Knowing Me, Knowing You - Kuching

Passing the AHA Organic Cafe as we arrived in Kuching, The Cat City as it means in Malay. I wondered if the 80's Norwegian pop group had been big in Malaysia, or whether Alan Partridge had made a runner from his job at Radio Norwich.

We were at a loss for where to eat lunch one day, it was raining hard and neither of us wanted to walk too far, as we only had only one umbrella slightly big enough to keep one side of each of us dry. I remembered AHA. Had to give it a try. It was organic, and as long as the photos of Morten and co were kept to a minimum and 80's hits were at a low volume I could handle it. 

As we were walking there, a car decided to show us who was boss and deliberately splash in a large puddle and drench our backs completely. The obscenities that flowed from my mouth would have turned the meanest criminal a slight shade of red. I know people back in the UK who do this all the time. They do it for fun, and because they hate pedestrians, because they get in the way. I wanted to throw a brick through the back window, but the thought of spending any time in a jail in Kuching did not appeal to me, plus the car would belong to a local politician or policeman. One day vengeance will be had. In this life or the next. 

We arrived at AHA and all thoughts of cheesy euro-pop groups vanished. Downstairs was a shop selling all manner of organic produce as you would expect to find in any organic shop back in London. Maybe not as much but a good selection there was. 

The seating for the cafe was upstairs, so we wandered up, trying to ignore the looks of the staff as they were gorping at our soaked backs. Lot's of nice comfy sofas and some all together strange tables met us as we took the last steps onto the top floor. We both jumped into the same sofa and it enveloped us. I love places like this, that care as much about how comfy you are as well as how good the food is. 

The menu was kinda sparse. Only a few dishes on it, and all consisted of noodles, plus a pasta dish. We forgot to ask about Today's Special, which was a shame as it turned out to be Tuna Head Soup. Fish Head's would have to wait until Little India in Singapore. 

I ordered a Dry Noodle Curry, and Lina opted for a Apple Cider Noodle Soup. Interesting. The headlines downstairs were that they did not use oil to cook with. Dry frying they called it. I guessed everything was either steamed or boiled. 

As we relaxed soaking up the place, drinking my Green Tea, we really could have been anywhere. Chiswick did really come to mind, as it has been on our minds of late. Maybe we were meant to move back there, but we were opting for North London instead. 

Our food arrived and a delight to the senses it was. So colourful and visual. My noodles were topped off with shredded carrot and red cabbage, and a few ground nuts for extra texture. Not so sure about the two green leafs sticking out of the side of the dish, but they added colour. Lina's was just as colourful with red cabbage, some sweet corn, green leafs and those pounded nuts again. 

My dry noodle curry was exactly that, and it was great. The spices were nicely blended to give you a taste of the Sub-Continent but not to over whelm you. Lina's soup was good but odd. Not an everyday occurrence to encounter cider as a soup base. It worked though. Although it could have used more salt. The inclusion of a small yolky egg was a welcome delight and something we haven't seen since Japan. It had been missed. 

All in all AHA was a great place for a light lunch, as Malay food had been weighing us down a bit of late. It had stopped raining, so we decided to vacate the premises and head off to a museum for some culture.

By this time I had forgotten to ask them if Alan was in today. I would have hoped the answer was no. 

Ahhaaaaaa .... 

Life Cafe - Kuching

Our second visit to the Life Cafe was just as good as the first. It is situated opposite the Black Bean Coffee shop, which was fast becoming our second home in Kuching. The same table and two chairs outside were always kept clear for us. I'd like to believe this, as coincidences are too much sometimes. They only sell 100% pure Sarawak coffee from estates in the hinterland. They have a wide selection of teas from Sarawak also. But it's the homemade peanut cookies that keep bringing us back, as we get one with each coffee. Bribery always works with me. 

Life Cafe has a short menu, mainly consisting of noodle dishes. We were tempted by them, even the Eight Treasure Crocodile Soup was screaming out to me to be eaten, but it the sight of pork on the menu that drove me wild. We had been in Malaysia for over a month by now, and we had seen no pork on any menu. We had even seen chicken ham and sausages, but alas no pork. So the thought of eating some fatty pork was too much to say no. 

Now should I have Hakka Pork Leg or Pork Rib Stew, which I could have with either rice or noodles. Getting sick of rice so noodles it was going to be. I have actually had both as we ventured back there the following night as well. Well you can never have to much of a good thing. 

The Hakka Pork Stew had glorious chunks of fatty pork. Oh my god they were good. The stew was made up of a typical Chinese stock, which included 5 spice powder and star anise. The following night the Rib's were just as good, but the sauce was lighter and not so strong, but still as good. The noodles were thin and worked well with the stews. The Hakka Pork would have been a Smash with mash also. Get it. 

Lina had a Lamb Stew which for the exception of pearl barley and potatoes, any Irish Gran would have been proud of. So lamby. So good. 

This was a real surprise coming from a Chinese cafe in a small town in Malaysia. Kuching was handing out surprises on every corner and we were loving it. 

On our third visit to the cafe. Lina decided to have the Eight Treasure Crocodile Soup, and some steamed pork and leek dumplings. The Eight Treasures we found out were Chinese herbs, some tasted better than others. One tasted a bit like cardboard. The crocodile itself didn't really taste of much, but was moist and well cooked. The star of the show was the soup itself. It was really different. The herbs gave an indescribable taste to it, but overall it was pretty good. 

The dumplings were filled with pork and eek and came with a soy sauce and minced garlic dipping sauce. Reminded me a lot of the momo's I used to eat in Tibetan restaurants in Khatmandu. Gorgeous. 

For the second time that day, I had chicken curry with noodles. This was the better one of the day. This had a thick gravy at the bottom of the bowl, enough to coat the noodles, but not drown them. I am getting fed up with thin watery gravies, so this was a welcome change to get a nice thick one. Yummy. 

Fish, fish glorious fish

Over looking the South China Sea in Kota Kinabalu is the Philippine Market. A monstrous, colourful collection of stalls and people grilling a wider selection of fresh fish. Luckily the wet or fish market is located right next door. Handy. It's a fantastic and atmospheric place. May not be everyone's taste but for a great cheap meal, it's a must.

Walking through the open area, being blinded by the smoke, dodging the many Philippino women enticing you to eat at their tables, trying not to trip over as you keep looking at peoples plates to see what they are eating. The fish is really cheap ranging from about 8 to 25 Ringitt, depending on if you want a tiddler or a whale. Between them all, there really is no difference. fish the same, grilled the same, sides the same, prices the same. Only difference are the women trying to get you to sit at their tables and eat.

We sat with one that was pretty much full of locals. Good sign of freshness. We ordered a nice sized squid, and a huge monster of a fish. Been finding recently, the bigger the fish the bigger the bones, which makes it easier to find them, so as not to choke on them. Problems in the past. 

I made up a dipping sauce, of chilli, sugar and lime juice. Spicy, sweet n sour. The fish came and was nice and crispy on the outside and firm and moist on the inside. It was fantastic feeling to pull the chunks of fish with my hands and dunk it in the sauce and eat it. So so so so good. So very good indeed. 

It's really strange that I come from an island, but do not really eat that much fish. More of a meat eater. But with fish like this I am being easily converted. 

Happy times.