Few Feet From Food: Shangrila Hotel

Location on your KK city map: 8P





Note: this is the 3 star Shangrila, located in Kota Kinabalu, not the 5 star Shangrila on Tg. Aru beach.


Food Radar:


North

Lucky you, as opposite of you is the Asia City area. Walk a little bit across the road and you will find numerous Malay restaurants, usually serving basic fares such as nasi campur and goreng - goreng @ fried stuffs e.g fried rice of all kinds, noodles etc. Within this area also there are 2 famous names in KK, Restoran Sri Sempelang and a branch of Krishna Curry House restaurant, sitting next to each other.




(Refer to your KK map, area P6 - P7)

While Restoran Sri Sempelang offers wide range of nasi campur @ rice with side dishes, including a huge sotong sumbat @ potato - stuffed squid (price range RM 6 - 10 per squid based on size), next door Krishna serves banana leaf rice and Indian vegetarian fares (price starts at RM 4). I'd recommend their fried fish, fish head curry and massala squid. Finish it off with their Sabah Tea teh tarik, served hot and frothy.






Bonus:
- GSC cinema with their painted posters (old - school, but amusing)
- Wisma Budaya: handicrafts and souvenirs.


As you can see above, Asia City complex is just nearby. Here you can find
- Anjappar Chettinad Restaurant on the ground floor (Indian food)
- lots of Chinese eateries
- Wagamama (Japanese food)

Roam around. If you are interested in Japanese snacks (halal in question), on the ground floor there's a Japanese shop selling Japanese stuffs and snacks imported from Japan.


If you walk further across the road opposite Asia City complex, then you'll reach CenterPoint, a shopping complex.

-Fast food outlets include Burger King (ground floor), McDonald (basement), KFC (basement), Pizza Hut (basement), Kenny Rogers (basement), 1901 (Palm Square, level 4).

-Big names: Secret Recipe (Palm Square, level 4), Coffee Bean (Palm Square, level 4)
-Others: Japanese Dream Food (Palm Square, level 4), Yoyo (level 2), MultiBake (basement), Tuah Baker (Palm Square, level 4), food court (basement; Chinese food, vegetarian food, Malay food e.g. Faezah Super)

-Bonus: Ngiukee superstore (Basement; get your pre – pack Tenom coffee here!), Guardian (Basement), Watson (basement, near food court, behind KFC), Body Shop (ground floor)


Warisan Square (next door, west of CentrePoint)

-Big names: Fish n Co’, Secret Recipe, Starbuck, Coffee Bean, YogurBerry, Veda Blue, Deli France

-Others: some Italian places I’ve yet to try, bakery, McDonald kiosk

Api Api Centre (next, east of CenterPoint. That is, if you can still walk):
-Thai, Indian, mamak, Malay, McDonald (with breakfast)… Lots. Restoran Sri Malindo is much recommended for Malay food.


North - West

If you take a turn to the right along the road near the parking lot, then turn north again, you will find the Evening Food Stall, which cater to the Chinese (non - halal). As the name implies, it starts operating only in the evening around 6.30 pm. Seafood can be found here.


West

I'd advise caution in this area as it's a bit secluded in some parts. Walking in groups with at least 1 male is very much advised.

Anyway, around this area you can find KFC, Scenario cafe and many other Malay and Chinese restaurants.

Few Feet From Food: Tang Dynasty Hotel

Note: in this post, I'm covering on Tang Dynasty Hotel at Wawasan plaza. There are other Tang hotel branches, but please refer to the website below.

Website: http://www.hoteltangdynasty.com/


Food Radar:

North - West

1- Anjung Senja: local / Malay food can be found here. Simple, hawker style outdoor dining facing the sea. Grade A – C stalls, take your pick.


2- Ocean Seafood Restaurant
Serve alcohol / cooking may contain alcohol. Fresh sea creatures swimming in their tanks for you to pick to your heart content. Price starts at RM20.


Further North – West:

1- Waterfront (I'll give an estimate of near 300 m for this):

Upscale dining. You can find Western / Indian (Kohinoo) / Japanese / Italian (Tuscany) food here. A word of caution, some serve and use alcohol in their cooking.


2- Filipino Market (I'll give an estimate of near 400 m for this):

Night time is the best. Hawker style, local fares. Ikan bakar, murtabak Jawa, bakso, nasi campur, the usual fried noodle / rice, chicken wings…

Pre – caution: hygiene.

Bonus: handicraft market next door.


West:

1- Api Api Centre: Thai, Indian, mamak, Malay, McDonald (with breakfast)… Lots. Restoran Sri Malindo is much recommended for Malay food (you’ll have to walk to the other side facing the highway to find it. Somewhere near CIMB).


Far – West:

1- CentrePoint: a shopping centre actually.
Fast food outlets include Burger King (ground floor), McDonald (basement), KFC (basement), Pizza Hut (basement), Kenny Rogers (basement), 1901 (Palm Square, level 4).

