Tasty Drink House

Tasty Drink House is located somewhere in the heart of town, I have to admit that you will need a sharp eye to spot this shop. It's at a corner, behind Sandakan Foto and next to AIA Building. It's really a small corner, it can be call as a stall not a 'drink house' as it does not provide any place to sit at all. It's like a take-away counter. Kinda hard to notice actually. It's really a small shop that sells drinks and ice cream. They used to sell sandwiches. Not sure if they do now or not. Their sandwiches are superb too.

Vanilla Ice-cream

They usually serve vanilla, rarely chocolate but anyways this is different from you ordinary soft ice cream. I love how milky it is - yeah, just like eating milk ice cream! ><>

QQ Ice

Unable to tolerate the ultra hot sizzling weather of Sandakan? Quench your thirst easily at QQ Ice! This is my survival kit here because I get so hot and thirsty all the time and just wanted to look for something nice but not too expensive. However nowadays I limit myself with the amount of cups I drink per week because of the fear of my health.....but that's just me! (if you are in Sandakan for just 1 week, WHY NOT SPAM DRINK :p)

Anyways back to the point. QQ Ice is located at one of the corners in the centre of Mile 4 Indah (Head towards inside Indah's roundabout and spin your way~ and there you will see it)

Variety of drinks with pearls
Asides from the original Pearl (Milky) Tea, you can have your pearls with other teas or drinks such as Red Tea, Green Tea, Ice Blended drinks, Juices. Or you can even order any type of drinks with added black jelly, magic jelly, etc.. Play with the combination!

I still like my rm2.50 Pearl Tea best
The pearl is not sweet and chewy enough for me. It's not easy to find a nice big cup of Pearl Tea with only rm2.50 outside of Sandakan.. (i think)

Ps ; I do prefer Pearl Tea here over Cool City :p



-emq-

Mile 4 Market Tau Fu Fa

Tau Fu Fa is a cantonese name for soybean custard/beancurd/douhua. For all that dont know, it's basically like a soft tofu, usually eaten with either sugar water or soybean. In places like Sichuan they eat it with chili oil and soysauce (don't ask, i have no idea does it how it taste like TT).

In Malaysia itself, it is usually eaten with clear sugar syrup, black sugar syrup or soybean milk. As for Sandakan itself (or at least this store here itself), it is served with or without the clear sugar syrup.

This is the near perfect tau fu fa that you can find in Sandakan Mile 4 market (Pasar Kim Fung). I have been eating it since i was a little kid and it is only after I have been tau fu fa deprived, and tried other tau fu fa that i can finally appreciate how smooth and fresh this tau fu fa really is.

This store also sells other chinese desserts such as..................... (i'll get back to you once i remembered ^^;;)

Tau Fu Fa

This stall is located next to the char siew, and siew yuk in Mile 4 market.
It is kept warm in this huge container and you can either eat it there warm
or dapao it and bring it home and serve it chilled :D
Or, you can dapao it home and serve it with evaporated milk :P

Dapao-ed Tau Fu Fa

Alternatively, you can bring your own container and dapao the Tau Fu Fa
It's healthier because plastic bags aren't that good for storing hot food.

Seriously smooth and slippery Tau Fu Fa

Just as a comparison, have you ever heard of the Funny Mountain Soybean curd that is located in Ipoh?

Funny Mountain
Packed with human beeline all the time and is recognized by the 2 stripy green umbrellas located outside of the shop

Dapao-ed Funny Mountain Tau Fu Fa!
Sorry for the ugly image of it, the car ride was bumpy ^^;;

It is really famous and it got featured in the newspaper but personally after tasting it, I still think that this Sandakan Tau Fu Fa is smoother in comparison. Now don't flame me Ipoh people, I am just stating what my mouth registered :P. Nowww, anyone is welcomed to fly to Sandakan and try this soybean curd and if you still think that the one in Ipoh is smoother offfff course I will let you win hehe

-EMQ-

UFO tarts

Sandakan speciality:

(UFO from Kelly Bakery)

UFO, or ngau si dui (cow dung cake), or there might be some other names that you call it. We've talked about it here and here. Nothing comprehensive; have yet to really look for it - too busy, or
our timing are always off. There are quite a number of places offering this piece of delicacy. You can mostly find them at old coffee shops which sells breads, cakes and pastry items.

UFO cake/tarts or whatever you describe it is actually a thin piece of cake with some pastry cream on top and topped with meringue ( Egg whites ). The process is not as easy as it seems (or maybe it is) So it is somehow savoury and sweet at the same time. Soft and fluffy sponge cake with smooth pastry cream and light meringue. How great is that. Despite all the things I've said, I am unable to provide all the locations where this little jewel can be found, thus;I shall update on locations of UFO next time, or you can just ask us- we know some of them.

