Tag Archives: seafood

Sandakan Central Market

You can tell a lot about the lifestyle of local people by visiting their market. Just take a stroll in Sandakan Central Market (Pasar Umum Sandakan), after browsing hundreds of stalls with thousands of colourful items on display, you will learn what Sabah people eat and wear.

Building of Sandakan Central Market

In the morning, you will see hundreds of locals buying fresh vegetables, fruits, meat and fishes at Sandakan Central Market. Actually this Market has been a tourist attraction for many years, as it is convenient and has almost anything.

Entrance to the Market

Family travel groups also come here to purchase food supply. The stalls of Sandakan Central Market open from 3am onwards and is the most active in the morning.

Ground floor of Sandakan Central Market

Ground Floor

In ground floor are hundreds of neatly and well organized vegetables and fruits stalls. You can find many other Sabah food for sale here too.

Fruits and Vegetables stalls

The market is a busy place in the morning

Salted seafood for sale

Amplang fish cracker

Tarap fruit

The fish market is concentrated at the end of the market. Sandakan Central Market is one of the most important seafood landing ports of Sabah. There are variety of seafood such as fishes, crabs, rays, prawns, seashells and squids sold here. The thing that shocks me is sharks are traded openly here.

Fish market in ground floor

Stingrays for sale

Sandakan Central Market is one of the important port for seafood landing

Barracuda for sale

Cat wants seafood

Edible seashell

Tiger Prawns

Stingray with funny duck face

Fresh seafood in fish market

More fishes

Crabs from the sea

Sharks with fins removed

Small sharks for sale

Sharks are sold openly in Sandakan Central Market

First Floor

On first floor is the food stalls of halal food (for Muslims), and rows after rows of small cubicles selling handicraft, souvenirs, clothing, T-shirts, bags, shoes and other household items. This place is called Hanging Market (Pasar Gantung) because most merchandises are hanged on the wall or air.

Food court on first floor of Sandakan Central Market

Clothing and accessories for sale on first floor

Tourists can find T-shirts, local crafts and other souvenirs here easily. The sellers would say to you, “Come. I give you discount.” Bull Sh*t. Don’t be afraid to slash 50% of their so-called discounted price.

T-shirt and souvenirs for tourists

They also call this place hanging market because merchandise are hanged

Second Floor

On the top floor (second floor) are 30 food stalls mainly run by Chinese. These stalls are simple and have nothing fancy, but many best local food are found here, one of them is Kueh Teow Noodle with Deep-fried Pork.

Food stalls in top floor

Sandakan Central Market is located in Old Slipway of Sandakan City Centre (see Location Map), which is also a few minutes walk away from Sandakan Harbour Square, the largest shopping mall of Sandakan.

Photos taken in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Nom Nom Sabah Food at Sim-Sim Water Village

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Let me tell you what are the must-do things when you go to Sandakan City. First thing is Eat, second thing is also Eat, third thing is… well, you know. I may sound like joking but there are really a lot of delicious Sabah food you must not miss in Sandakan.

Sim-Sim Water Village

One of the best places for eat out is Sim-Sim Water Village, which is about 3 KM away from city center of Sandakan and along the main road Jalan Buli Sim Sim. Sim-Sim Water Village is built by hundreds of wooden stilt houses on the sea and has over one century of history. Travel agents always bring tourists here for sightseeing.

Going for lunch at Sim-Sim

The water village is really a big maze. It is divided into over 20 zones and each zone is accessible by a “bridge”, which is a long concrete or plank walkway extending a few hundred meters to the sea and flanked by houses and shops. The famous dining area is on 7th and 8th bridge.

Walking on 8th bridge of Sim-Sim Village

7th Bridge (or Lorong G)

If you want to taste iconic food of Sandakan, go for Spring Noodle and Century Egg Dumpling (弹弓面 and 皮蛋饺 in Chinese) at 7th Bridge of Sim-Sim Water Village. Actually these two food are also available in other places of Sabah (even in Kota Kinabalu City) due to their increasing popularity, but 7th Bridge serves the most original and authentic version.

