D'Maya (Mee Tauhu Tg Batu Tengah)

Obviously when talking about breakfast in Tawau, the main choice that stands above and beyond the rest would have to be the uber popular mee tauhu. So it’s no wonder that mee tauhu based eateries has been sprouting in and around town like nobody’s business. But while most of them had opened full fledge kedai kopi to accommodate the growing demands for the food (see a few of my previous posts for further reference) I was actually impressed with this particular wooden based, unassuming looking stall’s ability to withstand its competition.

Located right by the roadside leading up to the Tanjung Batu Tengah area (in close proximity to their Masjid Al-Aman and err… a graveyard nearby) the eatery has maintain a steady stream of fans to their place for years now. And it seems that they do not have any immediate plans to neither expand nor move to a more comfortable shop like its other rivals. Nevertheless, I do admit that I like their mee tauhu set very much, what with its authentic taste of gravy and non-greasy fried mee (something that their bigger, well-known competition seems to take lightly). Another top choice of food from their stall has got to be their Nasi Kuning dish. As seen in the picture below, their Nasi Kuning can be considered as unique due to its deeper yellowish colouring (I can assure you that it doesn’t taste weird at all; in fact it somehow made the rice even more savoury). Now if you combined that with an enticing non-spicy choice of Ayam or Ikan Masak Merah and some green garnish on top, it’s no wonder that it’s a hit among patrons (and one of my all time favourites as well).

** Current status – Still in operation (as of January 2017)   

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Indo Cafe Fajar & Indo Cafe 2 Unijaya

I did mentioned a while back when I did a review on a place called Indon Style Cafe that they’re a part of a local franchise (albeit with different names of course). The original café is located at the backside of Fajar Complex (in front of the Ikan Goreng TNT) and after their runaway success, they have since opened quite a number of branches all over Tawau (I lost count of just how many). So in this entry, I’ll be featuring both the first and the second Indo Café since both are the more popular ones among all of the branches. And just so you guys know, the Indo Café 2 is within the Unijaya commercial area.

Being a franchise of sorts, you would expect that most (if not all) of their food will be similar to one another, and you’re probably right to assume so. Even the style of cooking doesn’t differ that much from one branch to another which can be considered as a good thing in terms of food quality. But personally I think it’ll quickly make you loose interest in their food. During me and my partner’s visit to their main branch, we’d ordered their Nasi Goreng Indo Café (or Special, I can’t remember) and Kuey Teow Goreng. Nothing much to comment about their food other than it being lacklustre. Same goes when we’d tried out their Mix Vegetable Rice and Kon Lau Mee when we’d stopped by their Unijaya branch. But I do need to highlight their Pisang Goreng Cheese dish since it’s still one of the best there is here in Tawau. It has a good balance of crispy fritters with generous amount of cheese and brown sugar on top (although ratio of toppings may vary from time to time).

** Current status – Still in operation (as of January 2017)   

(Updated on 16/04/2018 - Their Fajar branch has recently moved a couple of steps away (to their left) to an even bigger premise. Business must be good eh? Some of the food that we've tried this time around includes their Nasi Lalap Ayam, Nasi Goreng Ikan Masin, ABC Gula Melaka & their top selling Mango Sago)

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MyCafe

I do notice that I haven’t been around the Taipan Commercial area that often (since I rarely have any business there) so when my mom wanted to check out this eatery that has supposedly being opened by a friend of hers, I jumped at the chance. And no worries about me being all bias since I usually let my tongue and stomach guide me all the way when it comes to food (hehehe...foooodd gimme foooodddd...).

When I did a previous post of an eatery within Taipan, I did mentioned that it was a relatively small commercial area, with only 3 blocks of 3 storeys high building adjoining to one another. And you won’t have any problems locating this cafe since its right next to this 7Eleven joint and right in front of the Pizza Hut Taipan branch. I got curious before going to the place and had checked out their FB page beforehand. They did mentioned that they provide Chinese style cooking lauk-pauk for lunch (they do not serve pork as well) but they may had scratched that idea due to lack of interest (maybe – I’m just taking a stab here) since we do not see any of those during our stop. So we did what we’d always done and ordered out some MyCafe Fried Rice (kinda like a Nasi Goreng Special, and it’s actually scrumptious and has this sweet taste that I like) and Sweet and Sour Fish Rice (my mom seems satisfied as well so I guess it’s also delicious). They might not have an extensive menu but I genuinely like what they’d managed to dish out.  

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

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McDonald's Tawau

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking ‘aiyaa… McD pun mau di review ka?’ right? Trust me when I say that Tawaurians (including our east coast neighbours LD, Kunak & Semporna mind you) had been hoping for a McDonald’s to be opened here in this sleepy town of ours for years before our prayers were finally answered a few years back. We’re utterly grateful for the person who’d made it all possible (as it is a known fact that you do need to have a substantial amount of moolah to be able to take on this franchise) and so to celebrate that fact, I’m doing this so-called special review on the internationally famous fast food joint. Oh and by the way, they’re located at Mile 4, Jalan Apas and in close proximity to Giant Hypermarket. Cheers!

