The Pines Restaurant 2.0 (KK FoodieVenture #152)

It would be a waste on our part (since we have a vehicle and all) not to do some long-distance travelling and we ended up at Kundasang again after quite a few years. And being one of the most popular spots during holiday season, we were somewhat surprised when we discovered that the Kinabalu Pine Resort has available chalets for the night (most probably because of the current non-existing foreign tourists, or else this place was always fully booked). Nothing much to comment about the chalet that we were assigned to since it does not differ much from before (click HERE for my previous review) but we do noticed that the quality of their service seem to have improved especially those that manned the renovated restaurant (again, click HERE if you’re interested in seeing their previous state). Their in-house restaurant is now on the lower ground floor level of the reception area (which can be a hassle for any disabled customers – like this one guy with crutches when we were there). Free breakfast was still included but only in made-to-order sets (in accordance to the RMCO SOPs of course). They were a handful of choices but we finally went for their Nasi Lemak and American Breakfast sets. The dishes that we had were pretty good and filling but nothing too outstanding. And since we were there mainly for the breath-taking views of Mount Kinabalu (especially in the wee hours of the morning), nothing else matters of course.   

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Pezzo Suria Sabah (KK FoodieVenture #151)

It’s funny how for years I passed by numerous Pezzo joints and not once have I thought to try them out. But after a close colleague of mine came back from KK fairly recently and seems to be raving about this pizza franchise, I felt that I might be missing out on them so we gave their Suria Sabah branch a visit (located on the lower ground floor of said mall). What I like about this pizza place are the affordable pricing and that you can buy your pre-cooked pizza of choice individually so you can mix and match them however you like. Mind you, I initially thought that they did not looked that appealing (hence the reason why I never tried them before). But my partner (being the lover of all things fast food) decided to take the 6 slices discount offer and we ended up with their Pepperoni Party, BBQ Meaty Beef, Big Daddy, Hola Hawaiian, Carbonara Chicken and Pepperoni Party Chicken pizzas. The good thing about it was that the pizzas were very delicious and surprisingly crisply crusted, proving that looks can indeed be deceiving. The bad news however was that we underestimated the size of the slices that it was a huge pain in the butt for both of us to finish all of the pizzas at one seating. Lesson learned folks… lesson learned.   

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Nasi Lemak Bamboo Lintas Square (KK FoodieVenture #150)

I would be lying if I said that while cruising along the Lintas area (particularly the Lintas Square area since its sisterly site next door the Lintas Plaza seems to be congested most of the time) that the name of this eatery did not caught my eyes. As a nasi lemak enthusiast, I felt that I must give them a try and me and my partner ended up there twice after that. Located by the main roadside (and right next to a Sabah Chilli Pan Mee branch) the eatery mainly offers a variety of its namesake dish as well as mee siam and other local fried fritters. So far we have tried their Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng, Mee Siam Ayam Goreng, Mee Siam Ayam Rendang and the highlight of it all, the Nasi Lemak Bamboo Kari Seafood. Their food was obviously very delicious for us to drive all the way there twice but the latter was not as good as the others in my opinion. Because they steamed the pre-packed nasi lemak together with its curry sauce in a bamboo, the rice came out fragrant but tongue-burning hot so it dampened my taste buds a bit. We also tried out their otak-otak and cucur udang and both were commendable. The prawn fritters in particular were crispy but with barely any real prawns in them. It was only after our second time there though that we discovered that they do have other branches in Imago mall and Segama Complex, which were nearer to where we’d stayed. Oh well… at least we know now right?

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Kaya Kopitiam (KK FoodieVenture #149)

While doing a sweep of my KK foodie materials in my laptop recently, I discovered that I actually neglected to post about this café so here’s a review of said place that happened before my current trip to KK.

I have read some unfavourable reviews from previous customers of this eatery and it did stop me from setting foot inside their premise. But due to the lack of options for eateries within the departure area at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) (they’re located right in front of Departure Hall A5) and because my partner was bored with Marrybrown, we finally decided to try them for ourselves. Service was somewhat dismissive but prompt, with them calling out for our orders within minutes. Taste wise, it did not tasted as bad as I’ve heard it would be. In fact, I actually enjoyed my crisp Choco Peanut Thick Toast probably because I personally like my toast slightly charred anyway. My partner ordered their Nasi Lemak Ayam and even he said that it was quite okay so I guess we got lucky?  

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Jing Tea Imago (KK FoodieVenture #148)

The first time that I wanted to try this bubble milk tea brand, they were unfortunately closed because it was the beginning of MCO (the one that I’m referring to is their branch on the 2^nd floor of Imago mall). The second time around, I was met up with another ‘obstacle’ as they had to close their kiosk again for the day due to machine maintenance. So this time around, I literally rush towards the kiosk to finally give their bubble tea a try. Since my anticipation has build up because of the ‘delays’ (it was the ‘you finally got the thing that you most wanted from your parents’ type of feeling) when I finally ordered their newly released Chocolate Peanut Bubble Fresh Milk, I was somewhat let down (yet again) by the actual drink. The milk taste was definitely stronger than the chocolate taste and with only a hint of peanut chunks (I’d initially wrongly read the menu and thought that it was a chocolate & peanut butter drink – man I’m getting old!). Also, the ‘miss’ that attended to my order doesn’t seem to be that interested in answering my question regarding the menu so that might also dampened my spirits a bit. But I’m still looking forward in trying out their castella cake (particularly the chocolate variety) since it does looked pretty enticing. 

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