Dining With Jewelle

Because I wanted my baby to be born in 2009, I refrained from having any Indian food even though that is usually my first eating out choice whenever I am back in Sabah.

I knew that it’s a common belief that spice or curries can trigger labour and I had Eu to vouch for this. I had an Indian meal with a friend when I expecting her and within a few days, I went into labour.

So as soon as 2009 arrived, I went for dinner with the same friend - and this time, since I am ready to go into labour, we went for my first Indian meal at a simple eatery at Api Api Centre (just behind Marina Court and Promenade Hotel) called Devi’s Cafe.

My sister recommended this place long ago and the only thing that keeps me from coming here is because it is not air-conditioned. But since it was in the evening and less heaty, we chose this place for the meal-that-will-trigger-my-labour.

When we arrived, an Indian family was just leaving and we took that as good sign - if Indian’s themselves frequent the place, it has to be authentic. Besides us, there were only 3-4 tables occupied.

We decided to have their banana leaf set meal with 3 vegetables, 1 meat dish with biryani rice.

My friend had some chicken curry and I had their mutton curry which the waiter stuffed inside the bowl of rice. We were disappointed that they did not have the potato dish and we were puzzled when the waiter did not understand “aloo gobi” and said that what we meant is “potato masala” (which I have never heard of before).

The accompanying vegetables dishes were nothing special. My rice and mutton were good but it was the mango chutney and another condiment that made me polished my whole bowl of rice - so good we even asked for second helpings of these two condiments!

I was satisfied with my meal (except they could have re-heated their vegetables) and for both of us including a bowl of poppadoms and iced drinks only cost us RM24.

The place itself is simple but it does have some nice ceiling decorations that sets it apart from normal Indian coffee shop.

And again, Indian meal proved to be potent with me as two days later, I delivered my third child!

During our first drive out to 1Borneo for this trip (to send a family friend to their hotel there), we caught sight of this restaurant which was a few doors units between the 4 hotels located at this mall.

Being western food lover, we immediately made plans to try this place out and had our chance a few days later.

When we arrived, the place was perfectly occupied by just the right number of other patrons (we detest busy restaurants where we can’t get any attention and empty restaurants where we get all the attentions).

We had our pick of tables and at first decided on their couch type sections until our friend decided to join us and we moved to a bigger table.

For starters, I ordered their seafood chowder and my husband had their oysters. My chowder was delicious enough although I thought it could do with a more varied seafood. I did not try the oysters but my husband had nothing to say about it so I can assumed that they passed his judgment.

Then I had some grilled chicken dish called Portugese which took an amazingly long time to arrive. It’s a good thing I was not too hungry and we were enjoying ourselves with my friends that I was not too bothered that it only arrived after my husband was halfway through his main dish, the lamb rack.

Taste wise, although it was delicious, it was not worth having to wait that long - what more in a near empty restaurant.

While the lamb rack was good looking enough, my husband proclaimed that the Buccaneer’s (Brunei) was more to his palate - which for one thing was not smothered with mint.

One of our friend had the salmon dish which got no complaints from them.

Overall, we were not too impressed and having so many other choices around town, I doubt we’d make our way back here any time soon.

A few days ago when I brought my kids to 1Borneo for a short visit to see the Christmas displays, we had lunch at the “New York New York” restaurant.

Like many of the restaurants in this mall, the NYNY is huge. It can definitely fit more than 100 patrons at one time. However, when we arrived, there was only one other table occupied.

I was pretty impressed with the choices of food and I would have a hard time deciding if I did not see the lamb shank dish straight away.

And their Moroccan Lamb Shank was what I chose with Eu excitedly supported my choice.

The kids liked the vegetable soup although I was a bit surprise when I saw the clear broth.

As for the lamb shank, it was tender and tasty enough but I thought the sauce was too little. Look wise, it did not look as good as the lamb shank in Charcoal Grill in Bandar Seri Begawan which we had last month.