Spring noodle (left) and Century Egg Dumpling of Sandakan

The highly recommended restaurant for both dishes are Kau Kee (九记) at G68 of 7th Bridge. This coffee shop opens from 6am to 11am daily, but the food can be sold out before 10am, so you better be there early.

Century Egg Dumpling

The texture of Spring Noodle is dense, thereby nearly doubling the flavor and aroma of yellow noodle, and a small bowl can make you full. As its name implies, the noodle is springy and a bit chewy. Eat it with savory deep fried pork and enjoy their lusciousness bounced in your mouth.

Century Egg Dumpling is a must-try at Sim-Sim

Oh boy, next one is my favorite, the Century Egg Dumpling. The cook mixes the pork with century egg (jelly-like preserved egg), giving this dumpling a meaty taste blended with rich and creamy yolk flavor. However, some westerners might think the smell of century egg is repulsive. If you are first-time trying, you can order small quanity to sample, and order more if you really like it.

8th Bridge

For seafood lovers, head to 8th Bridge, which is just next to 7th Bridge.

Seafood restaurants of Sim-Sim Water Village

When you reach the end of 8th Bridge, turn right to Sim-Sim 88 Seafood Restaurant (Chinese Name: 森森海上风味餐厅). This Chinese restaurant doesn’t serve pork but it’s not truly halal, though some Muslims think it’s acceptable.

White-bellied sea eagle statue of Sim-Sim 88 Seafood Restaurant

Sea view at Sim-Sim 88 Seafood Restaurant

You can enjoy sea view and breeze while having your meal.

Sim-Sim 88 Seafood Restaurant

The opening hours of Sim-Sim 88 Seafood Restaurant are 6:30am-3:30pm and 5:30pm-9:30pm.
Address (see Location Map): Kampung Sim-Sim, Off Jalan Buli Sim-Sim, 90000 Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia
Tel: +60 89-226558
They accept payment by credit card.

Steamed fish of Sim-Sim

Sandakan City is one of the most important landing ports of seafood, so the restaurant is never short of fresh seafood such as fishes, crabs, prawns, squids, lobsters and seashells.

Sandakan is never short of big fishes

Great variety of seafood dishes at the restaurant

There are many ways to cook a seafood, e.g. steamed, fried, broil. You can always ask the waitress to recommend the best way to enjoy it.

Butter Prawns

Clams

Big oyster of Sandakan

You can find many positive reviews on the Internet that Sim-Sim 88 Seafood Restaurant offers yummy seafood at affordable price. I won’t say it’s very cheap but it’s great value for money. The best seafood is fresh seafood. They don’t even need to use MSG.

Juicy big oyster

If you want only quick and simple meal for one person, you can order the following items too.

Seafood noodle

Fresh seafood with noodle

Crispy seafood noodle (香底米粉 in Chinese). The noodle absorbs all the broth from seafood.

Milky seafood noodle soup with sour pickle, very appetizing

Want to have some “snack”? You will love their fried baby squids. It’s crispy and chewy but you will enjoy its fragrant smell.

Fried baby squid (with dark soy sauce) goes well with beer

Close-up of fried baby squid

Piranha in fish tank of the restaurant. Can order? 😀

Other Sandakan Food

As I mentioned, Sandakan City is great for a gastronomic tour. The following are more Sandakan food to make you happy:

Sim-Sim BBQ Fish (Ikan Bakar) (Halal)
UFO Tart (a.k.a. Cow Dung Tart)
Kueh Teow Noodle with Deep-fried Pork
Seafood Bak Kut Teh (Herb soup with seafood)
Kim Fung Night Market (Street Food)

Photos taken in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Kim Fung Night Market of Sandakan City

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Traveling is more than sightseeing in a foreign land. Only walking into the people and experiencing their lifestyle will inspire you to see the world differently, and a local market is always a good starting point. If you tour around Sandakan city of Sabah, a stroll at Pasar Malam Kim Fung (Kim Fung Night Market in English; 金凤夜市 in Chinese) in Saturday evening (5pm-10pm) will be fun, even if you aren’t in shopping mood.

