https://https://au.trip.com/toplist/tripbest/recommend/kota-kinabalu/best-local-restaurants/100900005563
Local Restaurants
Top 10 Local Restaurants in Kota Kinabalu [2025]
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Suang Tain Seafood Restaurant
4.7
/5
217 reviews
Asian Cuisine
From US$ 24.00
Kota Kinabalu City Center | 1 km from downtown
Address: No. 16, Block D, Ground Floor, Sedco Complex, Kampung Air, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Verified User Reviews
A seafood restaurant in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, it feels a bit like an indoor food stall. After walking around the area, I felt that this one had the brightest lighting, and it seemed that the ingredients were more abundant before entering the store.
[Taste] Ordinary taste that caters to the general public. The taste is also suitable for children, not very spicy or salty.
[Environment] It looks quite clean. There are several large round tables with a lot of seats. There are also fresh live fish, which is great. But we didn't order the fresh fish in the tank.
[Service] Ordinary. Food stall style, quite happy 😁. It's good.
On the first day in Kota Kinabalu, we went straight to Shuangtian. The boss could speak Chinese, so we asked him to help us prepare the dishes. We had butter tiger prawns, local specialty conch, crab porridge, stone fish, beef fried rice noodles, and orange ice. It was very satisfying. Very delicious!
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Welcome Seafood Restaurant
4.6
/5
1159 reviews
Southeast Asian
From US$ 25.00
Kota Kinabalu City Center | 1.3 km from downtown
Address: Lot G 18, Ground Floor, Kompleks, Jalan Asia City, Asia City, 88300 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Verified User Reviews
This welcome seafood restaurant is very popular seafood restaurant. Every day is full of customer to order their seafood dish. The price is cheaper than other seafood restaurant in kota kinabalu.
I went there a few times 7-8 years ago, the taste was quite good, the egg yolk baked crab, curry crab and the like were very suitable for Chinese tastes! And the price was very cheap! I went there again the year before last, the taste was much worse, and the price was also ridiculously increased! It has become a popular online store, and the taste has changed
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Seremban Seafood Restaurant
4.4
/5
10 reviews
Other Chinese Cuisine
From US$ 27.00
Kota Kinabalu City Center | 811m from downtown
Address: JQ Central, G17, Jln Tun Fuad Stephens, Pusat Bandar Kota Kinabalu, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Verified User Reviews
The secret weapon of these time-honored seafood restaurants to attract customers is the "Chinese taste", which is indeed delicious, and with certain improvements to the taste, it is more in line with the appetites of Chinese tourists.
Specially picked a good seafood restaurant, crabs are really super delicious
No.
4
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Fish Market Restaurant
4.6
/5
11 reviews
Other Chinese Cuisine
From US$ 34.00
Kota Kinabalu City Center | 2.5 km from downtown
Address: No.A-G-2,Ground Floor,Block A Phae 1,Lorong Sutera,Sutera Avenue sembulan,88100, Sutera Avenue, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Verified User Reviews
Zheng Hao Shi is a well-known local hotpot restaurant. The hotpot base in this restaurant is very clean and hygienic, and each person has a pot. I ordered a curry hotpot base, beef, mutton, and a vegetable platter, and I also made a sauce myself.
Steamed Seafood Restaurant is located on the side of a main road in Kota Kinabalu. It is easy to find and is close to the Jesselton Port Terminal. The sign in front of the restaurant is very eye-catching, and there are some special shapes for tourists to take pictures. The restaurant is very large.
No.
5
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Restoran Sri Melaka
4.8
/5
5 reviews
Southeast Asian
From US$ 7.00
Kota Kinabalu City Center | 950m from downtown
Address: 9, Jalan Laiman Diki, Kampung Air, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Verified User Reviews
This is an authentic Malaysian restaurant. It is made of Nyonya cuisine. The beef inside is delicious. It is spicy and a little sweet. It is very suitable for the taste of Shanghainese. The oil of the dish is too much.
鱼很新鲜，干饭人福音。咖喱叻沙味道很足，偏辣。有洗手间。
No.
