Dayak food and restaurants are growing in popularity in Kuching as they are also considered unique and highly special to Sarawak’s culinary line.
In general, Dayak food is divided into the Dayak Bidayuh cuisine and the Dayak Iban cuisine. Both may seem similar, but the method of preparation and cooking might slightly be different.
Best served as dinner, Dayak food does feature a lot of meat with pork and belacan (shrimp paste) taking centre stage most of the time.
As a Dayak person myself, I love Dayak cooking, but preparation of such dishes can be rather tedious.
On top of that, I’ve been asked by tourist quite often about what Dayak food is served, and where it is served, so here’s a list of popular Dayak dishes I can write about for now, with an idea of where you can get them.
Kuching Food Tour
Before that, if you don’t want to trouble yourself, consider booking a food tour because they also can bring you to enjoy some great food in Kuching. You can also learn how to cook local Dayak dishes as well.
Links for both are below.
About Dayak food and restaurants in Kuching
Dayak food in Kuching are usually non-halal given that pork plays a huge role in the dishes.
However, there are halal Dayak food being serve although I will say that you’d not be getting the full experience because pork does get an edge when prepared in Dayak cooking methods.
Since Dayak food is largely non-halal, and usually rather tedious to prepare, their restaurants are usually outside of the city centre and centred in areas where Muslims are less dense.
That said, renting a car will be a good option when you want to find Dayak food.
Renting a car can be done using the link below and it will definitely help you in your quest to seek delicious eats in this city.
Now that we have gotten some suggestions out of the way, let me clarify a few things about this post and what each description means.
- This post is divided into two main sections; Dayak food in Kuching and Best Dayak Restaurants in Kuching
- ‘About‘ tells you a bit about the dish/restaurant.
- ‘Where to eat <insert food name> in Kuching‘ is where you can get a good and recommended serving of the dish.
Mind you that the listing below doesn’t show all locations, but where the dish is popularly consumed/ordered among locals. Also, Dayak food is usually eaten for lunch and dinner.
With that, read on to see and find out where you can get the best bites in Kuching.
Dayak food in Kuching
Here’s a list of popular Dayak local food in Kuching.
Midin
- About: Midin can is a type of fern exclusive in Sarawak. It’s served by stir frying it with shrimp paste (belacan) or garlic or wine. Dayaks usually like it in belacan.
- Where to eat midin in Kuching:
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
- Lepau Restaurant (No pork served; All Day)
- Awah Cafe (10AM – 9PM)
- Rumah Asap Tabuan Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Langkau Arau Dayak (4PM – 10PM)
- Remin Asuh Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Little Fairy Cafe (7AM-10AM)
Pansuh
- About: Pansuh usually means meat suck as pork, chicken or fish is cooked in bamboo. this is the most known dish for as it can be served halal (by using chicken or fish). The dish is usually cooked by putting meat and water in a large bamboo together with seasonings with tapioca leaves is used to cover the bamboo while the meat gets cooked.
- Where to eat pansuh in Kuching:
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
- Lepau Restaurant (No pork served; All Day)
- Awah Cafe (10AM – 9PM)
- Rumah Asap Tabuan Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Langkau Arau Dayak (4PM – 10PM)
- Remin Asuh Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Little Fairy Cafe (7AM-10AM)
Tempoyak soup
- About: Tempoyak or fermented durian, is a popular way to cook meat, fish or vegetables among the Dayak. Depending on the cook, it can become sour or sweet which is largely due to the choice of Tempoyak used.
- Where to eat tempoyak soup in Kuching:
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
- Lepau Restaurant (No pork served; All Day)
- Awah Cafe (10AM – 9PM)
- Rumah Asap Tabuan Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Langkau Arau Dayak (4PM – 10PM)
- Remin Asuh Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Little Fairy Cafe (7AM-10AM)
Dayak brinjal soup
- About: Dayak Brinjal (sometimes called Terung Asam or Terung Dayak) soup is another popular way to cook meat and fish. The brinjal gives that sour taste while a mixture of lemon grass, kunyit, onions, and sometimes bunga kantan helps produce something quite magical to the taste buds.
- Where to eat Dayak brinjal soup in Kuching:
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
- Lepau Restaurant (No pork served; All Day)
- Awah Cafe (10AM – 9PM)
- Rumah Asap Tabuan Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Langkau Arau Dayak (4PM – 10PM)
- Remin Asuh Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Little Fairy Cafe (7AM-10AM)
Fried durian flower
- About: Durian flowers are a seasonal thing, hence making this delicious dish seasonal as well. To make matters more difficult, the durian flowers can’t be kept for too long before they turn black, so this dish must use fresh durian flowers. This dish is cooked by stir frying the Durian flowers with anchovies and shrimp paste (belacan).
