'The Secret Spots of Sandakan' - could only be about food!

I have been to Sandakan quite a few times and, as everyone says, the food there is delicious.  But you know what it's like - as a visitor, you feel that you're not really getting to the places that locals think are the BEST places to eat.  And 'best' here can mean taste, freshness, quality, value for money - not usually anything to do with the decor, the service, the desirability of the location...it's ALL about the food.

Bak Kut Teh - our first evening meal - fantastic!

So I finally got to visit Sandakan with some locals.  It was a great trip.  The first thing that is funny - funny-ha-ha, not funny-weird - about Sandakan is that everything happens in doubles.  As you come closer to the east coast, it all starts with the town of Dum Dum.  There's Dum Dum Besar (big) and Dum Dum Kecil (small).  And so you sit and wonder to yourself whether it's said Dumb-Dumb or Dawm Dawm.  Well, some of us wonder about things like this.  It's something to do before you start eating!

Sim Sim, the kampung air, for seafood breakfast

Our first eating stop was at a shop called:  Siang Siang and it was here we had our first taste of the kway teow goreng and mee goreng - fried noodles.  They are really good.  I've had them again since then and can say again that they are: really good.  Even my friends who had hardly any space left for more food thought they were REALLY GOOD!

We went on to visit the brother of our friend who has a shop called:  On On.  As it's an electrical shop, we thought it was better to be called On On than Off Off or even On Off!  And it didn't stop there - we ate at a place called Yum Yum and visited the 'kampong air' or water village called: Sim Sim.  Fantastic seafood!

Other treats included Portuguese egg tarts that come fresh from the oven every hour.  They are fabulous!  With coffee, of course.  And then the varieties of ABC - a really Malaysian iced snack that is basically shaved ice with lots of tasty bits added!  Makes you cool from the inside.  Perfect in this climate. 

Shaved ice (ABC), mini homemade hamburger, Portuguese egg tarts

We did make a search for UFO's or Cow Pats - you can imagine the general shape!  These have a thin, round layer of sponge on the bottom, then a toffee-flavoured filling, and a topping of soft meringue.  The old man who was famous for making UFOs in Sandakan couldn't persuade his son to join him in the business and wouldn't pass his secret recipe on to his daughter who did agree to join him - so the magic went with him to the grave!  And I have to say that I think the UFOs we get in KK are better than the many we tasted in Sandakan.

So there it is!  I was so busy eating on this trip that I didn't take nearly as many photos as I should have.  Ah well, I guess I'll just have to go back - for the photographs, of course.

If you have any comments or questions, I'd love to hear from you!  jude@astsabah.com