Never did I know that our own Sandakan only pastry managed to make it overseas. Yes, over sea. There is this lady selling UFO tarts in Singapore.For more information, head to her site =)

The Boss Fast Food & Juice House

I do not intend to criticize but this is by far the worst place I've ever been to for tea. Literally 'tea' as it is usually referred as yum cha by locals and chinese. The Boss Fast Food & Juice House is located at Indah, just behind Hong Leong Bank (the ex- A&W location), opposite Parkwell Supermarket. It is pretty noticeable cause the signboard is black and the text is in red. Striking.

Went there a couple days ago with some friends around 4pm. We do not want to have anything heavy hence plan to order some snacks, but the price for the among is not that worth it, and in the end we ordered the following :

Salted Plum Drink
This is the worst salted plum I've ever drank. I don't know, it seems that this is just a cup of salt water with some ice and the plum we saw is for decoration. Like seriously. My friend did not touch it after the first sip.

Plain Water
Yes, a normal sky juice. I'm not sure of the taste, but the cup is obviously so dirty that your mind would tell you that it is dangerous to drink this. You might not notice it but the bottom and the sides of the cup is dirty and yellow. Too lazy to scrub the cup?

Lime Juice
What can ever go wrong with this simple beverage? Wrong. Despite having so much of it in the glass, I hardly tasted any lime. Okay, it might be exaggerating, there are SOME taste.

French Fries
Believe it or not, this thing cost us RM3. Like seriously, that portion. Hotel rates are not even at that standard whereby this portion charged at the price. The fries are not being fried 'properly' it is soft and not even hot when served. Terrible.

I went to this place before and you can read about it here and it was decent during that time and I am not sure what happened with the kitchen. Staff wise, I do not enjoy their service. Their rice items used to be average. I'm not sure about it now. But if you ask me will I come again? It's obvious.Although I MIGHT, come back to try out their cooked dishes.

Rating.. how to rate?

1 Nation Restaurant Sdn Bhd

Face it, who doesn't like to indulge with desserts especially after dinner. Desserts are so wonderful where it suits every single age group. And so, we went to this place to try out their ABC.

ABC is Ais Batu Campur or sometimes known as Ais Kacang Which literally means mixed ice. Mixed ice is a simple desserts where the main ingredients are shaved ice,milk (condensed milk), palm sugar(gula melaka), or sometimes syrup. Traditionally, just like the name it is just shaved ice and beans but now,the condiments ranged from various jellies to ice creams, syrups and fruits. Basically it is something that can be mixed with almost anything.

Our destination to try out their ABC

Shaved ice with Fruits
As you can see, there are various types of item in here.
Red bean, corn, longan, papaya, honey dew and water melon
served with condensed milk and strawberry syrup on top while underneath the whole pile of stuff is the palm sugar.
Sweet? It varies as the among of ice is so much, sometimes it is hardly too sweet for anyone. As I said, it depends though.

ABC with Ice cream
Note the huge bowl. It is really so deep and big and to be honest, I did not finish this. It's too much to handle after a great dinner.

As you can see, you can't actually see any fruits. I did not order any fruits in here, hence this is just ABC with jellies and ice cream. Various jellies are found here together with sweet corn and red bean.

Again, I'm sure the size of the ice cream do catch your attention. Yes, instead of 1 scoop which usually most place cater, they serve 2 scoop of ice cream. This is strawberry flavour. However, I don't fancy this ice cream. It's very rough, I can taste the powder in it, very powdery not smooth at all. I hope they can improve over time.

The verdict? Yes, the portion is very big and I bet 1 bowl can be share with 2-3 persons. It's bigger than Restaurant Yum Yum2. Taste wise, I still prefer the latter. It is not to say that this place is bad, it's just that I don't like the ice cream here.

This place don't just serve ABC, they have a lot of choices to choose from, I mean food. 1 Nation Restaurant is located at Prima Jaya, just enter the junction towards Taman Tinosan. It is just located north east (2 o'clock) of Restaurant Yum Yum 2.

I'll rate it 4 over 5.

-Unable to generate a map from google map, Sandakan map is not updated-

-Tsa-

Restaurant Yum Yum 2

Went to this place before, but just that I kinda like this place. The food is fine and the price is too. This place is forever flooded with people. I sort of blogged about this place before. You can read about it here.

Yin Yong
Yin Yong is a popular beverage from Hong Kong. It's actually a mixture of coffee and Hong Kong style milk tea. Unfortunately, I have to say this is the worst Yin Yong I've ever tried. No offence, but yeah, it's my opinion. The tea is too thin, milk is too thick. Coffee..where?