Big names: Secret Recipe (Palm Square, level 4), Coffee Bean (Palm Square, level 4)

Others: MultiBake (basement), Tuah Baker (Palm Square, level 4), food court (basement; Chinese food, vegetarian food, Malay food e.g. Faezah Super, Nelta)

Bonus: Ngiukee superstore (Basement; get your pre – pack Tenom coffee here!), Guardian (Basement: pharmacy), Watson (basement; pharmacy; near food court, behind KFC), Body Shop (ground floor)


2- Warisan Square (next door to CentrePoint)
Big names: Fish n Co’, Secret Recipe, Starbuck, Coffee Bean, YogurBerry, Veda Blue, Deli France

Others: some Italian places I’ve yet to try, bakery, McDonald kiosk


(Far) South - East:

1- Asia City complex: if you are willing to walk slightly further. Across the road, opposite CentrePoint.

Indian food: Anjappar Chettinad Restaurant.

Ground floor: roam around. Many Chinese outlets can be found here including a dim sum shop. Malay food, not much.

Top floor: food court


Next door, attached to lobby

1- Wawasan Plaza: another shopping centre.

KFC (Ground floor)

Bonus:
-Giant, Body Shop. All on ground floor.

- Parkson Grand (1st floor)

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Few Feet From Food: Promenade Hotel

Note: I’m covering Promenade hotel and its surrounding apartment complexes not including Colonade in this post.

Location: Kota Kinabalu, facing the sea and surrounded by MANY eateries. Plus Promenade itself offers great buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner so food is not an issue when you stay here.

Website: http://www.promenade.com.my/


Food Radar:

North - East:
1- Anjung Senja: local / Malay food can be found here. Simple, hawker style outdoor dining facing the sea. Grade A – C stalls, take your pick.


North – West:
1- Waterfront: upscale dining. You can find Western / Indian (Kohinoo) / Japanese / Italian (Tuscany) food here. A word of caution, some serve and use alcohol in their cooking.


2- Filipino Market: night time is the best. Hawker style, local fares. Ikan bakar, murtabak Jawa, bakso, nasi campur, the usual fried noodle / rice, chicken wings…

Pre – caution: hygiene.

Bonus: handicraft market next door.


South – West:
1- CentrePoint: a shopping centre actually.
Fast food outlets include Burger King (ground floor), McDonald (basement), KFC (basement), Pizza Hut (basement), Kenny Rogers (basement), 1901 (Palm Square, level 4).

Big names: Secret Recipe (Palm Square, level 4), Coffee Bean (Palm Square, level 4)

Others: Japanese Dream Food (Palm Square, level 4), Yoyo (level 2), MultiBake (basement), Tuah Baker (Palm Square, level 4), food court (basement; Chinese food, vegetarian food, Malay food e.g. Faezah Super, Nelta)

Bonus: Ngiukee superstore (Basement; get your pre – pack Tenom coffee here!), Guardian (Basement: pharmacy), Watson (basement; pharmacy; near food court, behind KFC), Body Shop (ground floor)


2- Warisan Square (next door to CentrePoint)
Big names: Fish n Co’, Secret Recipe, Starbuck, Coffee Bean, YogurBerry, Veda Blue, Deli France

Others: some Italian places I’ve yet to try, bakery, McDonald kiosk


3- Asia City complex: if you are willing to walk slightly further. Across the road, opposite CentrePoint.

Indian food: Anjappar Chettinad Restaurant.

Ground floor: roam around. Many Chinese outlets can be found here including a dim sum shop. Malay food, not much.

Top floor: food court


South:
1- Api Api Centre: Thai, Indian, mamak, Malay, McDonald (with breakfast)… Lots. Restoran Sri Malindo is much recommended for Malay food (you’ll have to walk to the other side facing the highway to find it. Somewhere near CIMB).


East:
1- Wawasan Plaza: another shopping centre.

KFC (Ground floor)

Bonus: Giant, Parkson Grand, Body Shop. All on ground floor.


2- Ocean Seafood Restaurant
Serve alcohol / cooking may contain alcohol. Fresh sea creatures swimming in their tanks for you to pick to your heart content. Price starts at RM20.

2008 Ramadan Bazaar - Asia City

Another favourite bazaar of mine that I always drop by on my way back from KK to UMS.

4.00 pm is the advised time to drop by if you don’t like crowds. Parking, well, I always parked in Asia City complex itself as I do not possess the luck of finding a good spot and for the fear of “scratch and run”. Plus it’s only RM0.50 (and secure so far) per hour (just how long do people spend shopping in a bazaar? I doubt anyone could exceed 2 hours).

So anyway…

Like I mentioned before, nasi kerabu seems to be the trend now. I like one particular stall manned by a talkative Kelantanese guy. Some may complained that the portion is a tad too small for RM4.00 (mainly guys) but for me it’s just nice enough. So far, we all agreed that the stall has the best nasi kerabu and accompanying side dishes.

