Krishna's branch at Jalan Lintas boasts two shop lots across the road from one another while one of them is a 2-storey shop with airconditioning upstairs.

Located in the Grand Millenium Plaza along Jalan Lintas, Krishna specialises in South Indian style Fish Head Curry and the famous Banana Leaf set meals with a Malaysian touch. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night craving food from Krishna’s. It’s harder now that I no longer live in Sabah – A meal at Krishna’s is now an annual event when I return to visit the folks.

Recently when I was back in Kota Kinabalu, my folks took me through the old ritual of lunching at Krishna’s. Once again, the experience was as memorable as the last. So what is the deal with Krishna’s Curry House? The answer is simply unrivalled dizzying-deliciousness. Putting this down on paper is impossible, one must experience the food in person at Krishna’s to fully understand where I am coming from.

Meat Curries on Display

Typically, a meal at Krishna’s for me involves the Fish Head Curry and Banana Leaf Set Lunch which consists of a platter of fish head curry and all-you-can-eat vegetables and rice. There are different fish head sizes available to suit – ranging from small to monstrous! The fish head curry is priced depending on the size of the fish head. A medium-sized one would cost around RM28. On Fridays and Saturdays, Biryani Rice is also available from the menu.

A typical lunch meal at Krishna's - Fish Head Curry, Vegetables and Rice.

Biryani rice and an array of delicious spicy vegetables - bitter gourd, long beans and spinach.

The types of vegetables and curries on the menu change on a daily basis which makes for great variety. The food at Krishna’s is never too salty or greasy and has the perfect balance of spices. Whenever you order the banana leaf set meals, the waiters will bring you a selection of veges in these tin pots. There can be up to 6 different types of vegetable dishes in one meal setting (lunch or dinner) and one is always spoilt for choice!

A selection of vegetables is brought to you - clockwise from left: Eggplant cooked in spicy tomato sauce, chopped long beans with mustard seeds and melon curry.

A closer look at what came out of the tins... From left to right: Melon Curry, Long Beans and Eggplant.

One of my favourite vegetable dishes from Krishna's - Deep Fried Crispy Bitter Gourd Chips!

The star of the show is of course the Fish Head Curry – I’m never too sure what kind of fish they use – from memory I remember Krishna mentioning something about Ikan Putih. The reason why I rate the fish head curry here so much once again comes down to taste and also freshness. I still can’t get over how fish head is SO underrated outside Malaysia! It’s probably the best part of the fish, especially the eyes and cheeks!

A medium sized fish head is sufficient enough to feed a group of three. If you look at the photo long enough, you will be able to smell the wonderful aroma of the fish head curry.

The fish here is sourced daily from suppliers and I have never once tasted a less-than-inspiring piece of fish head from Krishna’s. The curry sauce has just the right consistency and isn’t too thick or watery. They use lots of tomatoes in the sauce to give it a tangy, sour bite which compliments the fish very well. There is also a generous serving of Okra in the fish head curry.

The Banana leaf set lunch is not complete without a hearty serving of hot rice, topped with dollops of curry sauce!

Most of the time, you’ll get to see Krishna and his wife at the restaurant. Sometimes his boys also help them out. He is a really friendly and jolly fellow who loves to interact with his customers – just how a restaurant host and owner should be. Getting back to the earlier comment I made about Krishna’s hairstyle, he used to sport a ponytail way back in the 90’s…

A photo opportunity with the man himself!

Sandakan Curry house specialises in South Indian food with a Malaysian touch. Compared to North Indian food, the Southerners don’t actually use much cream at all in their cooking. Chilli also plays a vital role in South Indian cooking and can be very spicy compared to its creamy counterpart. Their specialty dish, I’m assuming, would be the Fish Head Curry that we ordered.

There isn’t much Indian food in East Malaysia as the majority of the Indian population resides in West Malaysia. The most common type of Indian food available in Sabah are the banana leaf and fish head curry set meals. There are also other curries that are available such as mutton and goat which is very popular amongst the locals, as well as rotis and naans.

We ordered the Fish Head Curry Set Lunch for two. Contrary to what many people say about fish head, depending on the size of the fish (duh!) the head is actually very fleshy and has some of the softest and best parts of flesh from the fish, The cheeks and eyes are one of my favourite parts! With this set lunch menu, you also get a choice of plain rice or Biryani, a selection of vegetables and other curries from their glass display cabinet and some papadams (deep fried crispy crackers with cumin seeds).

We went for the Biryani rice (rice cooked with cumin, cardamom, raisins and star anise) which also came with large chunks of chicken. The selection of veges we picked were cabbage with mustard seeds, garlic spinach and bitter gourd curry. Indian set lunches also come with some Dhal (lentil stew) and a spicy vegetable soup, which we also got. Instead of plates, the entire meal is served on a banana leaf which adds to the flavour, hence the name ‘Banana Leaf Set Lunch’ – An economical way to avoid excessive dishwashing later!

The verdict? Very tasty. The pot of fish head curry actually contained about 5 medium-sized fish heads, which is quite unusual. I’ve always seen them served as one whole big head! The curry sauce to this was very tangy as they had cooked it with lots of tomatoes and added okra as well. The Biryani was well seasoned with spices and wasn’t too salty or greasy. The veges tasted great too except they were slightly cold. We definitely got a lot of variety on our banana leaves that day! The entire meal set us back around RM55 with beverages included, which is approximately $20. Not bad! If you’re ever in Sandakan, drop by Sandakan Curry House to taste-test this meal for yourself.