Cascading Aquariums

Sabah, also known as The Land Below The Wind, is the northern most state of Malaysia. Situated at the northern part of the Borneo Island, two third of Sabah’s border is made up of coastal land. The west coast of Sabah is washed by the waters of South China Sea, and the north-Sulu Sea and while the east coast-the Celebes Sea.

With its unique geographical location and the many islands surrounding Sabah, corals and a vast ecosystem of wetlands have enriched it surrounding with abundant of marine life. With all this natural element in place, fishermen in Sabah are constantly supplying the local markets with plenty of fresh seafood.

sedco complex

Read the rest of this entry at www.beautifulkk.com/kota Kinabalu a Seafood Paradise

vegas bar & grill interior

A warm and relaxed atmosphere are what one feels the moment one steps into Vegas Bar & Grill. It has a simple but well planned interior, that used warm lights and rattans chair with red ribbon to brighten up the main section of the room. While the window tables and seats adopted a different setting from the main section, and two tables are located at the corner for those who need a bit of privacy.

prawn cocktail

Western cuisine is the main fare on the menu at Vegas Bar & Grill. Beef, chicken, fish and lamb are the few selection for one to choose from. Salads, soups, appetizers, burgers, and sandwiches, are served here. There are also some hawker style cooking like fried noodle and fried rice.

vegas bar & grill

Vegas Bar & Grill is located at ground floor of the Multi Storey Carpark Complex at Jalan Damai Point, which is just next to the Damai Commercial Centre. From Kota Kinabalu City to the Damai Commercial Centre will take about 10 to 15 minutes drive depending on the traffic.

another section of vegas bar & grill

Some sample main fare from the Vegas Bar & Grill menu:

Beef
Grilled Prime Sirloin Strip
Served with Penny Pasta, seasonal vegetables in red wine reduction.

Grilled Red Eye Pepper Steak
Grilled to perfection with cracker peppercorns, wild mushroom ragout, potatoes

Chicken
Deep Fried Chicken Chop
Served with sauted cauliflowers, french beans, buttons mushroom, and garlic potatoes in brown sauce.

Pan Roasted Herbs Chicken
A whole chunky thigh of chicken marinated in dry herbs served with homemade corn mashed potatoes, grilled local vegetables in masa broth sauce.

Lamb
Grilled lamb chop
Served with sauted seasonal garden vegetables and fingerling garlic potatoes in Rosemary Lamb jus.

grilled lamb chop

Seafood
Grilled Pepper Salmon Fillet
Served with garlic rice and assorted vegetables in citrus honey sauce.

grilled pepper salmon fillet

The salads on the Vegas Bar and Grill menu are Crispy Field Green Salad, Chef Salad, Bell Potato Salad, Caesar’s Salad, and Prawn Cocktail.

caesar’s salad

prawn fritters

Vegas Bar & Grill
Lot 32, Ground Floor, Multi Storey Carpark Complex,
Jalan Damai Point, Kota Kinabalu.
Tel: 6088 538 915 Fax: 6088 538 914

Business Hours: 8am to 2am Daily

little italy front entrance

Without a doubt, Little Italy is the most popular Italian restaurant in Kota Kinabalu. Come lunch and dinner time Little Italy is always packed with KKlites and tourists alike. The pasta and pizza here are so delicious that customers always comeback for more.

gamberi fettuccine with prawn

Located on the ground floor of Capital Hotel, and situated at a corner of one of KK city most busy traffic lights, Little Italy does have a very strategic position. While the others two corners are occupied by Wisma Merdeka and Wisma Sabah, both places are popular shopping centres and offices. Take a seat at the veranda of Little Italy and get a glimpse of life in Kota Kinabalu City, where people walk up and down going about with their businesses.

little italy outside area

fettuccine with carbonara

Beef, Chicken and Seafood are the main selection of dishes in Little Italy. Most of the ingredients used to prepare the food is imported, and only the fresh seafood is from the local markets. Little Italy has its own factory to prepare their own pasta, and has a variety of pastas to choose from. There are also many different sauces like bolognese, carbonara, gamberi and many others to choose from to go with pasta of your choice.

