Kota Kinabalu Part 3 - Seafood

(Doctor's warning - Do not read this blog if you are hungry.)

Friends who came back from KK praised about its seafood. Fresh and exotic seafood at an affordable price. So I went there with an anticipation of great seafood feasts.

My colleague, Marcus, recommended me to Sedco Square. It's just about 5 minutes stroll from Wawasan Square. There are about 4 seafood restaurants at Sedco Square, each dominating a section of the square with different color table cloth marking their respective territory. I chosed Suang Tain (literally Twin Sky in chinese) Restaurant.















The live seafood are kept in the aquariums and you can choose your own fish. I didn't bother to because I can't even differentiate one from the other.














The first fish the waitress recommended was "Surn Hock" (don't know the English name). Known for its expensive pricing, I asked her what else were available. She recommended the "Lou Shu Pan" (literally Mouse Grouper). Wow, the pattern of her recommendation is from the highest price downwards. I settled for a steamed "7 Sing Pan" (literally 7 Star Grouper), deep fried calamari and a local vegetable stir fried in belacan.













































I'm not a fish person. Period.
I normally don't take fish. It's not that I hate fish, but I am kind of scared of its bones (especially those tiny little bones). But the "7 Sing Pan" was good. The meat was very tender, juicy and fresh. I've never eaten so much fish in a day. Blurrp...

The calamari was a bit too dry and could have a little more salt. The vege was good. Apparently it is a common dish in Sabah. We were so full that the two of us could not even take any dessert.














The damage? RM130 for 3 dishes and rice plus drinks. Ok, I won't contend with the freshness of KK's seafood but affordable??? The "7 Sing Pan" is priced at RM14 per 100gram (I'm not sure how much is the price back here in KL). But then again, to be fair, this is a tourist spot and they also provide some cultural performance for the customers.















The next day, we went to visit my aunt in Menggatal, about 15 minutes drive from KK city centre. For dinner, my cousins brought us to Gayang Seafood Restaurant at Kg Salut. Don't ask me how to get there, I think it's quite near to the Nexus Karambunai Resort.














The restaurant is actually on stilts and during high tide, the sea water is underneath it. It's a halal restaurant and there are many customers of different races patronising it. Of course, there's also a karaoke stage (bad idea this one...)





























For starter, we had 1kg steam prawns. That was delicious!!! The aroma of freshly steamed prawn was tentalising and with chili sauce as dips, it was heaven. Then we had ginger fried fresh scallop, some kind of shelled clam cooked in dried chili (very succulent), Teochew-styled steamed fish, deep fried soft shell crab (this is yummy!!!), curry crab and again, the local vege in belacan. The food was so good that I've forgotten to take pictures.

Clockwise: Fish, Vege in belacan, Softshell Crab and Shelled Clam.














Fish and Curry Crab.














Scallop and Vege. (Prawns all gone, sorry.)














This place was awesome. Apart from the vege which was overcook and a little burnt, the rest were fabulous. The price? Only RM275 for 8 adults with rice, tidbits, coconut and fruit juices!!! Alright, alright. I take my word back. KK's seafood is fresh and affordable, only if you know where to go.

****************************************

Apart from the seafood, we also went to Tu Long Restaurant, a shanghai themed restaurant serving "siau long pau" and "la mian". Yes, it's another i-Dragon wannabe and it's just at the ground floor of Wawasan Square.















The decoration inside is quite exquisite, with dragon motives on the wall.














Tidbits - Stewed peanuts














The "Siau Long Pau" (literally Little Dragon Bun)














Dried La Mian with minced meat














Soup La Mian














Steamed Wan Ton in chili sauce














Sze Chuan Hot & Sour La Mian














Deep fried pork ribs















****************************************

We also went out to have our breakfast at local Kopitiam. Typically old school Kopitiam, where a shoplot (normally corner lot) with one or two food stall inside. Not like those in KL, where the food stalls are aplenty and customers are spoilt for choices. And the price is higher in KK too. A normal small bowl of noodle is about RM4 (RM5 for large) and a glass of tea is about RM1.70 to RM2.00.

Prawn mee














Beef noodle














Pork noodle














Kuching laksa














That's all for this entry. Please wipe off the saliva from your lips.

Stay tune for next Part 4.

Links to Part 1 and Part 2.