Sunset ritual on the beach

Pre-dinner cocktails taste so much more exotic in the presence of Kadazan warriors and a Rungus princess. To top that, TAN BEE HONG finds treats aplenty in Makan Street

AT precisely 6.15pm every evening, Kadazan warriors descend on Dalit Beach at the Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort to the sound of gongs. With war-paint on their faces and armed with swords and lighted torches, they bear a palanquin on which is seated a little girl decked out in the finery of a Rungus princess. Walking alongside are her two “hand-maidens”. After carefully placing the “princess” on a small stage, the warriors do their dance with all the accompanying fierce shouts. This is the Sunset Ritual that holiday-makers at the resort look forward to at the Sampan Bar on the beach. The little girls are picked from among those staying at the resort. Australian Phoebe Worthley, eight, and Jemma Harvey, six, enjoyed every minute of their fleeting royal status.

The dance, pre-dinner cocktails and glorious sunset put us in the right mood for some local fare. So we headed for Makan Street at Tepi Laut restaurant. According to director of communications Regina Sulit-Lain, Makan Street “captures the nostalgia of Malaysia’s heritage of simple food stalls and open-fronted shop-house restaurants, each offering tempting flavours and a special glimpse into the cuisine of Asia”. In the day, it offers Asian and Western snacks, finger food and refreshing drinks for those having fun at the pool. When night falls, it takes on the ambience of food stalls, hence its name Market Street. Appetisers, salads and dessert line the circular bar counter in the centre while a row of seven cooking stations are lined up along one side, facing the sea.

We start with hot soups, refreshing salads, seafood on ice and zesty kerabu. We don’t linger too long at the salad bar as the food stalls seem to cast a spell over us, beckoning us to hurry over. The Chinese Wok House in one corner offers roast duck, roast chicken and Thai fried rice. The roast duck is full of flavour and one can have it rolled with egg pancake, Peking Duck style. There’s also wokfried beef in black pepper sauce, fried kung po chicken with dried chili and cuttlefish with celery.

Right next door is the Seafood Noodle House. This is a top favourite, judging from the many diners crowded around it. Yellow noodles, kway teow and bihun sit in bamboo colanders along with prawns, crab dumplings, Fuchow fish balls, prawn dumplings and crab sticks. We place our selections on a plate, adding to it vegetables, shitake mushrooms, beansprouts and egg and hand the plate over to the chef for frying or cooking in clear soup or laksa soup.

Then it’s time for a bit more spice at the Curry House and Roti House. Rendang, curry kapitan, ikan asam pedas, curry crabs go with roti canai and roti jala. As Sabah is known for its seafood, I am surprised that the crabs don’t taste as firm and fresh as they should be.

The Asian Grill House is where I couldn’t decide between the glistening sticks of grilled satay, succulent lamb chops with fresh mint sauce and spice-crusted tuna steaks coated with coriander and lemongrass. But my personal favourite has to be the Sabah Vegetable House. Though it does not strictly serve Sabah vegetables only, the freshness of the greens are a delight. Pucuk labu (pumpkin shoot) is sweet and tender. The chef stirfries it with whole shitake mushrooms, sliced brinjal (aubergine), chopped garlic and chili padi. It tastes so good I go back for seconds. For a taste of true Sabah greens, this is a must, together with sayur manis and two types of wild fern shoots — pucuk pakis and lembideng. The less adventurous can stick to more common stuff like four-angled beans, sweet peas, capsicum, Chinese cabbage, beansprout and bok choy.

After all this, we cool down with ais kacang, ladling condiments like cubed mango, cendol, palm jelly and creamed corn on a bed of crushed ice and syrup. You can also get local kuih like onde-onde, kuih lapis, bubur cha-cha and ice cream as well as fresh fruit to dip into a chocolate fountain (which unfortunately has to be switched off every time the sea breeze gets strong or the diners will find themselves coated with chocolate instead).

Makan Street is open in the evenings from 6.30pm. The buffet is priced at RM130 per person.

SAMPAN BAR, TEPI LAUT Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort Tuaran, Sabah
Tel: 088-792 888