Best Kueh Chap in Kuching

Kueh chap is another signature dish of Kuching, but less popular than the kolomee and laksa. One reason it is less mainstream is because of the ingredients used i.e. pig internal organs such as stomach, liver, ear, tongue, and intestines, which might not be everyone's cup of tea. Kueh chap is unique because of the large pieces of flat noodles cooked in a thick stewed soup. Other ingredients include hard boiled eggs and boiled chicken feet. You can customise what you put in you kueh chap and if you are not adventurous like I am, you can just tell the seller you don't want any "spare parts", which refer to internal organs, like the one pictured below:

Sometimes it's hard to find kueh chap when you want it and even harder to find a really really good one. My pick is the kueh chap stall at Poh Kwong Park. It's just a small stall located in a vacant open-spaced car park lot. One of Kuching's best kept secret, is hard to find because it is hidden behind the shoplots in Poh Kwong Park, a residential area. For location map, click here.

The stall doesn't have a name, so I refer to it as Poh Kwong Park (PKP) kueh chap. It is a very humble stall with a humble owner (pictured above). What makes this kueh chap better than any others out there is his kick-ass belachan chilli. I always pour the first serving of belachan chilli into my soup and ask for another for the meats. The belachan chilli is really in its own class: strong in taste, not overly spicy, and a perfect addition to the stewed soup. This gives the kueh chap in PKP a very unique taste.

(Mind you, kueh chap already has a very uniquely Sarawakian taste).

Opens after 6pm, PKP kueh chap serves dinner and supper till around 9pm. He rests on Saturday and it might be a bit tricky eating there when it rains.

Best Tomato Mee in Kuching

The tomato mee is another signature dish of Kuching and Sarawak because it almost exclusively available only in Sarawak. I like to call it the local version of spaghetti bolognaise. The outstanding features of this dish is the fried crispy noodles and the tomato sauce gravy that is used to pour over the noodles. Newly opened in 2009, Cafe De Margherita serves the best tomato mee I've tasted so far. What makes it the best is the thick tomato sauce gravy. Many noodle sellers skimp on the tomato puree used to cook the sauce so it ends up tasting quite bland, but not the one at Cafe De Margherita though. You can literally see the chef taking a big scoop of tomato puree and cook it over such a fierce fire, that you would think they would go through a barrel of cooking gas every night. With that said, it is worth paying the above-market price of rm 5.The chef and staff never fail to greet me with a smile every time I dine there. Good food, friendly staff and a clean place to dine for dinner and supper. Cafe de Margherita is located on Green Hill Road, just opposite the more established Ah Ka Su Seafood Restaurant. For the location map, click here.

Check it out and leave a comment after you've tried it.

Italian Buffet at Ristorante Beccari, Merdeka Palace

There are not many Italian food outlets around town, let alone Italian buffets, but Ristorante Beccari at Merdeka Palace Hotel puts on quite a good spread. Ambiance is warm and cosy, place is nicely decorated and food quality is surprisingly above expectations.

There is a good range of tasty Italian appetisers which I won't even bother trying to spell...
Open-concept kitchen with fire-oven baked pizzas which adds to the authenticity...

Pick your pasta, then pick your sauce, and have it cooked on the spot by the restaurant chef. I thought all bolognaise sauces were the same until I tried theirs which was surprisingly different...

Desserts galore...Overall, a great dining experience. Not the type of buffet where you go and see how much food you can stuff in your stomach cos you'll be pretty full from the pasta and creamy sauces. The buffet is only available on Sunday evenings starting from 6.30 pm till 10 pm. It costs rm 59++ per person which is rm 67.85 after the stupid service and government tax.

Merdeka Palace Hotel can be reached at: 082-258000
(location map)

Best Butter Prawns in Kuching

Most people will say the best Butter Prawns in Kuching can be found at the Sarawak Club Chinese Restaurant. That's a private, members-only club, so I'll recommend the one at Li Garden, inside the Hock Lee Centre Building (location map here).

There are many styles of cooking Butter Prawns, but this is my favourite style because the creamy sauce is so fragrant and the prawns are ready peeled so you can eat them whole. Goes well with rice because the cream is rich and sweet. There are many prawn dishes at Li Garden (such as Butter Milk Prawn and Baked Prawn with Corn) so it might be confusing to pick the one recommended here. This is Baked Prawn with Butter Sauce. It comes with diced chilli sprinkled on the prawns, but not shown in the one pictured below because I requested it be cooked without the sprinkled chilli.

Another gem I accidentally found at this restaurant is the Wrapped Ham with Mayonnaise Sauce. I came across it when eating the 4-dish appetiser during a function at this restaurant. It's not on the menu, so you will have to request it from the waitress captain.

Just as tasty as the Butter Prawns, and just as fattening, but sinfully good. This air-conditioned restaurant is a good place to have lunch and dinner