Fish Glue Soup

It's the name from the menu. But dear readers, it is actually fish maw. Fish maw or usually known as yue piu in cantonese. Hence this is the famous yue piu kang (Fish maw thick soup)
This restaurant's fish maw soup is nice. I'd say 8 out of 10. Not bad. I kinda like it.

Fish maw is it's actually the air bladder of the fish to keep it's buoyancy. It's from the fish stomach. As you can see, they put generous amount of fish maw and crab meat of course. It's sweet and just right. I compliment their stock on doing this. Worth trying.

Sweet Corn with Crab Meat Soup
I have to say it is not as nice as their fish glue soup. I think Hawaii served sweet corn soup better. The amount of crab meat is there, it's just the sweet corn, does not made the soup sweet as it should be. It tasted kinda artificial.

Green Apple Chicken Rice
If i ever remember the name correctly, that's what it should be. Green apple sauce! hah! Okay, it's the first time I saw it. Taste? Sort of like Thai-style chicken with green colourings. It taste wonderful nonetheless. Worth trying.

Garlic and Shallots Chicken Rice
Again, if my memory serves me right. The garlic and shallots are fragrant. I like it, but I'd prefer it's not that thick. Too thick for my liking. Garlic are fried to crisp.Shallots are saute till it fragrant. Shallots and garlics are best friend in the vegetable world I think.

Yang Chau Styled Fried Rice
I blogged about this earlier, but yeah, I used to enjoy this dish a lot but it's kinda a let down during this time around. It's tasteless. Yes, it's just like fried rice with egg without any seasoning, so to speak. The previous time I visited, this is very appetizing. Oh well, I think it depends on luck? Still, the prawns are still big and fresh and yes the rice is coated with the wok's 'smell'

Conclusion, again, I'd like to come back to this place again. I ordered a Herbal Chicken, but I've blogged about it and it's still the same. Rich in chinese herbs. Very appetizing. I recommend you to try. The chicken is still juicy and full of flavour. Not to mention their Avocado Juice. It's thick and sinful. It's fattening alright.

In my opinion, it's 4.5 out of 5 for this place.

Hawaii Restaurant

We went for western cuisine during one fine day and we decided to choose to go somewhere which is value for money. Thus, Hawaii Restaurant is our choice. Hawaii Restaurant is located inside City View Hotel at town. Opposite town's Shell petrol station and it is at the same row with Lumen Trading. We had reviewed Hawaii Restaurant before though, you can read about it here.

Hawaii Restaurant offer a variety of food in their menu. Apart from their ala carte menu, they offer Breakfast Set Menu, Lunch Set Menu, Hi-tea Set Menu and their Dinner Set Menu.

Facts :
1) Beef Stroganoff or Beef Stroganov is a Russian dish whereby sauteed pieces of beef served in a sauce with sour cream.
2) Fermented Beancurd or fu-yue is a form of processed preserved tofu. Sometimes people call it as the Chinese Butter.

Sweet corn with Crab meat soup
I never fails to order this every time I come to dine even though the set menu itself comes with soup.

The amount of crab meat they put in is very generous. You can hardly miss seeing any of it in your soup. The sweetcorn itself is very sweet. I like this very much. Please keep in mind to order this in the ala carte menu although sometimes their soup-of-the-day is Sweetcorn with crabmeat soup.

Fried Prawn Fritters
Normal battered fried prawns. The prawn is small. Not that worth it, but just because someone was craving for fried prawns, if not I'd not ordered it.

Beef Stroganoff (Set)
Beef Stroganoff served with buttered rice and vegetables.
I've tried better ones, but this is edible. Nothing that blows my mine here.
It just that I first saw this dish in the Lunch Set Menu. A new item. The sauce is not bad but it could be better. The rice is very fragrant.

Fried fu-yue Chicken Rice
Fried chicken with fu-yue. It is quite dry to me. The fried chicken is not just fried chicken- the way the marinate it is different. You can taste the fu-yue.

Grilled Chicken Chop (Set)
The chicken is grilled with the juice still intake. I enjoy this though. The sauce is just nice for it. Again, there are rooms for improvement.

Grilled Lamb Shoulder (Set)
Who'd missed having lamb shoulder when going out for western cuisine? Their lamb shoulder have nothing to shout out about but they are decent and edible. You hardly ever get their gamey taste and smell here.

Verdict? This place is really a value for money place, for the price of the food and the quality, it seriously worth dropping by. The set lunch we had above is a 4-course meal, consist of Soup of the day with garlic bread, main course, dessert (which we had fruits platter that day), and coffee or tea of your choice. Hi-tea menu is a choice of sandwiches and tea or coffee of your choice.Their set dinner menu is a 5-course meal which include a appetizer.

