Nok Thai Restaurant

This is a very long overdue blog!! I should have posted it on February.....or March the latest!! Yet I waited til now, 3 months later.


Anyway, lets start with the restaurant and it's food.
Went to this restaurant during Chinese New Year period with my sisters. Was introduced by my little sister about it. It was located somewhere in Damai. (Address will be provided at the bottom of this post)


We ordered some foods that were "highly recommended" by my sis. First up is this Pandan Chicken. Which is a very famous dish in Thai cuisine.


Another very famous Thai dish is the Tom Yum Gung. But in my case, instead of Tom Yum Gung we ordered Tom Yum Gai. There wasn't much different actually, its just that the main ingredient for Tom Yum Gai is chicken instead of prawn.


Next up is Phad Gra Phao Nue or Pan Fried Minced Beef (with Basil Leaves and Hot Chilli) in English. Its not too hot on the first few bites. But be warned, you will need a lot of iced water after that. Best enjoyed with rice!!


If you are a chicken feet lover, you might want to give this a try. Yam Leb Mue Nang or Chicken Feet Salad (with Celery, Onion, Hot Chilli and Lemon Juice). Its a little bit hot with some tangy taste makes it ideal as an appetizer.


After consuming all those hot and spicy foods, you might want to cool down your throat with some refreshing Pandan Coconut....


Or some cold Cendol as dessert!!!

Nok Thai Restaurant
Lot 45-0, Block D, Damai Plaza, Phase 4, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
Tel: 088-538055

Restoran Sri Pelangi

Went to lunch on the 5th day of CNY with my mum and sisters. We headed to this restaurant offering authentic Indonesian cuisine. It is located beside Complex Karamunsing in what is used to be a car wash place.


We ordered two dishes from the restaurant. One of them is this "Soto Banjar". It was a local dish from my hometown "Banjarmasin".


Another dish was "Nasi Kuning Ikan". The rice was cooked with cumin to get that special yellowish color. Then it was served with fish and boiled egg with sambal. The are also chicken version of the dish.
Other dish offered in the restaurant are "Sup Tulang" and "Nasi Lalap".

CNY Eve Family Reunion Dinner

Every year when Chinese New Year is approaching, there will be a reunion dinner for the whole family on the eve of CNY. Its a Chinese tradition, so that close family members who are working far away from home can be reunited with their family and have a nice dinner together on the same dinner table.

For my family, its no exception. Me being at work in Miri, will never miss out on my family reunion dinner in KK. And whenever it comes to this dinner, my favorite thing is my dad is doing the cooking. He is currently the head chef at a local hotel. So, you can expect a "Five Stars" dishes on that special night.

This year, we had our dinner not inside the house. But outside in our garden area. Luckily it wasn't raining that night. (The tattoo guy in the pic wasn't a gangster we invited to the dinner, it was my dad!!)


First dish to come out that night was the Six Hot and Cold Combination which consist of prawn salad, homemade tofu, fried fish fillet, sliced abalone, fried spring rolls and Idako or the baby octopus. Tempting? There's more to come....


Second dish was a soup which my dad prepared for whole day. It was the Kampung Chicken with Ginseng Soup. This soup was so good my dad even forced us to finish up the ginseng inside it which was like the size of my middle finger....and it was soooooooo bitter, but good for your health.


Next up was another expensive dish, and a very delicious one, too. It was the "Ba Bao Duck" or Eight Treasures Duck in English. The bones was taken out from the duck and then it was deep fried before all the "treasures" were being stuffed inside the duck. Making it look like a balloon duck. After that, it went into the steamer before being served.


Fish will always feature in Chinese Cuisine because fish resembles longevity and abundance. And our fish for the night was Steamed White Pomfret in Soy Sauce. Up to this point, we were already very full and there were two more dishes to come.


We tried to stuff as much foods as we can on the final two dishes. Which was the Butter Prawn and the "Hokkien Style Fried Noodle". But after our best effort, we still can't managed to finish the foods. So, we kept it in the the fridge and reheated it the next morning as breakfast.


During the dinner, we were not only treated with a great meal. Our eyes got to feast on a free fire crackers show by some rich guy from our neighborhood. It lasted for about 4-5 minutes.





It was overall another legendary reunion dinner....until it suddenly went into blackout later that night. Luckily, dinner was long over by then. Stupid SESB!!! Gong Xi F**k Chai to them!!!

New First Choice Cafe Centre

Wondering where to have your dinner tonight? Let me help decide for you!! Try the New First Choice Cafe Centre if you like nice Chinese cuisine in a simple "kopitiam" environment.

Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs is recommended for pork lovers. The meat are deep fried to perfection and then poured with the sweet sauce.

Curry Fish Head. The "Superstar" dish in this restaurant and a must have one. You don't have to worry it might be too hot to handle. In fact, its not even hot that one of my friend who couldn't stand eating hot food is able to consume it happily without needing a glass of iced water by her side. For those who prefer to eat more of the fish meat than the fish head can request for it from the captain.

