Dowish Seafood Restaurant @ KK

"Tung Fung Loh"- RM22/kg

Dowish is a 'cute' name for a chinese seafood restaurant. You may question and laugh about the name but once you have tasted the food, Dowish will probably be stuck to your mind.... it's worst when it's alllllllllll the wayyyyyyyyy in Kota Kinabalu and you're here in KL. I was first introduced to Dowish during my last trip to KK with my ex-company, but subsequently was lucky enough to fly back to KK on 2 occassions for work with my currect company and had Dowish on both occassions. This time, I knew I must spread the 'love' to my other friends and I brought them here on our recent visit to The Land Below The Wind.

I was tasked to order- yay for me as I get to order my favourite dishes! The Tung Fung Loh is a must, it's a type of shell fish that needs to use toothpick/little forks to those yummy little buggers out of their shells. Yes, it's somewhat like escargots but this one is just boiled or lightly blanched and served with mustard sauce. It's addictive!


Salted Egg Crabs- RM30/kg; "Pak Cheok Har"- RM30/half kg; Sabah "Shu Chai Choi" Vege- RM12

Of course no seafood feast would be complete without the appearance of our friendly crustacean friends- the crab! While I love 'em done in salted, I equally love it with the salted egg. If I know who is the master behind recipes using salted egg, I would hail him for creating the most perfect combination! The salted egg goes well with anything and everything- pork ribs, prawns, squid and crabs. The "Pak Cheok Har" is also my favourite- big fresh succulent prawns, all freshness and sweetness of the meat still retain by just boiling/steaming (not too sure which method). You can really taste the freshness in every bite.

The Sabah "Shu Chai Choi" vege is another winner in its own category. When I was young, I remember this vege used to be available at the Pasar Besar Ipoh (Ipoh Big Market) and my grandma used to cook this and it was just the best tasting vege everrrrrrr. Then supplies for the vege diminished and I used to think that if this was to come from Sabah, then "Damn, I'll never be able to eat this again!" cos I never thought I'll have the chance to set foot in Sabah. I don't think anyone can understand this feeling I had when I had this for the first time after more than a decade of missing out on this! (I know it sounds a little drama, but really I was estatic) What differs the Shu Chai Choi from the paku-pakis we can get around here is that the former is crunchy, smaller and doesn't have that gooey texture. Best to stir fried with sambal belacan :)

Seeing that I can dedicate the whole paragraph to this vege just shows how much I love this.


Special "Shu Chai Choi" and Salted Fish Fried Meehoon- RM12 and Happy Faces :)

We initially ordered a mantis prawn but it was not available and the ladyboss recommended this special "shu chai choi" and salted fish meehoon. Initially I was a bit skeptical, how good can a meehoon get, seriously? We weren't too impressed when the dish arrived too... it's too fair for a fried meehoon! However, never judge a meehoon by its colour as after our first bite, it was too good to be true! The chef managed to whip up an ordinary noodle to one that is soft, perfect moisture and blends well with the vege and traces of salted fish. I was impressed!

One of my motive to eat at Dowish was also because they have coconut pudding on the menu but I was left disappointed as they didn't have the dessert on the menu that day :( Luckily I managed to satisfy my cravings for it at Kg Nelayan.

We were guessing the bill for the night with some of us guessing RM200 - RM300 but total bill inclusive of rice, tea and braised groundnuts appetizer came at RM127.60 for 4 persons. That's an average of RM32/person- Peng, Leng and Cheng! (Cheap, Nice and Good!)


Dowish Seafood Restaurant
Mile 5, Jalan Bundusan,
Penampang,
88853 Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah.
Tel: 6088 718 387 / 721 387
Fax: 6088 710 387

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

Kampung Nelayan Seafood @ KK

Kg Nelayan Seafood

Early last month, I participated in a white water rafting activity with my co's sports club and the we flew all the way to Kota Kinabalu for the adrenaline rush (& short getaway). It was a really good deal since the activity was partially subsidized (from the monthly sports club fees deducted from our paycheck- RM4/month for a year's long of fun filled activities!), I remember we only needed to pay RM70 for 2 nights stay at a backpackers hostel, white water rafting package and a sumptuos dinner at Kg Nelayan! Since this was already planned more than half year ago, we got our air tickets at a unreasonably cheap price of RM62/return.

Would be silly not to join, I'd say.


Fried Calamari; Steamed fish, Spinach leaves; Butter Fried Prawns

I suspect Kg Nelayan is one of those dining places where tour agencies bring the tourists for dinner as evidenced by the load of buses there, including ours. Dinner menu was pre-ordered, the last thing anybody wants is to contemplate and dilly-dallying on what to order since we were all starving from the day's traveling (Side note: To get to our water rafting location from KK, we had to travel about 3 hours by bus and another 45 mins of old-school locomotive train and the same amount of traveling back to KK).

