SABAH, NORTH BORNEO

Kohinoor, Waterfront, Kota Kinabalu

Kota Kinabalu is the capital of Sabah in North Borneo, and bearing in mind that Indian food, along with Chinese, is commonly found in Malaysia and neighbouring Singapore I was a little surprised to find only one genuine Indian restaurant in town (there are plenty of ‘curry houses’, but all serving Malay curries). I am told there is a second in another town some 40 minutes away, but unless you have a car, then the Kohinoor has the monopoly for most tourists at present. However, as Borneo is beginning to show signs of encouraging tourism, then I suspect that more Indian restaurants will open in time.

The restaurant is a relatively recently opened. It is run by Rajeev Sandu and advertises itself as a North Indian restaurant with the chefs, headed by Mr R Yadav, coming from New Delhi. It is very centrally and pleasantly situated on the waterfront, where you can sit overlooking the South China seas (by candlelight when dark) or in the comfortable air-conditioned restaurant. The menu provides most of the standard Indian dishes, and we enjoyed two visits in as many days.

When ordering, the waiters ask if you want it mild, medium or spicy, which perhaps indicates that most of the clientele are tourists unfamiliar with Indian food (the majority of the tourists seemed to come from Japan, China, Australia or New Zealand). We asked for it spicy (what else!) – “as it would be served in North India” - and even then, although good, it was probably not quite as tongue-tingling as one might expect with Punjabi cuisine. Having said that it was spicy enough (surpisingly the Chicken Do Dopiaza tasted spicier than the Chicken Mirchi, which according to the menu is cooked with green chillies), but if you want it ‘Indian’ strength, be sure to ask for it to be spicy (or even very spicy). 

 Over our couple of meals all the dishes we had were good. We kept our starters each time to Onion Pakoras, which were four small delicately spiced pieces served with a tasty raita. All our various main dishes were enjoyable, and as they do have a tandoori oven the Tandoori Chicken was properly cooked and flavoured (it also came in meaty portions, which for South East Asia was surprisingly  generous, as most chickens are a little scrawnier than at home). All the vegetable dishes were also excellent. The Aloo Gobi had plenty of ginger, while the Mixed Sabzi provides a very tasty selection. Rice good and plentiful, and the Nans (plenty of choices of filling) were light and ‘melt in the mouth’ excellent.

The portions are offered as either small or large. We chose the small to start with, and found these to be ample. Large portions would have been too filling to be able to enjoy a variety of dishes. Complimentary papads are served at the beginning, which were also nicely crisp (but be aware that if sitting outside you should eat them quickly, as the humidity soon destroys their crispness).

Prices are extremely reasonable. The following gives an example (based on the exchange rate when we were there): Onion Pakaoras (5 MR or 75p), Chicken Dopiaza, Chicken Mirchi etc (small 14.50MR or £2.20/large 19.50 MR or £2.90), ½ Tandoori Chicken (12.50 MR or £1.85), Garlic Nan (4.50 MR or 70p), Jeera Rice (5 MR or 75p).

All in all you can’t go far wrong. It is a good Indian restaurant serving authentic Indian food in generous portions at very reasonable prices in a comfortable and atmospheric ambience. What more can you ask?

Malcolm Wilkins – February 2006