ravioli beef with bolognese

The ravioli beef with Bolognese is very tasty. There are other type of ravioli, like ravioli chicken, ravioli with spinach and cheese, and ravioli mushroom.

little italy – interior

The interior of Little Italy has a European style, giving us a feel as if we are in Europe somewhere. Even though Little Italy has only opened for a few years it has already won numerous awards, including the Best Restaurant by Sabah Tourism. Some staffs said “nobody is allowed to walk out of the restaurant unhappy, that’s an order from the boss”. No wonder the service here is so excellent.

zuppadi di mare

The Zuppadi Di Mare is a highly recommended dish here, it has scallop, prawn, squid and pasta with a tomato base soup. There are also a few different salads to choose from.

di cesare salad

Pizza is a plenty in Little Italy, the choice for selection on their menu is mind searching. Alla Salciccia, Bianca, Quattro Stagioni, Marinara, Tono Cipolla E Peperoncino, are just some of the Italian pizza names here. A selcetion of beef, chicken, seafood, vegetable, and cheese for the topping, and Little Italy uses a thin tasty pizza crust.

marinara pizza

Do come to Little Italy for a good Italian food feast; like the staffs said the boss will not let us walk out unhappy, satisfaction guaranteed.

“kim hiong” fried crabs

“Kim Hiong” is a wonderful sauce that cooked with a mixture of ingredients, like curry powder, curry leaf, grounded dry shrimp and eggs. “Kim Hiong” sauce can be used to fry prawns and fish. Here we have Kim Hiong sauce on fried crabs, the out come is finger licking good, yummy.

gayang seafood restaurant entrance

Gayang Seafood Restaurant is another popular venue for kklites to enjoy great seafood dinner with friends and family. Spacious and open air dinner hall is the landmark of Gayang Seafood Restaurant, and this is another reasonable price seafood restaurant. To get here, travel north on Jalan Sulaman, and turn in at the next junction on the left after passing Salut Seafood Restaurant. The journey takes about 25 minutes from Kota Kinabalu City.

live mantis prawns

Wonder why the Mantis Prawns are kept individually in a Coke bottle? This is to prevent them from fighting with each other, so that the beauty of the prawns are kept in place. Like any other seafood restaurants Gayang Seafood Restaurant specialises in fresh seafood that is right out of the aquariums. Live fishes, tiger prawns, crabs and clams are available for customers to select, before they go into the wok.

live sea produces

dinning hall

Gayang Seafood Restaurant is a wooden structure with stilts that was built on a swampy area and during high tide the building look like it is floating on the sea. Patrons can enjoy the sea breeze and steep in the beauty of the mangrove swamp surrounding the Gayang Seafood Restaurant.

An Overview of Gayang Seafood Restaurant Dinning Hall

There are also private rooms with air-condition for patrons who need a bit more privacy. Only two rooms are made for this purpose, one that seats 30 persons and the smaller one can seat 20 persons. Patrons only need to pay an extra charge to secure the private rooms, to avoid any disappointment do call in early for reservation.

wet butter prawns

The ever popular butter prawns, cooked with butter and eggs, has a very tasty sauce.

nyonya sauce with steamed talapia


lemon chicken

Chicken and beef dishes are also available and there are lot of vegetables to choose from. This restaurant serves no pork.

mushroom and vegetable with oyster sauce

Other than serving great seafood, Gayang Seafood Restaurant also commences a great view of the surrounding mangrove swamp.

A View from Gayang Seafood Restaurant

Gayang Seafood Restaurant,
Kampung Baharu, Jalan Sulaman,
Tuaran, Sabah, Malaysia.
tel: +6088 229 066

Business Hour: 11am to 10pm, daily.

ngau chap be hon

Mention about Menggatal town, many kklites will start thinking of Nyuk Pau Kopitiam. This Kopitiam serves mouth watering Ngau Chap and especially the Ngau Chap soup which is very tasty. For Ngau Chap lovers, this shop is highly recommended.

