MING FENG HAO: PORRIDGE AND MORE

In Kuching, porridge or congee is consumed not only during breakfast but anytime of the day be it lunch, tea, dinner or supper. Just before the city around an area called One TJ is a popular spot in which some Kuchingites go to for some light dim sum and congee. They are known for their many types of congee in which includes chicken, fish and pork in a casual kopitiam setting.

Ming Feng Hao also offers siew mai and chee cheong fan in their dim sum menu. Not to mention some other refreshing desserts such as the gui ling gao. Today we decided to try their fish and pork porridge, the 2 most ordered types in Kuching.

Presentation was good with scallions, soy sauce and pepper sprinkled on top with a generous heap of small crispy iu char kueh bits on top. The congees have a unique and perfect texture to them, the type that you would want to expect from a congee. Super fine rice bits and a smooth and slightly thick consistency.

The pork congee had full of flavour and sweetness from the pork essence and meat cooked with it. The fish congee tasted great too and was tummy warming, the kind of meal you would want to have on a cold weather. The ginger slices in it brought the flavours of the fish well. When eaten with the crispy bits of iu char kueh, you get a party of textures and taste in your mouth. 

You can choose to order a side dish for your congee as well. They had century eggs, pickles and braised peanuts. We went for braised peanuts. It had a really good softness to it that was still able to hold its form, and it was packed full of flavour with the right amount of sweetness. This condiment accompanied the congees really well.

If you are a dim sum and congee fan, we would definitely recommend you give this place a try. Their congee is a must to order when you dine here.





Ming Feng Hao opens daily except Tuesdays from 9am to 2pm and 6pm to 9.30pm.




Ming Feng HaoGr Fl. 383B (Sl/22),

Jln. Stutong Star Point Angle, 

93350 Kuching, Malaysia.

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BIG COCONUT WESTERN: VALUE FOR MONEY MEALS

We always try to find the best meals whenever we're choosing where and what to eat. Not forgetting, best meals that come with a cheap price. Often, it's hard to get the best of both worlds, but today The Makan Post is bringing to you a decent cafe offering value for money meals. To make it more interesting, this cafe serves western delicacies.

Big Coconut Western is located in Hui Sing in an open air food court named Good Taste Kopitiam. You defnitely wouldn't miss it as you can see a huge coconut booth where they are. They have their own section in that food court in which they serve western delicacies of all sorts from chicken chops, fish and chips to pastas and pizzas. 

Here, portion is definitely a thumbs up point. This is the mix grill platter, consisting of 2 chicken thigh cuts, a smoked duck drumstick, lamb chop as well as sausages.

Sides such as generous mushroom and black pepper sauce, coleslaw and fries were given with it. These fries were spot on, and with such a reasonable price, it never did came to our expectation that these thick cut fries were served instead of the economic frozen shoe-string and crinkle cut fries you find at your local supermarket. The fries were seasoned well too.

The lamb was tender and juicy, which you can tell was marinated very well. That was my favourite of all on the platter. The chicken chop was crispy on its skin side and was also really juicy and flavourful. The smoked duck was just alright as I found its flesh a bit on the tougher side, and was not so much of a fall-of-the-bone quality. Sausages used were frankfurters, the usual ones found in supermarkets. The sauce that came with it was really delicious and was a great compliment with everything on the platter. All for just RM35, about a 3 pax portion, if you're a heavy eater.

We also had their mushroom soup, which was more of a creamy and rich like consistency.

However, we thought it lacked mushroom flavour and consisted more of artificial thickeners and cream. But with RM5, we think it's still a good deal for a 2 pax portion mushroom soup.

They also had mixed lamb and chicken chop set, smoked duck pasta, carbonara pasta and many more.

This place also caters to the lunch crowd, a very big one, due to its cheap lunch sets.

For RM7, customers get a slice of chicken chop with mushroom and black pepper sauce on the side, garlic rice, coleslaw and single portion of mushroom soup. The garlic rice was fragrant and it was also fried, giving it a nicer aroma. 

Here's what's on the fried fish set which was RM9.

It had the same sides as well, but customers get to choose between Peri-peri sauce or cream sauce to go with their fish. The fish was battered and not breaded, which is definitely one of the most important thing for a fried fish fillet in western cuisine. It was crispy and light. 

Pizzas are now available on the menu as well. 12 inch pizzas ranging from only less than RM20.

If you haven't been to Big Coconut, we would highly recommend you to give it a try. Definitely can't be compared to the top notch fine dining eateries for a typical western cuisine, but it is really great for it's reasonable price. 

Big Coconut Western opens from lunch around 12pm till about 12am-1am.

Big Coconut Western
572, 569, 
Lorong Taman Hui Sing 3, 
Taman Hui Sing, 
93350 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

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ZINC RESTAURANT: FRENCH FUSION

Zinc is a restaurant that aims as producing the best, starting with their imported produce. Their menus features iberico pork, duck meat, pork steaks, most of them flown from a corner of the world.

