But please, don’t believe me. Moon Bell Restaurant in Kota Kinabalu will provide you with all the proof that you need know that once you’ve eaten northern Chinese, sweet n sour anything from that Chinese takeaway back home will pale in comparison.
Moon Bell Restaurant shines on KK’s main road, opposite Wisma Merdeka, halfway between the Hyatt and Capital Hotel. It’s open for lunch and dinner every day of the week, except Mondays, so plan your culinary itinerary accordingly.
The menu is not as elaborate as some of the Chinese eateries here in KK, but that’s a good thing, as they do a few things, and do them well. And do they ever.
All the meats, except pork, are represented; duck, chicken, lamb, beef and seafood all feature with at least 4 dishes to choose from in each category. Once you’ve made the difficult decision of choosing a mouthwatering dish, you’ll realise after tasting it that you will have to choose another, and another.
Is the spicy tastes? The rich aromas? The way seemingly ordinary potato sets the juices flowing like when Remy in Ratatouille pops different types of food in his mouth and imagines the flavours like fireworks on his palate?
Yes to all of them. It’s true of Moon Bell’s food, you can’t go there just once. It’s the type of food you crave. The type of food that makes you sit up in bed at 2am, smack your lips and say to yourself, “I can really do with big helping of Moon Bell’s Stir Fried Lazy Crab.”
It happens.
Ang’s Hotel Restaurant (Fatt Kee Coffee Shop)
Located opposite Wisma Merdeka is the famous Ang’s Hotel, and under it’s wing is Fatt Kee Coffee Shop, but known all around as Ang’s Hotel Restaurant.
Likely open throughout the day, this restaurant is a bustling hub of activity and is not only popular, but famous for a selection of key menu items and is a good place from where to start acquiring your Chinese food experiences in Kota Kinabalu.
Amongst the Chinese dishes that Ang’s Hotel Restaurant is known and loved for is the Oyster-sauce Chicken Wings, Sizzling Japanese Tofu, Minute Pork Steaks and any of their green veggies, prepared the way on Ang’s Hotel Restaurant can.
As a traveler, you might be hindered by the fact that the menu written on the wall-boards are in Chinese only, but have no fear, the staff taking your orders can speak English and, upon request, will even produce a English /Chinese menu for your perusal.
But take our word for it, the Tiny but Fiesty Lady who’ll likely take your oder knows her stuff, so do ask her to recommend something from the menu for you.
Ang’s Hotel Restaurant, although still very economical otherwise, provides the best value for money for groups of four to six people.
And whatever you order, do not miss the Oyster-sauce Chicken Wings at Ang’s Hotel Restaurant.