Kim Fung Night Market (Pasar Malam Kim Fung in Malay and 金凤夜市 in Chinese)

To foodies, Kim Fung Night Market is a gastronomic destination because a wide variety of Chinese and Halal (Muslim) street food are sold there. I’m surprised to see so many snacks and finger food that I never heard of.

Satay and grilled food

It is advisable you go with an empty stomach, so you can wolf down as many food as you want (enjoy the freedom. you can’t eat in such manner in hotel LOL). Do bring wet wipe to clean your hands.

BBQ sweet corns in different flavors

Under the dim light of night market, your smell and hearing senses would become more sensitive. The scent and sizzling food will be quite stimulating, when there is no door to shield your noses from those grilled chicken, cakes, buns, dumpling, baked corns, etc., which are so affordable and alluring.

Crowd in Kim Fung Night Market

Pasar Malam Kim Fung is an open market formed by hundreds of makeshift stalls lining up along a stretch of 200-Meter street between shoplots in Bandar Kim Fung.

Colorful knickknacks for sale

Besides food, they also sell various items such as clothing, T-shirt, toy, handicraft, shoes, music CD, pets, knickknacks, jewelry, accessories, gadgets, power bank and fruit juices. They expect you to bargain so don’t feel embarrassed to counter offer.

Thousands of locals flood the night market

What I like most about Kim Fung is – it’s an authentic local market that shows the colors and diversity of our society, it’s noisy but harmonious. Thousands of local buyers from different races and background filled this place every weekend, making Kim Fung one of the most vibrant marketplace of Sabah. The market was packed and I had to move with the flow of the crowd, occasionally stop at something that caught my attention.

Various Chinese buns

The vendors mainly targets at local people, not tourists. It’s very different from the popular Gaya Street Sunday Market in Kota Kinabalu city, which sells a lot of tourist stuffs such as “I Love Sabah” T-shirt, handicraft and packaged local food, but rarely hot local food. Another advantage of night market is that you don’t need to apply 10 layers of sunblock, and shopping is more comfortable in cooler temperature.

Grilled seafood and chicken

Kim Fung Night Market was started in Dec of year 2010, so it’s a relatively new attraction. I saw very few tourists there. Probably most of them are concentrated in Kinabatangan River for wildlife tour and overnight stay in jungle lodges, which are far away from city. Kim Fung Night Market is also not commonly included as one of the destinations in Sandakan city tour package, because many tourists need to catch their flight in the evening. Now you know this place so you may consider to pay a visit if time permits.

Lion or Fish Dance is performed every Saturday night

Yeah, one more thing. They have 1 or 2 lion dance performances from 8pm onward (no fixed time), but it can be other show sometimes. For example, they did “Fish Dance” in my last visit.

The show is a highlight of Kim Fung Night Market

By the way, beware of pickpocket, though there are police officers around. Don’t place your valuable belonging in the front or side pocket of your backpack. When you stand still watching lion dance or buying stuff, move your backpack to your front. The same rule applies to any country we travel.

Busy food Stalls in Kim Fung Night Market

The following is the direction to Kim Fung Night Market:
Address: Lorong Bandar Kim Fung 6, Mile 4, Bandar Kim Fung, Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia
GPS Coordinates: 5.856307, 118.077304 (see Location Map)
Opening Hours: 5pm – 10pm (Saturday only)

Kim Fung Night Market of Sandakan

The night market is about 6.5 KM (4 miles) away from Sandakan City Center. If you drive there yourself, expect for congested traffic and limited parking space there. For tourists, the best option is to get a taxi. Be very specific by saying you want to go to Pasar Malam Kim Fung at Mile 4. Miss one word and they would send you to “Pasar Kim Fung” (a wet market a few blocks away) or the taxi driver would think it’s another night market near Post Office (which open daily).

Durian anyone?

For return trip, you can find any taxi nearby the night market. You can ask the friendly police there for the location of taxi stand.

