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Kota KinabaluVisited December 2017 Views –

Keng Wan Hing, Kota Kinabalu: Filled Buns and Noodle Soup at a Gaya Street Coffee Shop

A glass bun case holding trays of round buns with cracked yellow tops and plain golden rolls, with a round yellow menu sign headed 好料 Food taped to the glass.
The bun case at Keng Wan Hing, with a round yellow menu sign.
Address & map

Keng Wan Hing (瓊萬興) is a coffee shop on Gaya Street in central Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, and Wanderlog's description says it is known for its steamed and baked buns. iPack Travel, a Singapore travel blog, says Keng Wan Hing has been in business since 1984 and that netizens recommend its steamed big buns, pastries and polo buns (pineapple buns).

The bun case at Keng Wan Hing

The cover photo shows the glass bun case. Its trays hold round buns with a cracked yellow top, which look like polo buns, and plain golden rolls. A round yellow sign taped to the glass is headed 好料 Food and lists steamed buns, baked buns, pastries and noodles with prices in ringgit. iPack Travel's writer says Keng Wan Hing's polo bun, unlike the Hong Kong original, has a pineapple puree filling.

Finding Keng Wan Hing on Jalan Gaya

The open front of Keng Wan Hing on a sunlit street, under a sign reading 瓊萬興 KENG WAN HING with a round badge printed 1984, with a bun case on the left and a green awning lettered RESTORAN KENG WAN HING on the right.
The sign and green awning of Keng Wan Hing.

The sign above the open front reads 瓊萬興 KENG WAN HING, with a round badge printed 瓊萬興 1984 beside it, and a green awning is lettered RESTORAN KENG WAN HING in yellow. The 1984 on the badge matches the year iPack Travel gives for the shop's start.

Two buns, two fillings

A hand holding a torn bun whose inside is packed with an orange-brown filling of fine shreds, in front of a glass with a green straw and a tan drink.
A torn bun with an orange-brown filling of fine shreds.
A hand holding a bun torn open to show a thick layer of dark red-brown paste, with a light-blue plate and a glass with a green straw behind it.
A torn bun with a thick dark red-brown paste.

In my photos, a hand holds each of two buns torn open. One is packed with an orange-brown filling of fine shreds that looks like shredded coconut, and the other holds a thick dark red-brown paste that looks like sweet bean paste. The sign on the case listed baked buns with black bean, peanut, coconut, butter milk and pineapple fillings. Both buns fit that menu, but I can't tell which items they were.

Noodle soup

A white bowl of clear broth holding yellow noodles, large pleated dumplings, slices of pale meat, round white balls and a slice that looks like fish cake, topped with chopped scallion and fried bits, with a red spoon at the right.
A white bowl of noodle soup with dumplings, sliced meat and chopped scallion.

A white bowl holds clear broth with yellow noodles, large dumplings that look like wontons, slices of pale meat, round white balls and a slice that looks like fish cake, topped with chopped scallion and fried bits. The sign on the case listed beef, pork, fish and curry noodles and porridge, so I can't say which dish this was.

Before you go

  • iPack Travel's writer says Keng Wan Hing is popular among locals and often crowded on weekdays and weekends.
  • Keng Wan Hing's Saturday closing time differs between the three sources I checked, at 1:30 p.m. on Wanderlog, 4 p.m. on iPack Travel and 5 p.m. on SabahTravel, so go in the morning.
  • My photos date from December 2017, so the menu and prices at Keng Wan Hing may have changed since then.

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