I've been to Kuching a few times but feel slightly embarrassed when people ask me if I had tried the famous Lau Ya Kheng Foodcourt kway chap (also spelt kueh chap) 😳
Fate has it that sometimes the timing was not right, and other times the famous kway chap stall was not open.
But, patience always pays off.
I finally got to try Lau Ya Kheng Foodcourt kway chap today.
Established in the 1930s, Lau Ya Kheng Foodcourt Kway Chap is now in the fourth generation.
It's called Lau Ya Kheng Foodcourt because the kway chap stall is right at the 玄天上帝廟 Hiang Thian Siang Ti (Deity of the North) Temple at Carpenter Street.
Hiang Thian Siang Ti was established by Teochew immigrants in the mid-1800s at the riverfront Soon Hong Street 順風路 (now known as Jalan Main Bazaar) and moved here at Carpenter Street in 1863.
The Lau Ya Kheng Foodcourt is in the space between the temple and the opera (theatre) stage.
The 陽春臺棵什 kway chap stall is inside 陽春臺茶室 coffee shop at Lau Ya Kheng Foodcourt. The foodcourt has other food stalls serving Sarawak staples like kolo mee, laksa, satay, etc.
To order, we just point at the cooked dishes laid out in trays.
English menu makes things easy but also tells us that this is a tourist hotspot 🤭
We had a food riot.
The kway (in soup) was soft and velvety smooth, I struggled to pick the relatively thick, spongy rice sheets up with chopsticks.
The soup infused and coated the sweet kway with complementary savoury sweet flavours.
The assorted braised pork head, tongue, belly, trotter, skin, offal, egg, tofu (beancurd), stewed salted vegetable platter.
Everything was nicely done. Tender, chewy and just mildly infused with soy sauce and Chinese spice flavours.
Parts of pig head and skin stir fried with deep fried garlic and chili pepper.
Love the pungent aroma of fried garlic and garlicky taste of the tender chewy fried pork skin and fat.
Braised catfish. Soft, fatty, flesh well infused with savoury braising stock flavours. Hardly, if any earthiness.
Savoury salty fried fish roe. So good with the kway.
Teochew ngo hiang or fried meat rolls in tofu skin.
Seafood soup with shelled prawns and fish slices.
陽春臺棵什 also has braised duck but we have to save that for next time - I hope soon 😋
I find the wide variety of side dishes at Lau Ya Kheng kway chap, besides the essential braised pork parts very attractive.
Call in here when you are in Kuching.
Stall name: Lau Ya Kheng Foodcourt Kway Chap 陽春臺棵什
Address: 19 Carpenter St, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Tel: +6012 904 6989
Hours: 10am - 8:30pm (Mon off)
Written by Tony Boey on 15 Oct 2026
One of my favourite makan places in Kuching!
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