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.” – James Michener

Photos taken in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

What and Where to Eat in Semporna

1. Mabul Café & Seafood Restaurant

Chinese Name: 满布海鲜饭店

Mabul Café has a wide selection of Asian and Western food, so most foreign tourists can find anything they want, from chicken chop, fried rice, noodle soup to seafood. That’s why you can always see groups of tourists there having seafood and a couple of beer. The famous dishes of Mabul Cafe are 3 Rasa Fish (Fish with 3 tastes), Black Pepper Lamb & Steak and Grilled Squid, and the signature drink is Mango Sago.

Pic: Mabul Cafe is located in Semporna town centre, easily recognised by its hanging buoys.

The restaurant is on first floor. During meal time, it is full of tourists.

Pic: Seafood Tom Yam soup

Pic: fresh prawns

Pic: steamed fishes. We have so many fresh seafood so Sabah people seldom have frozen seafood.

Pic: spicy chicken meat

Pic: fried mixed vegetables

Pic: you can click the photo above to see the food menu.

Pic: view of Semporna night market from Mabul Cafe

Below is the contact of Mabul Cafe:
Website: http://my.shop.88db.com/mabulcafe/
E-mail: mabul_cafe@yahoo.com
Facebook: Mabul-Cafe
Tel: +60 89-781785
Opening Hours: 11am – 10:30pm daily
Address (see location map): Mabul Café & Seafood Restaurant, Lot 39 & 40, Block G, 1st Floor, Semporna Seafront New Township, 91300 Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia.

2. Ocean Treasure Live Seafood Restaurant

Chinese Name: 海中宝

If you want the best seafood, just head to Ocean Treasure Live Seafood Restaurant without thinking twice. Not only they serve very rich variety of seafood, they also can cook a seafood in 10 different styles, based on your preferences. Besides lobster, fishes, seashells and prawn, they also sell exotic seafood such as stone fish, mantis shrimp and sea cucumber.

Pic: Ocean Treasure Live Seafood Restaurant

I went there once to have seafood noodle as a quick lunch, so I didn’t order any seafood dish. They are quite generous in quantity and the food tastes great.

Pic: crunchy noodle with seafood

Pic: wet noodle with seafood

Pic: you can click the photo above to download their food menu. You will be impressed by the variety.

The following is the contact of Ocean Treasure Live Seafood Restaurant:
Website: www.oceantreasurelive.com (may not work)
E-mail: asiafoodcartel@hotmail.com
Facebook: Ocean-Treasure-Live-Seafood-Restaurant
Tel: +60 16-3239009
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 10:30pm daily
Address (see location map): Lot C1, Ground Floor, Semporna Seafront Township, Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia. (located beside Sipadan Inn II)

3. Pearl City Restaurant

Chinese Name: 珠城海鲜楼
Malay Name: Restoran Bandar Mutiara

This restaurant is inside Dragon Inn Floating Resort. It is open to guests as well as public.

Pic: Dragon Inn Floating Resort

Pic: Pearl City Restaurant is built in the sea

Pic: Pearl City Restaurant is the largest seafood restaurant of Semporna

Pic: fried squid of Pearl City. Many say it’s a must try.

Pic: sweet and sour fish

Pic: butter prawn, yum yum, my favorite..

Pic: fried squid with spicy curry flavor

Pic: claypot seafood and vegetables

Pic: the nice sea view is a bonus for diners in this restaurant

For more info about Pearl City Restaurant, here is their contact:
Website: www.dragoninnfloating.com.my
E-mail: info@dragoninnfloating.com.my
Tel: +60 89-781099
Opening Hours: 7am – 9:30pm daily
Address (see location map): No.1, Jalan Custom, Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia.

4. Semporna Weekend Market

When you are enough with seafood, you may try the local snacks in Semporna open market, which is open in weekends in town centre (see location map).

Pic: Semporna open market is crowded with people and you can buy almost anything here.

Pic: check out the food stall

Pic: one of the snacks you must try is fried banana fritter with cheese.

Pic: cheese potato wedges, costs only RM4 (≈USD1.25)

Pic: look at the cheese potato skewers, they are so tempting, also RM4 each.

Pic: cheese potato skewer is big enough as my lunch.

