So I've always wanted to make a checklist of where to get THE BEST of each kind of popular dishes. This posting is going to be very interactive, as I'm going to ask you guys and gals in Kuching to tell me where in town you think the best of each of the dishes can be found. I will simply provide some of the categories, and fill them in based on your comments and suggestions. So please give as many comments as you like.
Kolo Mee
* Sin Lian Shin, Green Road
Sarawak Laksa
* Foody Goody, Stutong
* Choon Choon
* Mega One Food Court, Kings Centre (just outside Smart Supermarket)
* Thompson Corner, Tabuan Road
Tomato Fried Mee
* Open Air Market
* Sarawak Club, main hall
Fishhead Bee Hoon
* Lee Cafe, Stutong
Char Kueh Teow (with beansprouts)
* Merry Park
* Kenyalang Park market
Gu Bak Mee (Beef Noodles)
* Open Air Market (opposite Electra House)
* Corner coffeeshop opposite Rex (night only)
* Foodcentre at Spring Foodcourt
Mee Rebus
* Court House canteen (to get in, either commit a crime or get Uncle George to bring you in :-)
Rojak
* Open Market
* Coffeeshop at King's Centre near GL's office (which block George?)
Satay
* Lau Ya Keng
Hay Pia
* Da-Light Foodcourt, just next to King's Centre
* Peterson's Corner, next to Satok jungle produce market
* Coffeeshop (on corner) opposite former Rex cinema (now cineplex)
Lui Cha
* Next stall to above Hay Pia stall at Da-Light
* Big Mouth at Jln Dogan
Poh Piah
* Choon Hui (near Hotel Grand Continental)
* Kwong Hup, Jalan Keretapi
* BDC
Kueh Chap
* Lau Ya Keng, Carpenter Street
Bak Moi
* Lau Ya Keng, Carpenter Street (morning & evening)
* Ling Loong, entrance to King's Centre
Curry Rice
* Nam Kwang, 3rd Mile Bazaar
Roast Chicken with Ginger Rice
* Corner coffeeshop opposite Rex
Ayam Penyet
* Eating area next to Old Mosque in town
Pork Leg Rice (aka Tu Kar Peng)
* Lee Cafe (near Heritage Restaurant, off Song Thian Cheok Rd & Ban Hock Road)
Bak Kut Teh
* Mega One Food Court, Kings Centre (just outside Smart Supermarket)
Kachang Ma
* ????
You can also suggest other food that I might have left out.
If this interactive posting works out for popular food in Kuching, we may do Sibu and Miri also ...
this is good idea.
ReplyDeleteI think the Green Road kolo mee shop is Sin Lian Shin
ReplyDeleteMust add in "Midin" ... Sarawak specialty. Cannot find elsewhere. Hehehe
ReplyDeleteu forgot JIU HU ENG CHAI ...
ReplyDelete@Anon 2Nov 4:53PM- Thanks, yes that was it.
ReplyDelete@Tham Chiak Kui - Yup, must add Midin ... one of my favourites too. And also "Mani Chai" (Changkok Manis")
@Anon 2Nov 7:37PM - Ya, JHEC also ! Thks
What about Chicken Rice?
ReplyDeleteHay Pis opposite the old Rex cinema was quite good.
ReplyDeleteI mean Hay Pia ... hehehe
ReplyDeleteThe rojak in the coffeeshop next to my office is very good. Ask them to add a couple pieces of 'hay pia', delicious sauce and oodles of nuts - yumm! Bob Chew comes by regularly to eat it.
ReplyDeleteBak Moi - the best used to be the young China girl at Foody Goody but she went and got married and the rumour is that her hubby won't let her sell it anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe current best is at Ling Loong, located at the entrance to Kings Centre. It's always packed in the mornings.
Lau Ya Keng serves kueh chap in the morning and evening. I like to go in the evening - I reckon it's better and at the same time, I enjoy their fish head [cooked in black bean sauce and ginger].
ReplyDeleteFor curry rice, I like the one at Nam Kwang in the 3rd mile bazaar. Try their 'pak loh' giblet and chicken liver - heavenly.
Tomato fried mee - open air market or Sarawak Club main hall.
