Lobsta Truck - Rollin' New England Style

With probably 20 dining reviews banked in my head from all the incredible stops on my Sabah/Hong Kong trip this holiday, waiting for fingers to unload to keyboard - I still can't help but take a short detour to post about Lobsta Truck.

After an incredible vacation packed with culinary adventure, featuring the freshest of seafood and dishes starring exotic ingredients, I was in denial about the return to the mundane with my first day back at work. Then I realized that Lobsta Truck was going to be in the neighborhood around my office at lunch!

As its name indicates, Lobsta Truck's focus is on lobster - the only food truck out in Los Angeles thus far to build its menu around this delectable crustacean, and most exciting of all, lobster freshly flown in from New England, just like the fresh split top rolls they sit in.

When we got to the truck about a half hour into its service, there was a line down the block, and it didn't seem to be moving.  But everyone in line did not appear agitated - as if they knew the rolls would be worth the wait.

It took us about 35 minutes in the queue before we got to place our order, but we didn't mind once we took one look at the food (although, good thing it was so close to the office - so that we could take the rolls back to work to eat since we will have spent our whole lunch hour driving/parking and waiting). 

I got a Lobsta Roll ($11) and a Crab Roll ($9) - originally intending to keep the Crab Roll in the fridge for dinner.  You can order the rolls with either butter or mayo - so I picked one for each - butter with the lobster and mayo for the crab.  Both were incredible - not only were they stuffed with really big chunks of meat that tasted fresh from the ocean, juicy and sweet, but the bread was also the perfect weight and fluffiness, and perfectly toasted on the outside to add a great crispy crust with each bite. The butter was skillfully controlled to avoid overflow - and I am happy to report that the roll did not in any way feel greasy or heavy at all, but tasted fresh and light. Our only note was that the roll was fairly small (barely longer than my hand), so that it would probably take at least 2 rolls for the average diner to get full.  I ended up gulping down the crab roll as well at lunch, as much because its freshness was irresistible, as that I found I was not really full after the Lobsta Roll.  But otherwise, the seafood was of incredible quality unexpected for a food truck.

I had also wanted to try the New England Clam Chowder ($3.50 cup / $6 pint) as well, but they were sold out before we even got to the order window! 

My co-worker got a Lobsta Roll and loved it - not bad for his first food truck experience!  I also grabbed a Freshly Squeezed Lemonade, a good deal at $2 for a roughly 'grande' size cup - a brilliant pairing with the seafood rolls and for the health-conscious, much better than soda.  Other bottle beverages spotted at the truck include Izze sparkling fruit drinks, root beer and bottled water.

All told, though a bit on the pricey side for a 'mobile' lunch, considering that it's $11 for big chunks of freshly flown in New England lobster and the lovely feeling that gave us of being highrollers - splurging on lobster at an office lunch -  it's a welcome indulgence for this diner.  Can't wait to try the Clam Chowder as well. 

Hope Lobsta Truck rolls into our neighborhood more often!

On a 7 point scale:
Flavor - 6 bites
Presentation - 6 bites
Originality - 5.5 bites
Ambience - 5 stars
Service - 5 stars
Overall experience - 6 bites
Price - $$ (2 bite marks)
Probability of return visit - 100%

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Lobsta Truck
All over Los Angeles - see Twitter for updates
Twitter: twitter.com/lobstatruck
Website: lobstatruck.com
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1MB Travels: Sabah, Malaysia Adventures

Now that I've covered the priority reports on good eats during our family vacation, wanted to share some other cool things we did while at Sabah.

Day 1: With our tour package, we get a 2.5 hour massage / spa treatment in Kota Kinabalu. Most people save this for the end of the trip when they are tired from water activities, sightseeing etc. and need the after sun treatment. We went up front, as we were exhausted from work! After the awesome massage, we headed with the group to Borneo Wildlife Preserve in Beaufort (about a 1.5-2 hour drive outside Kota Kinabalu).

After we were served snacks - mainly fried fruit like bananas that seem like they have been sitting out too long - we set out on a small boat in search of the famed Proboscis Monkeys that are unique to Borneo, and on the endangered list.

Not sure why we were expecting to be able to see the monkeys close-up, I think in our minds there was going to be a portion of the tour that would be walking through the preserve and being potentially in close range to the animals - but in reality of course as they are endangered, we stayed in the boat the whole time, and though we did see several monkeys - they were swinging from the treetops so we could barely see their silhouettes.

The below was about as close as we got to seeing their faces:

Photo taken at gift shop at hotel

 
It was still fun though, and entertaining to see the kids on the tour go bananas whenever they spotted a monkey (and were able to identify the butt color of each one via zoom lens or binoculars). 

