Kedai Kopi Keong Sang

My mom has been pestering me to have our breakfast here for awhile now but I kept avoiding the place due to one particular problem… their parking. Since they’re located in the corner of a packed industrial area (namely the Hua Dat Industrial complex, the area on the left side of the Tawau Lama/ Batu 3 Jalan Apas junction) getting any parking space near their eatery was just impossible regardless of the time (they’re mainly open from morning to the evenings). So as I was just entertaining my mom’s request one morning to drive by the area (with zero expectations mind you), another patron coincidentally made their way out of the place. Yup, luck was on our side that day.

Now this place is very well known especially to Chinese Tawaurians (heck, even my aunties from KK talked about them before) so they have successfully expand their business from just one shop to two now. And we can easily see why since their menu was pretty extensive as far as breakfast & lunch was concern. They have everything from pre-cooked meals, cook-to-order ones, assorted bakery goods, a variety of Chinese buns (aka pao) and dim sums and several stalls for chicken rice and noodles. We decided to try out their Chicken Rice and we loved it. My mom was particularly impressed to see some eggs and peanuts being added to the dish. I’ve also heard some favourable reviews regarding their egg tarts so I decided to give them a go as well. It wasn’t overly sweet and the crust was deliciously crunchy. My mom cannot resist bringing home some paos as well afterwards and she loved those as well. Two things that I need to note here were that some of the buns and dim sums might contain pork and the eatery is also home to the King Pao (imagine a pao the size of a birthday cake) so do check them out should you’re interested.

** Current status – Still in operation (as of Dec 2018) 

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Cafe 3 Puteri Fajar

Honestly I have no idea whether this place is the same eatery that had formerly opened at Eastern Plaza (due to their identical names) but what I can say for certain was that the owner seems to be a different person altogether (or a relative maybe?). Me and my mum had been driving passed them often at Fajar Complex (they’re right in front of Ikan Goreng TNT) so we decided to finally try them out for lunch one day.

We did note that the menu was somewhat similar to that of its namesake so we decided upon their Nasi Goreng Ayam Penyet (since they seem to be promoting them quite a bit within the cafe) and Nasi Sayur Campur (obviously my mom’s choice). All I can say is that the former came out looking nothing like the ones that I had in Eastern Plaza (or did I just remember them wrongly?). Still, the dish has its own merit and was delicious. But I do wish that they added more of that tasty ‘rempah’ on top of the succulent chicken though. My mom was satisfied with her go to dish but commented that it was so-so at best in terms of taste.

** Current status – Has been closed (as of April 2019) 

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Sushi King Tawau

Yup, as of the middle of 2018, Tawaurians are rejoicing to the fact that we FINALLY have our own branch of the aforementioned. Now I can smugly walk passed the franchise in KK as I’ve done so with McD (yeah I’m petty like that ;-)). By the way, they’re located at the 1Arena BDC commercial centre, on the same row as the Arteasan café.

Like any other big name franchise that came to town, the first few weeks were quite hectic. Meaning, you’ll see tons of people literary lining up outside of said premise as if there was a huge sale going on. So me and my family decided to wait for the eager crowd to dispense before deciding on dining there one day. On the kaiten sushi was obviously my weakness so I wasted no time in getting myself my usual favourites plus some newly added Hanjuku Cheese Cake and the Chawanmushi. My parents were not too keen on sushi so they opted instead for their set meal and bento. Since I never actually ordered one myself before, I was a bit taken aback by the rather small portioning of said dishes. Is it supposed to be like that? At the time I’ve also tried out one of their promotional dessert (Brownies & Marshmallow I think) which tasted okay but nothing to shout about.  

** Current status – Still in operation (as of Dec 2018) 

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Restoran Malabar

The main reason why I stopped by this Indian restaurant (located within the Perdana Jaya area & right in front of McDonalds) was mainly for their Banana Leaf Rice set. The last time I had them was probably when I was still in primary school so I was feeling nostalgic one evening and pretty much dragged my partner there. It was already quite hard to find said dish here in Tawau so I wasted no time in ordering it plus some chicken satays from a nearby stall. To be honest I don’t really know the exact names of the vegetables that I had but they did provide cabbage, long beans and bitter gourd as its side dishes. The vegetables were tasty even though they were a bit soggy, possibly due them being prepared beforehand. My partner is not in the mood for anything Indian so he opted instead for Nasi Sambal Udang (if I’m not mistaken) to which he gave a favourable comment although a tad greasy he said.

** Current status – Still in operation (as of Nov 2018) 

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LFT: Zinger Waffle Burger

It took me quite sometime to try out this new offering from Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) as I was a bit apprehensive about the marriage between the waffles and chicken fillet. And I was right to think so since it was definitely not a match made in heaven. I mean, the chicken strip is your typical Zinger spicy fillet so it was definitely tasty. But I have a problem with the waffles though, since it tasted stale, tasteless and overall just not suitable to be eaten with the latter. Also, I did not taste the supposed maple syrup on my burger so that was another minus point for me. It was something that I probably wouldn’t be eating again in the future but it might be different for other people. Who knows you might end up liking it so do try them out for yourselves. Oh and we also had their ‘promo item of the month’ which was the 15 chicken nuggets (for RM15) and it was okay at best, especially with the accompanied mustard sauce.    

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Tomyam House

Coincidentally, another eatery that I would like to introduce to you guys also happens to be located within the Kubota Sentral commercial area (and is right at the backside of the bakery that I've previously posted). I was half expecting this place to be a Malay based eatery (due to the ‘tomyam’ part) but was pleasantly surprised that it was actually owned & managed by a Chinese man (which triggered my interest even more).

Unfortunately, I have yet to try out their namesake dish (since no one within my family shared my love for tomyam) so during our visit, we decided upon their Claypot Tauhu, Kam Hiong Fish Slices, Ginger Fish Slices and Stir Fried Mix-Vegetables instead, together with some Salted Egg Fried Rice and Fish Sauced Fried Mee Hoon (yup, there seems to be a theme to our orders that day). My personal favourite has got to be their Kam Hiong Fish Slices as it has a surprisingly spicy taste to it, coupled with a slightly sweet taste and the drier version to what I’m used to. The fried rice was also commendable since they did put a generous amount of salted eggs in it. Overall, it was a satisfying early dinner for us and we’ll probably be coming back in the near future.

** Current status – Has been closed (as of June 2023) 

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90's Bakery & Cafe

For some reason, November brought along this laziness that I can’t seem to shake off. Probably because the end of the year is vast approaching so my mood had already entered its sleep mode (earlier than expected mind you). But anyways, I do have a few reviews that I would like to share before the year truly ends so here’s one of those said places.

I always have a soft spot for anything bakery so when I discover this newly opened bakery cum café right in the middle of Kubota Sentral commercial area (they’re nearest to the Tealive outlet), I wasted no time in trying them out for lunch one day. I’ve had their Club Sandwich and Chocolate Moist Cake and although the tastes were superb, portioning might be an issue as both were definitely aimed for those that were just peckish or on a diet. I was still a bit hungry afterwards so I’ve also brought home their Chocolate Mountain (aka the Mexico Bun) and Chocolate Chip buns and both were airy and generous in terms of filling especially the latter.

** Current status – Has been closed indefinitely (as of July 2020) 

*Cross-section (or bite-section) of the Chocolate Chip bun...

*... and the Chocolate Mountain bun

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