Cha kueh tiaw with bean sprouts - best one is at Merry Park fried by a couple from Penang. Better than most of the chakuehtiaw I tried in Penang, actually.
Popiah - my fave is the one at Choon Hui, the wooden house near hotel Grand Con. But some prefer the one at Kwong Hup, along Jln Keretapi, made by Joseph Kuek, a cousin of our old classmate Christopher Kuek. Kwong Hup is very popular on weekend mornings.
Thanks Georgie boy for the foodie tips. Will hunt every last one of them down.
ReplyDeleteWHAT? Only one good place for Kolo Mee? Guys, you can do better than that ...
ReplyDelete1. Gu Bak Mee (beef noodles, with or without soup). Open Air market, opposite Electra House. (If it is still there)
ReplyDelete2. Mee Rebus - Had tried two places: At Satok Road and opposite taxi stand at Gambier Road
3. Hey Piah or fried Tow Hoo - best one was at St Michael Canteen. Where has he gone or where is the best place now? The dipping sauce was the best at the time.
4. Satay - best place?
5. Tu Ka (pork leg) - used to go to the one at Carpenter Street
You can gather that I am no longer a local in Kuching, so my memory of these lovely dishes were from the past of many years.
For Gu Bak Mee, my wife reckons the best is at the corner coffeeshop opposite Rex. Only sell at night.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, at the same shop, the roast chicken with garlic rice is my favourite. When we go there, Gina takes the gubakmee and I have the roast chicken rice - without fail. I have brought Mark Chin and his lovely daughter, Valerie, there and they seem to love it too. Bungkus some back for his wife and son too.
The best mee rebus I have eaten is in the Court house canteen. So you guys won't get to taste it unless you happen to go up there!
Pork leg rice - Lee Cafe just up the road a bit from Heritage restaurant, off Jln Song Thian Cheok and Jln Ban Hock. If you go there around 10.30am, you can't miss it. Very busy. The taukaynio's standard refrain when you want to order is "lu tio ai tarn boh" [you be prepared to wait]. If you made the special trip there, just wait, lah. What to do? LOL.
The Tu Ka guy at Carpenter St has moved. The ones who took over are not in his class.
The old haypia guy at Rex is now in an eating area next to the Old Mosque in town. The eating place has a large sign "Raja Ayam Penyet". If you knew him before, you'd recognise the haypia guy - he has converted to Islam and is a Haji now. Still speaks hokkien and hakka though!
Btw, the ayam penyet there is arguably the best in town.
Thanks, George. Btw, who do the cooking at home, are you the taster or the doer...lol
ReplyDeleteAnyway, next: where is the best place for char kuih (I think it is fried turnip "cake")with egg now - best one used to be outside Capitol Cinema!!!
Another delicious meal was chicken porridge, the best one was selling from a stall at Carpenter St outside Law Ya Kheng.
Deep fried chicken wings with chilly dips was also quite nice, used to buy it from outside a nightclub at Rubber Road (I do not think it is there anymore).
Best "sweet" mee was selling from Palm Road - the old lady was so slow because she only cook 1 dish at a time but well worth the wait though. I think her sone took over the business and moved to Hui Sing?
Best Ang Tow Peng is still in the Open Air market opposite Electra House and the Jui Hu Ang Chai was excellent too, also used to sell boiled turtle eggs there.
mmmmmmmmm...cannot wait to go back to test all these fooooood. Just as well I just had my lunch. LOL
There's another delicious Gu-bak-mee at Spring Shopping Food Court. Yum!
ReplyDeleteReckon the best Satay is still at Lau-Ya-Keng. i just love their peanut sauce.
Then there's this guy's Hay-pia at Da-Light Food court-just next to King's Centre. He was formerly at King's Centre's food court in the late 80's! And is still selling the same stuff..haypia,tauhu..etc.
The Lui-Cha next to this stall is good.
Big Mouth at Jln Dogan is just as good but lots of aji-no-moto in the vege :)
Fish-head beehoon at Lee Cafe in Stutong.
Anonymous Nov 4,2011..Fyi, the guy selling the fried turnip cake with egg outside Capitol Cinema is now at the corner shop opposite Sweet Memory at Tabuan Jaya.
