slothis · English

Local Eats at Nasi Kandar Anak Mami, Kota Kinabalu

2017-09-24 · Updated: 2026-08-11 · Original (Korean)

This article was translated from the original Korean post with AI assistance. Read the original Korean post →

I returned to my accommodation feeling a bit melancholy and asked the others if they had eaten dinner, but they all already had. Even back in Seoul, I absolutely hate eating alone, especially eating out by myself. It's even worse when traveling because I want to try so many different things, but going to a restaurant alone means I can only order one dish. When I complained about this, the most common advice I got was, "Then order three dishes and leave the leftovers." Still, I waited around just in case, before finally sighing, "Ah... there's really no one," and heading out.

There are tons of restaurants if you go to Imago Mall, but I wanted to eat something that everyday Malaysians would grab on their way home. I wanted to go to the local equivalent of a "small neighborhood kimchi stew joint." Of course, a real Korean these days would just grab something at a convenience store. I was trudging along, wondering if I should just go to Imago Mall, when I saw people eating under a yellow sign in the distance. Even at a glance, it was clearly a local restaurant, and the diners all looked like locals with not a single foreigner in sight. I decided this was where I'd have dinner tonight.

Exterior of a restaurant with a yellow sign reading Nasi Kandar Anak Mami
It's obviously a local restaurant. But it turns out this was a curry place too...
Yellow menu board listing various items and prices
Restaurant menu board written in Malay on a yellow background
It might be hard to see, but it's really cheap.
Stainless steel sink installed on one side of the restaurant
A handwashing station I discovered later. Muslim-run restaurants always have a place to wash your hands like this.
People sitting at tables eating and the interior of the restaurant
Shelf displaying drinks and cups, and a view toward the restaurant kitchen
Showcase displaying food with a yellow menu board above it
It was well past mealtime, so there weren't many people. It's a comfortable place to eat, whether inside or out. In a way, it feels a bit like a Korean pojangmacha (street food tent).
Two large green coconuts placed on a marble-patterned table
The thing I was most curious about. Is it a decoration, or are they selling it? I really wonder why those coconuts are up there.

They don't speak English at this restaurant called "Nasi Kandar Anak Mami." Plus, there were no pictures to choose from, so I ordered using a combination of food words I had memorized earlier. My order was Mee (noodles) Goreng (fried). I had fried rice for lunch, so I figured I'd have noodles for dinner. Besides, Mee Goreng and Nasi Goreng are the most famous dishes when it comes to Southeast Asia.

Fried noodles with chicken and vegetables served on a white plate.
A close view of fried noodles mixed with chicken and green vegetables on a white plate.
Even in the picture, you can see the noodles are so soggy they've clumped together like rice cakes. It was hard to eat right away, but adding a little water made it manageable.
A plate of fried noodles, a coconut, a can of cola, and a cup of drink with ice placed on a table.
All this for RM 8. That's about 2,000 KRW. There's no restaurant in Korea that can pull off this quality for that price. The value for money is truly unbeatable.

The food came out quite a while after I ordered. In terms of value, it goes without saying that it's cheap. But I have no idea if the noodles got soggy because a dog stole all the other ingredients while they were cooking, forcing the chef to say, "Oh no! The noodles will get soggy, but I have to chop the ingredients again," or if it's just their style to eat soggy noodles here. Anyway, the noodles came out soggy.

I took my first bite, and a strong salty flavor hit my mouth! It was so salty that I quickly took a sip of the Coke I ordered. I thought, "The noodles are soggy and the seasoning is pretty salty," but surprisingly, the second bite was fine. Is this the power of the sweet-and-salty combo? I kept drinking my Coke, but strangely enough, I no longer felt the seasoning was too strong. Honestly, though, I think my tongue just went numb.

It's a shame, because it would have been a pretty good dinner if the noodles hadn't been soggy. Still, you can't beat the value for money. It's incredibly cheap, and for that price, it's an excellent meal. I wrote this as if it tasted bad, but I actually cleared the plate like I was going to eat the dish itself. It's not so bad that you'd leave leftovers. It's totally edible.

By the way, the name of this restaurant is "Nasi kandar anak mami," and if you break it down and translate it into English, it means "rice drive mama boy."

"The mama's boy who gives you rice."

Outdoor tables and chairs are set up, with commercial buildings and a small fountain visible in the background.
Hey mama's boy, hurry up and clear the trash~

Expenses (Conservatively calculated, multiply by 300 to get the amount in KRW)

Daily expenses : RM 488.41

Total travel expenses : 2,875,000 KRW + RM 598.41