What to eat in Kuching, Where to eat in Kuching, is my personal listing about food in Kuching as I hope this will help tourist (and maybe locals) find good places to eat local dishes.
As you may know, Kuching has a lot of great food, but there’s always an instance where these eating spots close, and hence leaving my article outdated.
That said, I decided to create one listing (article) to have everything, from popular local dishes to what locals love to eat, with the listing also putting down when and where you can find them.
Scroll to the end if you are looking for Dayak specialty places and halal restaurants in Kuching.
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.
What to eat in Kuching
Before you proceed to see the dishes and where you can feast, mind you that Kuching is huge, and most of the places may be located on different sides of town.
That said, consider renting a car in Kuching to ease your exploration.
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 four main sections; Kuching local food favourites, Local Kuching deserts, West Malaysian food, and Western food in Kuching
- ‘About‘ tells you a bit about the dish and how to eat it.
- ‘Time‘ will suggest when its easier to find the dish in Kuching if you don’t go to the recommended places, and
- ‘Where to eat <insert food name> in Kuching‘ is where you can get a good and recommended serving of the dish.
- I use ‘*‘ to mark HALAL spots, if I am very sure it’s of such status. Places that serve no pork and I am not sure of their halal certifications will not be marked.
Mind you that the listing below doesn’t show all locations, but where the dish is popularly consumed/ordered among locals.
With that, read on to see and find out where you can get the best bites in Kuching.
Kuching local food favourites
These are dishes locals love and under each dish listed is where you can likely find it best served. Do bear in mind that taste is subjective, so the location recommendations are based on general consensus.
Sarawak Laksa / Laksa Sarawak
- About: Made popular by the late Antony Bourdain who called it ‘The breakfast of the Gods‘. Highly popular in Kuching and best eaten when hot. Served with lime and specially made shrimp paste, which are mixed with the broth before eaten. The shrimp paste adds to the broth flavour and spiciness. The lime adds sourness to the broth. This dish usually doesn’t include pork.
- Time: Morning
- Where to eat Sarawak laksa in Kuching:
- Alfred Laksa (Before 11AM)
- Mom’s Laksa* (All day)
- Laksa Stall @ Chong Choon Cafe (Before 10AM)
- Laksa Stall @ Golden Arch Cafe (Before 12.30PM)
- Laksa stall @ Choon Hui Cafe (Before 11AM) – Where Anthony Bourdain had his
- Chef Ahid @ Kubah Ria * (All Day)
- Madam Tang (All Day)
- Ah Mui Laksa @ Foody Goody (Morning)
- Laksa stall @ Fat Cat (Before 10AM)
- Madam Lau stall @ Da’Apple Kopitiam (Before 11AM)
Kolo Mee / Kolok Mee / Mi Kolok
- About: Mee Kolo generally comes in two colours, red and white. There’s both halal and non halal variants. The non-halal variant uses pork oil and is served with slices of pork, while the halal variant is served with chicken meat instead. It’s usually served with chillies at the side. You can opt not to eat it together.
- Time: All day
- Where to eat Kolok Mee in Kuching:
- Oriental Park Kolo Mee (7AM – 1PM)
- Kolo Mee stall @ Open Air market (night)
- Nam Sen cafe (6AM – 11AM)
- Sepinang Sari Cafe * (6AM – 1 PM)
- LJ Noodles Cafe (8AM – 3PM)
- Haji Salleh (5.30AM – 1PM) Close on Tuesday
- Old Rex Cucur Udang Cafe (6AM – 5PM)
- Sainah Cafe * (7AM – 9PM)
- Sin Lian Shin (6AM – 1PM)
Tomato Crispy Mee
- About: Deep fried kolok mee, drench in a special sweet-sour sauce. Usually served with chillies at the sides. There’s no need to mix the chilly in the dish as the chilly sauce is usually just for dipping meat.
- Time: Morning & Evening
- Where to eat Tomato Crispy Mee in Kuching:
- Jackpot Stall @ Open Air market (Night)
- Song Kheng Hai Hawker (12 – 5PM)
- Pure Fishball Cafe (10AM – 7PM)
- Yellow Corner Cafe (6AM – 1PM)
- Cheong Kee @ Hui Sing Open Air Hawker Centre (1.30AM – 8PM)
Kueh Chap
- About: Pork innards, tofu and ‘kuey’ mixed with a special soy sauce broth. Usually served with chillies at the sides. There’s no need to mix the chilly in the dish as the chilly sauce is usually just for dipping meat. Strictly non-halal.
