Cove 55

Located amongst the mangroves on the stunning Sarawak coast at the foot of Mount Santubong is Cove 55, a boutique resort that seamlessly blends luxury, comfort and the raw natural beauty of the breathtaking landscapes. Starting life as a holiday home for an influential Iban family, the coastal estate has been reborn as a unique resort and is now the holiday home for discerning guests from around the world. We hoped it would be the perfect escape from the city, where surrounded by nature we could enjoy some much needed chill time, and how right we were. Our stay was the much needed antidote to the pressures of every day life, and it didn’t take long for us to forget about everything outside the gates of the simply stunning Cove 55.

Our home at Cove 55 was a one bedroom Mangrove Villa which provided a private sanctuary that further aided our escapism. With seclusion, luxury and nature fused perfectly, this was our dream villa. The spacious interior, contemporary furnishings and modern amenities made us want to never leave, as did the free standing ‘bathtub for two’ which was bathed by natural light from the floor to ceiling windows. But when staying somewhere so unique and naturally beautiful, even with a villa that entices you to stay we just had to head outside and soak up the vibes and the vistas (and the vegan food) that make Cove 55 oh so special.

The Vegan Food

Kechala is where the magic happens at Cove 55, it’s the restaurant at the heart of the resort where Chef Mario and his team conjure up a blend of European, Asian and traditional Iban cuisine to make sure their guests don’t go hungry. With veggie and vegan dishes detailed on the main menu, and separate vegan menus available upon request for both breakfast and dinner, going hungry was something we most certainly didn’t do. With a choice of soy milk or oat milk lattes, and freshly squeezed juices to start each day, our vegan breakfasts were always off to a good start. From the vegan breakfast menu we shared chia seed pudding, nasi lemak and a cooked breakfast with beans mushrooms, avocado and hash browns on our first day. We never got to try the shakshuka which was a shame, but we did enjoy the plain congee with condiments, veggie fried rice and vegan kuey teow goreng on our second day. There were fruits, cereals and sour dough on the buffet, but having a vegan breakfast menu to choose from made life very easy as a vegan at Cove 55.

With dishes featuring traditional ingredients such as yellow eggplant and ginger flower, and much of the produce being sourced locally including coriander and pea shoot organic micro greens, the dishes at Kechala (the local name for ginger flower) were vibrant, creative and nutritious. But did we mention that they were delicious too? We worked our way through tofu ceviche, papaya salad and cauliflower bites with a yakisoba dipping sauce to start our first dining experience at Kechala, before sharing local bario rice with a flavour packed terung asam, and the creamiest of vegan pesto pasta dishes with sundried tomatoes and cashews. Dessert was a perfect trio of tropical fruits, vegan chocolate cake and the best mango sago pudding we’ve had for quite some time. Other dishes on the vegan menu included pasta arrabiata, vegan fish fillet poke bowl, falafel sour dough sandwich and vegan chicken paella. We didn’t have chance to try any of these which I suppose means we’ll have to come back at some stage in the future…

The Vegan Essentials

The vast pool was where we started each day before breakfast, making the most of the chance to swim some laps next to the sea before the sun became too intense. There were also yoga mats available meaning that practice was possible in the privacy of our own villa, which meant we didn’t even step foot inside the well appointed gym (well, that’s our excuse anyway). Guests can also play a round at one of the most extraordinary golf courses in the region. Open exclusively to guests of Cove 55, the nine holes at Matang Jungle Golf “delivers a one-of-a-kind, rough-and-tumble golfing experience” in the heart of the Malaysian jungle. Sadly, we were too busy to play during our stay, but with one of us being an avid golfer we would love to return and play a round at some stage in the future.

The Vegan Food Quest Verdict

The location of Cove 55 is unique and unrivalled, the villas are modern and stylish, whilst the surrounding natural beauty of mountains, mangroves and the South China Sea is the perfect antidote to the busy city life we were escaping. When you combine the above with the fact that they have vegan breakfast and dinner menus available at Cove 55, then you’ve most certainly got everything you could ever want from a vegan friendly luxury resort in Kuching.

We were guests of Cove 55 but please rest assured that their generosity in hosting us didn’t influence our views.

Cove 55
93010 Kuching
Sarawak
Malaysia

Telephone: +60 82-846 068
Email: reservations@cove55.com
Cost From: £100 / $130 (November 2024)