- Where to eat durian flower in Kuching:
- Lintang Yuan Batu Lintang (5.30PM – 10.30PM)
Fried tapioca leaves
- About: A popular simple local vegetable dish which is served in almost every Dayak restaurant is Stir Fried Tapioca Leaves. Cooked by frying the tapioca leaves in a mixture of onions, anchovies and sometimes tepus, this dish is not only easy to do, but also very tasty.
- Where to eat stir fried tapioca leaves in Kuching:
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
- Lepau Restaurant (No pork served; All Day)
- Awah Cafe (10AM – 9PM)
- Rumah Asap Tabuan Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Langkau Arau Dayak (4PM – 10PM)
- Remin Asuh Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Little Fairy Cafe (7AM-10AM)
Fried tepus in belacan
- About: When not cooked, Tepus, a plant originating from the ginger plant family, smells very strong, and it has a very distinctive taste if eaten raw, or even when cooked. That’s where shrimp paste (belacan) comes in as the combination of these two very strong flavours somewhat allows this dish to come out quite unique. Best eaten with rice, stir fried tepus with shrimp paste isn’t easy to find in shops as tepus itself is quite pricey these days.
- Where to eat tepus in belacan in Kuching:
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
- Awah Cafe (10AM – 9PM)
- Rumah Asap Tabuan Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Langkau Arau Dayak (4PM – 10PM)
- Remin Asuh Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
Fried Fermented Tempoyak
- About: Fermented Durian, better known as Tempoyak, is a very important ingredient in Dayak cooking, and used in almost any way possible for servings, and it is also best served fried with a mix of sugar, anchovies, chilies and onions mixed together. This dish is hard to come by in local stores around Kuching. This dish is best eaten with rice as it is salty.
- Where to eat tempoyak in Kuching:
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
- Lepau Restaurant (No pork served; All Day)
- Awah Cafe (10AM – 9PM)
- Rumah Asap Tabuan Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Langkau Arau Dayak (4PM – 10PM)
- Remin Asuh Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Little Fairy Cafe (7AM-10AM)
Kasam
- About: Kasam or sometimes spelt as kassam means fermented and there’s so many variations as fermented dishes are quite staple in Dayak meals. The usual’s are Kasam Ikan (fish), and Kasam babi (pork). Kasam can be eaten raw with lime and chilies. However, it can also be served by stir frying. This dish is best eaten with rice as it is salty.
- Where to eat kasam in Kuching:
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
- Lepau Restaurant (No pork served; All Day)
- Awah Cafe (10AM – 9PM)
- Rumah Asap Tabuan Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Langkau Arau Dayak (4PM – 10PM)
- Remin Asuh Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
Dayak restaurants in Kuching
As mentioned above, there’s a few Dayak eateries, stalls and restaurants around Kuching and I’ve taken the liberty to list them down below, as well as how you can get there and when they open.
Authentic Dayak Food
- About: Strictly non-halal and offers cheap eats. Dishes are influenced by the Bidayuh style of cooking. The restaurant doesn’t look like much but it serves one of the best and most consistent Dayak dishes.
- Operation time: 7AM – 6PM, Close on Sunday
- Location: MAP
Lepau Restaurant
- About: No pork served and located in the city centre. Dayak dishes are influenced by the Orang Ulu style of cooking. Prices are slightly higher than usual but it provides a very nice dining experience.
- Operation time: 7AM – 6PM, Close on Sunday
- Location: MAP
Awah Cafe
- About: Strictly non-halal and located within the Dayak Bidayuh National Association building. Dishes are influenced by the Bidayuh style of cooking.
- Operation time: 10AM – 9PM
- Location: MAP
Rumah Asap Tabuan Dayak
- About: More of a food court than a restaurant with many stalls operating under one roof. It tends to be very packed. Non pork serving stalls are also available but the place will be smoky as barbeque pork is also served. The biggest food court of its kind in Kuching. Stalls tend to serve Iban style food.
- Operation time: 4PM – 12AM
- Location: MAP
Langkau Arau Dayak
- About: More of a food court than a restaurant with about 5 – 8 stalls operating under one roof. It tends to be very packed. Non pork serving stalls are also available but very limited and the place will be smoky as barbeque pork is also served. Stalls tend to serve Iban style food.
- Operation time: 4PM – 10PM
- Location: MAP
Remin Asuh Dayak
- About: More of a food court than a restaurant with about 4-7 stalls operating under one roof. All stalls are non-halal and the place is less smoky compared to the two above due to layout. Stalls tend to serve Bidayuh style food.
- Operation time: 4PM – 12AM
- Location: MAP
Little Fairy Cafe
- About: A nicely themes cafe along Jalan Padungan. It serves authentic Bidayuh Dayak food which are non-halal.
- Operation time: Little Fairy Cafe (10AM-10AM)
- Location: MAP
More about food in Kuching
- What to eat and where to eat in Kuching
- Halal food and restaurants in Kuching
- Best places to eat Laksa Sarawak in Kuching
- Seafood in Kuching