Zinc as it turned out comes from the idea of how french bars used to have zinc on countertops to prevent rusting. It is a popular term back in the day, they were called zinc bars. As explained by the owner who also is moonlighting as a waiter by the night.

 The place lovely. Everything was well thought out and well decorated. We didn't managed to get a seating inside but the outside was cool and we enjoyed where we sat.

 As always, my family ordered the salad. Caesar salad. It's portions are smaller than what the price is given but otherwise, it tasted well.

Cheese Platter is the next thing we seemed to always order.

 I had the duck confit. Infused with pears. Which was delicious but quite sweet itself. But also quite heavy, since it's basically just cooked in duck fat.

 There was the risotto, that took quite a while to come. It wasn't as well prepared as it should be. Quite wet. It was cooked with iberico pork meat.

 We had some dessert by the end of it. Passionfruit cheesecake. The portions are quite small. Though it taste good.

Though the food and atmosphere is quite good. The price and the quantity given I think is not worth it. They do also have sarawakian infused menus. Which I think would people should try out instead of the western menu. Which would be more value for money. Anyways, this is Sharon, signing off this week's post. Stay tune every week for more posts. Bye!

Address: 38, Tabuan Rd, 93100 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Opening times:  

Friday	5pm–1am
Saturday	5pm–1am
Sunday	5pm–1am
Monday	Closed
Tuesday	5pm–1am
Wednesday	5pm–1am
Thursday	5pm–1am

RAINFOREST GARDEN CAFE: CAFE EPISODES

The great thing about Kuching is that it's an ever developing city. There's bound to be something new almost every month whether it's a trend, event, eatery etc. One of the amazing things here in Kuching is that you can find just so many new cafes and eateries opening each year. Each one of them has something different to offer.

Today, we'll be adventuring to a pretty new spot in town, with a very interesting concept - dining in a forest like atmosphere with a pottery shop just beside. Its name is Rainforest Garden Cafe.

This has an open air hawker food centre like setting, with individual food stalls inside offering a different variety of food. They have local food, drinks station, western, breakfast sets and also a durian food stall selling all types of desserts made with durian. This cafe is also filled with hipster chairs, wooden tables, and around the stalls are cement bricks and some pottery art. A really interesting place for nature lovers.

We came here during the night, and decided to try some of the local delicacies here. They have lots of local stir-fry dishes here, we decided to go with the cantonese kueh tiaw. Also, we also decided to try the local drink, White Lady. White Lady basically compromises of different types of fruits, all in one bowl, topped with syrup and milk on shaved ice. This White Lady was definitely a stunner as it came in a big portion, piled with a heap of shaved ice, and on the bottom were all the different fruits such as longan, mango, papaya and even nata de coco. For this drink, they did not used syrup, but instead a puree of fresh mango. When mixed together, tasted so refreshing and delicious. It tasted really fresh and was not too sweet either.

The cantonese kueh tiaw was not too bad as well. It had a nice wok flavour to it, with the right amount of heat put to it when stir fried. The gravy was flavourful, and wasn't too starchy. It had chicken strips, vegetables, processed crab meat and fish balls in it. The kueh tiaw was seasoned and fried well adding that extra flavour to this dish that is always the most important element when making cantonese kueh tiaw.

Besides noodle dishes, they also had other interesting delicacies such as corned beef fried rice, thai fried rice and even their drinks section had a durian shake and soursop shake too. There's also many more interesting items on the menu.

Here at the durian stall, they have all sorts of durian gelato, as well as fried durian. There are durians fried in spring rolls, snow fried durian, durian crepes and even durian pancakes.

Rainforest Garden Cafe is definitely an interesting place to dine at, especially for nature lovers when you just want to relax and have something with a nice cosy and foresty ambience. If you have not been to Rainforest Garden Cafe, this is a new place you would definitely want to give a try.




Rainforest Garden Cafe opens daily from 6am till 11pm


Rainforest Garden Cafe
Lot 774, Block 226, 
5th Mile, Penrissen Road, 
93250, Kuching, Sarawak.

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

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The Makan Post brings to you weekly food adventures, so be sure to catch us every week for new episodes and dont forget to subscribe to us. Just click on the Follow button below. Also, check out our instagram page @themakanpost. Cheers.

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MUARA TEBAS SEAFOOD RESTAURANT: SEAFOOD EPISODES

Seafood in Kuching remains as a popular meal at anytime of the day, especially when seafood restaurants can be found vastly here. Though quite a big number of the population here go to their usual seafood restaurants around town area, some do travel to the out skirts of town, due to the cheaper price that comes with the freshest catch as claimed by many.

Today, we adventure to a place that is located around the out skirts of town, the famous Muara Tebas Seafood also known as Green Mountain according to Chinese translations, to taste one of the cheapest and freshest seafood in Kuching.

Muara Tebas Seafood is located just next to a jeti, which would be filled with many visitors during the evening with cameras, capturing the sunset. It has a beautiful scenery and has a huge temple just located a few metres from it.

Muara Tebas Seafood Retaurant has preserved its wooden features well, with floors made out of wooden planks with an open air concept and a balcony that reaches out quite a bit towards the jeti so customers can get the best out of the scenic view while having seafood. By around 6pm, the whole restaurant would be filled, so many would try to come before 6pm to get their seats.