Thanks to the tour guide's sharp vision, we were also able to see a lizard up close - they pulled the boat right into the brush so we were just maybe 15 feet away from it!   At first our fellow passengers joked it's probably a plastic prop placed there for dramatic effect, but then as if on cue, the lizard stuck its head up and posed for photos.

At around dusk, we docked back at the 'lodge' (which feels a little like the Blue Bayou at Disneyland with the lights up) for dinner before heading out to see the fireflies.

Dinner was served buffet style with picnic style tables in the 'lodge', and included local veggies, coconut rice, and small crabs.  It was billed as 'private dining' but was of the quality you would expect at a place whose primary function is not food service, but wildlife preservation.  Though the beef short rib soup was a standout - very clean broth that's rich in flavor and made fragrant with lemongrass.  But if we were to go on this tour again I would definitely try to eat beforehand.

The fireflies tour was great - we basically went down the river in the dark, and periodically the tour guide would shine a huge spotlight on a tree that he suspects houses many fireflies, and for a brief moment we would question whether they are there - then seconds later, pinpoints of light burst into life all over the tree, so that it looks like lights on a Christmas tree - except the lights move around to create a magical, shimmery effect.  Again it was too bad we couldn't see them up close, and no photo opps with this one either - but kind of a fun thing to do in conjunction with other activities at the preserve (we decided we wouldn't have wanted to drive all the way just for the fireflies).


Day 2:  We also checked out the waterfront markets in Kota Kinabalu's city center. From produce stands to sellers of everything you can make out of coconut, to dried seafood and no-label secret recipe hot sauce at Central Market to handmade bags and accessories and anything you can bead, crochet or build out of shells at the Craft Market - this is ideal for anyone looking for local foods / goods and interactions.

While some vendors are more open and will happily pose for photos, others do not welcome photography at their booths - we just played it by ear and erred on the side of asking for permission before snapping pics (or captured photos quickly and discreetly).

Where we ended up buying the most souvenirs was at the Wawasan Plaza shopping mall near Api-Api center.  There were stalls selling everything a tourist would want to bring home as gifts - hand-dyed sarongs, Kota Kinabalu tees, monkey-themed gifts, all kinds of keychains and charms, crocheted seashell 'windchimes' and much more.  At one store, I scored 5 sarongs for RM100 or about $32 US!

Day 3: Our tour package offered an add-on for a snorkeling excursion, but it required meeting up at 7am for a 2 hour ride out to the ferry before another hour or so ride to the island, and we just weren't up for it, especially as I was the only one who would be snorkeling. 

The good news is, we discovered when wandering around Sutera Harbour Resort that they have a professional water activities agency on-site called Sea Quest, and among other offerings they run boats out to three islands at nearby Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park throughout the day, and will rent you the appropriate equipment from beach mats to snorkel / diving gear.  The most awesome thing?  There were boats leaving as late as 11:30am, 12:30pm and into the afternoon - they leave straight from the Marina Club in the resort, it's a 15 minute ride, and they take walk-ins.  The total cost for one person to go to Mamutik Island with boat fare and full snorkel gear rentals was RM80 or about $26 US (inclusive of entry fee into the park).  As a hotel guest at the Sutera you can also get a 'loaner' towel from the booth steps away from the Sea Quest counter.  So convenient!  Granted, the variety of marine life and quality of the snorkeling/diving experience at the Tunku Abdul Tahman Marine Park will not compare to that of Semporna, one of the Top 10 dive sites in the world - but it also doesn't take an hour plane ride and boat ride either - and is ideal for families looking for short half day excursions with minimal travel time.

The beach on Mamutik island was beautiful - though the picnic areas further back are a bit too densely populated, the beach itself was great.  Sea Quest provided transportation and gear, but leaves you alone to enjoy the water as you like (there isn't a guided tour for snorkeling), which is perfect for us. 

We were already excited, at the pier to be able to see huge schools of fish swimming below (hard to see in this picture with my point and shoot...but you can roughly see their numbers and visibility up near the top right corner).

With Sea Quest, you book a spot on the return trip as well before you depart, but can change it if you like - just head to the pier to let their staff know 20 minutes prior to the originally scheduled departure time.  Love the flexibility!

(You can also use the 'island hopper' deal to check out two of the three islands in one day - the boat stops by each island anyways like a shuttle.  Next time we would like to try Manukan, which seems a little more resort like than Mamutik.)