The common seafood fare were served- calamari, fish, prawns, vege and I think I missed an egg dish. Quality of food was okay, not too bad for a touristy place. I was told that on certain hours of the day, there is a cultural dance but we missed that. Nevermind, I guess we were too hungry to be interested in anything else but food!


Coconut pudding

Oh my... I never expected to have this here and I am so glad this was part of the menu. I first had this at another seafood restaurant (Dowish- watch out, at the next post!) in KK, introduced by a friend and since been lingering for the great taste! So so good, must try when you're in KK :)


Kampung Nelayan Seafood
Taman Tun Fuad, Bukit Padang,
Luyang, Kota Kinabalu.
Tel: 088-256001
www.kampungnelayan.com

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

Qing Zhao Xiao Cai @ Kota Kinabalu

I am back from what I can say to be my final trip to Kota Kinabalu. A place that would hold many fond memories for me. While I have never set foot at the East side of Malaysia before joining the company, I can now proudly say that I have been to Kota Kinabalu 5 times within 8 months! Even more than I have been back to Ipoh for the year!



Forgive me if I misspelt the name of this little shop sandwiched between many other shops in the quaint little town of Kota Kinabalu. I was told it is in Beverly Hills, no not the US of A's Beverly Hills, this is the KK's version of Beverly Hills. If not mistaken, it's somewhere near Jalan Bundusan-Jalan Penampang. Special thanks to Eric (my Lady Boss's business partner, Angie's old friend) who brought us there.





What brought us back here again is the craving for the comfort food served here- porridge. And in the case of Qing Zhao Xiao Cai, it is not just plain porridge but the Sweet Potato Porridge and the other various side dishes. The dishes have a very homely feel and taste, something different from the usual seafood we have while we were in KK. The simple meal of porridge with century egg/ stir fried string beans/ fried omelette/ minced pork patty w salted egg/ etc. is the epitome of comfort food, especially when you're far away from home, after a hard day's work.......







If you would have expected service to be slow for a small simple set up like this, then you are wrong. Food arrived very quickly, almost like it was fast food, Chinese style. The good news is, the food quality was not compromised. Perhaps part of the reason why we came back for more (I had this during my first trip to KK, such a coincidence that I am having it for my final trip as well- starts with a bang, ends with a bang?) is because of the awesome red snapper fillet. It was smooth and fresh, with the right taste of soy sauce and a little bit of garlic, we would all agree if they name this Ze Fish.



The Star Number 2 was the century eggs. Take a look at it and you should know why it should be called Ze Century Egg as well.



I enjoyed myself very much for the 2 nights' dinners. The first night, Eric took us to Dowish Restaurant, a seafood place at Penampang Road and we had the most awesomest seafood dinner, even better than Ocean Seafood Village. My only regret is not taking the camera with me... now I don't have pictures to show you guys how awesome it was :(

Thanks Angie, Iryna and Eric for sharing these delicious meals with me, now I wish that wasn't my last trip to KK with you guys for I will truly miss the laughs and silly jokes.

3 meals at Kota Kinabalu

No trip will be complete without an obligatory post on the food savoured. Just too bad that the food we had on the 3 days do not truly reflect the gastronomic scene of Kota Kinabalu. We did not have a car and neither do we know our roads there, so it was hard for us to venture out of the airport and hotel area for our meals.

Upon touching down at Kota Kinabalu Low Cost Carrier Terminal 2 airport, we headed to Asian Delights Cafe (the only option we had apart from KFC), the same when we headed to the Kota Kinabalu International Airport Terminal 1 (new airport) for work on the 2nd day, we ended up having our lunch at this cafe as well (they have outlets in both airports), and on the final day before taking off, we had our lunch here too. Eating here means we have an extra 10% off our meals upon producing the MAB pass.


Beef rendang rice- RM6


Nasi Lemak special- RM5.50


Kampung fried rice- RM12.90


Honey chicken rice- RM12.90


Singapore fried meehoon- RM5.50


Curry chicken rice set with a drink- RM9.90
Normal curry chicken, no complains and no praises

One thing I noticed is that although Asian Delights operates at both airports, prices at the Terminal 1 airport is more expensive and the beverages selection are limited.


Imperial Hotel Rooftop

As I have mentioned in my earlier post, our hotel stay is inclusive of breakfast, and so this is where we had our breakfast for 2 mornings. No fuss to where we should go for breakfast ;D


My picks


The best thing on the buffet table- BEEF BACON!!!


Toasted bread with melting butter, mini doughnut and banana cake


Porridge with fried shalots and prawns


Lychee, honeydew and papaya for good digestion


BEEF BACON!!! Yumz!


How do you want your eggs to be? Sunny side up and mushroom omelet


Porridge with fried shallots, prawns and shredded chicken

I suppose you can tell beef bacon was my absolute favourite that two mornings, I stuffed myself silly with them. It was soooooooooooo sinful but I felt good. *burps* The coffee and tea tasted blehhhh, no matter how much sugar you add, it still taste the same -__- with a weird aftertaste.


