Kundasang restaurants, cafés and food near Mount Kinabalu

What to try

The dishes to look for are Sabah’s traditional ones, from the state tourism board’s list, with more detail from Wikipedia. Hinava and pinasakan are both on the menu of a Kadazan-Dusun restaurant in the area.

Hinava

A local favourite, commonly made from sliced tenggiri (mackerel)³. It is a traditional Kadazan-Dusun salad of raw fish with lime juice, bird’s eye chilli, sliced shallots and grated ginger⁶. You can order hinava sada⁴ at Restoran Puteri Nabalu.

Sinalau bakas

Smoked wild boar: marinated wild boar meat smoked over an open barbecue pit⁴. The roadside stall Sinalau Bakas Himbaan Bongol is non-halal, and SabahTravel calls the dish a must-try local delicacy⁷ there.

Linopot

Linopot is rice, sometimes mixed with yam or sweet potato, packed and wrapped tightly in a leaf³.

Tuhau

A relish made from wild ginger, with a strong, pungent smell³.

Pinasakan

Pinasakan is Basung fish (a type of mackerel) braised with a tangy wild fruit called takob akob³. At Restoran Puteri Nabalu it appears as pinarasakan sada takob-takob⁴.

Kelupis

Kelupis is glutinous rice cooked with coconut milk and served with peanut sauce³.

Ambuyat

A starchy, gooey dish made from sago³. It is Brunei’s national dish and also popular in Sabah and Sarawak⁸.

Also worth knowing: losun, a wild spring onion milder than ordinary spring onions, and butod, sago worm, a traditional delicacy in rural Sabah³.

Highland produce, dairy and tea

Kundasang is known for its fresh vegetables and strawberries¹. The farms, markets and tea gardens sell food you can take away:

• Vegetable market: open seven days a week, with wholesalers selling from a long row of wooden stalls beside the main road⁹.
• Dairy: the shop at the Desa Cattle Dairy Farm (Desa Dairy Farm) sells freshly made yoghurt ice cream, cheese and milk⁴.
• Fruit and snacks: the Nabalu Handicraft Market sells local snacks, crackers and fruit such as tarap, pineapples and rambutan⁴.
• Tea: freshly made tea pancakes and Sabah Tea pandan teh tarik are popular, and only available at the Tea House, which has become a popular place for local residents to eat¹⁰.
• Coffee: Sabah’s best-known kopi is Tenom coffee, made from beans grown in Tenom, from the Robusta variety¹¹.

Where to eat and drink

Kundasang, the closest town to Mount Kinabalu⁹, is on the main Kota Kinabalu–Ranau road, 6 km past the park entrance¹. It is a hill station in Ranau district⁹, in Sabah, on the island of Borneo¹². The food is spread across these areas:

• Kundasang township: local open-air eateries, with vegetable stalls lining the main road¹.
• The main road outside town: hotels and resorts have their own restaurants, mostly along the main road outside the township¹.
• Kinabalu Park: cafeterias and restaurants at the park entrance gate and at Laban Rata².
• Mesilau: Desa Cafe at the dairy farm, and Restoran D’Lengkuas.

Places to eat and drink

Place	Area	Type	Hours and season	Google rating	Map
KFC KundasangPhoto: Google Maps	Kundasang	Restaurant	Mon–Sun 10:00–22:00	4.1 (937 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
pakopi kundasangPhoto: Google Maps	Kundasang	Coffee shop	Mon–Sun 09:00–17:00	4.7 (34 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Anooh CoffeePhoto: Google Maps	Kundasang	Coffee shop	Mon–Sun 06:30–21:30	4.3 (1,222 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Puncak KopisananganPhoto: Google Maps	Kundasang	Coffee shop	Mon–Sun 07:00–22:00	4.5 (122 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
TukTuk Tomyam KundasangPhoto: Google Maps	Kundasang	Thai restaurant	Mon–Sun 11:00–19:30	3 (146 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
August KitchenPhoto: Google Maps	Kundasang	Asian fusion restaurant	Mon–Fri 08:00–15:00, 17:00–21:00; Sat–Sun 08:00–21:00	4.5 (334 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Second Breakfast ClubPhoto: Google Maps	Kundasang	Family restaurant	Mon–Tue 07:00–14:00, 17:00–20:00; Wed closed; Thu–Sun 07:00–14:00, 17:00–20:00	4.8 (164 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
SS Chinese Restaurant 神山中餐厅Photo: Google Maps	Kundasang	Chinese restaurant	Mon–Sun 07:30–15:00, 16:00–20:30	4.2 (1,948 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Hauss CafePhoto: Google Maps	Kundasang	Bar	Mon–Sun 14:30–23:00	3.6 (8 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Embun CafePhoto: Google Maps	Kundasang	Cafe	Mon–Thu 08:30–20:30; Fri 08:30–12:30, 14:00–21:00; Sat–Sun 08:30–20:30	4.4 (25 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Tinompok RestaurantPhoto: Google Maps	Kundasang	Malay Restaurant	Mon–Sun 07:00–22:00	4.1 (24 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
The Pines RestaurantPhoto: Google Maps	Kundasang	Breakfast restaurant	Mon–Sun 06:25–21:30	4 (37 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Kloud Restaurant & KafePhoto: Google Maps	Kinabalu Park HQ	Asian fusion restaurant	Mon 08:00–20:00; Tue closed; Wed–Sun 08:00–20:00	4.4 (416 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Liwagu RestaurantPhoto: Google Maps	Kinabalu Park HQ	Malay Restaurant	Mon–Sun 06:00–10:00, 12:00–16:00, 18:00–22:00	4.3 (596 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
THE FARMERS RESTAURANT, Kundasang, SabahPhoto: Google Maps	Kinabalu Park HQ	Asian restaurant	Mon–Sun 06:30–22:00	4.5 (90 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Hooga Cafe @ Kundasang Farm VillePhoto: Google Maps	Mesilau	Coffee shop	Mon–Sun 08:00–22:00	3.8 (1,253 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
DESA CAFE, DESA DAIRY FARM, KUNDASANGPhoto: Google Maps	Mesilau	Cafe	Mon–Sun 08:00–16:30	3.7 (116 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Restoran D'Lengkuas, MesilauPhoto: Google Maps	Mesilau	Breakfast restaurant	Mon–Sun 07:00–11:00	3.6 (138 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map
Bw Bus Restaurant 小陈巴巴Photo: Google Maps	–	Western restaurant	Mon–Sun 10:00–20:00	4.1 (1,403 reviews) on Google Maps, checked October 2026	Map

