Gloria Jean's Coffees

I was recently tasked to pick up a relative from the Tawau airport and I admit was a bit unhappy. Mind you, the journey to and fro the airport was not a favourable one due to the very long distance. But when I finally managed to drag myself there, I was a bit surprise. For one, I just notice that there’s a Gloria Jean’s Coffee joint on the first floor, right next to the departure hall main entrance (hey, I got bored while waiting for auntie dearest so I went exploring a bit). Was it there before? But nevertheless it’s quite obvious that I must try them out. I mean, there’s no way I’m driving that far on another day, just to get a fix right?

From what I know, Gloria Jean’s Coffee is a place more dedicated towards giving you coffees, teas and other types of drinks. And after a while, I decided on their Iced Mocha and it’s delicious and simply addictive. The taste reminded me of a very good Teh C Special, but with a slight bitter coffee taste. If only they were nearer to town (sigh…). I also noticed their display shelve and was drawn to the cakes & pastries being displayed there. So I tried out their American Chocolate cake and… err, I found myself wondering about the very familiar taste. And it dawned to me that the cake tasted exactly like the cakes from a downtown popular bakery called Q Bread Bakery. Which was a bit disappointing on my part since if I really wanted to eat their cakes, I should just go to their bakery at Fajar Complex, which was nearer and most importantly, way cheaper (it costs around RM5 more there). And I think I’ve mentioned before on a previous post that the quality of the cakes from said bakery has been slowly downgraded over the years. It has this weird bitter after taste now, which makes it memorable but not in a good way.

** Current status – Still in operation (as of March 2016)

Updated on 04/10/2016 - I've been back recently and give their Double Chocolate Cake a go and this time around they did better. That 'weird' taste had lessen and their portion is bigger now

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Restoran Gaya Mee Tauhu

Would you guys mind if I post another breakfast joint? Because I did a run through of my laptop recently and found tons of materials for such places. So bare with me okay? Huhuhu… So next we have a relatively new place that served one of the most popular breakfast dish in town (yup, the mee tauhus are back!) at one of the ever increasingly well known address in Tawau, the Gaya Commercial Centre (right next to Taman Gaya B). Before this I have also reviewed eateries that were near to this place such as Thumbs Up Cafe and My Kampung Restaurant (which also shows that I’ve frequented the area… like a lot).

Judging from the name of the eatery, you would think that they’re only serving mee tauhu and nothing else, just like any other mee tauhu joints out there. But you might be surprise to discover that this place has taken the initiative to try out something new by adding a few other menus not typically available to such places. While my partner tried out their typical Mee Tauhu set (he said that the noodles were on the dry side and the gravy lacked flavours), I opted for their Nasi Kerabu Ayam which was one of my personal favourite dishes. And I’m glad to report that it tasted pretty nice, what with the tasty budu. They also provide other choices of menu such as Nasi Kuning, Nasi Padang and other locally known dishes, since they’re open until night time (again, unlike other typical mee tauhu places).

** Current status – Has been closed (as of April 2017) 

Updated on 17/05/2016 - My parents went there recently and ordered themselves a feast including Nasi Padang, Butter Prawn Rice, Nasi Ikan Taucu, Corn Crab Soup and Mix Vegetables (and they said that the food were lovely)

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101 Breakfast

I dare you guys to Google up ‘breakfast + Tawau’ right this instant and tell me that their place does not pop up first. I mean, that’s exactly how I discovered them anyways. I was on a hunt for a new breakfast place and voila… this supposedly ‘open secret’ (sob sob…) suddenly came to my view. For those of you not in the know, the 101 Breakfast (yes, the somewhat morning version of their night time counterpart 101 Seafood Restaurant) is situated at Medan Selera, right at the backside of a row of popular Chinese seafood joints, very near to the main inter-district bus station. Not confusing at all huh? Oh well, there’s always Google map.

I was even more drawn to this place because of their menu. I mean, there’s no mee tauhu in sight (yesss… as much as I love mee tauhu, I’m in serious need of a new breakfast option). They have a slew of western breakfast/ brunch menu which looked yummy, every single one of them. The pricing was very reasonable and food came out pretty quickly so me and my partner were very happy. And the portions were pretty big so don’t get too greedy like we did (we actually had to tapau some of the food in the end – hehehe). We ordered their 101 Signature Sandwiches (loved it to bits especially the egg and chicken floss combination) and their Breakfast Set A omelette & hash browns (it comes with free ice tea, which was nice as well). We loved their food so much that we’d actually came back for more the next day and ordered their Tuna Toast, Tuna Sandwiches and Fishy Burger (like I said, we got over our heads again) and everything were pretty satisfying. Oh and do try out their new offering, the Ice Nesloccino (yup, neslo and cappuccino had a love child) which was just superb in taste.      

** Current status - Still in operation but primarily in a food truck so check out their official FB page for the latest info on their whereabouts (as of March 2021)

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Kedai Kopi Mee Tauhu Borneo

Yup, there’s a new (well, not exactly that new… they’ve been around for more than a year now) competition in town, specifically in the popular dish ‘mee tauhu’ category. Tawaurians most definitely loved this mostly breakfast dish so much that after the highly popular Jafre Mee Tauhu and Tawau Mee Tauhu restaurants, this place has also been making waves among ‘mee tauhu’ fans. It is currently the ‘it’ place for said dish that sometimes you do need to wait a bit for a table to be available to you, even during weekdays. It’s also located at an unlikely place, within the Ba Zhong Commercial area and is visible from the large round-a-bout.

I first notice them when several friends mentioned the place via Facebook and obviously I’m itching to check them out. We were very fortunate to get a table when we finally arrived there, during the weekends no less. We wasted no time in ordering their set of typical Mee Tauhu (which I admit, the ‘tauhu’ gravy tasted sweeter than its counterparts and overall pretty darn delicious) and their Nasi Kuning Ikan (my partner said that its pretty good as well – oh and there’s no chicken option to the Nasi Kuning so you’re stuck with the fish). The owner was also pretty hands on when it comes to servicing the customers, which is a definite plus in my books.       

** Current status – Still in operation (as of March 2016) 

Updated on 16/07/2016 - I've also tried out their Mee Hoon version and I must say that I found my favourite!

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