Kopi Saigon Taman Semarak

There have been A LOT of teas & coffees (and everything else in between) cafes & franchises popping out these days. It's obviously the latest fad and this place is no exception. The local branch that I've been to is the nearest one to my house which is within the Taman Sejati commercial area (at Taman Semarak Tawau). The drink that had me hooked to this franchise was their Chocolate Banana. Unfortunately it was discontinued for some reason so I've tried out their Chocolate Original recently and it was okay. A bit overly sweet but still pretty yummy. They also sell a variety of cakes & cookies but I'm not sure whether it was out-sourced or not. I've tried one of those offerings before and it was quite decadent. 

** Current status - Still in business (as August 2026) 

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Mee Port

Since this is the first of its kind here in Tawau, there were lots of people (especially youngsters) flocking to the place a few months after they'd first opened even though their location is quite far from the main town area (they're sandwiched between Tealive and Pakopi branches in Bandar Sri Indah commercial area). I remember stopping by when me and hubby were on our way back from the airport and was fortunate enough to discover that the place was not crowded at said time. 

The overall concept is similar to that of Carimeee in KK, meaning you pick out your own instant noodles plus some side ingredients before cooking them at the cooking area. But the thing that the place should improve on is the errr.. lacking in almost everything. I think because they were very careful in going into such business, the choices for noodles & sides ingredients were severly poor. Also they only provide 3 cooking stations (with shared utensils) even though the place is significantly bigger than that of Carimeee. And because they were sitting between 2 beverage franchises, there seems to be no effort in providing in house drinks (only 2 choices of can drinks were available when we were there). But do take note, this is their situation over a few months ago so hopefully by now they have made improvements to these problems. Such a shame because they do have potential in this business. 

** Current status - Still in business (as of August 2026) 

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Seiyo Grill

I was scrolling through the pictures in my phone recently and noticed that I have (yet again) forgotten to post out a couple of places that I've been to months ago  🤦‍♀️ But then again better late than never right? 

So this first one is an eatery not that far from where I'm currently living (specifically within the Utara Business Hub, Jalan Utara Baru.. at the backside of the shoplot). Both my mom & dad were regular customers but me and my hubby had only tried them out once thus far. It's not that because they not good or anything, it's just that we'd often overlooked them due to their somewhat hidden location. We've tried their Nasi Sate Ayam and Grilled Chicken Chop. Both dishes were good but I found their satay lacking in terms of taste. Not enough marinate I supposed? My mom did commented that their menu items has expanded since we'd last been there so there might be an updated version of the menu that I've posted below so do try them out to see for yourselves. 

** Current status - Still in business (as of August 2026) 

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The Bretzel Co. Bataras Tawau

It seems that more and more of my hubby's fave food joints are making their way to our shores and this snack franchise is the latest one. Located within Bataras Hypermarket at Jalan Chong Thien Vun (specifically in front of the Rotiboy shop), we'd only visited their booth recently after we made sure that all those 'early curious long lines' had diminished. We've tried some of our all time faves such as the Triple Cheese Pretzels, Chocolate Bretzel Stix and Bretzel Sausage Bites and everything tasted good, like the ones we had before. I'm currently into their Jumbo Kaw Kaw Cheese Sausage as it is big in portion and very filling. 

** Current status - Still in business (as of July 2026) 

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Salero Padang

Since me and my hubby were big fans of nasi padang, we were quite excited when we heard that such eatery is opening at the Perdana Jaya commercial area at Jalan Chong Thien Vun (formerly where Mini Bean is and next to Han's Bakery). 

But then we discovered that the eatery might have a different concept than what we were used to when you say 'padang dishes'. Instead of multiple pre-cooked West Sumatra dishes prepared beforehand for the customers to pick out, they had a menu with fixed set items such as the Set Ayam and Set Udang that we had. It screams more like a 'penyet' dish rather than nasi padang. Both food were quite ok tasting but we did feel a bit disappointed as it wasn't what we'd expected. I also ordered their Ayam Pop ala carte since I was curious. Unfortunately I discovered that it wasn't my cup of tea (a bit weird tasting for me).

** Current status - Has been closed (as of August 2026)

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Pecok Tawau

I've seen similar looking dishes while visiting several food festivals and must admit that their variety of sambal does attract my attention. The only thing that hinders me from actually trying them out before was my current health (that prevents me from eating spicy dishes often). But since my hubby assures me that there are less spicy sambal available, we finally decided to try out this eatery located at Jalan Belian, right in front of the former Empire building & yellow DIY building.

So basically a 'pecok' dish is when you pick out your main ingredient (such as chicken, fish or squid) with its accompanied sambal (which includes sambal ijo, sambal tomato, sambal merah, sambal mangga & sambal madu 3). I decided to play safe and ordered their Pecok Bakar while my hubby tried their Pecok Penyet Ijo. Thankfully mine wasn't that spicy and it was succulent but not that noteworthy. My hubby also commented the same thing with his dish plus a slight oversalting taste. Drink choices were also limited & mostly pre-prepared so if you wanted to try other dishes then you might want to go somewhere else. But if you're a fan of the ayam penyet or ayam geprek (which seems to be everywhere nowadays) types of dishes then you should try them out. 

** Current status - Still in business (as of July 2026)

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