I used to order their Chinese Wine Meehoon/Rice, but it seems that they does not serve it anymore =(

Overall experience, 3.5 over 5. It could be 4 though.

-Tsa-

Kedai Kopi Yu Heng

Fact : Coto Makassar is traditional food from South Sulawesi - It is a stew made from the mixture of nuts and spices with beef parts or innards (intestines, tripes, liv­ers, kid­neys, lungs) which include beef brain and tongue.

However I never tried a Coto with beef brain and tongue..

Rumor says that the best Coto Makassar is available at the Town area. Hence, we went and tried it out. Kedai Kopi Yu Heng is situated opposite to Cherry Lane Records ( which sells VCD,CD,DVD and etc.) Near to Wisma Sandakan and it is sorta directly 'under' the Town Mosque ( Just because the mosque is sorta uphill)

(Please pardon lack of photography skills and photos are not up to par yet)

Mihun Coto Makassar Special
Consist of everything you can imagine in the stomach of a cow
a.k.a beef innards (intestines, tripes, liv­ers, kid­neys, lungs)

The much hype Coto Makassar at this shop is not really what I'd expect, unfortunately, I've tried better before and to be honest, the beef tripes (ngau pak yip) is not really cleaned. Thus, this somehow disgusted me as I personally love beef tripes. Soup wise, it is so-so to me.

Overall it is edible but not really enjoyable as I see things are not being prepared hygienically. My rating? 2 out 5.

-Tsa-

Ultimate Cafe

Rewritten by yours truly.

Ultimate is located in Mile 4, Indah Jaya, the same row with Equator Coffee, just that it's at the other end. Ultimate Cafe's Restaurant has shrunk, it is pretty small now as to compare it used to be. They serve a variety type of food. They too offer this breakfast set which is only RM4++. Pretty cheap!

We went there for lunch so...

Ice Lemon Tea
Normal Season pre-mixed ice lemon tea.

Coffee(set)
Coffee or Tea from the Lunch Set Menu

Claypot Chicken Rice
The picture which always claimed to be for illustration purpose is really FAAAAR from the same from what the served here. Taste wise, it's pretty normal, edible, salted fish is there but is far from great. I'd rate it 2 out of 5.

Cream of Chicken(set)

It's very... powdery. The powder have yet to be dissolved.
2 out of 5 I guess.

Spaghetti Carbonara
It is too watery, and too much of parmesan cheese. Too much of something is actually bad. Hence, it sorta taste like vomit though. From Emq's point of view
"Don't go for it"

Lamb Shoulder (set)
So-so, nothing much to talk about. I somehow like the sauce. It's not bad actually.
Portion wise, I'd recommend you to go to Hawaii Restaurant though.

Drunken Chicken Soup
Chicken soup boiled with chinese wine. I personally like chinese wise infused dish. Hence I like this alot. It's kinda sweet as normally it would be a bit bitter. This is the best amongst the dishes we ordered that day tho. The chicken is very smooth too!

I'd recommend you to try this though.

Dessert(set)
Strawberry Ice cream for the Set Lunch Menu.
Just a normal 1 scoop ice cream. I think it would be Nestle.\

Overall, I sort of enjoy having lunch there as the ambiance and most importantly it is air-conditioned! For the crazy weather nowadays, it's a life saver!

-Tsa-

Nam Chai Bak Kut Teh

Bak Kut Teh! Yes, Sandakan is famous for it's Bak Kut Teh because tasted different from what you've had in West Malaysia. In the west, the soup are herbal-like-taste while here it is black pepper-y taste. If you request for the spicy version of this dish, it's just the black pepper in the soup increased, hence the spiciness you tasted are solely from the peppers.

There are a lot of Bak Kut Teh shops in Sandakan, everyone have their own preference, however I personally prefer Nam Chai Bak Kut Teh situated at Bandar Nam Tung. It is a corner shop, the same shop lot with the previous post's shop, Lau Tong.

Prawn Bak Kut Teh
BIG succulent prawns! They are fresh and juicy and aa~
Just imagine fresh seafood cooked to perfection.
The soup for this have more ginger and scallions to remove the fishy smell.

Pork Bak Kut Teh
They have ribs, half-fat meat and meat only ( sau yuk)to choose from. Or you can mix them up.
The pic above is a mix of pork ribs and half-fat meat.

Spinach Bak Kut Teh
Bak Kut Teh doesn't have to be all meat.

Just nice for 3 person.

Why I like Nam Chai? Because of this!

BIG

PRAWNS!

Bak Kut Teh here are mainly served with rice.

-Tsa-