Cakes & Co

While there might be tons of modern cafes in a big city like KK; it’s actually quite the opposite when it comes to Tawau. They are far and few between and what’s even rarer was when said café was ran and owned my Muslims, which of course brings us to this place. So if you’re as curious as I am, then hop on to their outlet which is located smack in the middle of Bintang Kubota commercial area (yup, that commercial area right in front of Sin Onn’s Tawau Hospital branch).

Now do not be confuse when you’re driving around the area and happen to spot a pharmacy called Lifestyle Pharmacy instead, as the café is actually right next to them. Or rather, the café occupied around 1/3 of the overall shop (as both the café & pharmacy are own by the same people). The space might be a bit tight but they do provide limited seating areas for patrons to dine in. I was passing by the area one afternoon (on my way to the relatively new Popular Bookstore – yes, Tawau FINALLY has a freaking Popular) and decided to stop by. I’m a chocoholic through and through so I’m usually partial to said flavour when choosing my cakes. Unfortunately when I was there, they only had the plain Chocolate Cake (instead of the usual mousse cake, as I’ve been told) but I’ve decided to just go for them anyway. While it might not be mind blowing, it did taste toothsome and moist nevertheless. I’ve also ordered their Ice Cream Rolls (with personalized choices of chocolate, banana, almond and Chipmore) and I must say that it’s impressive and invigorating. I initially thought that they’ll only put the ingredients on top of the ice-cream but they’d actually mixed up everything before literally rolling them in pretty looking shapes. The result was very good indeed, a pleasant surprise on my part (and not to mention greedy since I’d gone for the big cup instead of the smaller one, but I certainly did not regret it). I’ll definitely drop by next time just to get my fix on said ice-cream. Oh and because I do not want to OD on sugar that day, I’ve decided to washed everything off with a refreshing glass of ice lemon tea. 

** Current status – Has moved to Kubota Sentral (as of Nov 2018)

(Updated on 25/09/2017 - The place has undergone a renovation of sorts so now their cafe is bigger and more spacious than their pharmacy. It's good to note that they're currently serving heavy duty food such as the Thin Crust Italian Style Pepperoni Pizza and Thai's Khao Kluk Kapi dishes that we had. I also couldn't resist trying out their Caramel Cheese Cake and it was definitely rich and creamy tasting)

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Empire Food Court

I do not get why the owner of this particular Indian Muslim eatery named their place as it is. I mean, they are no where near the actual Empire building area (it’s ironically situated right next to the Takada food stalls area) nor were this a new rendition of the pre existing Empire food stalls. So what gives right? But I’m not going to give myself a headache just thinking about that when I can fill my belly with their food instead.

               

The place was originally a car showroom so it’s both strategically placed and somewhat big in size. Most importantly, it was so brightly lit up that it is almost impossible not to notice them especially when you are driving towards the main Apas-Sin Onn traffic lights. So like flies attracted to a err... bright light, me and my partner decided to dropped by one evening and ordered ourselves some Nasi Goreng Daging (for my partner, he said that it was passable at best and was a bit salty) as well as their Nasi Briyani Ayam (again, nothing to shout about – it was a very typical Briyani with an average Kurma Chicken) since my initial choice (the Nasi Minyak Ayam) was unavailable. We also tried out the satay stall within the premise and as far as I’m concern, it is currently one of my top choices for satays in town. The satay was somewhat sweet tasting and their peanut sauce was very delicious and most importantly, has that chunky peanut bits that I’d missed and loved. It’s similar to those that you usually get from the Peninsular Malaysia rather than a locally made sauce.

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

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Gathering Grill & Chill

I’m always on a look out for new and trendy places to eat in town, particularly since a couple of new commercial areas had suddenly sprung up last year. And although Kubota Square aren’t exactly one of those places, they did however developed a somewhat Phase 2 of their area to accommodate more shops. So it does not escape my attention that there’s a new up scale looking eatery in the process of opening earlier this year, within said new area.

