the.Dyak

We reached Kuching at about 2pm and piled into a coffee shop for a super-quick lunch. The whole journey down had been a great hurry, because Anwar Ibrahim (leader of Pakatan Rakyat, the Opposition Coalition) was in town and giving a speech at about 3pm, which some of us wanted to attend.

After what felt like the best lunch of my life - I was famished and secretly beginning to feel quite exhausted from all that traipsing around the jungle - Daveency dropped us off at the budget hostel and everyone had a speed-shower. We just made it. 

Anwar was the fifth and last person to speak

Daveency later suggested having an early dinner at the.Dyak. The rest of the group was amenable to the idea, so off we went to sample 'Dayak cuisine prepared with culinary techinique and served on Dayak kitchenware'. 

If you're Sarawakian, you have definitely been here, and if you aren't, you must try it the next time you're in Kuching! The.Dyak just opened in October 2011, but everyone seems to know and rave about it. I gather that the locals particularly like to bring visiting friends here for a taste of genuine Dayak food.

Jani Tunu: three-layered fatty pork char-grilled and served with homemade sambal and cucumber. This was so popular at the table that we (as in the other guys, not me personally) ordered a second plate of it.

petai 

a fish dish... sorry for the lack of descriptiveness

We actually had lots and lots of different dishes, and each was immensely tasty, but unfortunately it seems that Chris and I were so preoccupied with the wonderful company and food that we didn't take many pictures! Off the top of my mind, though, we also had tempoyak (fermented durian, great stuff - you won't believe it till you've tried it), paku kubok gulai kenchala (jungle ferns stir-fried with fragrant wild ginger flowers and chillies), red rice... 

We caught a glimpse of Vernon Kedit, the restaurant owner on his way out.  He's an interesting guy with a very varied career trajectory: he famously used to be the manager of Malaysian artistes such as Erra Fazira and Ning Baizura, and is now into politics, in addition to being a successful restorateur. If you're interested, there's more here, here and here.

He greeted the table jovially, thanked the Kuchingites for bringing us there and apologised for having to rush off to catch a flight to Miri. Then he shook hands and hurried off, but not before calling out to a waiter: "Free tuak ice-cream for this table!"

Vanilla ice-cream laced with tuak (rice wine) and fermented rice

The spiked ice cream is veryyy potent stuff - I loved it! Apparently all first-time guests receive complimentary tuak mansau (premium rice wine) or/and ice-cream as well. 

I tend to take tripadvisor reviews and ratings with a hearty pinch of salt, but I must say - and I'm sure many wouldn't hesitate to agree with me - that the.Dyak fully deserves its #1 spot out of the 114 listed restaurants in Kuching!