Every place here comes from its Google Maps listing (data via DataForSEO), checked October 2026. Rows are grouped by area, not ordered or ranked by rating, and no place paid to appear.

Resort restaurants on the main road

Most resorts outside town run their own kitchens. This is how the resorts describe them:

Kloud Restaurant Bar & Café is inside Mountain Valley Resort, with panoramic mountain views⁷. To compare rooms as well as kitchens, see the hotels in Kundasang page; lodgings can fill at weekends, on public holidays and in school holidays¹.

Kinabalu Park and Laban Rata

Liwagu Restaurant at the park headquarters serves traditional Malaysian dishes and Western favourites¹⁹, according to the operator Sutera Sanctuary. Its signature dish is ayam goreng berempah, fried spiced marinated chicken¹⁹. It is Muslim-friendly and serves no pork⁷.

Higher up, climbers usually spend a night at Laban Rata Resthouse, at 3,270 m¹², where there are cafeterias. For the route and the overnight stop, read more on climbing.

Breakfast, coffee and cafés

For an early breakfast, the resort kitchens in the table above open first. The Pines Restaurant and Restoran D’Lengkuas are listed on the map as breakfast places, and Second Breakfast Club as a family restaurant.

Coffee shops on the map include:

• Hooga Cafe @ Kundasang Farm Ville
• pakopi kundasang
• Anooh Coffee
• Puncak Kopisanangan, in Kundasang
• Embun Cafe

At BW Bus Restaurant you eat inside a refurbished vintage bus⁷; the bus cafés serve Western food and coffee⁴.

More places from the booking site SabahTravel

These places are not in the map table above:

Between meals, the Kundasang War Memorial remembers 2,428 Australian and British prisoners who died in World War II⁹. It and the farms are covered on the places to visit page.

Drinks and nightlife

Kundasang’s restaurants do sell alcohol, but it may not appear on the menu¹, so ask. Evenings centre on dinner, and of the resort kitchens above, Dream World’s stays open latest.

• Bars: Hauss Cafe is listed on the map as a bar, and Kloud’s full name is Kloud Restaurant Bar & Café.
• Shops: cheap liquor is widely sold in most supermarkets and mini markets in Sabah⁵.
• Local drink: tuak is made from fermented rice, sometimes with sugar, honey or other ingredients⁵.

Practical

Paying for food

Bring ringgit and a phone wallet: QR payments go further than cards.

• QR codes: increasingly common in Malaysia, and accepted more widely than credit cards⁵.
• Touch ’n Go eWallet: tourists can use it by downloading the app and linking it to a credit card⁵.
• DuitNow: run by the central bank, and generally needs a Malaysian bank account⁵.
• Cards: usable in most shops, restaurants and hotels, though skimming can be a problem in dodgier outlets⁵.
• ATMs: many local banks’ machines, such as CIMB’s, charge no withdrawal fee⁵.
• Foreign cash: foreign currencies are generally not accepted as they are⁵.

Ramadan

The national holiday list gives these dates, each marked with an asterisk²⁰:

What the fasting month means for eating out:

• Most restaurants are closed until the fast breaks at dusk.⁵
• Most Chinese stalls and restaurants stay open.⁵
• Resort restaurants and Chinese places are the easiest daytime options.

Questions people ask