Sandakan Food Journey, Day 3 - Sabah

Third day Sandakan food journey kicked off with brunch at Kenalanmu Steamboat Restaurant. Supposing we wanted to have our brunch at Pasar Kim Fung but most of the hawker stalls were closed except for mixed rice stalls. I'm not a big fan of mixed rice. So, we decided to drive around the area and stumbled upon this place. 

This is what we ordered - kangkung belacan (water spinach stir fried with shrimp paste), salted egg prawns and steamed black grouper fish. Salted egg prawns taste fresh and nice but not superb. Same goes for the steamed black grouper fish. Fish was slightly tough, might due to overcooking. Overall food just ok. End of our meal, we were given a plate of complimentary fruits (watermelon).

Price stated below excluding 6% GST

Kenalanmu Steamboat Restaurant seafood price

Coconut - RM 6

Kangkung belacan - RM 10

Salted egg prawns - RM 15

Steamed black grouper fish - RM 49 ( 1 Kg = RM 70)

Address:

Kenalanmu Steamboat Restaurant

Batu 4, Jalan Utara,

90000 Sandakan, Sabah
Business hour: 10am - 2pm, 5pm - 10pm

Tel: 089 - 236 991

After a heavy brunch, it's time to burn some calories. Thus we plan a trip to Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre and Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, roughly 20 minutes drive from Kenalanmu Steamboat Restaurant. We spend an hour exploring the conservation centre, checking out sun bears and another hour at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. Click here and here to read more.


We went back to Sandakan town and had our tea break at this Kedai Kopi Baru Bar Lock Yuen. We ordered a custard bun and toasted bread with kaya and butter. Custard bun was soft and most importantly, not too sweet. Toasted bread with kaya and butter reminds me of my favourite "roti kahwin" at Kedai Kopi Sin Yoon Loong, Ipoh. Nothing beats that! 

Total bill - RM 10 (2 glasses of kit chai peng (calamansi with sour plum), 1 glass of kopi o peng (iced coffee), toast bread and custard bun)

Kedai Kopi Baru Bar Lock Yuen

Custard bun

Toasted bread with kaya and butter

Address:

Kedai Kopi Baru Bar Lock Yuen
Jalan Bokara,
90000 Sandakan,
Sabah

Since it's still too early to have our dinner, we decided to drop by Puu Jih Shih Temple not too far from Kedai Kopi Baru Bar Lock Yuen. The temple is located on the hilltop. Click here to read more. After that, we went to the oldest church in Sandakan - The Parish of St. Michael & All Angels, 10 minutes drive (around 5km) from Puu Jih Shih Temple. Beautiful granite church more than a hundred years old. Click here to check out the photos.

Instead of going to the same seafood restaurant that we had yesterday for dinner, we decided to try this Sim Sim Seafood Restaurant just beside Restaurant Seafood Sim Sim 88. Initially we were a bit hesitant to get inside because the place looks very quiet and empty compared to the restaurant next door which was packed and full of people. Well, never try never know. So, we took a gamble and try their food. It turned out fine anyway. Not superb but fresh food with decent taste.

We ordered fried squid, butter prawn and steamed fish. Fried squid were lightly battered and tasty. A little bit chewy but it's crispy. Butter prawns were fresh with firm texture. Same goes for the steamed fish. However, sauce tasted so-so only. 

Total bill - RM 66 (Fried squid, butter prawn, steamed fish, 2 plate of rice and 2 glasses of ice water)

Sim Sim Seafood Restaurant

View from the restaurant

Restaurant ambience

Fried squid - RM 15

Butter prawns - RM 21

Steamed fish - RM 27

Address:

Sim Sim Seafood Restaurant

Sim Sim Water Village,

Off Jalan Buli Sim Sim,

90000 Sandakan, Sabah

Business hour: 7.30am - 9.30pm