ReplyDeleteWow, foodie tips coming in fast and furious now ... thanks to George, Gina and various Anonymi
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gina. I am on my way there!!!! LOL
ReplyDelete....no, on my next visit to Cat town.
Obviously George and Gina Live to Eat.
ReplyDeleteSomeone used to sell Kachang Ma in that row of shops opposite Rex cinema (while it was still around). But I don't think it's there any more.
ReplyDeleteWhere is best for:
ReplyDeleteFoochow mee sua
Poh pia
Bak kut teh
Nasi Lemak
Curry puff
Banana fritters
Bak kut teh - I like the one at Mega One Food Court just outside Smart Supermarket at Kings Centre. Opens in the morning and finishes at noon.
ReplyDeleteAt Mega, in the evening, there's a seafood stall called "Ah Sen" which serves delicious Philippine style "crispy skin pork". Goes very well with cold beer [4 cans of Tsing Tao for only RM10 there!].
For an unusual banana fritter, try Gazebo located just behind Starbucks at Jalan Song. Grated cheese melted over crispy banana fritters. Yumm!
The laksa at Thompson Corner, Tabuan, not too bad either. It comes in 3 sizes. RM4, RM5 and RM6.
ReplyDeleteBDC Poh Pia? Char Kueh Tiaw at kenyalang Park market? The porridge stall somewhere at Padungan that still using charcoal clay stove. However, one needs to be "goyang kaki" to wait for the porridge coz using charcoal stove proves to be too slow.
Gerard, the Thompson Corner laksa is the one which is served with clams, right? There's a laksa stall in a Kings Centre coffeeshop [Thian Luk] which comes with a choice of prawns or oysters! The nearly raw oysters certainly give the laksa a taste with a difference!
ReplyDelete@George - Philippine crispy skin port ... are you talking about lechon" ?
ReplyDeleteOne shop on "Coffin Lane" off India Street used to be good for curry puffs. Still there or not?
ReplyDeleteWhat about Kam Pua Mee?
ReplyDeleteHay-Pia - try Peterson's Corner.(located adjacent to the Satok Jungle produce Market)
ReplyDeleteAs to whether it's the best...form your own conclusions after visiting the place.
George, yup with clams and prawns.
ReplyDeleteThe Philippine BBQ pork equivalent to our satay selling at RM10 for 7 sticks at Jalan Song is new to me. Give it a try!
The food court rental at SPRING, Kuching is killing. I asked one stall owner "Nonya stall" and she told me it's more than RM10K per month exclude electricity. No wonder the nyonya kuih there is selling at RM1 per piece where you can buy of the same at only 30 cents at Stutong market. Cheers!
what about the laksa at Golden Arch?
ReplyDeleteAyam penyet ha? Think the BEST is at Baruk, Kampung Kita. Eat one time ho, always want to go back la.
ReplyDeleteYou guys know that there's also the Satang Kajang selling in town? That's at Jalan Kulas, turn left when you are about to reach RH bank, a home restaurant.
Tu Kar rice at Mega 1 coffee shop is sold by none other than Lau Siong. He used to sell at corner coffee shop behind Bomba. In the business for at least 35 yrs already. For me, his is the best!
Kolo mee? Where is supreme?
ReplyDeleteMay I request you guys also send in photos of some of those dishes? Reading about them is great. But I wanna see them too, before go back to attack them. ok?
ReplyDeleteSabun King, what about the tukar that used is at Carpenter Street beside Kwong Wai Siew Asso? Also Sa Tee behind RHB Bank at Simpang Tiga - he used to operate at Ang Cheng Ho Road, moved to Hui Sing before ending up at his moved shop now. The tukar at Foody Goody is also pretty good. Yummy, gonna be at Foody Goody later in the morning.
ReplyDeleteHow about ABBA, Boney M and Air Supply?
ReplyDeletehey Anony, this posting is about food .. what has ABBA, BM, AS got to do with it?
ReplyDeleteABBA, BoneyM and Air Supply supposed to be in the Musical Interlude post. But lazy to switch/surf as damned slow internet here.
ReplyDeleteThis posting IS about food, food, FOOD! no ABBA or Akua plse.
ReplyDeleteYa, Tukar King, forgot about that one. Now that place selling gu bak mee lo, oh no no, the seller has moved into the shop already.
So where is the former tukar rice selling now?