Best Brunch With a View in Kota Kinabalu: Great Food and Better Scenery

You can find the best brunch with a view in Kota Kinabalu without much effort, and the city rewards anyone who actually slows down long enough to eat slowly. I moved here a few years ago from Penang, and the thing I still tell friends is that KK does morning light better than almost any place in Malaysia. The sun comes up behind the Crocker Range, bounces off the South China Sea, and turns the whole waterfront into something that looks slightly unreal. Whether you want a rooftop, a harbor table, or a quiet corner above the canopy, the options are real, the food holds up, and the prices won't punish you. Here's where I actually go, in the order I'd take a friend visiting for the first time.

1. Sky Blu Rooftop Bar & Restaurant at Horizon Hotel

I ended up at Sky Blu on a Sunday in March when the brunch crowd at the harbor was already forming a queue, and I have not stopped recommending it since. The restaurant sits on the 12th floor of Horizon Hotel along Jalan Pantai, which means the floor-to-ceiling windows face the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park islands directly. The five islands sit about 10 to 15 minutes offshore, and on a clear morning they look like green paint strokes across a flat silver sea. The brunch set runs from about RM 68 to RM 98 depending on whether you pick the local or Western option, and you can swap to a la carte items like the grilled salmon or the truffle scrambled eggs for a small top-up. I usually go for the nasi lemak rendang with the sambal sotong on the side, because the chef here doesn't sweeten the sambal the way hotel buffets often do.

The service can feel a bit slow if you show up right at 11 AM on a weekend, because they are running the brunch prep and the lunch prep at the same time. I have learned to come at 10 AM or after 12:30 PM, and the food arrives within 15 minutes. The breakfast here is technically served until noon, but the brunch menu proper kicks in around 10:30 AM on Saturdays and Sundays.

Local Insider Tip: "Sit at the tables along the eastern window, not the center of the room. The view of Pulau Gaya and the small stilt village of Kampung Pulau Gaya is much more dramatic from the side, and you'll catch the reflection of the boats coming back from the fish farm at around 11 AM."

If you only do one brunch in KK and you care about the iconic island view, this is the move. Bring a light jacket because the air conditioning can be aggressive right under the ceiling vents.

2. Coco-Joe's at Sutera Harbour Marina

Coco-Joe's has been a Sutera Harbour staple for as long as I can remember, and the location is genuinely hard to beat for waterfront brunch in Kota Kinabalu. The restaurant is right on the boardwalk of the Sutera Harbour Resort marina, on the south side of the city, and your table sits maybe 20 meters from the actual water. You can see the private yachts, the ferries heading toward Manukan Island, and on calm mornings, the reflection of the surrounding hills in the still marina water. I usually walk over from Kota Kinabalu city center, which is about a 15 to 20 minute stroll along the coastal path, and arrive around 10 AM when the morning sun has already started to warm the deck.

The weekend brunch set is around RM 78 per person, and it includes one main, one juice or coffee, and access to the salad bar. The big breakfast plate with the chicken sausage, hash browns, and a stack of pandan pancakes is a strong order, but the smoked salmon bagel is the move if you want something lighter. The pancakes are local style, slightly savory, and pair well with the sambal mayo they bring on the side. For drinks, the fresh mango lassi is the best thing on the menu, and the barista here makes a stronger espresso than most places in the area.

Parking at Sutera Harbour is free for the first two hours if you validate your ticket at the restaurant counter, but the lot fills up fast on Sundays because of the mosque traffic nearby. If you drive, get there before 10:30 AM.

Local Insider Tip: "Ask for a table at the far end of the deck, past the rope railing. It's the only section that gets full shade until about 11 AM, and you can watch the staff feeding the resident herons that hang around the marina every morning."

The neighborhood around Sutera Harbour is one of the older resort strips in KK, and it shows in the slower pace. Brunch here feels like a small holiday rather than a meal.

3. Koffee at Shangri-La Tanjung Aru

Koffee is on the lobby level of the Shangri-La Tanjung Aru resort, on the south side of the peninsula just before you reach the Tanjung Aru beach. The Tanjung Aru stretch is where locals have come to watch the sunset for generations, but the sunrise side of the same peninsula is the secret morning play, and Koffee faces almost exactly east-northeast. I went here for the first time because a friend told me the coffee was the only proper flat white in KK, and he was right. The barista pulls shots from a La Marzocco and treats the milk properly, which is not as common here as it should be.

The brunch menu runs from about RM 55 to RM 95, and the sourdough toast with avocado, poached egg, and smoked wild mushroom is the best vegetarian-leaning item in the city, in my opinion. The eggs Benedict is solid, the hollandaise is made in-house, and they use duck eggs when available, which gives the yolk a deeper color. There is also a local addition to the menu that changes monthly, like the recent beef rendang hash, which I would happily eat every weekend if I could.

The resort itself charges for parking after 30 minutes, so if you are not a guest, walk in from the main road or take a Grab, which usually costs under RM 10 from the city center. The seating area has a few indoor tables and a small terrace, but the terrace is the only place to sit if you want the view. I have been there when the entire terrace was full and the staff moved the wait to almost 40 minutes, so I now book ahead through the hotel's WhatsApp line.