Menggatal is about 20 minutes drive from Kota Kinabalu City, two roads lead to the destination, Jalan Sulaman or Tuaran Road. There are only about 10 to 15 blocks of shoplot in this small town. The shops here are nothing to shout about, most of these shops supplying daily commodities for the surrounding consumers.

to fu with mince beef

Tofu with minced beef is one of Nyuk Pau Kopitiam specials. There are not many places to find Tofu with minced beef, as most people make Tofu stuffs with pork meat or fish meat. Therefore Tofu with minced beef can be considered as a kind of rarity. Well Nyuk Pau Kopitiam is the only one that has Tofu with minced beef in their menu, that I know about. One must give this Tofu with minced beef a try if one ever ventures to Menggatal township.

nyuk pau kopitiam

Through words of mouth, I have come across this shop some 20 years ago. Nyuk Pau has moved a few times over the years, all in the vicinity of Menggatal township. Always look for the Nyuk Pau Restaurant logo, so that one gets the right shop. Business hours is from 7am to 3pm daily

nyuk pau kopitiam able chef

ngau chap soup

Lastly, many of us come back to Nyuk Pau Kopitiam, is because of the Ngau Chap Soup served here. The soup comes with a special flavour, cooked with the in house Nyuk Pau Recipe, which gives the soup a strong smell of cow. It takes hours to prepare this soup, the chef has to start as early as 5am in the morning. Tripe, beef balls, tendons are some of the goodies one finds inside a bowl of Ngau Chap Soup.

triple, chewy beef ball, beef slices

Ngau Chap is no doubt one of the most popular breakfast for us, KKlites.

deep fried chicken & roasted pork

This hugely popular chicken & roasted pork rice kopitiam is always packed with people during lunch hours. The deep fried chicken, roasted pork, roasted ribs and the ever delicious “sau nyuk”, are all sold out every day. Come early if “sau nyuk” is the main order, to avoid any disappointment.

ho kee’s chicken & roasted pork rice

“Ho Kee” is just a small store operating within Kedai Kopi Gunung Emas, and the business hours is from 11am to 2pm. Many people come for the take away too, and also be prepared to wait for a seat whenever one decides to come for a treat at “Ho Kee”. The location of this kopitiam is at Bornion Commercial Centre, at the back of Milimewa Supermarket, about 10 minutes drive from Kota Kinabalu City along Jalan Kolam.

“sau nyuk”

“Sau Nyuk” is a roasted pork with crispy skin, takes about 3 to 4 hours to prepare, and special recipe and skill are needed to roast this “Sau Nyuk” to perfection. Too much heat or burn too long will destroy the crispy pork skin.

crowded kopitiam

roasted pork ribs

Roasted Pork Ribs are just chunk of pork ribs, that are marinated with special sauce and roasted with hot charcoal. The Roasted Pork Ribs taste sweet and yummy.

chaz sau the chef

Chaz Sau, the ever friendly chef, has been running this store for almost 20 years now, and during this time Chaz Sau has built up a healthy group of clients. Many clients has eaten here as a school boy and girl, and many as an adult still fondly come back for the chicken and roasted pork rice regularly.

butter prawn

Butter Prawn in dry or wet sauce is a hugely popular dish for seafood lovers in Kota Kinabalu. Dip the prawn into the butter garvy, and this makes the prawn taste so delicious. Another popular prawn dish is the simple and tasty Steamed Fresh Prawns.

Lives flowers lobsters, elephant trunks, and clams, are ready to be order and make into wonderful dishes to satisfy our taste bud. There are also live fish for sale here.

new gaya seafood restaurant

KKlites love seafood, that’s why we have so many seafood restaurants in and around Kota Kinabalu City. New Gaya Seafood Restaurant is located about 15 mintues drive away from the city, at a surburb call Inanam. The price of seafood here is consider reasonable and more budget compares with the top end Seafood Restaurants in the City. This restaurant does not served pork.

an interior view

New Gaya Seafood Restaurant has an open air atmosphere with about 50 tables, big and small. There also a room with air-condition that can seat about 60 persons.

steamed talipia

deep fried crabs

ginger venison

sweet potato shoots


hot steamy rice

All these delicious dishes and couple with a bowl of hot steamy rice, are surely going to make one stomach full.