Coincidentally, it is also that time of the year again when the great McD put out their seasonal sensation that is the Prosperity Burgers (which happens to be one of my undisputed favourite comfort food of all time as well). Usually heavily promoted sometime in the beginning of December and lasted until the end of January (or whenever the Chinese New Year ends), I just loved how the juicy beef patty (yup, not too fond of their chicken version though) was soaked in this yummy blackpepper sauce. And do not get me started on their Twister Fries. I can easily finished 3 large packets of the salty goodness in one go. And yes, my inner stinginess will emerge during such times, as I refuse to share it with anybody else. But I can do without the Orange McFizz though as it tasted weird to me for some reason. Definitely not my cup of tea. My partner however decided to go rogue and try another ‘limited edition meal’ named the Chicken McWrap. The burrito like meal was surprisingly spicy according to him but he liked the flavourful chicken patty enough to give it a thumb up. This meal also came with regular fries and a Sprite McFloat (which I can assure you tasted better than my drink).

** Current status – Still in operation (as of January 2017)  

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Restoran Seafood Kubota

Okay so here’s the deal. I’m not quite sure myself whether this particular restaurant is still open or not, because I’d circled around the area that this eatery is situated a few times after my initial visit (which was on Nov 2016) and noticed that the place was closed everytime. It was first opened sometime around Oct 2016 (discovered that via FB of course) and I’m surprised that they’d managed to stayed open for a solid 2 months only before their closure on Dec 2016 (the time of my ‘shark circling activity’). Or had they moved somewhere else instead? Anyways, do update me if any of you guys found out anything okay? In the meantime, I’m just going to include my review of said place, just in case they’d suddenly decided to give themselves another go.

Now I swear to you that when I first arrived at this restaurant, I thought I was in the wrong place. Recommended by a friend via Facebook, it’s actually situated at the newly opened (yup, there seems to be a ‘new’ commercial area opening almost every other month here in Tawau) Bintang Kubota commercial area, right in front of the Tawau Hospital (Sin Onn branch). And eventhough the area has barely been filled up yet, this particular eatery chooses to open at the most unlikely spot; right at the backside of the area, facing some creepy looking thick bushes. The area was also very quiet and since they’re (previously) the only ones there, I’d almost missed the place all together had I’d not seen their signboard. But then again the rent might have something to do with it so me and mother dearest decided to just give them a try (since I already drove there anyway).

Their weird, scary vibing aside, the food was actually better than expected. My mom had asked the waitress whether they’re related to the locally popular Restoran Sri Titingan (since their menu seems to be around 90% the same as the latter) to which she denied it. In fact, when our food came out (we’d tried out their Nasi Goreng Kampung, Steamed Grouper Hong Kong Style and Stir Fried Mix Vegetables) the look and tastes were suspiciously similar to those of the more well-known seafood joint. But then again we might be wrong though since we’re not exactly food experts. Nevetheless, we’d found their overall cooking to be very flavoursome and scrumptious (eventhough the grouper was not 100% fresh), definitely recommended for you guys to give them at least a chance.

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

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Backyard Vacay: Rooms Tawau

It’s not too late for me to wish everyone HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017 right? Due to a few unforseen problems late last year (both personal and work related) me and my partner decided (with very heavy hearts mind you) that we’re not going to have our annual year-end vacation that year. So we got creative and consoled ourselves with a backyard vacay instead. Plus this 3 months old accomodation has caught my eyes the moment I’d accidentally discovered them while driving through the Kubota Square commercial area. And just so we’re in the clear here, they are situated right in front of both the Tea Time Cafe and Old Town White Coffee eateries respectively.

Since they’re still within their soft opening period when we checked into the place, they’d given us a promotional rate which had brightened up my day instantly. I was also very impressed when I stepped into the lobby area, as they have this modern, minimalist type of decor which I personally loved. The art deco theme continued throughout the hallways on each floor (see pics below) as well as their rooms. The room that we were assigned to was also surprisingly spacious and very new looking. We got a view of the back alley but I don’t mind since we’re not there for the view anyway. The amenities inside the room were pretty standard which includes a TV with 8 channels, although I was a bit curious as to why they’d picked out the Cinemax channel instead of the usual, more current Fox Movies channel. And if you got a vehicle (which I highly recommend) then you do not have to worry since they do have designated free parkings in front of the hotel. The hotel might be quite a distance from the main town area but do not fret since the commercial area itself is pretty self-sufficient, with more than a few eateries, banks, convenient stores and even a Giant hypermarket within walking distance.

Now I know for a fact that it’s currently pretty hard to find any infos on them since they’d barely established themselves, so I’ll include their contact info as well okay? If you’re interested in checking them out for yourselves, you can contact them via direct call at 089-916333/332 or you can also email them at roomstawau@outlook.com. I’d used the latter method (just to test their responses) and trust me when I say that they’re very prompt in replying your email. Definitely a thumbs up in my books! Also, they have recently been added into the Agoda.com & Booking.com listings so do check  them out as well. 

My personal ratings are as follows...

Type – Deluxe Queen

Room – 4/5 (everything is still brand spanking new)

Price – 5/5 (they were still in promotional mode when I was there so I’m obviously happy)

Service – 4/5 (everything went on smoothly)

Decor – 5/5 (you can’t tell that I really, really like their internal decor huh? *sarcasm)

Facilities – 3/5 (so far they provide standard, deluxe, executive and family rooms)

Location – 4/5 (trust me, it will be an even more strategic place in the near future) 

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