Cottage Garden

This sisterly eatery to Le Cottage Cafe has been well promoted throughout the local social media, mainly thanks to its very (and I mean VERY) active owner. Not a day goes by without me reading a post or two about the restaurant in multiple group chats and other medias, which is a good thing especially in attracting customers.

Friends and family had frequented the eatery mainly because of its location, which is near to where I'm staying (they are located at the backside of Unipark commercial area, next to Taman Univilla at Jalan Utara). Service in general varied from being reasonably prompt to being very late particularly their kitchen staff, which is something that the management should take a note on. But other than that, among my favourite dishes from their menu has got to be their Baked Crispy Chicken Cheese Baked Rice and Crispy Butter Chicken Rice. The former especially might look unappealing at first glance but I absolutely loved the creamy dish. Others are a hit and miss but still quite appetizing.

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Fook Yuen Cafe & Bakery Sthamin

Who would've thought that the KK based franchise Fook Yuen will be gracing the land of agriculture (aka Bumi Peladang) especially during the early Covid pandemic stages. But I'm not complaining of couse since I've always been a fan of the latter anyway. The eatery is located within the Sthamin Supermarket Hilltop branch compound, formerly the Tawau Specialist Medical Centre.

From what I can see, they have taken up the concept of the original Fook Yuen well just by  looking at the decor and food in general. After all, they are part of a franchise. But I'm not too sure about 'some' of the menu items though, particularly the dim sum as the few that I've tried tasted a bit different from what I've remembered. Nevertheless their food were still pretty scrumptious and the variety has improved over the months which was nice.

** Current status - Still in operation (as of Dec 2021)

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Godiva Imago (KK FoodieVenture #172)

After our previous short post inter-district travel ban trip to Semporna, my partner and I did go to KK a few days later, flying to and fro on the same day due to an urgent matter. Although we were happy to be able to go to KK again after what seems to be ‘ages’ ago, we were left with this ‘unsatisfied’ feeling since we were there for a very short time.

We literally arrive in the morning and went back on the last flight out (which was quite early, at around 3pm or so from kk – it seems that they currently do not have any flights flying at night) so by the time we were finished with our errands, we’d only managed to squeeze in some time to ‘jalan-jalan’ around Imago shopping mall only. And since we were there, I have been dying to try out this posh looking place for a long time, especially their soft serves. There were cones but we decided to order their cup version of Dark Chocolate soft serve (worth RM30 for a small serving mind you) as we decided to share one. You can definitely taste the rich Belgian chocolate and its decadent err… condiments (?) so I’m satisfied with it.

Oh, and I would like to give a shoutout to the sole staff manning the booth for his professionalism. Even though me and my partner did not look like one of those big spenders (and more like window-shopping patrons when I come to think of it) he still treated us nicely and answer all of my inquiries politely. And I think it was also because of that that I ended up bringing a box of 16 Carres chocolates home. Yup, I’m a pushover when it comes to good customer service even though my partner was giving me the side eyes as I made my purchase.

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Summer Breeze Cafe (Semporna FoodieVenture #10)

It was quite unfortunate that when me and my partner made our way to Semporna for some weekend getaway, everyone else in Tawau seems to follow suit. Well, that is what it looks like to me anyway, what with the large crowd in Semporna and all. So, for lunch we decided to avoid these overcrowded places and ate elsewhere that were err... less crowded. 

I have asked Mr. Google for some ideas on the supposed eateries so after going through the listing, we decided to give this café a try. They’re located on the narrow streets of Bandar Utama at Jalan Bubul, right beside the Summer Holiday Hotel (and yes, I do think that they’re related, what with the similar name and all). Parking was abundant during the weekend but what was unfortunate (again) for us was that the area had a total blackout at said time. And since my partner was too famished to go anywhere else, we decided to just rough it up and have our lunch there (so I apologized beforehand for the somewhat dimmed pictures below). They did have quite an extensive Western and fusion menu but the availability varies from time to time. Like when we were there, some of the things that were available were their Panko Shrimps with Fried Rice and Nasi Ayam Goreng Sambal Belacan. Both dishes were commendable but not that outstanding. Nevertheless, customers seems to be flocking to the café (yes, even sans electricity) so they must be doing something right, right?

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