All types of seafoods can be found in tanks surrounding the whole restaurant. The chef would then fish them out once receiving orders.

This restaurant is well known for their steamed prawns and giant clam soup. Which is exactly what we're going to try.

The steamed prawns looked appetizing upon first glance, with a chive, garlic and soy sauce mixture placed on top of the luscious looking prawns. The prawns had a really fresh from the sea taste to it and was springy. It was juicy as well. The great thing about ordering a light based prawn dish is that you can get to taste as much of the original flavours from the prawns. This dish, although simple, was really delicious and when eaten with that sauce on top, made it extra tasty.

The giant clam soup was served in a claypot, and had a lemongrass aroma to it when served. The clams were big as well, with succulent looking flesh. Inside the soup were lemongrass, chillies, red onions and green onions. The soup tasted really fragrant with the lemongrass and the other aromatic ingredients. It had a bit of sourness to it, with some spiciness from the chillies but was more of a peppery taste. Definitely a comfort soup that will warm your tummy up. The clams tasted very sweet, as though you're eating rubbery chewable candy. Really fresh clams. It was not tough, but had just the right texture.

The deep fried squid was cut into small bite-sized pieces and coated with a layer of crispy batter. It was tender and did not need much effort to chew. It had a flavourful crispy batter to it as well.

Another interesting seafood dish they have on the menu here is the steamed egg sea urchins. This is sea urchin and eggs steamed with green onions, deep fried shallots and seasonings in the sea urchin's shell. The eggs were fluffy and went very well with the sea urchin's flesh. The deep fried shallots sprinkled on top made each bite really flavourful.

If you're looking for fresh seafood with a really reasonable price, and don't mind to drive a little further from town, you should definitely give this restaurant a try.


 Muara tebas opens daily most of the time from 11am to 9pm.

Contact no. : 
082 241245

Muara Tebas Seafood
Muara Tebas
Kuching, Sarawak.

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

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The Makan Post brings to you weekly food adventures, so be sure to catch us every week for new episodes and dont forget to subscribe to us. Just click on the Follow button below. Also, check out our instagram page @themakanpost. Cheers.

themakanpost@gmail.com

ZE KIOSK @WATERFRONT : NIGHT CAFES

One of the many iconic places in Kuching is none other than the Waterfront, in which, its pictures can be seen in most souvenirs like postcards, keychains, badges and much more. This attractive tourist destination, located at the historical buildings at Main bazaar, has turned into a rather popular hangout spot, with rows of cafes stretched throughout the whole area.


Today The Makan Post adventures to one of these cafes which is pretty well-known, with its waiting time of up to 40 minutes. Its name is Ze Kiosk.

Their specialty here is the Zahora fried rice which was olive fried rice, served with fried chicken, prawns, egg and sambal with peanuts on the side. With its description, this dish definitely seems appetising.

It came with a towered fried rice at one side. The smell of it was so fragrant, making mouths water. The fried rice was indeed very flavourful and delicious. It had its sweetness from the olives, and there were lamb pieces inside as well. It was a bit spicy which really gave this dish a good balance in its flavours.

The fried chicken was crispy and juicy. It was also seasoned well, and cooked through.

The fried prawns were really crispy, with its shell coated in batter, making it easy to eat as well, for those who eat their fried prawns with its shell too.

The sambal was not too spicy, which was a good condiment with the fried rice as it is already spicy. It was aromatic with its blend of onions, garlic, chilli and spices.

Another dish that we tried was the nasi aruk. It consisted of seasoned fragrant rice, served with fried fish and cincalok, which is fermented baby shrimp and krill with shallots.

This dish was as good as the Zahora fried rice. The rice, though plain-looking, was so flavourful, soft and fluffy, one can just eat it on its own.

The fish was cooked perfectly, with its juices still flowing upon cutting its flesh.

The cincalok had a nice and tangy kick to it from the limes, and went well together with the simple yet delicious flavours from the fish.

Apart from their outstanding food, their drinks are equally as good, and met to our expectations. Their boomshakalaka milkshakes and ice blended drinks are a must try as they are served in a fairly tall glass, topped with beautiful crunchy delights.

Our ice blended chocolate came with streaks of chocolate syrup around the glass, thick ice blended chocolate and topped with 2 sticks of milk chocolate wafer.


If you haven't tried Ze Kiosk, we highly recommend you to visit them. Delicious food and fancy drinks along such an iconic  and beautiful river bank, with a reasonable price. What's not to like about it?







Ze Kiosk's opening hours unspecified, but seen to be opened every night from 6pm till late.


Ze Kiosk
Kuching Waterfront (Jalan Tun Abdul Rahman)
93100 Kuching, Sarawak
Malaysia

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

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The Makan Post brings to you weekly food adventures, so be sure to catch us every week for new episodes and dont forget to subscribe to us. Just click on the Follow button below. Also, check out our instagram page @themakanpost. Cheers.

themakanpost@gmail.com