New Gaya Restaurant Fried Rice

Post by Chiefeater VK

I had a sumptuous dinner hosted by a Sabahan friend at New Gaya Restaurant Kota Kinabalu with enough food spread across the table to make it look like we were preparing for a small banquet.

There were a four seasons platter, prawns, chicken, fried fish, soup and more.

Yet for me, the two dishes that brought the most joy were among the simplest on the table.

First was the sayur manis. Sayur manis is something I always associate with Sabah, but what caught my attention here wasn’t just the leaves. It was the stems.

They retained a lovely crunch. That texture made the dish for me. The stems had enough bite to contrast against the softer leaves and egg, turning what could easily have been just another vegetable dish into one I kept reaching for.

Then there was the fried garlic rice. Just look at it. There isn’t much visually announcing itself. No mountain of seafood, no colourful garnishes and nothing particularly elaborate.

It is essentially a plate of lightly coloured fried rice with egg and garlic. Not even ikan bilis. But it tasted so good.

The garlic gave the rice plenty of savoury aroma without overwhelming it, while the individual grains remained nicely separated.

Sometimes simplicity works because there is nowhere for the cooking to hide.

Of course, we had considerably more than vegetables and rice. There was a large plate of prawns, chicken, four seasons platter and soup amongst the dishes on our table. It was a proper Chinese-style group dinner.

But when there is that much food in front of you and the dishes you remember most are a vegetable and fried rice, that says something.

The expensive or elaborate dish doesn’t always have to be the star.

All I needed was the crunchy stalk of sayur manis and a good garlic fried rice to make my meal.

MVX Summary

MVX Score: 8.0/10

M – Meal Value
This was a substantial group dinner with generous portions across the table. Without the receipt, I can’t fairly score it based on price, so this score is weighted towards the overall quality and satisfaction of the meal rather than cost alone.
Score: 8.0/10

V – Venue
New Gaya is a comfortable, air-conditioned Chinese seafood restaurant in Plaza Shell. It works well for the kind of larger group meal we had, without needing the surroundings to become the main attraction.
Score: 8.0/10

X – X-Factor
For me, it was the ability of two very simple dishes to stand out amongst a table full of food. The crunchy sayur manis stems and that deceptively plain-looking garlic fried rice are what I remember most.
Score: 8.0/10

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