Net Alive Cafe 2.0

During another rainy evening recently (by the way, Happy Lunar New Year everyone… it’s finally ‘my year’ this time around), me and my partner was roaming around the Fajar Complex area (as per usual) when we spotted this particular eatery. The place was once a restaurant which caters to mainly fish dishes but it seems that after a few months (or is it a year?) their business doesn’t seem to be taking off so now it’s a regular café which features regular local cuisines.

If you’re a Tawaurian, you might think that the name of the place sounds somewhat familiar. It is currently (I assumed) owned by the same people that had opened the Net Alive (a pub just above the premise) hence the 2.0 thingy. It’s very near to the Fajar branch of Milimewa Superstore and on the same row as a shop that sells cooking gas called Man Tong Shing. In terms of food, I honestly think that they have a long way to go since the dishes that we had were just so-so. My order (a Nasi Goreng Special of sorts but with a fancier name that I can’t seem to remember) was disappointingly tasteless and dry while my partner’s Kung Pao Chicken Rice fare slightly better than mine but still nothing extraordinary about it. But I did peek into their fridge and got myself a homemade butter cake. Even though it might look very plain but it was surprisingly very moist, with just the right amount of sweetness to suit my liking.

** Current status – Has been closed (as of March 2019) 

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D'Maya (Mee Tauhu Tg Batu Tengah)

Obviously when talking about breakfast in Tawau, the main choice that stands above and beyond the rest would have to be the uber popular mee tauhu. So it’s no wonder that mee tauhu based eateries has been sprouting in and around town like nobody’s business. But while most of them had opened full fledge kedai kopi to accommodate the growing demands for the food (see a few of my previous posts for further reference) I was actually impressed with this particular wooden based, unassuming looking stall’s ability to withstand its competition.

Located right by the roadside leading up to the Tanjung Batu Tengah area (in close proximity to their Masjid Al-Aman and err… a graveyard nearby) the eatery has maintain a steady stream of fans to their place for years now. And it seems that they do not have any immediate plans to neither expand nor move to a more comfortable shop like its other rivals. Nevertheless, I do admit that I like their mee tauhu set very much, what with its authentic taste of gravy and non-greasy fried mee (something that their bigger, well-known competition seems to take lightly). Another top choice of food from their stall has got to be their Nasi Kuning dish. As seen in the picture below, their Nasi Kuning can be considered as unique due to its deeper yellowish colouring (I can assure you that it doesn’t taste weird at all; in fact it somehow made the rice even more savoury). Now if you combined that with an enticing non-spicy choice of Ayam or Ikan Masak Merah and some green garnish on top, it’s no wonder that it’s a hit among patrons (and one of my all time favourites as well).

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

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Indo Cafe Fajar & Indo Cafe 2 Unijaya

I did mentioned a while back when I did a review on a place called Indon Style Cafe that they’re a part of a local franchise (albeit with different names of course). The original café is located at the backside of Fajar Complex (in front of the Ikan Goreng TNT) and after their runaway success, they have since opened quite a number of branches all over Tawau (I lost count of just how many). So in this entry, I’ll be featuring both the first and the second Indo Café since both are the more popular ones among all of the branches. And just so you guys know, the Indo Café 2 is within the Unijaya commercial area.

Being a franchise of sorts, you would expect that most (if not all) of their food will be similar to one another, and you’re probably right to assume so. Even the style of cooking doesn’t differ that much from one branch to another which can be considered as a good thing in terms of food quality. But personally I think it’ll quickly make you loose interest in their food. During me and my partner’s visit to their main branch, we’d ordered their Nasi Goreng Indo Café (or Special, I can’t remember) and Kuey Teow Goreng. Nothing much to comment about their food other than it being lacklustre. Same goes when we’d tried out their Mix Vegetable Rice and Kon Lau Mee when we’d stopped by their Unijaya branch. But I do need to highlight their Pisang Goreng Cheese dish since it’s still one of the best there is here in Tawau. It has a good balance of crispy fritters with generous amount of cheese and brown sugar on top (although ratio of toppings may vary from time to time).

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

(Updated on 16/04/2018 - Their Fajar branch has recently moved a couple of steps away (to their left) to an even bigger premise. Business must be good eh? Some of the food that we've tried this time around includes their Nasi Lalap Ayam, Nasi Goreng Ikan Masin, ABC Gula Melaka & their top selling Mango Sago)

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MyCafe

I do notice that I haven’t been around the Taipan Commercial area that often (since I rarely have any business there) so when my mom wanted to check out this eatery that has supposedly being opened by a friend of hers, I jumped at the chance. And no worries about me being all bias since I usually let my tongue and stomach guide me all the way when it comes to food (hehehe...foooodd gimme foooodddd...).

When I did a previous post of an eatery within Taipan, I did mentioned that it was a relatively small commercial area, with only 3 blocks of 3 storeys high building adjoining to one another. And you won’t have any problems locating this cafe since its right next to this 7Eleven joint and right in front of the Pizza Hut Taipan branch. I got curious before going to the place and had checked out their FB page beforehand. They did mentioned that they provide Chinese style cooking lauk-pauk for lunch (they do not serve pork as well) but they may had scratched that idea due to lack of interest (maybe – I’m just taking a stab here) since we do not see any of those during our stop. So we did what we’d always done and ordered out some MyCafe Fried Rice (kinda like a Nasi Goreng Special, and it’s actually scrumptious and has this sweet taste that I like) and Sweet and Sour Fish Rice (my mom seems satisfied as well so I guess it’s also delicious). They might not have an extensive menu but I genuinely like what they’d managed to dish out.  

** Current status – Has been closed (as of March 2017)   

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McDonald's Tawau

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking ‘aiyaa… McD pun mau di review ka?’ right? Trust me when I say that Tawaurians (including our east coast neighbours LD, Kunak & Semporna mind you) had been hoping for a McDonald’s to be opened here in this sleepy town of ours for years before our prayers were finally answered a few years back. We’re utterly grateful for the person who’d made it all possible (as it is a known fact that you do need to have a substantial amount of moolah to be able to take on this franchise) and so to celebrate that fact, I’m doing this so-called special review on the internationally famous fast food joint. Oh and by the way, they’re located at Mile 4, Jalan Apas and in close proximity to Giant Hypermarket. Cheers!

Coincidentally, it is also that time of the year again when the great McD put out their seasonal sensation that is the Prosperity Burgers (which happens to be one of my undisputed favourite comfort food of all time as well). Usually heavily promoted sometime in the beginning of December and lasted until the end of January (or whenever the Chinese New Year ends), I just loved how the juicy beef patty (yup, not too fond of their chicken version though) was soaked in this yummy blackpepper sauce. And do not get me started on their Twister Fries. I can easily finished 3 large packets of the salty goodness in one go. And yes, my inner stinginess will emerge during such times, as I refuse to share it with anybody else. But I can do without the Orange McFizz though as it tasted weird to me for some reason. Definitely not my cup of tea. My partner however decided to go rogue and try another ‘limited edition meal’ named the Chicken McWrap. The burrito like meal was surprisingly spicy according to him but he liked the flavourful chicken patty enough to give it a thumb up. This meal also came with regular fries and a Sprite McFloat (which I can assure you tasted better than my drink).

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

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