I hope you know where to eat in Semporna now. Do share with me if you know any other nice places for eat out.

Photos taken in Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Giant Grouper, the ultimate seafood of Sabah

Kedai Makan Gembira (大家乐茶餐室)

The funny thing is, I never tried giant grouper (since it is expensive and not always available in seafood restaurant). Thanks to Tisha and Simon from Bike and Tours, I got the first taste of giant grouper in Kedai Makan Gembira, a coffee shop in outskirt of Lahad Datu.

Two months ago, after cycling around Lahad Datu, Tisha suggested to have lunch at Kedai Makan Gembira.

Kedai Makan Gembira means “Eat Happily Shop”, even their dog also looks so happy lol.

Then we found out the shop was close on Monday, but Tisha kept on persuading the owner to open the shop for us. I was wandering why we didn’t go somewhere else for lunch, as there were many other restaurants opened in town.

Guess what was waiting for us? Jenny, the shop owner, looks so small next to the giant grouper!

The whole fish is edible and no part is wasted, from the meat, skin, scales, head, belly, gut, fin, maw, liver to its mouth. You may have the fish steamed, fried, stewed, etc. You choose it.

Pic: the shop was empty as it was off day. I felt like a VIP booking the whole place.

Check out the big fish scales of giant grouper. (Oh, I need to clean my fingernails) :-p

The food menu of the coffee shop. Nevermind if you can’t read Chinese. They can explain it to you. Basically it’s giant grouper served in different way. For example, you can have the fish with soup or noodle.

Pic: fish lip soup

We started with the fish lip soup. From its nice color, I already could tell it was yummy.

Pic: close-up of the fish lip

The fish lip got some meat and not bony at all. The soup is thick with fleshy flavor. The meat tasted fresh, tender and “creamy”. A surprise, because the meat of big fishes are usually harder and coarse.

Jenny is such a good cook. The more I ate, the more I wanted, the quicker I ate, as if I was starving for days.

Pic: fish head soup, the signature dish of this shop.

When I was still enjoying the fish lip soup, the fish head soup came. Real foodies always aim for the fish head and belly. They say these are the parts where the best taste of seafood concentrated. Personally I think fish head is too fishy, but this one is not. The ginger and green onion remove the excessive fishy smell, and the tomato and a bit of Chinese wine enhance the sweetness of fish, making it more appetizing.

Look at the translucent fish lips and skin, they are so rich in collagen. I bet I’ll look 10 years younger if I eat these every day, haha!

Besides giant grouper, I also tried their Kam Hiong Tiger Prawn (甘香老虎虾 in Chinese). This dish smelled really good because of the curry spices. The tiger prawns are mildly spicy, sweet and chewy, another must try.

Fried fish egg, my favorite always! Whenever I eat fish, I’m super happy to see even a small pieces of fish eggs comes with it. Seeing so many big chunks of fried fish eggs really made my mouth shivering due to excitement.

Jenny also cooked some stir-fried organic vegetable for us. Crunchy.

Pic: The shop also serves freshwater eel (黄鳝 in Chinese) that looks like snake. Many don’t dare to eat it, but eel is one of the best food for regeneration of cells, great for healing wound.

Below is the contact of Kedai Makan Gembira if you want to try the “ultimate seafood”. Please note that giant grouper is not a common caught, so it is not always available in the shop. To avoid disappointment, call them to check before you visit.
Address (See location map): Batu 4, Sandakan Highways, Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Facebook: KedaiMakanGembira
Tel: +60 16-8897761, +60 13-5439468 (Jenny Wong)
Opening Hours: Tue – Sun: 6:30am – 5pm
Kedai Makan Gembira Serves No Pork.

Photos taken in Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Sabah’s Best Dried Seafood in Tawau Tanjung Market

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When you check-in at Tawau airport, you may notice a lot of local passengers carry many boxes with them. Try to get really closer and you would smell something dead. Haha, if you don’t know what it is, you miss something very, very important from Tawau.

Pic: what’s in the boxes?

