Roof Garden Lounge 2.0

After several years of inactivity (and even a rumored closure of the hotel at some point during the MCO) the Roof Garden Lounge on top of LA Hotel at Jalan St Patrick is now back in action. With a revamping of their menu, the place has re-emerge as a popular local hangout eatery of sorts these past few months.

Among the things that me and my family had tried quite recently were the Singapore Fried Mee Hoon, Thai Chicken Rice, assorted fried snacks and their Curry Chicken Bread Bowl. One of the reason why I initially wanted to go back there was to try the latter, and it did not dissapoint. The cafe lounge has definitely improved in terms of their food quality and the chicken bowl that I had was simply scrumptious and well seasoned. And I can't remember much about my previous visit years ago, but the 'lounge-y' part of the cafe can still be felt except that they are now more open to families as well.

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Sky Bar & Lounge Garden

For some reason, this year’s fasting month has made me and my family somewhat reluctant to go out and have a buffet fiesta of sorts (mainly due to the unpredictable weather and over crowding). But that doesn’t mean that we were not enticed by seemingly bargain meals being promoted all throughout this month. And one such place was this place, which is situated on the top floor of Shervinton Hotel, right next to the Milimewa Superstore. But to actually reached the café, you do need to take the lift on your right side (from the main entrance, as the left side will only lead you to the rooms) and press the 5^th floor button. The first thing that you’ll see when you’re out of said lift is a flight of stairs. Climb those stairs as it will eventually lead you up to the café. Yup, not complicated indeed!

We'd decided to try out their Ramadhan dinner set which includes a choice of a main dish (Chicken Fried Rice, Kampung Fried Rice, Chicken Fried Mee, Seafood Fried Mee), a dessert (a scoop of vanilla ice-cream) and free flow of rose syrup drink. For the price that we’re paying, I do think that the portion should be a bit more than what we’re getting. Although the food in general were pretty good in terms of taste (we ended up ordering the same Chicken Fried Rice & Kampung Fried Rice – which doesn’t look that different from one another to me) I kid you not when I say that we were ‘forced’ to take away some KFC due to being unsatisfied and still feeling a bit hungry afterwards. They also offer lunch sets regularly and ala carte menus so do check them out. Maybe the portion will be better on those occasions.

** Current status – Still in operation (as of June 2017)

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Lush Bar & Lounge (KK FoodieVenture #55)

To end our trip to KK and to celebrate the coming of a new year, me and my partner decided to go all out and splurge a bit for our final night there. We ended up walking around the KK Waterfront area (at the high end side of the eateries overlooking the seaside called Anjung Samudra – and yes, I just found out the name via Google) and after some ‘thoughtful walking’ we choose this Lush Bar & Lounge. Now what exactly attracted us to this place you ask? Well, I don’t know to be honest. Each and every one of the eateries on that area looked equally pricey so we just randomly sit down at an empty table and crossed our fingers. It’s somewhat in the middle of the single row eateries and they do have a separate floor for hardcore dance fanatics (on the first floor) and more subdue relaxed customers downstairs.

I admit that I’m always curious about food on such establishment, particularly since the place was geared more towards the party crowd rather than the laid-back ones like us. So we decided to try out their Thai Basil Chicken with Rice (err… my partner was definitely not impressed, the chicken chucks were too small for his liking), Lush Fried Rice (tasted so-so unfortunately) and for dessert we shared their Chocolate Lava Cake (which unfortunately turned out to be a chocolate cake minus the lava part but taste wise was the better one among all items). And I was a bit amused when my partner pretty much swore at their pricing when he finally got the bill (you could probably guess why though – I did mention that the establishment was on the pricey side of the waterfront right?).

(*Side note - Sorry for the barely visible pictures though as the place was darkly lit and no thanks to my crappy, low grade smartphone as well) 

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TCC Wok & Grill

Honestly I have been passing through this place all through my life and not once have I've actually been here. It's one of those places where you always wonder about but it's not strong enough for you to actually go into the place. That is, until now of course! And it's all thanks to my dad for finally making it happen (apparently it's one of the places to entertain his clients). And yes, judging from the name it is an actual social, membership only club. But do not worry since the restaurant is open to those without said membership (myself being one of course). Heck my dad is not even one.

The Tawau City Club owned cafe is situated right at the opposite side of Marco Polo Hotel (trust me, you can't miss it) at Jalan Abaca, Tawau. The place definitely gives you the 'clubby' feel and it's a place for people to hang out and have a few drinks with friends. It's a very chilled out place so to speak. The place divides itself to two sections; indoors (more family friendly) and al fresco seating (preferred by young people and smokers).

Now food wise it's an interesting thing. I think I had a somewhat high expectations when I went to the club. It's a pretty well-known club around Tawau so I expect the food to be on par with its reputation. So we went and ordered ourselves some Nasi Goreng Special, Nasi Goreng Daging (I'm pretty sure it's called differently but it's essentially those types of fried rices), Mixed Vegetables and Deep Fried Chicken Drumsticks. When the food first arrive at our table, I was pretty excited to see the appealing forms of said food. But then when it comes to taste, I'm a bit disappointed for some reason. It's definitely not bad, but nothing great either. Very so-so.