- Time: Morning
- Where to eat Kolok Mee in Kuching:
- Lau ya Keng Kueh Chap (All Day)
- Kueh Chap stall 3M Kopitiam (7AM-11AM)
- Lao San Kueh Chap (7AM-11AM)
- Little Fairy Cafe (10AM-10AM)
Beef Noodles
- About: Handmade egg noodles served with beef broth. Usually served with spicy soy sauce at the sides. There’s no need to mix the sauce in the dish as the sauce sauce is usually just for dipping meat. Usually served without pork.
- Time: Morning/Night
- Where to eat Beef Noodles in Kuching:
- Ah Mui Beef noodles @ Open Air market (Night)
- Famous Moo @ Food Bazaar the Spring (All day)
- Nyan Shin Cafe (6AM – 11AM)
- Haji Salleh (5.30AM – 1PM) Close on Tuesday
Belacan Bee Hoon
- About: A plate of bee hoon is topped with the shrimp paste (belacan) with century eggs, cuttlefish, beansprouts and cucumber. Its mixed together before eaten.
- Time: Afternoon
- Where to eat Belacan Bee hoon in Kuching:
- Swee Kang Ice Kacang (12 -8PM)
- Open Air market (Afternoon)
- Song Keng Hai Hawker Centre (Afternoon)
- Yeo Kim Kee Belacan Beehon (12PM – 5PM)
Mixed pork Soup
- About: Consist of pork innards and usually paired with vinegar flavoured kolo mee. Served with Sarawak pepper and chillies dipped in soy sauce and vinegar which is usually used to dip the meat in, before consuming.
- Time: Breakfast and lunch
- Where to eat Mixed Pork Soup in Kuching:
- Noodles Descendants (8AM – 1PM)
- Kim Joo (8AM – 1PM)
- Fat Aunt Noodles @ Abundance Food Centre (6AM – 11AM)
Mee Soup
- About: The soup version of Kolo Mee. It’s served with slices of red pork meat which makes it non-halal. Also comes with sliced chillies which is dipped in vinegar. Some like to mix the chillies and vinegar in the soup. Others don’t. The one in the photo above is non-halal. In Muslim eateries, Mee soup usually uses yellow mee instead, which changes the flavour entirely.
- Time: All day
- Where to eat Mee Soup in Kuching: Most stalls selling Kolo Mee will also serve Mee Soup.
Kiaw soup / Wantan soup
- About: Soup with wantan. Also comes with sliced chillies which is dipped in vinegar. Some like to mix the chillies and vinegar in the soup. Others don’t. Likely to be non-halal.
- Time: All day
- Where to eat Wantan soup in Kuching: Most shops/stalls selling kolo mee also serve wantan soup and do it well. nonetheless, you do need to ask the cook/seller if they do offer this dish.
Ayam Pansuh
- About: A traditional Dayak cooking where the chicken is cooked in bamboo with tapioca leaves and jungle produce. A signature Dayak dish which is usually served during special functions.
- Time: Lunch/Dinner
- Where to eat Ayam Pansuh in Kuching:
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
- Lepau Restaurant (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 (10AM-10AM)
Pork Pansuh
- About: A traditional Dayak cooking where the pork is cooked in bamboo with tapioca leaves and jungle produce. A signature Dayak dish but it’s strictly non-halal.
- Time: Night
- Where to eat Ayam Pansuh in Kuching:
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
- Langkau Arau Dayak (4PM – 10PM)
- Remin Asuh Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- Rumah Asap Tabuan Dayak (4PM – 12AM)
- My Village Barok * (4.30PM – 10 PM)
- Little Fairy Cafe (10AM-10AM)
Chicken cooked in Terung Asam Soup
- About: A traditional Bidayuh cooking where the chicken is cooked in sour brinjal (Dayak brinjal) and numerous jungle produce like Bunga Kantan and Tepus.
