It’s easy to like El Centro, a new cafe and bar in Kota Kinabalu, where you can go have a bite to eat, indulge in delectable cocktails and have actual conversations with the people you’re with.

So Fresh it still smell of Wood

El Centro, opposite Wisma Merdeka on the block between Kinabalu Daya Hotel on the 1 side and Millemewa on the other, is a welcoming cafe and bar where the furniture are made of re-purposed drift wood, the decor is minimalist, and the emphasis is on people.

Possibly the first non smoking bar in Kota Kinabalu, there’s no smoking inside the restaurant, so if you have to puff, then off to the sidewalk for you.

But with the wide open storefront this is actually quite a social place to be, as you’re not cut-off from the restaurant or the vibe inside.

And now for something a little different

The food is unique amongst Kota Kinabalu’s restaurants. Katie, the owner, has been to interesting corners of the globe and have collected her favourite recipes from her travels, which she is now sharing at El Centro.

There’s tacos, salads and hummus, sandwiches, soups, various sides and desserts.

In her bag of tricks, Katie also has the skills of a bar tender. Bar tenders know cocktails, but Katie knows awesome cocktails.

In May, a delicious flood of tasty cocktails are coming to El Centro and Katie’s friends know what’s in store. Her Bloody Mary has a well established reputation, and already legend of her margarita is rising.

Sunday Brunch

The menu is still evolving to the tastes and feedback of customers, but a few mainstays are well worth having.

Anything with chips is a winner, because El Centro has the secret for the perfect french fry. From amongst the tacos, the Steak Taco is king, and the large Greek Grilled Chicken Foldover or Salad are the most value for money items on the menu.

On Sundays, you can wrap up the weekend with a tasty Sunday Brunch. Fresh, hot breakfast tacos to fill your stomach, and a spicy Bloody Mary to ease you off whatever hangover you might be having.

An easy end to the weekend, and a beautiful start to Sunday morning.

See you at El Centro!

Not that anybody really needs a reason to drink beer, but Firefly Bar & Grill is giving you 1,000 good reasons to just that.

What you do with that shot in the allotted minute, shoot or sip, is up to you, as long as it’s finished by the time the next minute rolls around.

Firefly is taking this challenge to a slightly more competitive level by offering those who can successfully complete this challenge a RM1,000 cash bonus. Of course, you have to pay an entry fee, but at RM160 you can get over 600% return on your investment… if you complete the challenge.

The challenge is that in the 1 hour and 40 minutes duration of the game, you will consume 3 litres of beer, assuming that the shots are around 30ml each. According to WikiPedia, the average stomach can comfortably hold 1 litre of fluid, although it can expand up to 2 or 3 litres if pressed (and depending on the person).

The bladder, on the other hand, can hold between 300 – 500ml of fluid, but it depends on your size and varies between people. Physiologically this challenge is thus quite possible looking at what the body is capable of.

But external factors will determine how much you can hold, how quickly you have to go to the loo, and whether or not you will actually be sober enough to complete the challenge.

Firefly’s rules says if you pee or puke (in whatever form), you’re disqualified. Also, if you manage to not complete a shot with it’s minute, you’re out too.

The competition takes place every Monday and 1 November 7 people took part, of which 3 completed the challenge. If you want to take part, zip on over to the Firefly Century Challenge Events Page and see what you need to do.

May the hops be with you.

Last month I lamented the demise of the Firefly Burger from their new menu. The LA Burger replaced it, but the secret lies in all the trimmings.

The only beef burger alternative on the menu was the LA Burger, but the standard, bland LA Burger was a big disappointment, especial after I enjoyed what was possibly Kota Kinabalu’s best burger, the Firefly Beef Burger, so much.

Last night the carnivore in me was alive and well and somehow we ended up at Firefly again. Foodie Bah had the Firefly Salad with chicken (#win) and, craving a beef burger, I went for the LA Burger again, this time willing to pay the extra RM1.50 each for the extra egg, pork bacon and Swiss & Cheddar cheese.

Best RM4.50 extra I ever spent, because those additions made the LA Burger one of the best hamburgers I’ve had in Kota Kinabalu.

The LA Burger took on a whole new personality with the egg, bacon and generous helping of cheese elevating the burger to awesomeness. The juicy, peppery flavours of the meaty beef patty was accentuated by eggy sweetness, contrasted by the smoky taste of the bacon and outlined by the sharpness of the two cheeses. Delicious beef burger bliss tied together by soft, sesame bread buns not too thick, and of a bake that didn’t get soggy under the load of the burger.

