THE ROOSTER: CHICKEN RICE

Nowadays, especially in Kuching, you can see many of your favourite local foods from your favourite street shops selling them, those you’ve been patronizing since young, now taken up to a whole new level, slowly transforming into various food chains. We’ve seen one going really well so far which was Mom’s Laksa. Read more about Mom’s Laksa here.

We’ve also seen the famous Singapore Chicken Rice opening for quite a long time till today, also many other chicken rice food chains such as the Chicken Rice Shop. Today, we will be adventuring to one new chicken rice food chain in the making which is The Rooster.

The Rooster opened quite recently, a few months back last year, where they had a promotion set that came with free drinks. This shop specialises in other foods as well such as wan tan hor, fried noodles, lamb stews, sandwiches and stir-fried veges besides the chicken rice alone.  

The steamed chicken rice came in a neatly arranged garnishing, served with a bowl of hot soup. The chillies and ginger paste were self-service, and you can take as much as you like. The chilli, which is the most important condiment to chicken rice, was done perfectly, with a  really good kick of spiciness to it. The garlic and ginger in it was also balanced perfectly. The chicken was tender and the sauce that went on top of it was really fragrant, almost having a sesame oil like taste overall. The rice was soft and fluffy, and it was full of flavour.

The other popular dishes were wan tan hor and herbal claypot chicken. The wan tan hor was slightly too runny and quite bland. However, its portion was really huge. Just a pity it didn’t taste quite right. The claypot herbal chicken was not too bad, but it had more of a stewed mushroom and dark soy sauce taste to it rather than a herbal one.

I would The Rooster did its main item which is chicken rice really well, but as for the other dishes, it wasn’t quite there yet in terms of its taste. We recommend you give their chicken rice a try.





The Rooster opens daily from 10.30am to 9pm
The Rooster271, 
Jalan Datuk Wee Kheng Chiang, 
93450 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

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VEE VILAS: SOUTH INDIAN CUISINE

If you remember, The Makan Post did a few episodes on North Indian Cuisine, and there was also an episode on a restaurant that offered North and South Indian cuisines. Today, we are about to adventure to a restaurant which is fairly new in Kuching, offering South Indian Cuisine. Located not so far away from Kuching town, it’s Vee Vilas Restaurant.

This was quite an interesting restaurant, as it is located at a single storey house with a large compound near the main road and is actually where the old Indonesian Embassy was located at many years ago. As we opened the wooden doors at their humble entrance, their waitors warmly welcomed us into their restaurant.

Vee, the owner of the restaurant was friendly and enjoyed telling us about her restaurant. She explained that the word Vilas actually means ‘house of food’ in Indian, to which led her to name this restaurant as Vee Vilas. There are many ingredients and food products imported from India at this restaurant such as the candies, also known as Barfi, cow’s milk in which gets sold out rather quickly everyday, and spices. Thus, customers can get to enjoy the authenticity of their dishes without having to hop on a plane.

They have a wide variety of Barfi here, each for RM3. We went with the 2 most popular ones, which is the Jalebi and Gulab Jamun.

The Jalebi was my favourite one as it was crispy and so fragrant with the aroma of the ghee used. It’s warm and melts in your mouth upon eating. It had a bit of spice to it which made it taste interesting. The Gulab Jamun had a more soft texture to it and crumbles upon eating it. It also had a nice sweet spice to it.

Lassi is always a must have in every Indian restaurant, so we ordered a usual favourite which is the mango lassi, and a very interesting lassi offered in their menu which is the bittergourd lassi. We also got just the plain lassi, just to try its original taste. Lassi here is also homemade, so their lassi here is really healthy. Their lassi had a nice yoghurt texture, with a fair amount of tartness to it. It wasn’t that sweet either but tasted really fresh. The mango lassi was smooth and rich from the mangoes and this is actually one of the thickest lassi I have ever tried. This is a must try if you’re into lassi. Next is the most interesting one, the bittergourd lassi. As I took a first glance before sipping it, I expected it to have a slight bitterness to it and maybe a bit sweet once mixed in with the lassi. When I drank it, to my surprise, it did not have any trace of bitterness at all. It just felt like a pure healthy vege drink which was creamy and tart from the yoghurt. You couldn’t taste the bittergourd at all in this drink. They did a really good job in making healthy drinks taste this good. Definitely a must try. You can also order their lassi drinks here without sugar.

They offered many types of masalas here in their menu, both dry and with gravy with chicken, mutton, prawn and even crab. We decided to try their prawn masala which was a dry one with a slight gravy coating the prawns. The prawns were fresh and the gravy that was coating it was full of flavour from the spices used and the dried chillies gave a nice saltiness and spiciness to it.

They also have thosai, paratha and banana leaf rice which was their specialty.

There’s the banana leaf original and banana leaf briyani. Their briyani one was served with briyani rice and their original one was served with plain basmathi rice. Their briyani rice changes everyday and today we got the fruit one. We ordered one banana leaf basmathi and one banana leaf briyani. The sides in each are the same. We were served with sides such as cabbage, cucumber, long beans kangkung, and also with saucers of dahl, mutton curry, chicken curry and a sour and spicy soup. Not forgetting the papadam, a small slice of dessert, and a saucer of sweet dessert gravy made from cow’s milk.

All of these are refillable, including the rice. Each of them tasted delicious and my favourite was the mutton curry. It was spicy and savoury, rich with the flavours from the mutton. We were also wondering why their dishes were not overly spicy as we knew that South Indian cuisines are known for their high spiciness level compared to North Indian cuisines and Vee said that here at their restaurant, they actually toned the spiciness level down to cater to Kuchingites so that everyone can enjoy their food. She also explained when eating banana leaf rice, it all lies down to one’s skill in using his or her hands to mix everything well with the rice so that the flavours of the spices used comes out nicely and gets incoorperated well together before putting it into the mouth.

They also sell packed Murukku, a type of Indian snack, as well as some other snacks at the counter.

If you’re interested in tasting authentic Indian cuisine, Vee Vilas is a definite must try. Their prices are really reasonable as well, and food here is indeed wonderful.

Vee Vilas opens daily from 8am to 10pm.

Vee Vilas

No 111,

Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg,

93000 Kuching, Malaysia

Phone: 014-697 7293

You can also visit them at their facebook page: www.facebook.com/VeeVilasKuching

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

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.

themakanpost@gmail.com