- Time: Lunch/Dinner
- Where to eat Ayam Pansuh in Kuching:
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
- Awah Cafe (10AM – 9PM)
- Little Fairy Cafe (10AM-10AM)
Kampua Mee
- About: Kampua Mee is a dry noodle dish with Foochow origins, and is even lighter and drier than kolo mee. There’s the white and black version. The white version uses pork lard, and the white version uses say sauce. It usually comes with chilli sauce which you can either use to mix with the noodles or opt not too. The original kampua mee is non-halal.
- Time: All day
- Where to eat Kampua Mee in Kuching:
Dabai Fried Rice
- About: Fried rice with Dabai (a local fruit) as paste and main ingredient.
- Time: All day
- Where to eat Dabai Fried Rice in Kuching:
- Warong Nusantara (8AM – 2PM)
- Barong Tinok (4PM – 8PM)
Sea cucumber soup
- About: A soup with sea cucumber, egg and starch. Usually served with black vinegar which is mixed together.
- Time: Dinner/Evening
- Where to eat Sea cucumber soup in Kuching:
- Lepau Restaurant * (All Day)
- Batu Lintang Food Centre (5PM – 10PM)
Crab cooked in salted egg / sweet sour sauce
- About: Mud crabs in Kuching have a variety of cooking ways and they are very popular among locals.
- Time: Dinner/Night
- Where to eat Crab in Kuching:
- Top Spot (5PM – 10PM)
Midin Belacan
- About: Stir fried local fern in shrimp paste (belacan) which is very popular among locals an tourist.
- Time: Evening/Dinner
- Where to eat Midin Belacan in Kuching:
- Top Spot (5PM – 10PM)
- Lepau Restaurant (All Day)
- Batu Lintang Food Centre (5PM – 10PM)
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
- Little Fairy Cafe (10AM-10AM)
Tempoyak Pork Soup
- About: A local Dayak dish served in fermented durian soup.
- Time: Evenings/Dinner
- Where to eat Tempoyak fish in Kuching:
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
- Awah Cafe (10AM – 9PM)
- Little Fairy Cafe (Monday only: 10AM-10AM)
Tempoyak Fish
- About: A local Dayak dish with fish served in fermented durian soup.
- Time: Evenings/Dinner
- Where to eat Tempoyak fish in Kuching:
- Lepau Restaurant (All Day)
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
Ambal Curry
- About: Bamboo clamps cooked in thick curry. It’s not too spicy but taste great with white rice.
- Time: Dinner/Evening
- Where to eat ambal curry in Kuching:
- Batu Lintang Food Centre (5PM – 10PM)
- Top Spot (5PM – 10PM)
Sago Linut
- About: Sago that’s cooked and eaten with soup.
- Time: Dinner
- Where to eat Sago Linut in Kuching:
- My Village Barok * (4.30PM – 10 PM)
Mee Sua
- About: To be updated
- Time: All day
- Where to eat Mee Sua in Kuching:
- To be updated
Mee Jawa
- About: Mee Jawa is a flavourful noodle dish which comes in blanched yellow egg noodles that’s blanched in delicious sweet potato gravy that’s served with half a hard-boiled egg, bean sprouts, fried spring onion or coriander leaves with chunks of meat (chicken, beef, or mutton). It usually comes plain but specials usually have satay.
- Time: Morning
- Where to eat Mee Jawa in Kuching:
- Kopi O Corner (7AM – 12AM)
Oyster Omelette
- About: To be updated
- Time: Dinner/Night
- Where to eat Oyster Omelette in Kuching:
- Batu Lintang Food Centre (5PM – 10PM)
- Top Spot (5PM – 10PM)
Yam Basket
- About: To be updated
- Time: Dinner/Night
- Where to eat Yam Basket in Kuching:
- Batu Lintang Food Centre (5PM – 10PM)
Prawn Umai / Fish Umai
- About: A popular Melanau dish which consist of fresh fish/prawn that’s served with a lot of onions and garlic.
- Time: Evening
- Where to eat Umai in Kuching:
- Umai stall @ Top Spot (5PM – 10PM)
Kasam Ikan (Fermented fish)
- About: A side dish that’s best eaten with white rice. Usually served either fried or steamed, but some do take it raw. To make it taste even better, sprinkle lime and take with chili.
- Time: Afternoon and evening
- Where to eat Umai in Kuching:
- Authentic Dayak Food (7AM – 6PM)
Local Kuching deserts & drinks
For local Kuching desserts and drinks, What to eat in Kuching, Where to eat in Kuching list here will list where locals get their treat.