I admit that I had my eyes on them ever since my latest ‘backyard vacation’ at the also new-in-town hotel next door called Rooms Tawau (they're also right in front of the locally popular Tea Time café – and I suspected that both eateries were ran and owned by the same people). It was lucky for us to arrived earlier in the evening since the place was quickly packed with customers an hour or so after that. And mind you, it is not even the weekend yet! Their menu is currently in the ‘ongoing’ stages, with a mix of both the western and local cuisines plus a slew of delectable looking desserts on the side. As I was not that hungry during our introductory visit, I only ordered their hot mocha. Although it was fine (more towards the bitter side) but I had tasted better offerings elsewhere. My partner however was quite the opposite so he’d ordered the Sambal Terung (Spicy Eggplant) Rice set, to which he’d commented that the overall dish was savoury and palatable but not outstanding. But I was impressed enough with their food during our premier visit that I’ve also brought my mom there a few days later and we had their Gathering Nasi Ayam Penyet (portion was quite big and my mom did enjoy eating it) and Spaghetti Bolognese Beef Meatballs (again, the portion was notable but it tasted a bit bland) as well as a Chocolate Hazelnut Cake as a dessert. I think that they’d outsourced their cakes from Sweet Secret Bakery nearby since I’d (accidentally) noticed their boxes at the bottom of the display case.

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

Updated on 31/05/2017 - We dropped by recently (well, actually that might be our third or fourth time there already) and got to try out their Grilled Chicken Chop with Mushroom Sauce, Nasi Goreng Sambal with Fish Fillet & Nutella Cheesecake. The fried rice dish was a little dry for my liking & I tasted more of the cheese rather than their supposedly Nutella flavourings from their cake.

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Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart (KK FoodieVenture #66)

This is officially going to be my last post related to my recent trip to KK (to be continued on a later date of course). Me and my partner were actually heading towards the Chicken Rice Shop for lunch that day when my eyes caught something very interesting and err… yellow to my right. I’m a fan of egg tarts so this is definitely something that I wanted on my palate. And what’s more, they also had the chocolate version on sale so I was more than stoked to give them a try. But since we’re heading for lunch, we only got to stop by the kiosk (located on the lower ground floor of Suria Sabah shopping mall, very close to said chicken rice restaurant) after that (since I do not want to spoil my appetite beforehand) and took home two of said chocolate tarts. Unfortunately, I didn’t anticipate the chocolate fillings to be creamy and not ‘solid’ so by the time I decided to munched on them at our hotel, one of the tarts had somewhat melted (hence the unflattering picture below – sorry folks). Thankfully the other one was saveable and I must say that it was delicious and rich, with this mix of buttery and chocolate taste that I loved. But I’ve also learnt my lesson and will definitely consume the tarts straight out the next time I made my pit stop there.   

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Ochado Suria Sabah (KK FoodieVenture #65)

This particular beverage has actually been on my radar for awhile now (since people kept blogging and commenting on their deliciousness) but I almost always had to give them a pass every time we were within the area (they’re located on the first floor of Suria Sabah shopping mall, in near proximity to another one of my favourites, the Baskin Robbins). It’s usually because I’d eaten some other type of snacks before I was actually anywhere near their kiosk. But during a recent visit to the mall, I was quite determined to finally give them a try (even though I had eaten something else right before that – again!). Me and my partner shared a medium sized Cocoa Milk Tea (because he’d decided to surrendered even earlier than I am when it comes to eating snacks for that day) and although the drink was decent and flavourable enough, it was also not as good as I’d hoped it would be. My taste buds might be a bit ‘compromised’ due to pre-overeating but still I was expecting something that can even precede my full tummy. Or maybe I did not make the right choice when ordering said drink? They do have plenty more choices for me to try later on so the jury is still out on this joint.   

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Gelato Lab (KK FoodieVenture #64)

From lunches and dinners, we shift our gears now to these light munchies that had managed to catch my interest throughout our recent KK trip (strictly for business purposes of course… wink wink). I must say that we didn’t get that much of gelatos back home (or did we?) so after spotting them on the lower ground floor of Imago shopping mall and right in front of Lucy's Kitchen (which is a weird location if you ask me), I practically made a beeline towards them. Another reason might be because ice-creams (and by extension its cousins) are my absolute favourite comfort food, second only to the sinful chocolates (which is evident in my choices of gelatos later on).

I must admit that the unique variety available made my head dizzy and my mouth water. For example, me and my partner decided to share 2 scoops of large gelatos particularly the Brownies Madness and Snickers. Yup, can you believe it… SNICKERS gelato! And I don’t have to elaborate too much on the taste as it was just smooth and fabulous. But then again, I do not have that much of experiences with gelatos so don’t just take my word for it and try them out for yourselves. Some of the other flavours that are available were Salted Caramel, Bubble Gum and Strawberry Cheesecake.

(Updated on 01/09/2017 - Just to update you guys on their new, livelier look during our most recent stop at the kiosk)

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