6
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Restoran Jeti
4.5
/5
57 reviews
Seafood
From US$ 32.00
Kota Kinabalu City Center | 502m from downtown
Address: 138, Jalan Gaya, Pusat Bandar Kota Kinabalu, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Verified User Reviews
[Environment] Nice, clean and tidy
[Taste] The grouper was steamed at the right time, the fish meat was tender and firm with the sauce👍. The black tiger prawns were big and the meat was chewy, and the salted egg yolk I ate tasted especially good😋. Every restaurant has this dish of fried crab in the typhoon shelter, and the taste is similar, but this one has more meat.
Fisherman's Wharf Seafood Restaurant is quite famous in Kota Kinabalu. Although it is not as famous as Daqielai among Chinese tourists, it is also one of the local restaurants that specializes in seafood, has a good reputation and has a large number of customers.
No.
7
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Imperial Seafood Restaurant
4.9
/5
73 reviews
Seafood
From US$ 23.00
Kota Kinabalu City Center | 1.3 km from downtown
Address: G24 / 25/26, Star City Shopping Plaza, Jalan Asia City Street, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Verified User Reviews
In fact, the menus of each restaurant are similar, but the taste is still different. After comparing it with Tianxiake in Semporna and Daqie on the last day of the return trip, I still think Zhiwei is the best. !
I ordered 3 dishes and a main course: Fried crab with salted egg yolk, tiger prawns with butter, steamed grouper, and crab roe fried rice.
They are all so delicious! I want to eat them just thinking about it now!
Fried crab with salted egg yolk and tiger prawns with butter are the top two in the popularity rankings, so they are must-orders. The egg yolk is salty and fresh, the crab meat is fresh and tender, and the cream sauce is rich and mellow ~ the grouper is very fresh ~ the fried rice is also delicious!
No.
8
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Liang Fan Seafood Restaurant Sdn Bhd
4.5
/5
14 reviews
Seafood
From US$ 23.00
2.1 km from downtown
Address: Jalan Dua Puluh, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Verified User Reviews
At the seafood restaurant on the beach in Kota Kinabalu, you can get it by typing in Pinyin using Grab, which is very convenient. The wet butter shrimps are delicious, mainly because the shrimp meat is fresh. Tiger shrimps are more expensive and are frozen.
Every time I came to Kota Kinabalu, I always patronized Daqielai. I searched for this internet celebrity restaurant and found that it was more cost-effective and had better service, so I came here.
It is about 2.2 kilometers away from Pacific Silk Hotel. It only takes 7 Malaysian ringgits to get there by grab. There are waiters who can speak Chinese to greet us, and communication is barrier-free.
The super-large mantis shrimp is what we often call rich shrimp. There are also roe shrimps. They are 100 Malaysian ringgits each and the special price is 50 Malaysian ringgits. It is very cost-effective. I ordered two and regretted that I ordered less. The pepper and salt are delicious and really cheap.
The 1.35 kg grouper is 170 Malaysian ringgits, which is really delicious when steamed. The boiled shrimps are unexpected. The appearance is so-so. The entrance is fresh and chewy, which is completely incomparable with those in China.
The elephant nose snails are also chewy, and the crabs are fried with salted egg yolks. The crab meat is fat and delicious. The store also gives away seafood soup, which is about 500 Malaysian ringgits and has a very high cost-effectiveness.
After eating, the enthusiastic store also helped us return to the hotel. We have eaten two meals in Kota Kinabalu in three days, and we plan to continue today.
No.
9
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Alu-Alu Kitchen
4.4
/5
5 reviews
Seafood
From US$ 12.00
4.6 km from downtown
Address: Jalan Kolombong, Lorong Mangga 1, Kolombong/Bdc Industrial Estate, 88450 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Verified User Reviews
A typical southeastern China favourite restaurant with the traditional Chinese Xiamen cuisine food dishes. they are quite good and original.
Yalu City, this is a more Chinese seafood restaurant. The most amazing thing about this store is the shuttle crab. The taste is really delicious, the meat is very delicious and tender, and the taste is particularly full. I like it very much.
No.
10
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New Luyang Restaurant
5.0
/5
1 reviews
Seafood
From US$ 13.00
2.5 km from downtown
Address: Shop No 1 Luyan Phase 1 Jalan Kolam, Kota Kinabalu Malaysia
Verified User Reviews
Food is great, the price is very cheap, the price is good
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