The only 2 detractors form this heavenly hamburger experience was the price, which with all the trimming brought the price to RM19.50 (before ++), and the Curly Fries which always look re-fried and soaked in oil.

Those two little niggly points aside though, the LA Burger (with all the trimmings) gets a big thumbs up, and is a certain contender for the title of Best Beef Burger in Kota Kinabalu.

Firefly Bar & Grill in KK Times Square on the fringe of Kota Kinabalu, has a new menu and we at SabahBah.com have mixed emotions about it.

The good news is… well, we haven’t discovered the good news yet.

In stead of the Classic Firefly Beef Burger, there is a Firefly Chicken Burger, but we just couldn’t get ourselves to try it, afraid we would spoil the juicy memories of the beef version we still covet.

Instead, we tried the LA Burger. It’s a large beef patty, which, yes, on it’s own is not too bad. But it’s pretty much alone on the burger bun, save for a few slices of what seemed to be pickles underneath. The description on the menu wasn’t quite what we had on our plate.

A light point was the Firefly Salad with extra Pepper Roasted Chicken added. An interesting looking salad, which tasted pretty decent too. At RM15 it’s OK value for money.

Firefly also seemed to have had a bit of staff turn over, and our server Zeck (according to the bill), seemed a bit inexperienced tonight, in fact, he seemed a bit afraid of our table, so much so that he hardly said a word and never actually asked us if we wanted anything to drink.

Maybe it was just an off night. The new menu looks interesting and is definitely queued for further exploration.

Update – 14 Sep 2010: We visited Firefly Bar & Grill again tonight and there has been an update to the menu. Read a little bit about the new Firefly Bar & Grill menu here.

Craving for a bit of Western food, SabahBah set of to the grill part of Firefly Bar & Grill, hoping to sink our teeth into that Bourbon Glazed Back Ribs everybody’s talking about.

Happy Hour is Beer Hour

Three hungry and thirsty people sat down at about 7pm, in the thick of Happy Hour, and decided to take advantage of Firefly’s generous beer specials. A tower of Becks, which equates to 4.3 litres of beer (3 jugs), costs RM73 during Happy Hour; it’s very hard to say no to such a great deal.

For Starters at Firefly Bar & Grill

For something to nibble on that would complement the beer while we waited for our mains, and keeping in tune with our Pork Mission, we chose the Crispy Pork Belly from the Starter section of the menu. Marinated pork belly, lightly floured and then deep fried to perfection, served with spicy lemon grass vinaigrette is the very accurate description.

Between the 3 of us we agreed it was flavourful, very tasty and overall quite delicious, although 1 thought it was perhaps just a little too crispy and 1 thought it wasn’t fatty enough (although admittedly she likes it very fatty). But otherwise we were well impressed.

In the meantime, our tower of beer was looming large over the table and the beer was flowing steadily. There’s something magical about being able to pour your own beer right at your table.

Firefly Bar & Grill – The Mains Menu

Shortly after, our mains arrived. We had the Honey Brined Pork Chop (pan seared pork chop topped with apple ginger chutney), the Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich (chicken fillet with Swiss cheese) and the Firefly Burger (homemade patty with mushrooms, sauted onions and Swiss and Cheddar cheese).

Having had a couple of hit and misses with burgers around Kota Kinabalu recently, the Firefly Burger was a pleasant surprise.

The homemade patty was aromatic, tasty herbs and spices complimenting the flavour of the thick and juicy meat. The bread bun, although large, didn’t overpower the patty. In this way the meat was the star of the burger, with the buns awesome as backup, making for a great burger show.

The chicken club sandwich was equally delicious, with two large chicken fillets smothered in cheese, overflowing on the burger bun. The buns are not quite as large as they look in the accompanying picture, but they were large enough for our taster to not be able to finish his.

Our critical Foodie gave the Honey Brined Pork Chop a big thumbs up, even though she was quite disappointed no to get the ribs she craved for.

We finished off the substantial amount of beer left in the tower, we called for the bill, which came down to only RM50 per person.

By then the bar part of Firefly Bar & Grill was heaving, the band hard at work getting the packed house moving. As we couldn’t find a table inside, we decided to try the bar part of Firefly on another occasion, perhaps when they have those Burboun Glazed Back Ribs in stock again…