HALAL

An up-market village, if I may say so. In simple, sleek black wood interior with touches of gold-coloured finishing that are accentuated by clever lighting, this restaurant carries the best concept among all the other food outlets at 1Borneo Hypermall. It was enough to tempt us to walk in even though the restaurant was deprived of bustling customers one would expect from every Penang-themed F&B outlets.

Alas! Penangites would probably cry foul, stomp their feet and bang the tables demanding for refund and removal of the word ‘Penang’ if they ever do take a bite at this food joint, which serves food that is no where close to the distinct flavours of Penang.

We were hungry, tired and desperate for good food. So imagine our frustration when we had to wait more than 20 minutes for our food and drinks even though the restaurant only had three tables of customers of which customers at the other two tables were already eating when we sat down. The halal Lobak was pretty alright except for the sweet sauce that they drizzled over the meat which totally killed the appetiser. The deep-fried bean sprouts with carrots and spring onion was rather oily and tasteless. You must take it with the dry satay sauce.

Every other dish was averagely bad including the relatively easy dish, Sweet & Sour Fish. It reminded me of the instant sweet & sour sauce so generously used for all the sweet & sour meals at a Chinese takeaway shop in UK where I used to work when I was a student. Price wise, they have set menus starting from RM29.90 onwards. I’ve read of rave reviews on other franchise outlets in Klang Valley. I must try them out one of these days. It can’t be all that bad, can it?

Where to Eat: Penang Village, Lot C308 – C309, Concourse Floor, 1Borneo Hypermall, Jalan Sulaman, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Apparently kelapa bakar (roasted coconut) and coconut jelly are some of Sabah’s specialties. We stopped by this stall on our way back from Nexus Karambunai for some fresh coconut juice and home-made coconut jelly. The kelapa bakar looked curiously tempting but I wasn’t in the mood for adventure especially after a heavy meal so we skipped the black, wood-burnt coconuts.

The jelly taste pretty much like our home-made version of agar-agar gula melaka with coconut except this one is without the gula melaka and slightly richer with coconut milk. I actually find it to be a little bland without gula melaka eventhough it’s sweetened.

The stall also sells lokan panggang (grilled clams), lokan mentah (raw clams), rice, soto ayam and home-made crackers. We bought the crackers to munch while on our journey to the airport. Good stuff.

This picture was taken at Tanjung Aru beachside. Peter’s friend drove us here for drinks just before I checked in at the airport. A pretty convenient way to serve coconut juice!

NON-HALAL

Who would have guessed that out of all places in Malaysia, the best and the most authentic Hong Kong-style cafe can be found right smack at Kota Kinabalu’s new landmark, the 1Borneo Hypermall.

We didn’t have the chance to try out the tea time snacks even though we’ve been going back to this restaurant almost on a daily basis during our 6-day visit to Kota Kinabalu. The sad news is, we were prepped up in 1Borneo Hypermall from 10 to 10 daily due to work obligations, with no opportunity to venture out onto the streets of Kota Kinabalu city except for the last day.

One glance at the restaurant and one might have expected the menu to resemble Kim Gary’s mundane overpriced choice of food but as soon as you flip open the menu, you’d be greeted by so many delicious pictures, you won’t even be able to decide what to eat.

I didn’t try any of their rice options because the noodles were so good I didn’t mind eating the same dish for both lunch and dinner.

The mixed meat wonton noodle is really tasty. Their top selling point is really in their noodles. The wonton noodles resemble closely to Hong Kong’s version – cooked al dente which makes it crunchy and chewy. The serving portion is very generous too. The only setback was they didn’t serve any wonton with the noodles, you’ll have to order them separately.

The Special Shredded Pork Meat Sauce Spinach Noodle was a disappointment at first glance. However, once I mixed them up, I found the dish to be relatively good. The shredded pork was more like diced pork with sweet sauce that  had a similar taste to the fillings of char siew pao, but the mushroom carried a different aftertaste, perhaps a pinch of Chinese 5-spice seasoning mix in pork broth.  I really couldn’t tell. I guess that’s why it’s called ‘special sauce’. All these mixed with the saltiness from the black sauce and spicy chilli oil made it oh-so-yummy down the the last strand of noodle.

Ashley had the fish version but I forgot to ask her about it. Looks delicious nonetheless.

At RM6.80 a bowl, the Fook Chow Fishball Seaweed Soup is a good deal. Filled with tasty minced pork and preserved vegetable, and garnished with lots of sesame seeds and chopped spring onions, the fish balls are surprisingly, very filling. Well, they are definitely not as good as the ones I’ve tried in Taiwan but still, fresh and tasty.

What I really like about this place is that it’s authentically Chinese. No slacks in ingredients. You get tasty roast pork instead of cheap sausages, Chinese fast food with a serving size that is worth the value you’re paying for and delectably familiar dishes that are not reinvented into stylish fusion names.

Go there during lunch hour between 12pm -3pm to enjoy the set lunch promotion at only RM9.90.

Where to eat: Hong Kong Recipe, G – 823, 1 Borneo Hypermall, Jalan Sulaman, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.