Let’s reveal what is inside the boxes. It is the best dried seafood of Sabah. The dried seafood of Tawau is so good and famous that even people from Peninsular Malaysia and Brunei consider it’s a must-buy.

Pic: photo of Tawau Tanjung Market

Dried seafood is sold everywhere in Sabah, but the best one is found in Tawau Tanjung Market (Pasar Tanjung Tawau in local language). This three-storey market in Tawau is more than just a dried seafood market, it is also selling rich variety of produces from neighbouring countries such as Indonesia. It is open from 6am to 5pm (or later) every day.

The love of stinky salted fishes is not only among Malaysians, other Asians share the same love too, the more smelly, the better. To westerners, dried seafood may smell like corpse. Hey, to us, your favorite blue cheese also smells like used socks unwashed for weeks. I like blue cheese anyway. Every culture appreciates different kind of stinky food.

Most Hong Kong and China tourists don’t know this place. If they do, I’m sure they will drop by to shop, before they leave Tawau after their island trip in Semporna. Dozens of dried seafood stalls are located in 1st floor of Tawau Tanjung Market.

Sabah is well-known for its seafood, so we are never short of fresh seafood to make dried seafood. We dry almost everything from the sea, for example, fish, shrimp, squid, sea cucumber, seaweed. Many dried seafood are packed nicely in plastic bag. I was very surprised that I didn’t see swarm of flies around.

Pic: salted fishes (Ikan Masin in Malay language)

Dried seafood is so important in our diet that Sabahans who study overseas in western countries will bring a lot of them. I can finish a big bowl of white rice with only a few small chunks of salted fishes. It is more tasty if you eat with bare hand and cold rice. Try it.

My favorite salted fish is the “moist” type (梅香咸鱼 in Chinese). Unlike salted fishes that are dried by sun, the fluid and freshness are locked in moist salted fish and give it a stronger smell and deeper flavor.

Pic: huge salted fishes. The taste of bigger salted fishes are usually better than the small ones. Big salted fish is a hot selling item and sometimes it is out of stock. Old customers will book it with hawker earlier.

The dried seafood here is not cheap though, but you can always bargain. Many are willing to spend hundreds because they can’t find such high-quality products elsewhere.

Pic: dried anchovy fishes (Ikan Bilis in Malay language)

Dried anchovy fishes are commonly used in Malaysian food (e.g. Nasi Lemak), even tourists like it. You can fry it with sugar and eat it like snack, best if comes with beer.

Pic: dried shrimp

Pc: dried seaweed with different types and grades (purple being the best grade). Seaweed is rich in collagen and natural nutrients. Some call it “Sea Bird Nest ” or “Poor Man’s Bird Nest”.

Pic: dried sea cucumber is considered a delicacy in Chinese food. It is very expensive.

Pic: dried fish maw and squid

Pic: all sort of salty stuffs for sale

Pic: the hawker can pack the dried seafood for you into a box, so you can check-in them into cargo. Never hand-carry them onboard.

In ground floor of Tanjung Market are fruit, vegetables, meat and grocery stalls, where you can find local and imported items from Indonesia. Dried seafood is on 1st floor. 2nd floor is selling apparels.

The ground floor has so many Tawau and Indonesian snacks that you may like to check out. Some items such as cashew nut is sold cheaper than Peninsular Malaysia. Other popular buy are kacipok, atong nut and tapok nut.

Pic: Amplang crackers

A snack I strongly recommend you to try is the ball-shaped and crunchy amplang cracker made from Spanish mackerel mixed with tapioca flour and special spices. Trust me, this cracker has no funny or unpleasant smell. Everyone loves it. Tawau makes the best Amplang cracker in Sabah.

Pic: To Malaysians, this is the gate to Heaven of seafood to buy something that makes our mom and wife happy.

Want to see more photos? Please check out my photo album below.

Created with flickr badge.

How to get there

Tanjung Market is in Tawau city centre, located along Jalan Dunlop (Dunlop Road) and next to the Tawau Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex. You may see the location map (Google Map).

