet and very nutty - lovely taste by the way) and their Crispy Spring Rolls (definitely not your typical spring rolls as it's quite huge and has a rough texture - but taste wise was pretty good even though it's a bit oily). Overall we do not have a high expectation coming into the restaurant (in fact, we do not have any expectations, period!) but we were pretty satisfied coming out of the premises.

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City Food Corner Sinsuran (KK FoodieVenture #24)

I completely forgot to take some pictures for this food cafe the last time I went to KK (I tend to overlook places that I go regularly - which in this case, almost every morning) so this time around I'd reminded myself to take some. Unfortunately for me, my partner was unwell during our visit so we decided to just 'tapau' something quickly. The place is a staple for patrons who're looking for some bargain food with acceptable flavours. The one that we'd frequented was their branch at the Sinsuran town area (in front of Le Meridien Hotel and just across Centre Point shopping mall). But it's good to note that they also had another branch at the lower ground floor of the 1Borneo hypermall.

We went in and out in a jiffy and decided on their Nasi Lemak (pre-packed for convenience of course) which was pretty tasty despite the rather small portion and rice colour that resembles the Nasi Kuning (I swear that the label said 'Nasi Lemak' as oppose to the latter). We also tried out their Tuna Sandwiches and it's pretty filling and okay in terms of taste. It might not be the best there is but it's definitely not something to look down upon as well. They also had a variety of pre cooked dishes for you to choose from and also a slew of bakery goodness ready for your pick-up. But if you can only stomached hot meals then rest assure as they also had cook-to-order dishes available.

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D'KL Restaurant (KK FoodieVenture #23)

Now every time I’m in KK, this is one of the places that is a must on my food hit list. When a friend first brought me to this fine establishment, I was more than a little sceptical, like any other first timers. Why? Well, it’s actually a residence within a housing area, without any signage that indicates the place as a food establishment. So it is very forgivable if you happen to pass along the streets near it and never even know about it, because it looks exactly like any other houses around the same area. It’s located at Kampung Likas (hence the name D’KL which means Di Kampung Likas).

The décor and atmosphere of the place clearly screams Javanese and their food reflected that fact as well. So obviously when we were there, I just got to have their Nasi Ayam Penyet set which was just divine. The sambal and chicken was just one of the best there is in KK. My partner opted to try out their Nasi Ayam Bakar Madu (I think that’s what it was called) set this time around and he absolutely fell in love with it as well. Our dishes will not be complete without their Tomyam Putih (a colourless version of the usually red tomyam) which was just superb and not too spicy. It is good to mention here that the place has a specific opening and closing time (not too sure about the exact timing though) but they're usually closed around late noon to prepare for the night. 

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