CHEAP EAT: WINNER CANTONESE RESTAURANT

Winner Cantonese Restaurant is located on the 1st and 2nd floor inside Winner Hotel. It is always fully booked during festive season which you'd need at least one week reservation in advance. It is a non-halal restaurant.

Dinner started off with a Chinese sausage and meatball soup which had to be pre-ordered a day in advance. The spring onion enhances the flavor of the clear chicken broth whereas the sausage that is coated with a thin layer of egg and meatballs are the best you can get in Kota Kinabalu. It's so good that we only remembered to take pictures after half of the soup and most of the meat is gone. Next came the deep fried dory fish that was crisps on the outside and cooked to perfection on the inside. It is accompanied by a soy sauced based sauce. The vegetable dish, sayur manis stir fried with garlic was chewy and a favorite for everyone. This type of sayur manis has more stems than leaves and can only be found in certain areas in Sabah. 

 There were two bean curd dish for the night, the clay pot bean curd and bean curd skin with broccoli and mushrooms. The clay pot was filled with vegetables and meat as well which was cooked nicely. The bean curd skin on the other hand tasted absolutely delightful paired with crunchy broccoli and juicy mushrooms. 

The last dish is a Hakka dish, steamed pork hash with salted fish. This might be a cantonese restaurant but it also features some of the Hakka's favorite dishes and is one of the very few places you can enjoy Hakka cuisine. The meat is juicy and bursting with flavors but it's certainly not for the faint hearted. 

Winner Cantonese Restaurant is one of the oldest restaurants in town. Though some hotels have a reputation for overrated food, you can rest assured that Winner Cantonese Restaurant will not fall into that category. 

Serving Lunch, dinner and catering for private functions.

Operating hours: Lunch - 11.00 am to 2.00 pm

Dinner from 6.00 pm to 10:00 pm

Location: Level 2, Winner Hotel

9 & 10, Jalan Pasar Baru, Kg Air,

88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

For Reservation:

Tel: 088-243224

Fax: 088-217345

Written by Emma Ho