Sandakan Food Journey, Day 1 - Sabah

We took a road trip to Sandakan two months ago and the journey from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan took approximately 8 1/2 hours with 4 intermediate stops. Direct self drive from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan without any intermediate stops will takes approximately 6 hours. The road condition was generally in good shape and the scenery going through the mountain was breathtaking. However, take note of potholes and winding road during mountain phase. Drive safely because it's a two lane road (one lane per direction) and take extra care when overtaking heavy vehicles. If you have any doubts it is best not to overtake. 

We started our journey from Kota Kinabalu around 9.30am. Our first stop of the day for brunch was at Pekan Tamparuli which took us approximately 1 hour to reach there. We ordered their famous Tamparuli noodles and dry stirred noodles or also known as "kon lo mee". Their Tamparuli noodles had a very strong eggy flavour in it which I don't really fancy. Whereas for the "kon lo mee", it was a bit salty on the first bite and the noodles texture were a bit hard for my liking. Apart from that, the staff were cold and unfriendly. Overall, food just so-so.

Restaurant Wun Chiap

Restaurant ambience

Free flow of chinese tea - RM 0.30 (hot) / RM 0.50 (cold)

Dry stirred noodles - RM 6.50

Tamparuli noodles - RM 6

Address:
Restaurant Wun Chiap
Lot 9, Jalan Berjaya,
Pekan Tamparuli,
89257 Tamparuli,
Sabah, Malaysia
Tel: +60 88-782 845

After brunch, we continued our drive. We stopped by the roadside to take away this smoked wild boar, also known as Sinalau Bakas by the Kadazan-Dusun people. On the way heading to Kundasang, you will see few stalls along the road. Just look for the sign "Sinalau Bakas". You can choose your choice of meat - lean / fat meat drizzled with either soy sauce, vinegar, lime or chili sauce. We waited at least 15 minutes for them to smoked the wild boar. Some local people sat there and enjoyed it with a bottle of beer. However, I don't really enjoyed it because the meat was tough, dry and comes with the taste of char-grilled meat but my partner loves it.

Sinalau Bakas

Sinalau Bakas

Wild boar meat

Smoked wild boar meat

Smoked wild boar meat using woods

Smoked wild boar meat drizzled with soy sauce and lime juice - RM 5

Our 3rd stop - Kundasang for toilet break! (Fyi, there's limited rest stop along the way) Nice cold weather with beautiful scenery. On the way to Sandakan, we stopped by Telupid and had KFC for our tea break. Finally we arrived Sandakan around 6pm and checked in to Four Points by Sheraton, Sandakan. Click here to read more.

Beautiful view of Mount KK

We had our dinner at Nam Chai Restaurant Bah Kut Teh, famous for its seafood bah kut teh. Friendly lady boss who recommended us to try their fish bah kut teh. She mentioned that not everyday you get to try this fish bah kut teh because it depends on the availability of the fish. You can choose to have spicy or non-spicy soup. She recommended us to try the black pepper fish bah kut teh and non-spicy prawns, fish slices and lean meat bah kut teh. 

I quite enjoyed their black pepper fish bah kut teh. Unlike most bah kut teh that has the strong herbal taste, their soup taste sweet with a strong pepper flavour. The spiciness came from the strong pepper flavour. Unique taste and most importantly the seafood are fresh. I just love the prawns. It's big, juicy, firm in texture and fresh. We were the last customer and the restaurant close at 8.20pm after we left. Many of the surrounding restaurants were closed and the area was dark and quiet when we left. 

Total bill - RM 26 (including 2 plates of rice, 1 glass of ice water, 1 glass of cold chinese tea, 1 bowl of black pepper fish bah kut teh and 1 bowl of non-spicy mixture of prawns, fish slices and lean meat bah kut teh)

Nam Chai Restaurant Bah Kut Teh

Red chili with soy sauce

Lean meat, fish slices and prawn bah kut teh

Black pepper fish bah kut teh

Plain rice

Address:

Nam Chai Restaurant Bah Kut Teh

Ground Floor, Block D,

Jalan Leila, Bandar Nam Tung,

90000, Sandakan, Sabah

Tel: +60 89-612 603