On a short stopover in Sandakan on our way back to Kota Kinabalu after a week in the jungle, we demanded to be taken to a local restaurant. Our guide dropped us off at an establishment called Sandakan Curry House, located on the outskirts of town. Sandakan is a port town on the east coast of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, and is famous for its seafood. This restaurant is apparently a big hit with the locals, so we happily went along with it. We got some stares as we walked in, the locals a bit bemused at the sight of a Mat Salleh - or foreigner.
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.
