AWAH CAFE at DBNA : DAYAK CUISINES

We all have that one place we would always want to go to for some pure authentic local delicacies once in a while. Here in Sarawak, most of the time, authentic local dayak delicacies can be quite hard to find and pricey at the same time, so, The Makan Post has set out to find a decent place for some reasonable and good local Dayak cuisine!

Here we are under the building of the Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA) located at Jalan Ong Tiang Swee. And underneath this building, you’ll be able to find a nice open air restaurant called Awah Café. Awah Café is one interesting eatery selling authentic Dayak cuisine with a reasonable price. It has a beautiful tribal setting with a hint of modernity but still maintaining its authenticity of the local Dayak ethnicity. One can enjoy the natural outdoor air as they’re enjoying their meal in this cozy cultural setting.

The drinks here are all served in tall glasses. They were quite cheap as well for such a huge glass, and they tasted really good too. 

I ordered a basic Milo Peng, which is basically iced Milo, and it was rich and delicious, was not too sweet and you can taste the creaminess from the milk used and the amount of iced used was just perfect as well to go along with the drink. Actually, first impressions lie in the most basic drinks too, and yes, it immediately gave me a good impression of this café.

This is their rice. They used a mixture of white rice and red rice. A typical concept whenever dining at Dayak cuisine restaurants. Either that, or purple rice.

This first dish is something you wouldn’t want to miss whenever you come here to eat. It’s one of their specialties, called the Borneo mix vege. 

Unlike your usual dish of mixed vege you order at seafood restaurants, this borneo dish compromises of veges such as buah terung (local brinjal), baby corn, bamboo shoots, dodol labu (local pumpkin), paku (wild fern), and black fungus. These are stir fried in belachan and chillies and when eaten together, it goes so well as each of these would taste great when eaten with belachan. The slight crunchiness you get from the onions gave this dish an interesting texture altogether as well. The sweetness from the dodol labu rounds everything off just nice. It had a hint of spiciness but also not overpowering so it balances out the whole dish too.

Next thing you would want to try is the common Dayak dish, pansuh. Today, we ordered pork pansuh. It was served in a large bowl and this version of it was rather soupy. The portion was big and this was the smallest size they had on the menu. Worth it indeed! They used pork belly and it was super juicy and tender. This dish was really fragrant and you could taste bits of lemongrass flower in it as well. It had a light and refreshing taste to it due to the vegetables and herbs used in this dish. I would definitely order this again during my next visit.

Next up was sup tempoyak manok. ‘Manok’ is basically chicken in the Iban language and ‘Tempoyak’ is a condiment made from fermented or preserved durian. These ingredients, combined in a soup, is what you get here.

This soup was a very comforting dish as it warms the body. It had a small kick of spiciness to it and a slight sour taste, but flavours from the tempoyak balanced it out well. The soup was slightly sweet too from the chicken and tempoyak. I would definitely have something like this to wash it all after a heavy meal on a cold rainy day. Overall, it was an interesting dish with something different in terms of its flavour. This was also my first time having ‘Tempoyak’ soup.

Lastly, we had chicken stir fried in sambal belachan. It had so many flavours going on, and you can taste the onions, chillies, ginger, garlic and sambal all in one bite. The chicken was well marinated and coated with these ingredients and it’s spiciness was just right and it left our taste buds wanting more after every bite. The spring onions and celery gave a nice crunch to this dish too and goes very well with rice.

All these portions were the smallest ones, and with 3 big eaters, all these dishes still had leftovers. Not only do you get so much with that price paid, but delicious authentic Dayak food as well. Definitely worth the buck!

Now it's your turn to give Awah Cafe a try.



Awah Cafe @DBNA
Lot 964, Block 10,
Jalan Kumpang (off Jalan Ong Tiang swee), Taman Ridgeway,
93200 Kuching, Sarawak.


Opening hours:
Monday to Saturday
11.30am to 9pm

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This is Jolynn signing off this week's episode on The Makan Post. Stay tuned for more episodes coming your way.

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