My mother chose the creamy pasta with fish and we thought the pasta was delicious (although both Eu and Qi did not like it at all). They liked the fish though. My brother ordered their roast chicken and prawn combo.

I thought their food was ok but perhaps I’ll only come back here for drinks as the place is nice to hang out with friends and check out their dessert selections.

Whenever I’m asked where to dine, my family knows that my first choice would usually be Indian food.

What more when I’m back in Sabah.

So when I was home for a short trip last weekend, I finally dined at the Spice Garden with my sister and her fiance as she’s been there before and thought I should try it.

When we arrived for lunch, we were the only patrons - and I’ve noticed that this is also the case for most of the Indian restaurants that I’ve visited in Kota Kinabalu. So unlike most Japanese restaurants - at the same building was the Umai Restaurant and that was packed then.

I was craving for chicken biryani so I ordered their version.

My verdict : Either their biryani is the authentic version or it’s simply is not that good because I definitely preferred the biryani at Choice Restaurant. For one thing, at Choice, you can see the chicken leg straight away while you had to fish your meat out from the depth of the pot in this.

Anyway at the Spice Garden, we were recommended this plate of tandoori of all sorts - from seafood to meat. While it’s reasonably good, I did not fancy it much because generally I don’t really fancy tandooris.

Of course, whenever I had Indian food, the one must have thing is the Aloo Gobi. And again, this must be the authentic Northern Indian taste because the kind that I fancy - as in the type cooked by my friend’s Southern Indian mother - is different. And those gingers seemed out of place in this dish…

My sister ordered some soup and ordered other biryanis - which I’m sure she will blogged about herself soon.

The place itself was beautiful with lovely paintings of Indian ladies adorning its walls. The service was good and the prices were reasonable - for 3 biryanis, 2 extra dishes and 1 soup plus drinks costs RM100.

Needless to say, we were extremely full. I’m still on the quest for the perfect Aloo Gobi and so far, I liked the Anjappar’s version. There is another popular “fine dining” Indian restaurant which I’ve yet to check out because it has to be at the right time of the day - since it’s without air-conditioners.

Still, Spice Garden is a nice place to dine at and although I was not thrilled with this first try, I think I will come again.

So our first dining experience in KK during this trip was at the Wagamama at Komplex Asia City where it was not crowded (plus point) and spacious (plus point). The food selections were typical although I think their sushi range were not as much as Excapade (?).

I thought their food and the service was good.

We made an overnight trip to my father’s hometown in Tambunan when we were in Sabah last month.

One of the highlight on this drive for me is taking a break at one of the simple cafe on the highest point on this Kota Kinabalu-Tambunan road.

I was told that Gunung Emas, the first and oldest cafe which has been operating on this area for more than 15 years (I believe) is still popular - although I think they no longer serve “exotic” dishes like they used to in their early days.

But some folks prefer the relatively newer (about 10 years old I think) Gunung Alab Resort, which is a few km drive from Gunung Emas Cafe, as it is somewhat better in terms of cleanliness.

We made a lunch stop here on our way to and from Tambunan and I am happy to say that I found one dish I enjoyed here.

SOTO!

I tried both their Soto Ayam (Chicken noodle soup - Malay style) and Soto Daging (Beef noodle soup) and I liked them both. With big portion and plenty of meat - at only RM4, it’s definitely worth the try if you are around this area.

I have a very Asian palate when it comes to tea time.

Although I do enjoy the idea of scones, brownies and such pastries to go with hot coffee, I would take banana fritters or goreng pisang any time over them.

Back in Sabah, we have our dinner late at usually after 7 pm. That is why, we would always have some heavy tea and my mother would sometimes fry local cakes and everyone would usually be munching on these snacks as we chat or watch whatever is on TV around 4 pm.

But the thing about being in a Chinese family is that our dinner time is early. So in Brunei, we very rarely have heavy tea except perhaps some biscuits or fruits.

