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…
That’s right, purveyors of independent bands and rock music, will get the opportunity to satisfied their Indie band cravings on 23 January 2010 when Rock Out! Chapter II takes place at D’Junction Fun Pub & Bistro.
The line-up includes 5 Borneo bands from right here in Sabah and another Indie band imported from Kuala Lumpur, just to mix things up a bit. The result, some home grown Borneo Indie rock with just a hint of West Malaysia to bring you another awesome night out in Kota Kinabalu.
The bands billed for the event includes the headlining band Seven Collar T-shirt who will be entertaining with their modern rock, alternative and rock numbers. Donatello brings us ska, 4AG is on with hard rock, we can look forward to Wake Up Call’s alternative tunes and modern rock, Pan-O-Rama will also rock the house and Goyang72 to will mix it up a bit with some retro rock.
In between the bands doing their thing, DJ Nukie D will be keep the house thumping and rhythms pumping as he works the decks from the DJ box reminding you what nightlife in Borneo is all about.
Tickets are reasonably priced at RM35 per person which also gets you 1 bottle of Heineken. If you’re heading over with your friends, why not consider one of the group packages, which includes the tipple of your choice (beer, vodka of whisky) and will get your entrance for 4 to 7 people, depending on which one you choose.
A group package also books you a table, which guarantees you a seat, which means you’ll be able to sit down when you’re not moshing to the band on stage.
All in all Rock Out! Chapter II brings another interesting event to Kota Kinabalu and give us that much more to choose from our entertainment in Borneo.
Ice Bar’s Clash of The Titans New Year’s Party series was arguably one of the biggest new year’s eve parties Borneo has ever seen.
If you haven’t read the marketing blurb yet, you can refer back to the event’s main page, but it was pretty much everything they promised: the 6000 megawatts, the dancers, the DJs, you name it.
1,500 party people attended the New Year’s Eve edition of Clash of The Titans at Ice Bar 1Borneo, whilst a more modest number of party goers attended the 1st of January edition, but on both nights you couldn’t help but marvel at the quality of the entertainment line-up, DJ performances the like of which you rarely see in Sabah.
Having attended a party elsewhere on New Year’s Eve, I was fortunate enough to attend the 1 January party. Along with 3 friends we entered at just before 10pm at about the same time as the dancing acts were about to start.
Royal Phantom took over the centre stage with break dancing and beat-boxing and got the crowd going. After that the one DJ after the other was on fire and we thoroughly enjoyed the music.
Even though New Year’s Eve had been a monster night, time flew and we left Ice Bar when things were quieting down at around 3.30am. Good on Ice Bar for being brave enough to put on 2 huge parties 2 nights in a row and making a success of them.
I’ve heard many people say already that if this is what they’re doing next year, they want to buy the tickets soon. 2010 is bound to be bigger than ever.
As promised, party planner Renaissance of Borneo delivered one of Kota Kinabalu’s most high-profile parties on Thursday, 17 December.
With subtle lighting, the KK Waterfront’s biggest night club, B.E.D. (Best Entertainment Destination) was transformed into a pastel-coloured playground, which accentuated the size of the venue and gave impact to the theme, Elegance in White.
Chivas, as one of the main sponsors, had a Welcome Drink Station set up at the entrance and party goers were greeted with a shot of Chivas and a mixer of their choosing.
True to Sabah’s party spirit, those who attended Elegance in White stayed true to the theme of white and the venue slowly filled with beautiful people wearing a manner of all-white and partly-white outfits.
DJ Ash got the crowd going with some bopping tunes before DJ Fine China took over the reigns to put his own particular spin on the party.
Although Elegance in White perhaps fell a little short of the descriptions in the press releases, it was an overall success and Borneo looks forward to future events organised by Renaissance of Borneo.
Ice Bar is Sabah’s current notable nightlife, because honestly, have you seen their daily drinks specials? It’s insane!
To put that in perspective, consider that KK’liens ® also think the fridge is too far from the living room. In fact, if we could, we’d drive to the kitchen to get a beer and then circle the fridge until we found parking right in front of the door.
So when I tell you that Ice Bar is in fact only 7km from the city centre, a 15 minute drive after rush-hour traffic, you might realise just how not-far it is. Nevertheless, to entice those folk who do consider 7km is bit of a trek, Ice Bar has all these crazy daily promos going on.
There’s several promos every day, but below’s a few of my favourites. Keep in mind, I’m a beer drinker, but there’s cocktail promos for all you posers too.
Nobody goes out on Sundays because everyone’s repenting, but here’s a reason to skip church, you sinner! At Ice Bar you pay RM25 for your first mug of Becks, and then every refill after that is only RM1. This is from 6pm – 9pm. If you’re still standing after 9pm, you can get Happy Hour prices all night long on a bunch of drinks, including a mug of Hoegaarden or Leffe for just RM12 each.
Feeling floored by Monday? Go hang off the ceiling at Ice Bar, and wear something blue while you’re at it; just for that you get a free Blue Lagoon Cocktail (for wearing blue, not for hanging off the ceiling).
Tuesday is hands down my favourite. Guys pay RM75 and girls pay RM50, and then from 6pm – 11pm it’s an open bar buffet! What does that mean? It means you drink whatever you like (except signature cocktails and flaming drinks), as much as you like, just make sure you don’t drink more than you can keep down – you’ll have to mop up your own schlop. Just kidding! But what a waste, so know when to stop, ya?
Then on Wednesday it’s Ladies Night, and check this out, if 4 ladies show up together, Ice Bar will give them a bottle of Absolute on the house; free; gratis; for nothing! It’s true. What do guys get? Well, they get to pay for their drinks, but ogle the hotties that Ice Bar attracts.
One of the promos on Thursdays is the Chivas Lucky 7s offer. Every 7th bottle of Chivas sold will get 1 free. So if 6 other people in the bar buy a bottle of Chivas and you’re No.7, chi-ching, plus 1 free bottle for you.
And every other day of the week? Well, there’s always Happy Hour from 6pm – 9pm with discount Becks (1 glass = RM8, 1 jug = RM26, 1 tower = RM78), and Hoegaarden at RM12 per pint or RM22 for 2 pints.
Don’t forget the bottle promos, like the more bottles of Chivas you buy the cheaper it gets – how about 5 bottles for RM1,050? Cheap as chips!
The above are just some of Ice Bar’s promos, so get yourself on over to the Ice Bar main page and check out everything that’s on offer.
How do you like them apples? Think you’ll be saving a little drinking money for the petrol to fuel that mammoth 7km trek to 1Borneo? You bet ya!
Now I’m thirsty, what day is it?