After exhausting work by or in the water (i.e. snorkeling or swinging in the hammock, beach-side) all day, and feasting on the freshest creatures from the sea - it was great to cool down with a Super Ice-Cream Potong. There were tropical fruit flavors, of course, plus some flavors unusual for ice cream, like avocado, yam and sweet corn.  Before tasting these frozen treats, I expected to like sweet corn the least - it didn't sound like something that would make a delicious ice cream flavor - but with that set-up, I'm sure you've guessed by now - yes, sweet corn turned out to be my favorite flavor of the bunch.

And those were some of the highlights of our trip!

All in all, loved Sabah for all that it had to offer - and there's so much more that we didn't see - hope that we will have a chance to go back again!

1MB Travels: Sabah, Malaysia: Ocean Seafood Village - "No Menu" Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Live Seafood Dining Experience at Fab Prices!

Just returned to a very, very cold L.A. (what happened to warming back up while I was gone...!)  A few hours in and our vacation in sunny Borneo and warmer-than-LA HK seems a distant memory from a different world.

At least I have my memories of the amazing culinary adventures from both places that I can relive as I post about them!

So here goes with the first one...

While on vacation with the fam in Sabah, Malaysia, we managed to venture off the compound of the resort to check out local flavors.  We started off with a self-guided excursion through the city center of Kota Kinabalu - through all the ocean front produce and craft markets (details in separate Sabah adventures post), to a local shopping center - then rewarded ourselves with what we had truly ventured out to the city center for lunch at a place highly recommended by the travel agency guide as well as foodie bloggers: Ocean Seafood Village.

At first, our cab driver got confused and took us to an open market food court style place - so the first tip would be - let your driver know you want to go to the location next to the Jalan Hotel, close to Api Api Center.  When we arrived at the second stop, we knew we were at the right place when we saw a relatively upscale restaurant, where we were greeted by two giant lobster sculptures.

The first thing we saw when we stepped inside, was row upon row of tanks containing all manner of live sea creatures as far as the eye could see.  Nothing excites my family (ok, at least my mom and I) like live seafood that are still swimming before we eat.

But apparently we were not supposed to enter through this entrance first, and were immediately led to the main dining room to be seated.

The dining room was moderate size, with round tables set up banquet style (the larger ones set up with lazy susans, the better for efficient dining in big groups).

As with my policy with movies, with food I just like to get the general gist of reviews (good/so-so/bad) without reading details, so that I could get my thoughts together first without any bias / noise.  So, I was quite surprised when our server informed us that the restaurant did not have a menu!

At Ocean Seafood Village (and other similar seafood restaurants in KK and HK), you make your dining experience the way you want it - choose your own adventure. 

Basically, this means you pick the seafood you want from the tanks (literally pointing to the exact lobster

etc. or simply instruct your server on the type and weight you want and let them make the selection for you), tell them how you want it cooked, and then the dishes of incredibly fresh seafood magically appear at your table.
So the designated seafood selectors from our table (my mom and I) were led back to the tanks to 'shop' for our meal.  We had an amazing time just peering into all the tanks, checking out some creatures we'd never seen before, like this giant King Lobster with tarantula-like legs - so huge it looked like it could go head-to-head with us if we tried to grab it from the tank (luckily, we would have experts there to handle that), Mantis Prawn (equivalent of Chinese Lai Liu Har, but we've still never seen the live creature before) as well as various local types of fish.
 

I know the burning question would be - how do you know how much your meal's going to cost, if there's no menu?  There are prices by the pound posted in front of each tank, and if you like you can ask for exact weight and costs before going back to your table.  There's also a negligible fee for tea and hand towels, as well as the small plates of pre-meal snacks which consisted of shrimp chips, seasoned peanuts and pickled papaya.

Looking to get the full local experience, for beverages we ordered a round of Pandan Coconuts in the shell.  Like all the other fruit juices we've had in Sabah, it could be served a little colder, but it still tasted great - untouched by human hands except for the cracking of the shell to reach the liquids inside.  Perhaps it's just challenging to fit all those huge shells in the fridge (and they did run out when we tried to order seconds).

On to the seafood!  We started with Sabah specialties: Tiger Prawns in Butter Sauce, and Sabah Vege.  My mom was at first concerned that the butter sauce would be too rich, but had reluctantly agreed to try it since it was only to be found in Sabah.  The dish turned out to be amazing and one of our favorites for the meal - the prawns were incredibly fresh, juicy, sweet and the sauce was creamy and as light as a sauce made of butter and cream could be.

Sabah Vege is another Sabah specialty - as there are a lot of Chinese immigrants in Malaysia, a lot of the people speak Chinese, so my parents were delighted to find that our server could explain the dish in Chinese to us.  The veggie is basically "Shue Jai Choy" or potato vegetable - they simply harvest the green stems that grow with spuds, above ground.  It can be cooked a number of ways, but Sabah Vege proper is with a sauce reminiscent of Cantonese "XO sauce" made with dried shrimp and chilis.  I don't usually like veggies, but loved this flavorful dish and wish I could find a place that serves it back home!