New Gaya Seafood Restaurant
Lot A & B, Wisma Lucky Centre, Jalan Kianson,
88450 Inanam, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Tel: +6088 426 o75/76/77 (3 lines)

coffee and toast bread with butter and kaya

Original coffee from the colonial time, and the ever popular toast bread with butter and kaya, these two items are the most memorial food and drink from the Olde Station Kopitiam. These two are also the must have products here.

the olde station kopitiam

Walk into any Olde Station Kopitiams and immediately one is overwhelm with the strong smell of burn charcoal. The burn charcoals are still used to toast the white bread here.
The Olde Station Kopitiam has already opened 2 outlets in Kota Kinabalu, one in City Mall and another one in Warisan Square. The third Olde Station Kopitiam is scheduled to open in 1Borneo on March 2008.

nasi lemak with curry chicken

nasi lemak with beef rendang

Nasi Lemak and Laksa are the two traditional local dishes served in the Olde Station Kopitiam. Local traditional ingredients are used to make these simple yet tasty meals. If one likes hot and spicy food then one can go for the Nasi Lemak Beef Rendang or the Nasi Lemak Curry Chicken. Laska is also another spicy dish.

curry laksa with curry chicken

the odle days on the wall

Black wooden chairs and tables set up the interior, this gives a feel that one is back in the kopitaim of 1950s.

kuey teow soup with shredded chicken

house special u-don

Main Course at RM 6.90, and there are also set meals, one main course plus a drink, for RM 8.30 only. Coffee and toast bread at RM 3.60.

nagasaki japanese restaurant

On the busy and buzzing street of Kota Kinabalu financial area, where the power house bankers, like HSBC and Standard Charter Bank, carry out their businesses, lies this cosy Nagasaki Japanese Restaurant. Located at the corner of the old warehouses, this restaurant offers a quiet and cooling sanctuary for lunch and dinner.

restaurant main entrance

Nagasaki Japanese Restaurant looks much like the others Japanese Restaurants that I have visited before. Here the interior is nice, clean, and simple.

interior setting

bar counter

We had lunch here, and the meal starts with an appetise, which is a simple half boil eggs.

appetise

The main meal today is the “Lion Set Meal”, which consists of Gyuniku Shiogayaki (New Zealand beef with ginger sauce), Sawara teriyaki (Spanish Mackeral grilled with teriyaki sauce), Kaki age (deep fried seafood and vegetable), and Kurage su (Japanese style jelly fish).

lions set meal

We also had Futomuki Sushi (sushi rice with assorted fillings, rolled in a sheet of “nori”), Unagi Sushi (eel fish), and end with fruits dessert. Is the food good? Yes! very tasty and the bills add up to a total of RM 65.55 with service and tax.

sushi on boat (futomuki sushi)

unagi sushi

desert

Business Hours:

11am to 2:15pm (last order)

6pm to 10pm (last order)

No 19, Jalan Hj Saman

88000 Kota Kinabalu.

Tel: 6088 216 623

jacs’ pork mixed noodle RM 4.50

Jacs Besthings, a corner shop, is located at Block D of Damai Commerial Centre. Another way of locating Jacs Besthings is looked out for the 88 lottery shop, which is opposite to the Damai Post Office. 88 lottery shop is on the same block with Jacs Besthings, only that Jacs Besthings is at the other end.

jacs besthings kopitiam

“Chu Chap”, which means pork mixed, is the only specialty served in this Kopitiam, and this pork mixed is very tasty. “Chu Chap” is a mixture of meat, meat ball, pork’s intestine, meat with egg rolls and serves in soup. This Kopitiam also serves their food in these nice looking Chinas (below), most Kopitiams have turned to plastics this day, serving food with China is getting rare in Kota Kinabalu.

real china

interior setting of jacs besthings

One can order the “Chu Chap” either with dry noodle or with noodle on soup, and there a choice of substituting the noodle with either “Be Hon” or “Kui Tiau”. Sound complicating, I hope not. Both the “Be Hon” and “Kui Tiau” are made by rice flour, and both are white in colour.

mixed pork in soup

pork oil with fried onion

The pork oil comes for cooked meat. Mixed the pork’s oil with fried onion, and these two combine to form a potent compound. Now one can mix this potent compound into the dry noodle to make it tastes even better, and one can also mix it to the “Chu Chap” soup. Yummy fills my mind when I type these words.

dry noodle with black sauce