White lady / ABC / Cendol
- About: It’s cold, its sweet, and it’s cheap! Sold at very specific places in Kuching, these deserts popularly known as ABC, Ice Kacang and White Lady (photo) are made of ice, fruits and a whole lot of colourful things that can make a hot day seem so chill.
- Time: Afternoon
- Where to find white lady / ABC / ice kacang in Kuching:
- Open Air market (Daytime)
- Swee Kang Ice Kacang (12PM-8PM)
- Song Keng Hai Hawker Centre (11AM – 5PM)
- Jubilee Hexagon (1PM – 5PM)
- Reservoir’s Summer House (11AM – 5PM)
Rojak Kuching / Rojak Buah / Sotong Kangkung
- About:
- Time: Daytime
- Where to find rojak in Kuching :
- Open Air market (Daytime)
- Song Keng Hai Hawker Centre (11AM – 5PM)
Kek Lapis Sarawak
- About: Sarawak’s infamous layered cake that comes in all sorts of pattern, colours and flavours.
- Time: All day
- Where to buy Kek Lapis Sarawak in Kuching :
- Kek Lapis Dayang Salhah (9AM – 11APM)
- Kubah Ria Market (5AM – 5PM)
- Also found along Jalan Main Bazaar
Gula Apong ice-cream
- About: Ice cream that’s mixed with Gula Apong and preferred condiments like nuts, cornflakes and sometimes chocolate rice.
- Time: All day
- Where to find Gula Apong ice cream in Kuching :
- RG Ice Cream Bergula Apong (2PM – 5AM)
- IG Gula Apong (11AM – 11PM)
Teh C peng special / 3 layer tea
- About: Got its name due to its multiple layers. Needs to be mixed properly before consumed. Usually, the bottom layer is made of Gula Apong, while the other two will consist of tea and evaporated milk with ice in between.
- Time: All day
- Where to drink Teh C Peng Special in Kuching : Most local eateries serve this drink perfectly in Kuching.
West Malaysian food
Here’s a list of popular West Malaysian food which are found in Kuching. Mind you that the listing doesn’t show all locations, but where the dish is popularly consumed/ordered among locals.
Bak Kut Teh
- About: A popular pork bsoup based dish in West Malaysia. Strictly non-halal.
- Time: All day
- Where to eat Bak Kut Teh in Kuching:
- Grandma Handmade Noodle Bak Kut Teh (8.30AM – 8.30PM)
- Go Fun Kee Bak Kut Teh (10AM – 9PM)
Nasi Kandar
- About: Famous in Penang, there are several stalls/shops in Kuching serving this popular Indian dish which mixes a range of flavours and curry.
- Time: All day
- Where to eat Nasi Kandar in Kuching:
- JK Nasi Kandar (7AM – 10PM)
- Nasi Kandar stall @ kozi Square (7AM – 7PM)
- Nasi Kandar Line Q (24 hours)
Western food in Kuching
Pork burger
- About: Burger with locally made pork patty. Usually sold by small stalls in a food court, or road side stall.
- Time: Night
- Where to eat Pork burger in Kuching:
- Open Air market
Beef burger
- About: Burger with locally made beef patty. Usually sold by small stalls in a food court, or road side stall.
- Time: Evening
- Where to eat beef burgers in Kuching in Kuching:
- Cats Pyjamas Burger Bar (night)
Pizzas
- About: Pizza places listed here are only local pizza stalls or stores that offer a wide variety of pizzas. The listing does not include chain pizza restaurants such as Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Pezzo.
- Time: All day
- Where to eat pizza in Kuching in Kuching:
- Bella Italia (All Day)
More about Kuching
If you want to know more about Kuching, the links below will likely be helpful
- Places of Interest in Kuching
- Festivals in Kuching
- Halal food and restaurants in Kuching
- Dayak food and restaurants in Kuching
Buy me coffee
Updating this list from time to time does take quite an effort. If you appreciate my effort compiling such list, do consider Buying me Coffee (credit/debit card).
Alternatively, you can also just scan the QR below (for Malaysian banks only) to give your contribution, so that I can buy coffee while updating KuchingBorneo.
I thank you in advance for any contribution.
