Malay/local food: Anjung Selera

Status: halal

Venue/landmark: roadside, along Likas bay (from KK towards UMS)

Time open – close: lunch hour, dinner mostly. Rather erratic.

Expected RM per meal: RM8 (with drinks)

This place is an open air food court by the seaside. Well, it’s pretty far from the city (20 minutes drive if traffic is good and no 50 km/hour drivers on the road) and pretty hard to park at unless you count in the roadside as parking spaces.

I don’t really have a high opinion anyway on this place as I find most stalls are either dirty, services too slow even with almost zero customers around (hmm, I wonder why…?), lousy burnt or/and salty/bland food and / or drinks, expensive (the prices are not proportionate to the serving size or taste), rude apathetic waiters (no reaction whatsoever when you complain of the food, or called to clean the table or even to count the tabs etc), the occasional diarrhea… fine, I’m picky and fussy and temperamental.

It’s difficult to tell which is best since even the most crowded with decent food gave me indigestion with their bad services and rude waiters. Luck plays a vital role here as on my lucky days, even a deserted stall serves decent seafood.

What you can find here is basically things that you can find anywhere in any Malay shops in Sabah: assorted rice preparation (fried, with side dishes), seafood (ikan bakar @ grilled fish, shells, crab, squids, prawns), noodles, coconut drinks, satay (luck luck luck… pray hard for decent ones…) and the famous Sabah grilled chicken wing.

Ok, I like the sunset view here. If you want to enjoy one while you eat, pick the open air seats with good lighting. Take note that your seating indicates which stall you are patronizing.

Why I kept returning? Peer pressure. And occasional decent ikan bakar with delicious chili dip and nasi lalap (white rice served with chicken cooked in sambal and vegetable. A local recipe).

Blacklisted so far: TLC Chicken Rice at the far end (decent meal BUT expensive, freaking lousy service and burnt chicken wings. The guy selling the wings even had the nerve to snap at me when I ordered just a single wing for take – away).

Malay food: Nasi Ayam CP.

Status: halal

Venue/landmark: basement floor, CentrePoint; open area opposite the post office building near the city park.
Time open – close: 11.00 am – 9.00 pm

Expected RM per meal: RM3.50 - RM4 (with drinks)

As the name implies, this place serves cheap and tasty nasi ayam @ chicken rice. The last time I went there the price was still RM2.80 per set of rice, 1 piece of chicken, cucumber slices and a soup. With the petrol hike, I think the price is expected to increase too. (*Will confirm this later when I return to Sabah.)

They have 2 outlets so far, as far I know. One at the basement floor of CentrePoint (a shopping complex) and one in the open area opposite the post office. If you prefer not to eat in the midst of traffic and heat, then opt to the CentrePoint branch. Otherwise, they serve the same fare and drinks.

Of course, at night it will be cooler and the outdoor branch will be crowded, seeing that it’s just next to one of the bus stop with busses from everywhere in Sabah and also next to the City Park.

Hygiene... What you don't want to see, you won't care ^_^

Seafood: Kampung Nelayan Floating Seafood Market Restaurant

Status: serve no pork (Serve alcohol)

Venue/landmark: near a psychiatric hospital (Hospital Mesra), Bukit Padang in Kota Kinabalu city. You can see a huge red prawn neon signboard from the round-a-bout.
Time open – close: 12.00 pm – 10.00 pm
Reservation: available
Contact no.: 088-231003, 231005
Website: http://www.kampungnelayan.com/

Expected RM per meal: RM 60 - 70 (2 pax, rice, 1 fish x gram, 1 vege, w/o tax)

Floating: yeah it's floating alright on the lake, open air and air-conditioned. Take your pick.

Seafood market: quite, since they have everything that is legal swimming in the tank. Tthere are also frozen ones, but for this if you are taking AirAsia then Terminal 2 has their own seafood shop selling frozen and dried seafood too.

Fresh seafood, yes indeed. Everything is still swimming and squirming in the large tanks and you pick what you want to eat and watch with glee and rumbling stomach as the workers scoop out the catch. Take your pick, lobsters, crabs, squids, prawns, udang lipan (they really look like centipedes, squirming and rolling around in their individual bottles), fish, mollusks of all kinds (oyster, shellfish, some weird looking snail-look-alike that I dunno what their names are, escargot maybe)… in short, all sorts of sea inhabitants which are legal to be sold to public. Though you may ask the cook how they cook these catches, I think it’s better if you come out with your own request if you are confident of your own judgment.

I’d recommend the soft shell crabs which they deep – fried nicely. If you don't mind your garoupa steamed with soy sauce (which apparently is the only steaming method here) then go ahead and steam your fish.

Anyway, the place also offer steamboat. They offer 2 variant of this, the expensive set and the economic-eat-somewhere-at-the-back-there set. Both have the same choice of soup base, chicken base or tom yum.

So, the expensive one is RM45+. You get a platter of seafood array (prawn, shellfish, squid, crabstick), yong tau fu stuffs (fish cake, fish ball, tofu), vege, mushroom, egg and noodle. You’ll be served in one of the main halls and get to see the cultural performance.

Then there’s the economic set, RM35 w/o 5%tax (hidden charge, shrug). This is under Beijing Open Air Buffet BBQ Steamboat. Buffet style, as the name imply, take what you want from the selections they prepared at the buffet table. The stove is somewhat special, you can also cook your meat on the side hot plate. You’ll be served somewhere at the end hall where you can’t see the cultural show. Time the buffet starts: 6.30 pm – 11.00 pm

Service is good. They are polite and all, fast and attentive. The only thing that irked me is dirty table cloth. Nothing can be done with that I suppose since they can’t be stripping the table cloth every time a customer spilt something.

The main attraction they boast of, aside from the seafood, is their cultural show, scheduled at 7.45 pm – 9.00 pm. Seats in front of the stage can be reserved earlier, or you can come early before 7. The cultural show features the traditional dances of the local tribes, and you get to participate in them and blow darts to some balloons.