Pasir Putih Seafood Restaurant

Located in Pasir Putih before Ocean King restaurant. Pretty easy to go..just continue straight from the Prawn Roundabout if you are coming from town.

Salad Prawn/水晶夏
According to Tsa, the only place that can make proper 水晶夏 is Equatorial where the coating of the prawn is supposed to be crystal clear >< ..however the taste of this salad prwan is still superb!

Sabak / 沙白 / Clam
A popular dish as well, usually fried with spring onion and ginger. The sauce is delicious and goes well with rice

Tung Fung Lo / 东风螺 / Snail
Another very popular dish in Sandakan xD.. all you need to do is just grab it's sharp end and slowly pull it out. Not only a delicious dish but also a fun dish tho it can get really annoying if the snail is stuck inside ><

Steamed Sek Ban / Grouper
This is one of the best fish to steam and eat. I personally think steaming is the best option to experience to freshness of the fish (unless u are thinking of sashimi right after catching the fish). See how the fish meat seperates nicely from bones whuaaa..thinking of it just makes me crave for it moreeee ><

The fish of this size costs rm39 (rm42 per kg) , enough for 4 people to eat- or 5 if you are not greedy heh. Though compared to steaming it yourself at home it only costs +/- rm20! but i guess it is worth it because this dish is nicely done

Sweet and Sour Flower Crab/ 甜酸花蟹
A very appetizing way of cooking or in malay it's very 'membuka selera'. The more you eat the hungrier you get! Although flower crab has less meat than the bigger usual crab (i think it's called Mud Crab/Sek Hai).. however flower crab has got more fine and fluffy meat.

The crab itself is already very sweet! Also very good for just steaming ^^

Lotus Leaf Wrapped Chicken
Besides seafood, this restaurant also offers variety of other non seafood dishes, also as delicious. This chicken is very soft and well marinated with herbs. Recommended. But of course, spend your stomach on seafood first before you try this!

Jiu Pai Tofu
To be honest.........This picture was taken a long time ago and i forgot about how it was like but i think it is nice..tho i have eaten very badly done Jiu Pai Tofu in other places ><

Lobster Yi Mee / Lung Ha Yi Mee
Errr, only order this if you have enough money..at least it was expensive for me!! (one plate of this for 3 people costs about rm114) but I just thought, as a Sandakan-ian i have to at least eat lobster once in my life so...wargh!

Not too bad, it's taste and texture is somewhat a mixture of prawn and crab..also very juicy and 'crunchy' (song! in cantonese haha)

I shall eat this again when i can finally earn my own money, for now it is just too expensive for me ><

Kedai Kopi 2020

Located in Bandaraya Kim Fung Mile 4, you can hardly miss this shop located at one of the corners of the shoplots a few blocks behind the Supermarket. I also believe that the owner of this shop is a strong believer of feng shui because you can spot a whole lot of charms and fengshui decorative items,..quite an interesting collection ^^, well as long as they work! - since this shop has been doing quite well since years ago judging from the amount of people who eats there every time i pass by.

Specialty of the shop? I am not too sure but my own family members recommended their fried noodle (wet) to me. But I myself am not a frequent customer of this shop because of certain reasons.

Sap Chao Min ( wet-style fried noodles)
As you can see, the style is pretty different from the typical well known Sandakan Sap Chao dishes. Here they used ingredients such as tomato so the sauce tastes slightly sour. I guess some do prefer their Sap Chao like that, but personally at the end of the day I will prefer to eat the usual Sandakan style Sap Chao.

Sap Chao Dai Fun (wet-style fried kuey teow)
Also, one serving of this costs about rm10 (or more, i forgot because this was last year) - which is also one of the main reasons why i don't frequent this shop that much. They do have a reason for charging so much, due to the big fresh prawns, fishes and other fresh ingredients used...but still, i personally think that it's not that worthy, at least not all the time.

-emq-

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-

Tasty Delights

Located in Mile 7 Taman Tyng near the Pei Dan Gau shop............ Truth is, we wanted to eat at the Pei Dan Gao shop but it wasn't open so we ending up picking this shop :

(Pic taken on different days)

Clockwise from below : Siu Mai, Pei Dan Siu Mai, Beef Balls, Pai Guat, Ham Dan Siu Mai
Comments? Siu Mai is ok ok, Beef Balls have no beef taste unfortunately. Other than that, we enjoyed the Pei Dan, Ham Dan Siu Mai and the Pai Guat....(yeaa esp the Pei Dan :p)

Kon Lo Mee with Pork Balls, Wantan, and Za Yuk

Kon Lo Mee with just Pork Balls

Char Siew Kon Lo Mee

I've eaten better Kon Lo Mees elsewhere but this is not too bad, at least it has the basic Sandakan Kon Lo Mee taste and I really missed Kon Lo Mee aloooot while i was away form Sandakan! However ..ingredients wise can be improved. Conclusion? the Dim Sums saved the day! :pppp

-EMQ-