Next up was the Lobster - we asked for it to be halved, boiled and served in "top broth" - this format made it easier to get at the meat in a larger chunk, gave access to the tasty tomalley and any caviar inside / around the head area, while the clear soup gave the lobster just the right amount of flavor while still letting the natural sweetness of the lobster meat shine through.

We wanted to try the Coconut Crab (so named because its claws are so strong it could crack a coconut shell with its bare...claws).  But unfortunately they were not in season - the only crab available during our visit was Flower Crab.  We also asked for this to be cooked in top broth.  Our only note about this dish was that we wished we had ordered larger crabs - even my parents who normally don't order crab because it's too much 'work' to get at the flesh, loved the taste - so sweet, structured but super tender - and wished we could have had more. 

Our bill with all that seafood?  In Ringit Malaysian currency: 280 TOTAL, which translates to just a little over $700 Hong Kong or about $92 US!!!!!  For three people!

At that point we only had one day left in our stay in Sabah - and decided we needed to come back to Ocean Seafood Village one more time before leaving.  There were some other recommended local spots that we wanted to check out for a greater sampling in the area, but Ocean Seafood Village was so amazing that we decided to go back for our last meal, literally before our ride to the airport.

On the second visit, we had Lime Juice with Salted Plums (the preserved fruit seems to be as popular here for beverages - as it is to Singaporeans for food).  With the sourness of the lime juice, adding 5-6 salted plums ended up being overkill - this drink would have been nice with maybe 1 salted plum to add just a touch of salty and tart.

As for seafood, we wanted to try a local fish - and went with our server's recommendation of Steamed Marbled Gobby Fish with Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil.  Chinese people like to eat the flesh in the 'cheeks' of fish because it's the smoothest and tenderest (and bone-free) - well the entire Marbled Gobby Fish had the texture of fish cheekbone meat.  There were a bunch of thin bones to work around / eject - which turned my dad off (he usually avoids fish for this reason) - but the taste and texture overall was worth the work.  Like the crab, we just wished we ordered a bigger fish so that the meat to bones (shell) ratio would be to our favor.

Next we tried the Mantis Prawn, which looked like small lobsters with longer tails and shorter heads, and black and beige/grey striped shells when we saw them in the tank - and are supposedly named for their resemblance to praying mantis.

But when they arrived cooked, they looked more like a hybrid of lobster (spiny and hard shell) and shrimp (long and skinny).  We had this one steamed with egg whites, so that all the juices would flow into the egg, which could then be worked into a bowl of rice for extra flavor.

This dish was good, but again took a lot of work to get at the 'meat' - there is supposed to be a specific way to snap the flesh off the spine, but we weren't sure how at the time.  In terms of taste, the Mantis Prawns were sweeter than the lobsters, but this dish definitely did not have as big a payoff (not much meat for all that work, and not as big of a bargain). Worth trying as a local item, but if you have limited numbers of people and can only stick to a few dishes, would recommend getting the butter tiger prawn or a lobster dish instead.

Speaking of lobsters, we couldn't bear to leave without having this again, especially since it was so cheap!  So we ordered lobsters boiled in "top broth" again, bigger ones this time, but chopped up versus split sideways.  We decided we liked split sideways better - the meat came off in clean, versus us trying to scrape small pieces out of the chopped up segments.  It was just felt more rewarding when we were able to spear and rip the entire tail out of the shell in one fell forkful - it also has a better 'mouth feel' (popular Cantonese term) in each bite, and allows bigger pieces for the natural flavors of the lobster to come through along with the flavors in the broth.

Last dish we repeated of course was Sabah Vege.  The tally for this second meal?  A grand total of RM400 or $130 US.  (*And oh, I forgot to mention:  after our first meal, we were given a coupon for 20% off our next meal - but unfortunately we completely forgot to use it, even though we brought it with us to our second meal - d'oh!!!!!! So it could have been even cheaper than that!!!)

Forget Shangri-La - after those two meals, paradise for me would be to live in Sabah...or specifically, next to Ocean Seafood Village.

On a 7 point scale:
Flavor - 6.5 bites
Presentation - 5.5 bites
Originality - 6 bites
Ambience - 5.5 stars
Service - 6 stars
Overall experience - 6 bites
Price - $$ (2 bite marks)
Probability of return visit - 100%

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Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Ocean Seafood Village Restaurant
No.4, Lorong Api-api Center 3, Api-api Center,
88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Ph: 088-264701,  088-269701
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