Dining out at Siniawan Night Market

21 December 2019

I was thinking where would be a good place to feed a gang of 10 food-loving Singaporeans visiting Kuching for the first time. I came across this open-air night market located along a quaint old street lined with old wooden townhouses and red Chinese lanterns above. 

A perfect place to spend the evening eating, be merry and recollect the good old days of on-street dining that used to be common in Singapore but sadly, not anymore.

Siniawan Night Market is located about 21 km away from Kuching city. There is no public transport from the city to and from Siniawan.

I had chartered a van with driver for my party of 10, so getting to the night market was easy. It was only a 30 minutes drive away from our accommodation (Imperial Suites Kuching) which is located near the airport.

Note: The night market operates on Friday, Saturday and Sunday only.

Siniawan is an old town that has seen better days. Located next to the Sarawak River, it used to be a prosperous trade settlement. As land transportation networks improved, people relied less on the river and the town declined.

About 10 years ago, in 2009, the Siniawan Heritage Conservation Committee was formed. In addition to restoring some old wooden buildings that dates back to the 1910s, the committee decided to open a night market on weekend evenings to serve hawker food and drinks. Siniawan Night Market was born.  

The wooden shop houses that visitors see today date back to the 1910s. My daughter had a fun time watching the geckos hunting under the lights of the lantern on the walls of the old shop houses while we feast.

The best time to visit was in the evening at about 6 PM, when the stores and restaurants open and hawkers start selling their food. 
There are ample table and chairs placed on the street. We managed to settle down on two large round tables, just outside the Bikalan, a pub-cum-bistro located in the heart of the main street.

The Bikalan, a pub-cum-bistro located in the heart of the main street. The staff did some Christmas carols while we ate.

Beers were ordered from the Bikalan and members of our travelling party fanned out to buy various goodies from the stalls lining the street. 

Here are some of the foods we tried and recommend:

Roast Pork and Char Siu

One of the most popular stall at Siniawan is the Cantonese roast pork belly and Chinese BBQ Pork (char siu). We arrived at about 7 PM and the char siu was already sold out!

The vendor told us that they started selling at 5.45pm. We managed to order the last two pieces of Cantonese roast pork belly.

Cantonese Roast Pork Belly grilling over a charcoal stove.

Satay

Next to the roast pork/char siu stall is the satay stall. This is another “must-try” food at Siniawan. We bought 50 sticks of pork satay.

Sticks of pork satay grilling on a charcoal stove.

The satay was excellent; with chunky pieces of marinated pork instead of thin minuscule pieces we get back home.

Chicken in Bamboo or "Ayam Pansuh"

This is a traditional dish normally served during homestays at the Dayak villages. It is prepared by cooking chicken meat in a bamboo stem, filled with water, seasonings and covered with leaves from the cassava plant.

The native Bidayuh way of cooking is over a naked fire. Once the bamboo stem is charred, it is rotated 90 degrees and continued to heat over the fire till the other part is charred again. By then, the chicken is cooked.

Chicken cooked in bamboo. Each stem costs 30 MYR.

Pansuh Chicken being emptied into a large bowl.

I bought one to try. The pansuh chicken we had were all chicken leg pieces, cooked with julienne ginger and wild herbs. 

This big bowl of pansuh chicken was from one bamboo. It was just enough for our party of 10 to sample.

The seller was a Chinese lady who is extremely friendly and customer oriented. She brought the huge bowl of chicken soup to our table and provided us with 10 sets of bowls and utensils.

Pitcher plant rice

The stall that sells the Ayam Pansuh also sells the glutinous rice in pitcher plant, an indigenous delicacy of Sarawak.

Pitcher plant rice is one of the ‘trademark’ foods sold at Siniawan Night Market, along with other traditional Chinese, Malay and Dayak food. 

The pitcher plants are wild and gathered by natives tribesmen from the jungle. They are then sold to the restaurant.

The rice is cooked with peanuts and pieces of pork. Once cooked, the pitcher plant could be peeled off. The pitcher plant serves as a fancy and interesting container and does not add to the taste of the food.

The rice tasted like traditional rice dumplings with strong hint of Sarawak pepper.

Char Kway Teow

 

The Fried noodles or Char Kway Teow was excellent.

Fried carrot cake 

Fried carrot cake was not bad too.

Mini burgers

These mini burgers were surprising tasty, with thick and juicy meat.

Deep-Fried Quails

Someone in our group bought 4 deep fried quails. Each quail cost 4 MYR and he got 4 for 15 MYR, a slight discount. The quails were nicely seasoned, crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked with tender flesh inside.

Grilled Seafood - sambal sting ray and squid

Grilled sambal sting ray and squid.

The grilled sambal sting ray was juicy and fresh but the grilled squid from same stall was over cooked.

Oyster omelette

Crispy Oyster Omelette in Kuching

Instead of the starchy oyster omelette in Singapore and West Malaysia, the oyster omelette served up in Kuching is the thin crispy kind. Quite different but delicious. I still prefer the starchy version back home.

Overall, almost all the food we had at Siniawan were excellent. The only food we did not like was the Rojak. It was different from the Rojak served in Singapore or West Malaysia. The local Rojak has a sauce that is a little too sweet and lacks the strong, pungent taste of prawn paste.

Adding to the food experience was the ambience of the old town. Food somehow always tasted better outdoors. It was fun eating and drinking at Siniawan Night Market with good company.