2026 Guide
Updated October 2026 ยท 8 spots
โก Quick answer
The best Ikan Bakar in Sabah is Welcome Seafood Restaurant (Asia City, Kota Kinabalu). Also great: Gayang Seafood Restaurant, Sim-Sim 88 Seafood Restaurant and Kampung Nelayan Floating Seafood Restaurant.
Asia City, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Order: Kam heong crab, butter prawns, steamed live fish
KK's best-known pick-from-the-tank seafood hall: huge, loud, and always full of tour groups and locals alike. Choose your catch, choose your sauce, and expect it fresh and fairly priced. No pork served.
Order: Chilli crab, grilled squid, steamed clams
A halal-certified seafood restaurant on stilts over the Gayang estuary, a favourite for Muslim families and visitors heading north of KK. Live seafood cooked Malay- and Chinese-style with sunset views.
Kampung Sim-Sim, Sandakan, Sabah
Order: Steamed grouper, big oysters, butter prawns, crispy seafood noodle
The classic Sandakan seafood experience: a stilt restaurant out over the Sim-Sim water village with live tanks and sea breezes. Pork-free, though not certified halal.
Taman Tun Fuad, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Order: Malay-style seafood dinner with cultural show
A huge halal floating restaurant on the lake at Tun Fuad Park, famous for seafood dinners paired with nightly Sabahan cultural dances. Touristy, yes โ but it's a KK rite of passage.
โ ๏ธ Last confirmed before 2025 โ check it is open before you go.
Jalan Sim-Sim, Sandakan, Sabah
Order: Charcoal-grilled fish with sambal and air asam
Sandakan's go-to Muslim ikan bakar spot by the water village โ pick fresh fish, have it grilled over charcoal and drowned in sambal. Simple, smoky and cheap.
Sandakan Waterfront, Sandakan, Sabah
Order: Live crab, prawns and lobster cooked to order
A big seafront restaurant built out on the water, long one of Sandakan's top names for choose-your-own seafood dinners. Pork-free.
โ ๏ธ Last confirmed before 2025 โ check it is open before you go.
Order: Black pepper crab, fresh prawns, fried squid rings
Tawau's standout seafood name, cooking the town's famously cheap and abundant catch Chinese-style. Pork-free kitchen.
โ ๏ธ Last confirmed before 2025 โ check it is open before you go.
Order: Steamed lobster, pan-fried fish, salt-and-pepper prawns
Kudat's well-loved waterfront seafood shop, where the day's catch from the tip of Borneo lands on your plate. Cold beer, sea views, no frills.
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โ Best Ikan Bakar across Malaysia ยท All food in Sabah โ