Restoran Sri Keningau - Tawau

We decided to have an early lunch in Tawau town before heading to one of the parks not too far outside of Tawau. Our taxi driver took us to this place.

I had a mix of steamed rice and nasi kuning (yellow rice), some tempeh, paku (fern shoot) and beef rendang.

The food tasted okay but it was quite obvious that lots of MSG was used in the cooking!

The tempeh was a little too sweet. Didn't quite like how the paku was prepared.












As mentioned, too much MSG in the food, and from the price lists on the wall, the prices were on the high side, however, the same couldn't be said about the food quality. This place is really nowhere close to my favorite Malay food place: Anis Putri in Pantai Dalam.

Restoran Sri Keningau (Facebook page)
Lorong Haji Karim
91000 Tawau 
Tel: 089-89767070
GPS coordinate: 4.246403,117.889703


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Chilli Pan Mee - Menjalara

Another pan mee adventure.


As usual, clear soup pan mee for me, but this time with hand torn noodle. RM4.80. I liked that the fried anchovies were served in a separate saucer instead of pre-added to the bowl of noodle.

And as with most pan mee restaurants/stalls, and most restaurants, lots of MSG was used in the broth/food. The broth was sweet because it was loaded with tons of MSG which left me thirsty for hours. The sambal was too mild for my liking.







Between this and Pokemon, I prefer the later, but I think my favorite so far is this little stall here. Also a lot of MSG but I enjoyed the fish pastes and extra crispy anchovies there.

Chilli Pan Mee
27 Jalan 11/62A
Bandar Manjalara
Kepong

GPS Coordinate: 3.193748,101.631605


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YHK BBQ Chicken Wings@Chu Yu, Sri Sinar

YHK BBQ Chicken Wings at Chu Yu restaurant, Taman Sri Sinar, Segambut. After many trips to Chu Yu restaurant, I still hadn't tried the BBQ Chicken wings. That one day I saw this newspaper cutout that was pasted on this stall. Apparently, some politician loved the chicken wings here!


You can view it larger here.

So finally I decided to give it a try. It used to be only RM2.50 each. But when I went back there again today (Jan 13, 2013), the price has gone up to RM2.60 each. It's not just this stall that has raised its price, many other stalls have done the same. Yes, New Year! Oh yeah!

RM2.60 each. Two wings here. The bbq chicken wings were good but I wouldn't call them great. It was the special chili sauce that raised the flavour a couple of notches up. Slightly spicy, but not that spicy, with a distinct lime taste! They were quite stingy with the portion though.











For map and gps coordinate of  Chu Yu restaurant, click here.

Woo Pin Fish Head Noodles Menjalara

Woo Pin fish head noodles in Restoran Jalan Tanjung Dua, Bandar Menjalara.

RM7.00. The Burmese worker only got part of my order right. I asked for no milk, and non-fried fish. Look what I got? Grrr...fried fish!

I find it a little weird too when they served me sambal instead of freshly sliced chili.

Since the fish was fried, I couldn't really tell how fresh it was. But it left a rather bad taste in my mouth after eating, not to mention the irritating thirst as a result of overuse of MSG in the broth. I could tell that this place used more MSG than any other places I have visited. The broth tasted so artificially sweet it was almost disturbing.




The reason I walked in to this coffee shop was because I saw this sign. The name Woo Pin sounded familiar and I figured it had to be quite famous. How wrong could I be.


Located inside this restaurant: Restoran Jalan Tanjung Dua.


Restoran Tanjung Dua
Jalan 9/62A
Bandar Menjalara
52200 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
GPS coordinates: 3.194437,101.63211

Breakfast and Lunch only.


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Teochew Fish Ball noodle Kepong Baru

Teochew fish ball noodle, Kepong Baru. The name of the stall is "Tai Chan Dit"

I ordered dry lo shu fun. RM4.50 (S). There was a sign that says the noodles were all home made and free of preservative, borax, lye, coloring etc.


You can probably tell from the first two images that the pork lard pieces were quite fresh and indeed they were. Nice, fragrant and crispy! They really added a lot of flavor to this dish. Very little minced meat though.


