Puteri Nabalu — Restaurant in Borneo

𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 '𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭' 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘒𝘰𝘵𝘢 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘶 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘢𝘯 (𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥), 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘵 𝘗𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪 𝘕𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘚𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘪 - 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘞𝘖𝘞! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 (𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘵) 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴 (𝘫𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘬) 𝘢𝘭𝘢 𝘢𝘭𝘢 𝘒𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘢𝘱𝘪 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘪 𝘖𝘔𝘎! 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘒𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘒𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨. 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 '𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪' 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 (𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸). 𝘗𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪 𝘕𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘒𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘢𝘯, 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳/𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴' 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 (𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘉𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘪 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘬𝘢𝘪 (𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳/𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦) 𝘣𝘶𝘬𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘪 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘬𝘢𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘢, 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘬 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪𝘫𝘪𝘬𝘬𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘬 𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘮 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘪 𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘩 𝘥𝘪 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘬𝘢𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘴 𝘬𝘢𝘯?) 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘧'𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴, 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘧! 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘢, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳...

Scenic Views, Subdued Flavors.

Our stop at Puteri Nabalu in Kundasang, Sabah, offered both delightful scenery and culinary letdowns. After a long drive from Kota Kinabalu, the limited menu left us wanting more. The food, possibly affected by Kundasang's high altitude, erred on the bland side, which seemed uncharacteristic for a country known for its bold flavors.

My father's grilled chicken rice set, with its eye-catching purple rice, lacked the zest we expected. I opted for the fried rice set, a surprisingly dull dish for Malaysia's renowned cuisine. Mom's fried bihun was decent but begged for more seasoning.

Service was efficient but unremarkable. Prices, however, felt steep given the subdued flavors. We wondered if these mild tastes catered to Western tourists not accustomed to Sabahan heat, possibly disappointing those seeking authentic local flavors.

On a positive note, Puteri Nabalu provides an incredible backdrop of Kundasang's highlands and Mount Kinabalu. The restaurant boasts clean restrooms and ample parking. If you're there for the view, it's worth a visit, but for a true Sabahan food adventure, you may want to explore other options...

We have ordered steamboat set for 2 pax, soup base is tomato and tomyam. They took almost half an hour to serve the food but still serve wrongly. After we have highlighted to them, then only they aware that the soup base should be for the next table.

Finally our food and soup is served, but we are really very disappointed. The tomato soup doesn't have tomato taste at all, it’s all about anchovies taste and the anchovies taste really smelly, not fresh at all. Tomyam soup doesnt have tomyam taste, it is just chili taste!

We’ve never eat such disgusting food in our life. This restaurant should just close down if they cant even serve a normal steamboat, which is easily to be prepared and it will never get wrong.

For those who want to try this shop, i would say a big NO! Please go to other places instead.

Ambience, food, service: I would give negative out of 5...