While the Rainforest World Music Festival may not be everyone’s cup of tea, there’s one event that can be enjoyed by almost anyone and that is our beloved Kuching Food Festival.
Food is deeply ingrained in our city’s culture, and we have a whole festival to celebrate it.
The food fair had to take a hiatus just like any other large-scale event due to the COVID pandemic, but it is finally back and it’s almost as big as we remember it.
Generally held in August, this year’s food festival is slated to run between July 29 and August 21, so if you haven’t yet taken a trip, you should make the time to check it out.
It is an evening event, with stalls operating from around 6 p.m. to almost midnight. So, you should have a light lunch and leave your stomach open for a hefty dinner and supper.
To those unfamiliar with where it is held, the festival is located at the car park area around Dewan Masyarakat, which is just beside the SJK (C) Chung Hua No. 3.
The rows and rows of food stalls
This year, we have been blessed with some 330 stalls selling different types of cuisine like Sarawakian, Western, Thai, Japanese, Korean, and even Lebanese.
But almost every year, we’ve been able to enjoy special oddities that make for a great Instagram post and a grand tale to tell.
So, what kind of exotic delights have our food operators come up with this year? Not only do we have crocodile meat, but there is also fried chicken ice cream.
Crocodile meat
While crocodile meat has had its moments in the past during previous Kuching Food Festivals, the white meat seems to have become a staple as it is again on the menu this year.
If you have a hankering for the walking dinosaur, try a hearty bowl of crocodile herbs soup or perhaps even barbequed crocodile meat.
You can also get crocodile oil and stir-fried crocodile meat on sale. Those who have had crocodile before say that it is light, flaky, and mild in flavour.
Are you game enough to try? Or perhaps you’d rather take a visit to Jong’s Crocodile Farm instead?
Fried chicken ice cream
Do you love fried chicken? How about ice cream? If you said yes to both of those, maybe you can try out this year’s newest Instagram-worthy food: fried chicken ice cream.
No, it is not a marriage between fried chicken and ice cream, but rather an ice cream that looks like a fried chicken drumstick.
It is vanilla and yogurt flavoured ice cream encased in a crispy cornflake-like exterior which gives it that fried chicken skin look.
It’s also served with either strawberry or chocolate syrup dip, so you can slather your fried chicken ice cream in delicious sauce.
Personally, we’ve had the chicken drumstick ice cream and have to say it is pretty yummy, though slightly pricey at RM12 for a single piece.
A few tips from the locals
Unfortunately, high prices are something you have to deal with at the Kuching Food Festival, as every dish sold seems to be at RM10 or above.
Still, the Kuching Food Festival is definitely an event we recommend, especially if you are from out of town and are planning to visit our city.
Our tip though? Weekday evenings might be the best time to go, as people might be too tired from work to make a trip down.
However, if you’re thinking about driving there, parking is extremely limited with parking lots being filled even as early as 5:30 p.m. We recommend you think twice and book a Grab instead.
The experience of walking down the rows and rows of stalls and sampling tons of delicious food is not to be missed.
So, if you have the chance, you should come and visit our city in August. And if you see us at the festival, do say hi!
