Dreamland Coffee House

It’s definitely ‘nostalgia week’ for me and my family since we found ourselves revisiting several makan places that we’d somehow forgotten throughout these years. It usually started of with somebody mentioning ‘did you remember when we used to go to said and said place’ and in no time, we found ourselves there. And one such place is this Chinese owned coffee house. I was a bit taken aback (but in a good way) when we went there recently and I discovered that the owners, kitchen staff and even the ‘lady captain’ were still the same people as it was years ago. Those veterans definitely knew their stuff as the quality of their food is still as I’ve remembered them. Man, the place definitely brings back lots of memories for me. Fun fact – they were once stationed within the Fajar Complex area (this is when I was still a primary school girl) before relocating to their current spot in the Ba Zhong Commercial area (right next door to Wakaf Thai Tom Yam and in front of the fairly new D'Salam Cafe).

Since the place is renowned for their four course dinner sets (one of only a handful that retained that type of dining in Tawau) we’d decided to try out their latest offerings. We were served (in order and in a very patient manner of course) with a starter (a Russian Broth Soup – which was all hot, sourly and spicy, just the way I liked it) before moving on to their appetizer (Fried Fish Fillet with tartar sauce – the sauce was commendable but the fillet was just your common store-bought fillet), their main dish (we picked out their Grilled Chicken Thigh with fries and side vegetables – which was just succulent and juicy but the carrots were a bit bland and soggy) and ended the meal with a dessert (a slice of refreshing papaya and tea of course). 

** Current status – Still in operation (as of November 2016)  

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Deli Corner (KK FoodieVenture #35)

Another must-visit place when you’re within the Promenade Hotel KK is their Deli Corner, which sat nicely beside their lobby lounge on the ground floor. The deli corner specializes in the hotel’s production of lovely looking cakes, pastries and even cookies. It’s also located next to the staircase leading down to the basement parkings so you can’t possibly resist them (especially for a cake lover like yours truly). I’ve tried out a bunch of cakes and pastries while staying there but the most memorable one has got to be their Enclair, as it’s my first time trying one and it’s just as delicious as I’ve expected it to be. The cream filling was a very nice balance of sweetness and it’s just a yummy treat to have. What is more impressive was their 30% off all cakes and pastries after 6pm daily promo (which also applies to their Tawau branch). It’s such a good bargain that outside patrons (people that did not actually stayed at the hotel) willingly waited patiently for the 6pm promo just to get their hands on the delicious goodies.

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Cafe Promenade (KK FoodieVenture #34)

Sorry for being absent for a while as I’m having difficulties with my wifi at the moment. But I’ll try my best not to disappoint you guys okay. So here’s another review that I’ve actually forgotten about before. I was suppose to post this right after the Promenade Hotel review (as this was related to that) but hey, better late than never right? Now as far as I know, if you’re staying at the hotel, then you’re most probably treated with free breakfast. So where else can you get their delicious spread of breakfast than their Café Promenade, on the ground floor, right next to the hotel’s main lobby. The food spread was pretty big, obviously enough to cater for hungry patrons during the mornings but what they lacked was probably the variety of food. We were there for 3 days and the main course (the Nasi Lemak) was the same throughout our stay. But since I’m a huge fan of Nasi Lemak, it’s not exactly a problem for me. There are also other typical breakfast items such as cereals, breads, sausages and even special salad bars as well as pastries. My only disappointment was when I discovered that me and my partner were practically ‘invisible’ to the eyes of the waiters there, especially when requesting for some tea. They constantly passes us by while busy chatting up to obviously foreign tourists at the next table. Again, this double standard in serving has got to stop no matter where you are. We might be local tourists, but we’re still paying customers just like other tourists.

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Lepa Cafe (Semporna FoodieVenture #1)

Since the course that I've attended at Semporna was very short (only 2 days) and it's pretty jammed-packed, I do not have time to really explore the town as much as I'd liked. So do forgive me for not to being able to give you more reviews on the foodies in Semporna.

Now one such places that I would like to review was the Lepa Cafe. Situated at the ground floor of the hotel I'm staying at (yes, I'm that desperate for some foodie reviews), I got to try out their breakfast buffet since it's included with my stay there. Again, I've read not so favourable things about said buffet from Tripadvisor (it's like my go to reference site for places unknown) so I got a somewhat low expectation going to it. But then on a recent look, I've realise that most of those kind of reviews were from foreign tourists that are maybe not as adventurous to try out local dishes as others. Because quite frankly I was baffled coming into breakfast (that never happen to me before). The selection was quite big and there's a lot of things available there that I did not expected at all such as not so common local kuihs, heavy duty dishes such as grilled local fish (I know, and it's only breakfast) and the unique fried egg bread (yes, they fried the egg and bread together). All in all, if you're an Asian, you'll probably appreciate the local flavoured buffet more than the Europeans for example. Even the fruits are geared more towards the local variety. But there's also the usual cereals, American breakfasts and an omelette station available so I assure you that you won't starve at breakfast. 

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Venice Coffee House

So next on my agenda is the frequently visited Venice Coffee House, situated at the clearly-in-need-of-a-major-facelift Belmont Marco Polo Hotel, Tawau. If you're not familiar with Tawau, than it's actually near to the in-famous Pasar Gantung and Servay-Parkwell Superstore.

Me and my family have came to this particular place ever since I could remember. And you know what, it looks EXACTLY like I could remember it. So now I'm reviewing their latest offerings in the lunch buffet department. Sometime last year, the management decided to change the buffet menu from 'Kampung Style' to 'International Style'. But I'm sorry to report that the food is actually more towards the 'Chinese Style' rather than the latter. Not that I'm complaining of course, since I loved Chinese food as well! There are a variety of main course food to sample on but a bit lacking at the dessert department. The taste? Hmm.. Honestly I think it's okay but some of the food lacked salt (or something, I'm sorry that I can't give you the exact problem ala Gordon Ramsey). But hey, less salt less fat right (well, at least that's what the holy box of God, the television is saying). The service is good, as the waiters are friendly enough but there's a weird story that I wanted to share here. True story - the head chef was inspecting the food when I was picking up a prawn from a tray of food when he practically came over to me and told me off (I'm not kidding here folks) for 'picking up the food in a wrong way'. I mean, excuse me? It's news to me that there's a specific way to take a prawn into your plate. I was left speechless by this! Although my mom is having the time of her life laughing at my predicament (thanks for your support mom!).

** Current status - Still in operation (as of September 2013)

Updated on 29/12/2016 - Th whole family decided to give their lunch buffet another go and we discovered that the food choices has somewhat lessen throughout the years. The lunch buffet is now priced at RM20.00 per adult and RM15 for kids. 

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