** Current status - Still in operation (as of May 2014)

(Updated on 04/04/2018 - Me and my parents had stop by recently to check out their latest offerings, which includes their Sliced Fish Curry, Singapore Fried Mee Hoon, Tuaran Mee and some Fried Cassava - all were above average in terms of tastes)

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The Klagan Hotel Lounge (KK FoodieVenture #15)

While we're still on the subject that is the Klagan Hotel, I would also like to introduce to you their (somewhat) newly (re)opened Lounge Cafe. Now when I was staying at the hotel about a year ago, their lounge area is still pretty bare so I'm pretty glad to see that it's up and running now. It's on the ground floor of the hotel, visible on your left side as soon as you entered the hotel's main entrance.

I was mainly attracted to their selection of pastries being displayed inside a glass cabinet (because it's hard to ignore their delicious looking pastries when it is promptly displayed right next to their entrance door) and decided one day to have a little taste of them. I've picked up their Turkey Ham Sandwich (which was very tasty despite the plain look) and their Chocolate Muffin (personally I'm a bit underwhelmed but the muffin itself was pretty moist). There's also other selection of pastries and fresh breads available on the counter and judging by their breakfast pastries and breads (which I assumed are from the same pastry chef), it's pretty good as well.

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Promenade's Lobby Lounge

Let's take a break from eating heavy-duty food and for once, dine in a very relaxing atmosphere and have some desserts to munch on. And also it's because it's still pretty early and we're not in that dinner mood yet. So me and my partner-in-crime decided to lounge at the Lobby Lounge at Promenade Hotel, Tawau. The Promenade Hotel is actually located within (or adjoining, whichever you like to call it) Eastern Plaza building so finding the lounge is a no brainer. Plus, the main reason why we chose to go to such a 'fancy' place for evening tea was because they have a promotional thing going on for sometime now. If you go there after 6.00pm, all of their pastries will be at 40% off, as well as 30% for all cakes. So yay for us!

So we decided to take on their Chocolate Cream Cake (the cream was just very yummy!) and their Chocolate Brownie Cake (err, if I'm not mistaken, can't really remember the name though - but still very chocolaty, just the way I like em). While we were sitting in one of their booths, we also noticed that they're having a monthly promo on non-dessert snacks, so we decided to take them on their offer. There's a variety of snacks available on the list but we finally decided on their Honey Glazed Fried Chicken Wings (cause we're fools and thought that the food will looked exactly like the lovely picture on their menu). Not only did it came out less than appealing (I mean really, look at the picture - I reckon I can plate it waaay better than just stacking everything) but it's also 'meh' tasting (it's really them deep frying the fries & wings and glazed on some honey on top of it). Come on Promenade, I've tasted their full-on buffet, and I've never encountered anything like this. I'm dissapointed, Promenade!

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

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Roof Garden Lounge

As I was in my 'backyard vacay' mood in L.A Hotel (see previous post), I've decided that I got to check out their rooftop lounge since I've heard so much about it. And since my last experience going to such places solo (not a pleasant one I'm afraid), I've manage to roped in a pal of mine to come along. So off we go to the hotel's top floor (sorry, can't remember which floor exactly) and as we stepped outside of the elevator.... darkness! The only thing that we can see is the neon sign that says 'Roof Garden Lounge' and nothing else. I'm obviously baffled (and beginning to feel like an idiot for asking a friend to witness my stupidity) for like 10 seconds flat when this smiley waiter came to my (err, okay.. our) rescue and led us to the actual rooftop lounge. Note to hotel management -  I do understand that you're going for the half pub feel (it is called a lounge) but please put a brighter light at the 'arrival area' as not to scare away patrons (or maybe it's just me). So they actually divided their lounge area into 2 sections. There's the lounging (and possibly buffet area - as I did spotted some buffet like things nearby) area when you first entered the floor (which was very impressively decorated with bird cages.. yes people, bird cages) and then there's the rooftop area on top of the latter. But do mind your steps when going to the rooftop area as it is quite steep.

Now here's where I turned from my 'what-is-this-place' to 'I-loved-this-place' mode in just seconds. The view at this rooftop is just splendid. Sure, we might not have those sky-scrappers to drooled over but at night, Tawau is pretty darn beautiful with the right view point. Although it's a bit windy when we were there, but it's worth it for the view alone. But what about the food? I mean, I am writing about the food here before I go off with my lengthy babblings. So I've ordered their Mee Goreng Mamak (menu items are mostly Western food with some local dishes) and my friend ordered Mee Tuaran and our verdict? Err, average I guess. I'm actually very looking forward to taste their food but while it's not bad (it's quite tasty actually) it's not that mind-blowing delicious. We also sampled their Boxing Chicken and the sauce is pretty tangy and well-seasoned. But again, nothing out-of-this-world. There's also the Grilled Chicken Sausages & Grilled Roasted Chicken (again with the tangy sauce), their version of Chicken Nasi Lemak and the very simple-looking Roof Garden's Nasi Goreng which tastes meh!

I don't know about you guys but this is the first time I've seen a bouncer (yes, that big guy who has this walkie on hand and is giving you that evil eyes) in such place. So I was half expecting a brawl in the wee hours of the night but I'm happy to report that everyone was pretty chilled out to suddenly have the urged to dance on top of tables. The waiters are also very friendly and attentive.

*Side note - I do apologize beforehand for the very dimmed pictures below (which pretty much says that I needed a new phone) as the place is that dark.

** Current status - Has been reopened (as of April 2021)

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