Kuching is the capital of the Sarawak Province, in the north west of Borneo and the largest of the 13 Malaysian States. After roaming around a fair amount of Sabah, I decided to stay put and enjoy this delightful colonial riverside city.
I spent much of my time being mesmerised by the beautiful Sarawak flag fluttering proudly atop the largest flagpole in “South East Asia” at 99 metres tall. But I also took in some history, old streets, Sarawak Laksa and some bars.
I focussed my bar time in two parts of Kuching – Carpenter Street, which is the historic Chinatown part of Kuching and the equally if not more splendid food and bar area in and around Jalan Padungan.
Drunk Monkey Old Street Bar has indoor and outdoor seating and features Sarawak’s very own beer – 1602 Life Beer – on tap. It is also the most economical compared to the ubiquitous Carlsberg, Heineken and Tiger – when it is pouring.
1602 has been pounding the pavements of Kuching and a number of establishments have their neon signs up as well as gleaming brass kegs mainly serving the Pale Ale, which is a lovely beer. The Extra Dark I could only find in 660ml plastic bottles which some supermarkets stock. It is also a fine beer. Why 1602? Well according to their website, 1602 was the year that “lager yeast” came into being and the first time a map containing Sarawak and “Borneo was revealed to the world”.
By my reckoning there are only three breweries outside the Carlsberg/Heineken duopoly – Napex (whom I haven’t seen on this trip, but according to Google they are still open), Paperkite (tonight’s mission and 1602, which has also infiltrated Kota Kinabalu. The dominance of Carlsberg/Heineken is quite remarkable. Carpenter Street has a couple of other places which could be quite nice when busy (Royal Chamber and Rainforest), but it is quiet in Kuching.
I stumbled across Jalan Padungan quite by accident when I found somewhere to do my laundry. After bunging a load on, I went for a wander and discovered the most awesome food street. Restaurants were housed in 1920s terrace and also plenty of covered outdoor seating in laneways between the shops. My favourite bar of Kuching was here as well. I’m pretty sure Borneo Rednecks means to be named something different given the American Indian paraphernalia on the walls. Maybe they read the same memo the Washington Commanders NFL team read or something got lost in translation. No matter – a great name for a bar and I would have absolutely bought the t-shirt had they had one.
On and around Jalan Padungan, you’ll find plenty of bars most of which are pouring some or all of the ubiquitous Tiger, Carlsberg, Heineken, Guinness, Kilkenny and Connor’s Stout. Bistro 21, V5 Bistro, The Nobleman, Monkee Bar and Bistro and Shore Bistro all do the job. Special mention goes to Barhaus Sport’s Cafe and Kitchen which surprised with two eclectic uniques – Camel Lager from Vietnam and Trinken Lager from Zhuhai. All for RM14 ($5).
Borneo Rednecks: 82 Jalan Padungan, 93100 Kuching Sarawak
back of the ferry 