Pak Ali Nasi Kukus

Even though there seems to be quite a few Kelantanese eateries that had popped up all around Tawau as of late, me and my partner usually found ourselves coming back to this place as they’re arguably the first to open and had successfully managed to maintain their business till now. In fact, their food is very popular amongst locals that they’d recently opened a branch in Taman Unipark Jalan Utara, in addition to their original location which is at the Perdana Jaya commercial area, behind Giant Hypermarket.

While their main menu usually consists of the Nasi Kukus (obviously), Nasi Kerabu and Laksam, they do provide pre-cooked dishes for you to add on to your existing order. Customers were permitted to scoop up their own lauk pauk but do be warn though that pricing might vary according to the type and quantity of your dish. Even then the price can be a bit inconsistent and differs from time to time, so the management needs to take note of the situation. Also, one or two of the waitresses seems to be a bit dismissive and sometimes even flat out ignored you should you call for them. Again, a problem that should be looked into by the owner of said establishment. But other than that, their food were definitely one of the best ‘pantai timur’ food that I’ve had the privileged to taste locally so I’m still recommending them to everyone especially for lunch.

** Current status – Still in operation (as of Oct 2019) 

*These are pics of their Perdana Jaya main branch...

*... and these are pics of their new Taman Unipark branch

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Mee Tarik - Chinese Muslim Food

Let me put it this way; the moment this eatery open its doors to the public just over a month ago, it was quickly flooded with customers. And that goes on for a few more weeks before I even dared to set foot inside the new establishment. One of the main factors might be that it was located at a very strategic place (they’re right in the middle of the Fajar Complex, on the same building as the Big Apple Donuts & Coffee branch & visible from one of two round-a-bouts within the area). And I’m not too sure whether this is a branch of the ones that are available in KK but they do have Mainland Chinese originated cooks in charge of their kitchen (and ‘mee tarik’).

Me and my family had visited the place twice now and the first time we were there, they only have the Chicken/ Beef Soup Ramen available for ordering (as the crowd was still a bit too much for the kitchen staff to handle at said time). It was disappointing but nevertheless we went ahead with our second visit recently and thankfully their other menu has finally been fully offered (well, maybe 95% of it as a few of the items were still not available). We were initially confused with their menu as everything seems to be paired up with beef, but after a quick chat with the barely there waitresses, we discovered that you actually have the option to change the latter with other ingredients such as chicken, lamb and seafood. So we tried their Lan Zhou Fried Rice, Thai Style Fried Rice, Braised Chicken Rice, Fried Potato & Chicken with Noodles and Mushroom Chicken with Rice. The overall tastes of the aforementioned dishes were quite good but what was amusing about them was that almost all of it used the same style (and sauce?) of cooking so it looked and tasted similar to one another.

** Current status – Has moved to a new location, right next to Monaco Hotel (as of April 2022) 

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Magic Station

Let’s be honest here….Obviously the name of the place has pique my interest in stopping by their eatery because I legit thought that it was a magic themed restaurant at first (I know… silly me). Well, at least now I know that the ‘magic’ that they’re referring to is related to their food (yes, that sounded so cheesy but I can’t help myself😅).

The mainly western cuisine establishment is located at the increasingly popular Kubota Sentral commercial area, specifically at one of its corner lot and right in front of a restaurant called Seafood Bak Kut Teh. We’d collectively ordered and tried out several of their food (during different visits of course) such as the Billabong Magic Special pizza (which was yummy and thinly crusted; just the way I like it but I’ve heard that they’d recently made it thicker), Spaghetti Bolognese (the sauce and pasta were evenly mixed which was great), Fried Chicken Burger (the patty was both crispy and succulent), Braised Beef Tortilla Wrap as well as a couple of Asian dishes like Fried Kuey Teow, BBQ Chicken with Butter Rice and Kampung Boy Fried Rice. My partner absolutely loved the latter and has had them quite a few times already. They are actively adding and tweaking their menu for time to time so do check out their place if you’re within the area.

** Current status – Has been closed (as of Jan 2021)

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Box Cafe

It’s very rare for me to find a new eatery opening up within the old Hilltop commercial area at Jalan Utara (as the area has been there for ages and most of the shops were the ones that had stayed open since my childhood years). So I was pretty surprised to discover this trendy looking eatery amidst the old shops recently. And since I lived not that far off, me and my family had been there a couple of times already as they do offer a sizeable menu of local dishes.

Among the things that we have tried out were their Nasi Goreng Bawang Putih (simple yet tasteful), Nasi Ayam Asam Pedas, Nasi Ayam Mangga Thai, Nasi Udang Butter, Nasi Ayam Penyet, Kuey Teow Goreng, Mee Hoon Goreng, Nasi Kuning & Nasi Lemak (where you can add on other side dishes such as Ayam Goreng & Ayam Rendang). And as much as I do think that their food were very good and scrummy, I do not really recommend their drinks though (particularly their bubble tea) as it tasted quite diluted at times. But still, I do see myself (and my family) coming back in the future for their food.

** Current status – Still in operation (as of Oct 2019) 

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Restoran Al-Furqan

My partner has been eyeing this place for awhile now since it is right by his workplace (it is located within the Sabindo Square commercial area, directly facing the Masjid Al-Kauthar main entrance) so one day he decided to finally dine there with me in tow (since he knows that I just love eating of course… wink wink). My partner has specifically became attracted to the Roti Tsunami promotional banner that has been strategically hung outside of the premise and wasted no time in ordering the latter for his lunch. The dish was somewhat a hybrid of the more familiar Roti Cobra + Roti Banjir (and some other condiments I guess?) and my partner just loved it. The taste might be a bit overwhelming to me but it was delicious according to my partner. I’d ordered their Nasi Goreng Ayam Penyet instead and it was yummy and commendable. We did dropped by again on another day and ordered the typical Roti Canai plus Roasted Chicken Rice (with my partner requesting that they exchanged their chicken rice to fried rice instead) and both dishes were pretty good as well. So what I’m trying to say here is that it is worth to at least give them a try should you’re within the area.

** Current status – Still in operation (as of Oct 2019)

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