Hotplate Tofu. You can choose either to have Japanese tofu or local tofu. Served on a sizzling hot plate with some minced meat and eggs underneath the sauce. Its best eaten together with white rice.

Bitter Gourd with Salted Egg. Bitter and salty shouldn't have come together. But for this dish, the two combined perfectly.

I don't know the exact address for this cafe. If you are driving down from Lutong, after Pujut 7 roundabout there is shop lot located to your left. There is another restaurant there called "Lou Wai Lou Seafood Restaurant" facing the main road. New First Choice is just behind it. FYI, "Lou Wai Lou" is not highly recommended as it is lot more expensive and doesn't taste as good (according to a friend).

BARcelona spanish tapas y vinos

There's a new place in town where you can hang around with your friends for happy hour, to chill around and have some nice drinks, and to eat some nice foods in a nice cozy environment. The place is called BARcelona (yes, like the famous football club in Spain) Its located just beside SOHO bar.

You can choose either to sit inside, where there is a pool table and PCs with internet connection on every tables....or you can hang out on the bar outside chit-chatting with you buddies and enjoy some alcoholic drinks.


They offered a very wide selection of foods and drinks (especially alcoholic drink), I'm only gonna elaborate on some of it in here.
Shown above are some of their appetizers. And in clockwise order, the first one is the King Prawn and Crispy Batter, next is the Tuna Alioli which is grilled tuna prepared in garlic and mayonnaise. The third one will be the Chicken Mushroom in olive oil and the last one is Seafood Plancha. The latter three are all served with bread.

This is the Boneless Wings, it was boneless and it wasn't actually wings, its like some sort of breaded chicken meat shaped like a chicken wing served with their traditional BBQ sauce.

Now into the main course, their Barcelona Grilled Lamb is recommended. It wasn't too hard to bite like in some restaurant and they had a slight taste of herbs in it. Served with seasonal vegetable and mashed potato.

Next up is the Sizzling Chicken Primavera, it was chicken breast marinated with garlic, onion and pepper and served on a hot plate. The chicken meat was a bit hard, otherwise it will be just as delicious as the name suggest.

Another dish in their chef's cookbook is Dory in Lemon Butter Sauce. The name of the dish says it all, it was grilled fillet of dory served with lemon butter sauce...easy as that. Suitable for people who want to have a lighter meal.

Their Fish & Chips on the other hand, was just like the ordinary one you can get in a normal western food restaurant.
The dessert though, wasn't the best I can say. It was just so so.... from left: Blueberry Pudding, Orange Pudding and Tiramisu.

I have visited the bar three times, and its quite frustrating that every time I wanted to order a bottle of Budweiser or a nice glass of Hoegaarden, the answer was always "Sorry sir, not available....yet!!" So I had to settle with a Kilkenny instead.

The one thing that I noticed is lacking in the bar is a big screen TV or projector. Where people can gather around on a Friday and Saturday night for an exciting football match. The management should seriously consider about it as World Cup is just around the corner.

Open daily from 11am - 4am
BARcelona spanish tapas y vinos
Lot 1190, Ground Floor,
Jalan North Yu Seng,
98000 Miri, Sarawak.
Tel/Fax: 085-413388

Gayang Seafood Restaurant

Sabah has always been considered as a seafood paradise in Malaysia. In fact, some tourists traveled halfway across the globe to fulfill their hunger for the freshest seafood they can get. Of course, seafood is only one of Sabah's millions of attraction to tourists.


And one of the many places where you can get fresh and cheap seafood in K.K. Sabah is the Gayang Seafood Restaurant. About half an hour drive from K.K. City depending on the traffic condition. It is a bit out of the busy city area and located just by the seaside, which makes it perfect to enjoy your seafood.


Their seafood selection ranging from freshwater to salt water fishes, eels, crabs, lobsters, prawns, clams. Anything you can ask for from Sabahan water is available here.


Some marine creature that is none edible is available for viewing purpose, like the poisonous Lionfish above.


They even proudly show off the picture of their prized catch somewhere at the entrance. A six foot long monster.


Seafood is not their only specialty, this Ostrich Meat in Black Pepper Sauce is one of the must-try in this restaurant.


Local vegetables such as Kai Lan and Paku Pakis prepared according to your preferred cooking style.


Steamed Prawn with Light Soy Sauce/ Sambal Belacan. Best eaten with your bare hands. Remember to wash your hands before that.


Nyonya Talapia - Steamed Talapia fish in Nyonya style sauce. One of the brand product of the restaurant.


They called it 'Dong Fung Luo' if I'm not mistaken. Steamed and ready to be eaten by dipping into the mustard sauce.


Deep Fried Soft Shelled Crab - nice dish to grab along with cold beer.


And finally, the famous Coconut Pudding for dessert.


Gayang Seafood Restaurant
Kg. Baharu, Jln. Sulaiman, Tuaran, P.O. Box 12629, Kota Kinabalu.
Tel: 016-8102395, 088-219488
Open daily from 11am - 10pm
E-mail: davidnllee@gmail.com
Website: http://gayangseafood.showroom.sabahexpress.com/