Photos taken in Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

New WK Restaurant (Luyang) of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

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Good food enhances the quality of family time. Sabah Chinese likes to eat out with family on special days. During weekends and festive seasons, you will see every tables of Chinese restaurants are filled up by family members of 3 generations (i.e. grandparents, parents and grandchildren). Only a handful of Chinese restaurants in Kota Kinabalu (KK) can pass the stringent standard of their taste buds, especially housewives who dislike restaurants that use excessive Ajinomoto.

One of my favorite Chinese restaurants is New WK Restaurant or New Wong Kwok (??????? in Chinese) in Luyang, KK. The photo above looks empty because we went there earlier to avoid the peak hours (or we had to stand to wait for our turn).

The restaurant is super-efficient. Our food arrived in 10 minutes, as if they knew what we would order.

The first dish I strongly recommend is the Fried Prawn with Salted Egg Yolk (???? in Chinese). The prawns are covered in creamy and aromatic egg yolk sauce. I chewed slowly and wishes this taste could stay longer in my mouth. My family agrees that this dish is more delicious than Butter Prawns, which is used to be our favorite.

The dish costs RM45 (≈USD15), quite pricey. I hoped the prawns are bigger. It’s a must-try of New WK Restaurant anyway.

I also like their Pork Belly Meat with Blueberry Sauce (???? in Chinese). It tastes like crunchy pork jerky covered by honey. It is interesting to see them cooking the meat with grapes.

This belly meat dish costs RM28 (≈USD9.33).

To balance our diet, we order “Sabah Vegetable” (????? in Chinese) for RM15 (≈USD5). I don’t like most vegetables, this Sabah vege is one of the exceptions. Probably it has no “smell of grass” commonly found in other vege.

Next is Braised Beancurb with Seafood in Claypot (????? in Chinese). Not bad. Everything is “smooth” and soft in this claypot, the bean curb (tofu), mushroom, fish slices.. RM30 (≈USD10) per dish, a very fulfilling serving.

Chinese who dines in Cantonese style must have soup. We ordered Double Boiled Whole Winter Melon Soup (????? in Chinese) for RM35 (≈USD11.70).

Winter melon is used very oftenly in broth, as it enhances the taste of meat. The restaurant added fish maw to this soup too.

Overall it was a great dinner. The bill cames and it costed RM170.40 (≈USD56.80) (Note: prices as of Dec 2012), after adding the fees of pickles / peanuts (appetizer), steamed white rice, Chinese tea, fruit dessert (papaya & watermelon slices), 6% government tax and 4% service charge, besides all the dish mentioned earlier. Quite a reasonable price for 5 adults and 2 children.

How to Get There

Now you know where to bring your family for dinner for the coming holiday. The opening hours of New WK Restaurant are 7am-2pm and 6pm-10pm daily (include holiday). Below is their address and contact:

Address: Lot 4, 5 & 6, Wisma HCS, Jalan Kolam, Luyang, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Tel: +60 88-217278, +60 16-7101728 (Mobile Phone)

The location map of New WK Restaurant (???????):

View My Sabah Map in a larger map

The restaurant has two floors, each floor can host about 100 guests. It is spacious and clean. I like its interior design with nice ambience. This restaurant is also a popular spot for Dim-Sum breakfast on weekends.

Do you know any other nice Chinese restaurants for family dinner in KK? Please share with me.

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Fishing at Mantanani Island

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Travel guides to Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Tag Archives: seafood

Sandakan Central Market

Ground Floor

First Floor

Second Floor

Nom Nom Sabah Food at Sim-Sim Water Village

7th Bridge (or Lorong G)

8th Bridge

Other Sandakan Food

Kim Fung Night Market of Sandakan City

What and Where to Eat in Semporna

1. Mabul Café & Seafood Restaurant

2. Ocean Treasure Live Seafood Restaurant

3. Pearl City Restaurant

4. Semporna Weekend Market

Giant Grouper, the ultimate seafood of Sabah

Kedai Makan Gembira (大家乐茶餐室)

Sabah’s Best Dried Seafood in Tawau Tanjung Market

How to get there

New WK Restaurant (Luyang) of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

How to Get There

Fishing at Mantanani Island