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| Kantin at the Granary | 23, Wayang St, 93000 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia ☏ +6017 520 0230 ⏰ 10am - 10pm (Mon off) |
I've long wanted to visit Kantin restaurant in Kuching, one of the pioneers which brought world attention to Sarawakian cuisine.
I had earlier visited the Kantin restaurant in Jewel at Singapore Changi Airport.
Finally, found a slot time during this Kuching trip 😁
Inside Kantin in Kuching, it is a hip place to chill.
Airy, spacious, high ceiling, wood, greens, bright, reminds me of tropics, rainforest, it just sucks me in.
Maybe it's the spirit of its past, as this was an opium, grain and belian (ironwood) warehouse in its previous life.
It's so cool, and I don't just mean the temperature but the whole ambience and atmospherics.
Founded in 2021, Kantin's mission is to showcase Sarawakian ingredients in dishes that reflect the individual cultures and harmonious cultural diversity of Sarawak. So, there is a mix of traditional as well as new creations in Kantin's menu.
Okay let's go (and eat 🤭).
The first that caught my imagination or fancy was a fusion of Dayak and Chinese known as Pansuh Kueh Teow.
It is a Bidayuh Dayak classic of chicken chunks with tapioca leaves, bunga kantan (torch ginger flower), spices and herbs in a bamboo stem cooked over wood flames.
That's how Bidayuh Dayaks would traditionally enjoy it, and at Kantin, they simply added in blanched broad rice noodles (kueh teow) and viola!
A new dish!
Pansuh Kueh Teow!
Soft tender succulent chicken with aromatic herbs, spice and vegetables and sweetish broad rice noodles.
A good tasty one dish meal. I hope in the future they consider also a version of ayam pansuh with thick rice vermicelli (bee hoon).
Kacangma Alfredo Pasta.
Creamy cheese and butter (Alfredo) sauce with kacangma 益母草 (motherwort) herb and shredded chicken.
Alfredo sauce was created by Alfredo Di Lelio around 1907 for his wife recovering from giving birth to their first child (son named Armando).
Kantin localised the Italian postnatal classic by adding kacangma or motherwort herb which Hakka Chinese in Sarawak traditionally serve to convalescing mothers during confinement month. Kacangma gets rid of "wind" 祛风 and warms the body.
The al dente pasta was smothered with a umami savoury sauce overlaid with the slightly tannic grassy herby taste of motherwort.
Combined power of Italian and Sarawakian postnatal food - tastes delicious and double the goodness for you 😁
Acar with keropok.
Sarawak acar is julienned cucumber and carrot preserved in vinegar, spices, dried prawn, sugar, etc.
The sweet, sour, spicy, hot acar is enjoyed with keropok or fried fish crackers.
In Sarawak, this acar with keropok is eaten with other Chinese New Year sweet goodies such as love letters, pineapple tarts, etc.
Kantin Sate Ayam.
The tender succulent chicken was marinated with spices and gula apong then grilled to a slight toasty char.
Gula apong is a quintessentially Sarawak natural organic sugar made by cooking sap collect from the nipah palm flower stem. It has a unique, addictive savoury sweet smokey taste profile and yet has low GI (glycaemic index) compared to refined cane sugar.
Go ahead, enjoy it 😁
Come to Sarawak, must taste this tricolor tea. It has three layers consisting of gula apong, evaporated milk and black tea. Sweet on sweet with slight tannic and fragrance of black tea.
A whole flight of tuak (traditional rice wine) to enjoy 😁
So happy, you can be so happy too 😀
So many flavours to try at Kantin 😀
Come to Kuching must get a taste of the soul of Sarawak at Kantin at the Granary, and if in Singapore check it out at Kantin @ Jewel.
Restaurant name: Kantin at the Granary Kuching
Address: 23, Wayang St, 93000 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Tel: +6017 520 0230
Hours: 10am - 10pm (Mon off)
Written by Tony Boey on 6 Apr 2025
i’ve always wanted to do a tour tracing this food all the way back to land based migration from China via taiwan and philippines 30-50k years ago. i’ve heard of food cooked in bamboo in kunming
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