Local Insider Tip: "Order the coconut coffee, which is not on the printed menu. You have to ask the barista, and he will blend fresh coconut cream with a double ristretto and a touch of palm sugar. It's a local take on the southern Thai style but the coconut is sourced from the Tuaran district, north of the city."

The connection to KK history here is real. Tanjung Aru was the site of the original British North Borneo Company landings in the late 1800s, and walking the grounds before or after brunch is genuinely interesting if you read up a little first.

4. Welcome Seafood Restaurant, Gaya Street Corner (Morning Market View)

I know Welcome Seafood is usually thought of as a dinner spot, but hear me out. The branch on the corner of Gaya Street and Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens opens at 8 AM for the morning market crowd, and the upper floor has a balcony that looks out directly over the central market and the Wisma Merdeka shopping area. The view is not ocean, but it is one of the few places in KK where you can watch the city actually wake up. The morning auction trucks, the fishmongers unloading the catch, the older Kadazan-Dusun aunties walking with their morning baskets. This is the real KK that tourists usually miss.

The morning set menu is a hodgepodge of Chinese-Malaysian breakfast staples, and it is one of the most underrated things to eat in the city. I usually order the butter milk prawns with mantou buns, the chee cheong fun, and the soft-boiled soya sauce rice, which together cost about RM 35 per person if you share. The butter milk prawns here are the same recipe as the dinner service, and the mantou buns are made fresh every two hours. The coffee is standard local style, sweet and strong, and the Chinese tea is free with the set.

The upstairs balcony seats only 12 people, and they do not take reservations, so you have to show up before 9 AM to be safe. The air conditioning on the upper floor is weak, and the fans can struggle during a still, hot morning, so dress accordingly. It is not a glamorous brunch, but if you want scenic brunch Kota Kinabalu in the human sense, this is the spot.

Local Insider Tip: "Order the butter milk prawns mild, even if you like spice. The local chef's 'mild' is closer to Penang medium, and the actual spicy version is intense enough to ruin your brunch. Also, sit at the table closest to the railing. From there you can see the clock tower of Atkinson Tower on the hill in the background, which is the oldest standing wooden structure in the city."

The Gaya Street area is the historic core of Jesselton, the colonial name for KK, and walking it before or after your meal gives you a feel for the layers of the city that the waterfront hotels tend to flatten out.

5. The Beach Bar at Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort, Tuaran

Rasa Ria's beach bar is technically in Tuaran, about 30 to 40 minutes north of KK proper, and I almost left it off this list because of the drive. But the brunch here is one of the best in the greater KK region, and the view is the kind that resets your entire week. The bar sits on a wide stretch of private beach, framed by the resort's 380-acre nature reserve, and the morning sea here is the same cobalt blue you see on postcards of Kota Kinabalu. On a clear day, you can see the silhouette of Mount Kinabalu in the distance, which is the kind of view that makes you put your fork down for a second.

The Saturday and Sunday brunch buffet is RM 138 per adult, which is the highest price on this list, but it is also the only one with a proper carving station, an oyster bar, and a dedicated local kuih section. I go for the local kuih first, because the kuih lapis and the pandan seri muka here are noticeably better than the hotel buffets in the city center. The chef makes a beef rendang sausage that I have never seen anywhere else, and the egg station does a proper benedict on request.

The drive is the main friction. If you do not have a car, a Grab out here will cost around RM 60 one way, and you cannot easily get a return ride in the late morning because the drivers tend to be in the city. I usually go with a friend who drives, and we make a half-day of it. The resort charges RM 15 for day parking, which is a little annoying, but the lot is rarely full.

Local Insider Tip: "Tell the host you want a table in the 'garden' section, not the 'sand' section. The garden tables are set back from the beach in shaded wooden cabanas with their own ceiling fans, and you still get the full ocean view. The sand tables are scenic but the sand flies in the morning are relentless, and you will end up with red ankles by the time you finish your coffee."

The drive itself takes you through the rice paddies and village houses of Tuaran, which is one of the most underrated scenic routes in West Coast Sabah. The connection to the broader region is obvious once you see the landscape open up.

6. ROOFTOP @ Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu

Le Meridien sits right on the waterfront, just south of the Suria Sabah mall, and the rooftop bar and restaurant have been quietly becoming one of the best rooftop brunch Kota Kinabalu experiences over the last two years. The terrace faces west, so the morning light is softer than at Sky Blu, but you still get a clean view across the harbor to the islands and the city skyline. The contemporary building is one of the newer additions to the KK waterfront, and the rooftop feels like a deliberate counterpoint to the older colonial-era hotels a few blocks north.

The weekend brunch is around RM 88 per person for the set, or you can order a la carte. The standout dish for me is the soft-shell crab burger, which is a slightly chaotic choice for brunch but works because the brioche bun is fresh and the chili mayo is balanced. The salmon poke bowl is the better choice if you want something cleaner, and the French toast with kaya and butter is a nod to the Malaysian breakfast canon. The coffee is from a local roaster called Magic Coffee, which I had not seen at any hotel before.