I’m not too into kuih so I don’t know much about them. But I did notice that there were many stalls selling them.

What else? Colourful ais kacang, naan / nasi beriani with tandoori chicken, soya bean milk + pandan flavored ones (nice!), kek lapis Sarawak, yong taufu, nasi campur @ rice and side dishes, ayam madu, ayam golek, murtabak jawa, roti John, ikan bakar, satay… the bazaar has lots to offer.

And if you don’t feel like going through the crowd, there is always Restoran Sri Sempelang small bazaar in their parking lot or their restaurant spread of kuih and grilled fish, giant grilled squids etc.

Again, as noted in my previous post on IP bazaar, I think that Asia city’s too is worth a visit. A bonus here is the cheap parking space.

2008 Ramadan Bazaar - UMS

The UMS bazaar... Park everywhere, anywhere for free. The marching field is large enough for every one of us.

My first thought when I first saw the bazaar was… er, those specks of stalls comprise the whole bazaar or what? Because there are less than 10 operating stalls. One is by Kesumba (UMS housewives’ association), a rojak stall, some stalls selling kuih, 2 stalls selling nasi kerabu, a stall selling nasi campur, 2 stalls of nasi beriani and beriani gam respectively, and a stall selling drinks.

So I gingerly stepped out of my car for a closer peek.

Thankfully, it’s not as bad as it seems. At least they were selling decent stuffs.

Thumbs up to the stalls manned by the boys selling nasi kerabu. Not only they have a variety of the traditional side dishes, they also offer some of Kelantanese kuih like pisang sira (though the syrup did not look too thick) and nasi dagang to boot. The nasi dagang sold up pretty fast so get going before 5.30 (if you’re lucky).

The nasi beriani (not the gam one) guy amused me very much on one occasion when he handed me my change of RM2.10 with 2 notes of RM1 and a sweet.

The rojak buah KL stall, ask the uncle to prepare the “pedas” one or it’ll taste a tad boring. I always told him to forgo some dried stuff (unidentified, speculated to be a very, very dry type of tofu) and replace it with cucumber. Mango is a treat as he put it sparingly in his rojak.

Kesumba stall is pretty nice, albeit their expensive roti jala (RM0.50 per piece). Nasi campur and the rumored great karipap are sold here. (Again, I’m not into kuih. This info was from feedbacks of satisfied buyers).

May I conclude here, pretty good to stop by.

2008 Ramadan Bazaar - IP @ Indah Permai

Today, lucky for me, is a public holiday, thanks to the National Independence Day falling on Sunday. Because of that I managed to check out the bazaar in IP, which to this day I still regard as the best ever in KK. So anyway… off I went happily, anticipating the best, ankle pain and all.

What I had forgotten was to anticipate for the jam owing to the public holiday and because today is the first day of the fasting month.

My God… the jam… was horrendous… parking was a nightmare though in the end I managed to park somewhere near the UMS quarters.

This year, instead of the usual site opposite the row of shophouses, the bazaar shifted to the Giant parking space. In a way it was more convenient to walk around in one area rather than stroll along the long line of stalls selling the same stuffs over and over again.

From what I observed, nasi kerabu was the new trend in Sabah, or at least in KK. There were at least 6 stalls of them, the rice in every shade of blue from neon to secondary – school – uniform blue. There were even marine – and also green – colored ones. Sabahans and non – Sabahans alike were crowding these stalls for a taste of this Kelantan origin blue (or green or marine) rice.

Chicken wing stalls, as usual. Sigh… gone were the days of RM1 per wing. The current price nowadays ranged from RM 1.20 – RM 1.50.

By the way, I saw something that piqued my interest. A stall was selling palm – sized (man’s size, baby sting ray maybe?) sting ray grilled on hot plate. Too bad I noticed it too late so had to forgo it.

There was also a petai – based stall selling everything with this stinky bean (but this stinky bean has a cool name, Parkia speciosa) from fried rice to ayam masak pedas. It was actually my first experience with the bean throughout my whole life (don’t laugh… I wasn’t too adventurous in my younger years) but well… the bean proved to be too much for me though the fried rice was fine.

Then there’s the stall selling nasi dagang (another Kelantan origin), nasi tomato (rice cooked in tomato paste, yummy!), gado – gado (Indonesian traditional salad) and pasembor (well, a bit like salad with fried batter, fried tofu, hard – boiled egg, cucumber, taugeh @ bean sprout and sengkuang @ sweet turnip [really ah? I found this on the net…] tossed together in peanut – based gravy). The pasembor was alright though the gravy is too watery and sweet.

Altogether, I think the bazaar has gotten better with each passing year. 4.00 pm is the advised time to drop by as most people have not come out from the office yet. Parking… well, good luck with that.

Happy fasting everyone!