The bowl of noodle was very tasty, but a little too much MSG in it. The fish balls tasted just okay to me but then again, I am not really into fish balls or any kind of balls. I prefer the real thing - real fish, real meat etc.







This place is just a few steps away from the "tong shui" place in Kepong Baru.

Address:
Jalan Kepong Baru, Kepong Baru, 52100 Kuala Lumpur

GPS Coordinate: 3.208904,101.646283

Google Map:

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Kam Ling Seafood Restaurant@Tawau

My second time having seafood in Kam Ling seafood restaurant in Sabindo part of Tawau. The first time was when we stopped by Sabindo for an early dinner on the way back from Maliau Basin.

Sea weed appetizer. Sweet. Not to my liking. I would have preferred jelly fish.


Hoi Dai Gai (sea chicken, Maori sea perch). My first time trying this fish. The texture was quite firm and not smooth like most fish. Nice and fresh, but I really don't think I will fork out close to RM140 for a 1 kg fish like this again. A bit over-rated if you ask me.


Mantis shrimps with salted egg yolk coating. Nice, fresh and sweet. My most favorite dish of all.


Stir fried Sabah vege with garlic...heard a lot of about this vege but still not too sure what it is. It's a little like paku pakis (fern shoot)- nice, fresh and crunchy. Liked it a lot.

Edit: I have been told that Sabah Vege is actually the young tip of sayur manis bush. I did some googling and found some info here and here.

Fruit platter, on the house.


All three dishes cost us about RM260 including drinks.





Live mud crabs


Maori sea perch (sea chicken, hoi dai gai)











Address:
Kam Ling seafood restaurant (Facebook page here)
No 25, Bandar Sabindo,
Jalan Cheng Fook,
Tawau, Sabah,
Malaysia, 91000

Mon - Sun: 3:30 pm - 10:30 pm

GPS coordinate: 4.242845 117.890244

Tel: +60198832511, +60168262511

 
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Terap / tarap fruit

I have heard so much about this fruit that is native only to Borneo. They all told me terap/tarap tasted like cempedak, but better, with stronger smell/aroma.

More info about terap / tarap can be found here.

So before I went on a trip to Tawau, Sabah, I asked around a little bit and with the help from a friend, Andy Pang, we finally managed to have a taste of this wonderful fruit!

This is what it looks like


Now for some sense of scale




Really easy to open too with just bare hand, like this:




This is what it looks like on the inside


They were right when they said that it smelled like cempedak but much stronger and looked like cempedak but paler.





I liked it. I know when I go to Borneo again, I will try to find this fruit again, and other wonderful wild durians like izu, sukang, bungkak etc, and bambangan too. Well, anything new is good. Not just the fruits, but all other food as well, like hinava, bosou etc.

Tarap - All Things Borneo
Wild durians of Borneo

Union Tea House - Tawau

Our Tawau friend, Andy brought us to this nice cafe for afternoon snack before the seafood dinner.

I ordered black coffee, which was still okay. But from what I was told, the milk tea was quite good. I will try that if I go there again.

We also ordered this red bean biscuit. RM1.50 each.

Tau Sar Pneah / Tau sar Peng (red bean paste biscuit)

I really loved this. Really fresh! The paste was smooth and not overly sweet. The pastry was more towards the Western style of bakery - firm but not hard -  and not powdery like those Penang style of mung bean biscuit (tau sar pneah).




Union Cafe 友联茶楼  (Facebook page)

Jalan Sin Onn, 
Tawau,  
Sabah 91000, Malaysia

Lor Mee - Restoran HYB Sungai Indah

Ulu Yam Lor Mee at Restoran HYB Sungai Indah.

I have tried this type of lor mee in a few different restaurants in KL and I must say they all tasted the same, and similar to this one in Ulu Yam itself. Very heavy in seasoning, including vinegar. Also left me quite thirsty for a couple of hours after eating.

However, after a visit to the original Ulu Yam lor mee here, I find myself liking the more toned down version there. The home-made noodle there was also way more superior. Al dente when served.

The one here was, however, soft and soggy. Not very good.

I liked how they put the bowl on a big plate though.








If you are coming from Batu Caves via Jalan Sungai Tua, this place is on your right hand side, shortly  before the T junction.

GPS Coordinate: 3.435320,101.659574


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