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).