Macau iced coffee- RM3.90
Too sweet for my liking


French toast- RM4.90
Nothing special but was really good to satisfy a hungry appetite


French fries- RM4.50
McDonald's still beats them hands down!


White fungus lotus dessert- RM5.90


Korean pork chop spicy noodles in wooden bowl- RM12.90
Nothing fantastic but credits for the unique presentation



Pan fried woh tip (dumplings)
This was made by an ex-colleague who now has a stall selling woh tip at a neighborhood kopitiam. I think it's in Penampang (??)

On second night, we had our dinner at La Manila Cafe @ Warisan Square. There wasn't much options and we wanted to be within the allowance budget given by the company (which isn't much, really).


Wat tan hor- RM8.50


Marmite chicken rice- RM8.50
This is pretty delicious as the chicken are very tender and the gravy goes very well with the rice!



Eggtarts from Dotts @ Warisan Square- RM1.10 per piece
It was pretty yummy and best thing is the egg center is still watery and it is pastry type instead of solid biscuit


Famous Taluwang ice cream potong from Sabah!
Durian (yellow) and cempedak (orange) flavours at RM1.60 per stick


Handmade Chocolates from Simply Delicious @ Warisan Square
- ranging from 60¢ to RM1+ a piece.
My verdict? Bullshit chocolates. Give me Fidani anytime!

And so I left KK with nothing much worth remembering (the food). On the last trip, my boss took us out for dinner at Ocean Village Seafood Restaurant and I had a jolly good time eating but was too shy to take pics :(

About 2 more weeks before I leave for KK again on another 'working' trip! Meanwhile, it is back to office tomorrow :(((((

A 'work-cation' to the Land Below The Wind

Cloudy skies

I am back from the Land Down Under Below The Wind (aka Sabah)!! It was my 2nd time to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah. My first and also virgin visit to the East Coast was somewhere in August where I had the 'opportunity' to see and experience what it is like to open shops in the airport. Anyway, this time around, somewhere last week, my lady boss told me that my colleague and I should make a trip to KK to have a check on the shops there. And so we booked our tickets and headed to the Land Below The Wind!

What's better than NOT sitting in the office for 3 days is that we're on our own with no superiors following us! Doesn't that already spell F-R-E-E-D-O-M? As the title suggests, it was more like a work-cation (work + vacation).


A bird's eye view of the murky river water

We booked a darn early flight on Wednesday, I had to wake up at an ungodly hour of 4am! Our flight was at 6.50am, got delayed about 20 mins and reached KK's LCCT airport at 9.20am. Knowing Air Asia, you can tell my whole body was aching upon touching down. Anyway, after collecting our luggages, we headed for breakfast (food pictures in the next post), did our 'work' although there's nothing much to do. Since we didn't have a car, we took a cab to the Imperial Hotel where we'll be staying for the next 3 days of our little 'working' trip.


Imperial International Hotel @ Warisan Square, KK Waterfront

The Imperial Hotel has a whole block by themselves and is located within Warisan Square at the KK Waterfront. In other words, our hotel faces the sea, ~woot! We were staying at the much cheaper Radius Hotel during the first visit and I must say our decision to move to Imperial this time around was an excellent decision (albeit more expensive lalalala). At about RM205++ per night, it is pretty good value as there is buffet breakfast provided too.


Spacious and comfy beds


I love the shower!

What distincts the Imperial from Radius is the bathroom. Like many of you out there, the first thing I always do is to check out the bathroom and Imperial did not disappoint. Minimalistic, clean and the shower head totally rocks. The water pressure is excellent and makes you want to stay in the shower for hours, it makes me (one who doesn't have the habit of showering in the cold early mornings) want to shower in the morning. My colleague and I were so frustrated with the shower in our last trip as the water pressure at Radius is as good as the dog peeing.


Bars, clubs, bistros, cafes, water and night breeze @ KK Waterfront

From the rooftop of the hotel, one can see the lovely scenery of the KK water. The row of shops by the waterfront are clubs and cafes which is open at night, so yes, KK does have a night life. On my first visit, my operations manager brought us to one of the bars 'Cock and Bull Bistro' which I found out they have an outlet at The Merchant Square, Tropicana.


Too sunny for a drink

At night, it is very therapeutic and relaxing to have a sit outside, having a drink and chatting while enjoying the night breeze. Other bars and cafes I know of are Bed (a club), The Shamrock Irish Pub, Bar Su, Euro Cafe, and a seafood restaurant, Port View.


Fishermen's rides

Located in the vicinity is a fleet of boats for fishing and it makes quite a picturesque view.


See the island?

Notice the 'island' with houses on it? Well, it isn't exactly an island as we later realized that that whole land is the famous Sutera Habour- a resort only for the rich. As we were having our breakfast overlooking that particular house, can't help but to dream "if only that house was mine... I'll be having a garage for my boats instead of cars and waking up to the sea breeze every day!"


The sea is my neighbour

... well, if only!

Food pictures up next :D