The rooftop is exposed to direct sun in the late morning, and there is not much shade on the eastern side. I usually ask for a table under the small cantilevered roof near the bar, which is one of only three tables with proper cover. The air conditioning is only inside the small lounge area, so if you want to be outside for the view, you are at the mercy of the weather.

Local Insider Tip: "Skip the brunch set on your first visit and order the a la carte crispy duck congee. It sounds weird for brunch but it's the kitchen's best dish, and most guests never order it. Pair it with the passionfruit iced tea, which the barista here makes from scratch every morning."

The hotel is walking distance from the Jesselton Point ferry terminal, so you can combine brunch with a morning boat trip to one of the islands. This is a useful piece of route planning that the hotel concierge will not always volunteer.

7. Tosca at Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru (Sunday Brunch Edition)

I have to include Tosca separately from Koffee because the two experiences are not the same. Koffee is the casual lobby option. Tosca is the Italian fine-dining restaurant on the upper level, and on Sundays they run a proper champagne brunch from around RM 168 per person, which is the most expensive single brunch I have done in KK. It is also the only one that justifies bringing a parent or a partner for a slow, multi-hour meal. The room is glass-walled on three sides and looks out directly over the Sulu Sea, and at the brunch hour, the water is that flat, mirror-like state that photographers wait weeks for.

The buffet spread leans Italian but with a strong Sabah twist. The cold seafood section is reliable, the carving station does a whole roasted lamb on the first Sunday of each month, and the dessert section includes a chocolate fountain and a local kuih corner that is genuinely better than at the more casual spots. I usually start with the antipasti, move to the carbonara (made fresh at the live pasta station), and finish with the durian panna cotta if it is in season. The durian version appears roughly between June and September, and it is the best single dish I have eaten in KK this year.

The catch is the price and the timing. The brunch is only on Sundays, and the popular tables by the window are reserved for hotel guests unless you book at least a week in advance. The brunch service runs from 11 AM to 2:30 PM, and most people stay the full duration, so do not plan anything urgent for the rest of the day.

Local Insider Tip: "Sit at the tables marked 'Star' on the seating plan, near the corner of the room closest to the kitchen. Those tables get the most attentive service and the best view of both the sea and the sunset later if you stay for the transition. The other tables have good views but the servers rotate through them less often."

The Shangri-La at Tanjung Aru has been part of the KK skyline since the 1980s, and Tosca is one of the few places in the city where you can feel the continuity of that era. The views from this restaurant have not changed meaningfully in 30 years, and there is something grounding about that.

8. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Suria Sabah Rooftop Terrace

I am going to recommend a chain here, because the rooftop terrace of the Coffee Bean at Suria Sabah is genuinely the easiest scenic brunch Kota Kinabalu option for a tourist who is already in the city center. The Suria Sabah mall sits right on the waterfront, and the upper floor Coffee Bean has a small outdoor terrace that is usually empty in the late morning because most people do not know it exists. The view is not as dramatic as the dedicated hotel rooftops, but it is a clean, comfortable harbor view that costs you the price of a coffee and a slice of cake.

The food is what you would expect from the chain, but the location is the point. I sometimes go here when I want a quiet hour with a book and a sea breeze, and the staff have never asked me to leave or to order more. The eggs benedict is around RM 32, the flat white is around RM 18, and the carrot cake is one of the more consistent versions in the city.

The terrace is exposed to the afternoon sun, so morning is the move. By 1 PM, the umbrellas do not fully cover the western tables, and the heat becomes uncomfortable. The mall itself charges for parking after the first hour, but if you validate your meal receipt at the customer service counter, you get two free hours.

Local Insider Tip: "Order the Iced Coconut Americano, which is on the seasonal menu twice a year and is a great way to cool down after walking the waterfront. Also, ask for a table on the corner of the terrace closest to the mall's southern exit. From there you can see down the coast toward Sutera Harbour, which gives you a sense of how the whole KK waterfront connects."

This is the most accessible option on the list, and the one I send people to when they only have a couple of hours and want the view without the hotel markup.

9. The Cliff at Karambunai

Karambunai is about 30 to 40 minutes east of KK, near the airport, and The Cliff is the standalone restaurant on a small promontory overlooking the South China Sea. I include it because the location is genuinely unusual for the area, and the brunch here is one of the more memorable meals you can have in greater KK. The restaurant is built into the side of a small headland, and the dining deck hangs out over the rocks below, so you are essentially eating over the water. On a calm morning, you can hear the waves hitting the base of the cliff, which is a sound most KK restaurants cannot offer.

The brunch menu changes monthly but usually includes a local rice set, a Western set, and a dedicated seafood set with grilled fish, prawns, and clams. The local rice set is around RM 55 and comes with hinava, which is the Kadazan-Dusun ceviche made from raw mackerel, lime, chili, and grated bitter gourd. It is a flavor most tourists have not encountered, and it is one of the signature tastes of Sabah. I usually order the hinava, the grilled tiger prawns, and a side of the wild fern (paku) stir-fried with garlic.

The drive is the issue. Karambunai is past the airport, and there is no public transport, so a Grab is the only option