So one afternoon, as we made our way to the beach, we dropped by a local store for some ice creams. When I noticed that the next door snack stalls were frying some goreng pisang, I immediately bought some. But the girls have taken their father’s taste and I ended up eating this bag all by myself.

By the way, after I read some forwarded emails about hawkers who allegedly coated their goreng pisang with melted plastics, I’m not sure about buying anymore soon.

The thing about attending a dinner function where you are served is that you are limited to the amount that the waiter puts on your plate.

It’s much easier for men to demand second or third helpings but for us female, unless you want to appear uncouth or greedy, you have to expect to be left hungry as if there is one thing I noticed about fine dining is that the quantity is pathetic.

So, come prepared.

And that what was we, the fans of NON-fine dining, did before we went for our Saturday night function.

From the privacy of our room, we ordered the Empire Hotel’s beef burger and we were thoroughly satisfied with it.

We were impressed that although our room was on the other side of the hotel, our order arrived reasonably fast and come to think of it, we should have ordered the steaks!

At $22 (inc charges), it is recommended.

Because we are more familiar with the Chinese restaurant next door, we never thought of visiting the RMS Diner until a few weekends ago.

And the only reason was because they were having an irresistible offer of 50% their steaks and burgers.

Because the inner restaurant was relatively very small, it was full and so we had to sit outside - which was fine as fortunately there were no smokers around.

The menu selections were standard.

Our dish looked very presentable and I enjoyed the garlic bread from my husband’s Caesar Salad. My lamb was good but Eu enjoyed it more and she probably ate it more than me as she kept asking for bites.

Her spaghetti was yummy too but she did not quite fancy it and she did not touch the fried chicken nuggets at all.

Qi, as you may have guessed only consented to the fries and even those were only for her to chew NOT swallow (I fed her packed lunch from home).

Because of the 50% off for both my lamb and the burger, our lunch was reasonable at $30+.

Not a bad place for a change.

I first heard the news of the opening of a Japanese eatery in Seria town from the most unlikely source - my parents in law who gave me vague information that it will be a “branch of some restaurant in Bandar Seri Begawan“.

The other men in my household were excited - nevermind which restaurant it will be as long as it’s Japanese - as the nearest one is at least 30 mins drive away.

While I, not being a sushi fan, was busy speculating on which restaurant it will be and guessed that it could be another Excapade or perhaps Sushi Tei or maybe Misato or even Kaizen - the only 4 Japanese places that I’m familiar with.

That was until we got a confirmation from someone who was involved in the project that it will indeed be a Kaizen Sushi.

So last weekend, since it first opened its door last month, we took the whole family and my youngest brother, who was in town on route his way to Miri, for dinner.

One thing about Japanese place that I don’t like is the menu can be confusing - all the food looks the same and the selections are so many, I had to forced myself to focus on the pictures and quickly pick before I lost interest.

My husband ordered the vegetable tempura as he knew that I liked the one that I had in Bandar’s Kaizen but for some reason, the one that arrived was nothing like the type that I wanted. We also had the sushi party set, salmon salad, seaweed soup and fried rice.

I also ordered a plate of Japanese dumpling called Gyoza - which tasted as good as the “Wo Tek” (Chinese fried dumplings) that we sometimes have for supper in Keningau and KK after whatever night activities we had then.

For some reasons, I find that the Kaizen’s gyoza are more to my taste than the Excapade’s and I will definitely order this again next visit.

And even though there were only 5 adults and 3 kids, the food finished so fast that I didn’t even managed to try some of them!

My in laws verdict was that they prefer the other place when it comes to taste and that could be due to Kaizen’s no-use-of-MSG policy (as I was told). But my husband and I actually like this place and I found a couple of things that I enjoy here and next time I’d have to try their curry range too.

In case you’re wondering about the price, it is slightly pricier than Excapade but definitely no outrageous RM400 for a 4 persons lunch here.

And Sis Caneeliea, why don’t you come over so you can try this and compare it with Umai