I can still remember first my trip to East Malaysia, in particular Miri where the locals took us to SugarBun for a farewell meal.
“You can’t find this anywhere in Peninsular Malaysia, don’t jealous us”
“Best fried chicken ever”
“Better dapao some onboard”
They ain’t lying! This chicken means serious business. That was my first impression on SugarBun. 
Established in 1979, SugarBun is a very successful fast food franchise in East Malaysia. And the good news is, SugarBun is now available in Menara Hap Seng, KL. Apart from the world famous broasted chicken, SugarBun brought in other ‘Borneo Asian’ staples such as Sarawak Laksa and Garoupa Fish Noodles. So we came by to have taste of Borneo few weeks ago.
The premise in Menara Hap Seng is done in a food court style, with each stall offering different signatures. The outlet consistently packs in a crowd during lunch hour so we were here during dinner time.
First, let’s try some SugarBun classic – broasted chicken!
The tagline “broasted is better”, simply because the chicken is being deep-fried then pressure cooked. SugarBun uses only fresh, non frozen chicken and every plate is being made to order.
RM4 per piece, RM11.50 for three pieces, RM19.50 for five pieces, or RM12 for a platter of two pieces with SugarBun’s savoury rice and house-made pickles.
This method yields moist, juicy, succulent chicken covered in a crispy crust that is not at all greasy. There’s no oil on the plate at all! I don’t even need to remove the usual excessive fats that you usually see in a fried chicken.
I was told that a true East Malaysian love the ‘kano’ sauce, a special sambal like concoction flavoured with tomatoes, lemongrass, garlic, onions and spices (RM15 for a platter with rice and home made pickles). It was sweet and spicy and the spices added some complexity to it!
We really enjoyed having the savoury rice too, it was so light and fluffy and filled with juicy raisins. It is even better than my favourite pilaf!
Look! The home made pickles consist of some seaweed *jakun*
We almost overlooked the fish dishes! It would be a shame to do so because the crispy looking fried tilapia fish (RM 20) tasted so good! Fried to perfection, the skin was crispy, the flesh was delicate and did not taste muddy at all. This is because the fish is sourced from a local farm that uses constant running water. I was wishing for a zing of lemon to bring out the flavour more.
I was thrilled to see the sign “Giant Garoupa Fish” because garoupa is one of my favourite fishes and it costs a bomb most of the time.
Indeed, a giant garoupa mee hoon soup/rice is being priced at RM 28 and RM 20.
The Sabah Giant Garoupa Mee Hoon Soup (RM 28) came in quite a huge bowl. The soup base is something like a teo-chew style with tomatoes, tofu and salted vegetables. There were around 7 thick slices of fresh giant grouper slices, s0 satisfying to eat.
How could we miss out this spicy and flavorful dish that originates from the Malaysian state of Sarawak?
The broth was quite on point, especially after adding a dash lime juice. I love the mind-blowing combination of flavours coming from the aromatic herbs/spices, sambal belacan and a little bit of coconut milk. The toppings of omelette strips, shredded chicken strips, fresh prawns, bean sprouts and coriander make this a perfect bowl.
Lastly, wash it all down with some three layer tea and barley lime drinks. The taste of the palm sugar and black tea incorporates so well with the evaporated milk – I like!
