Little Fairy Cafe (Bidayuh Cuisine) — Restaurant in Borneo

This is my latest favourite cafe (2023) in Kuching. Sometimes, one loses one's appitite in the hot, humid, tropical weather. Little Fairy Cafe has the right condiments in their dishes to whet one's appetite. If you like the King of Fruits (the notorious durian), you must have the 'durian tempoyak'. This fermented durian is so savory that it is a meal when taken with hot, steamy rice. The 'assam ikan' tempts even the most non-adventurous eater with its sourish taste, its tinge of sugar, its savory ikan pusut (anchovies), fish of the day and other hidden delicacies. This too can be a meal with rice. The chef is the young-looking mother of the youthful proprietor. The latter would be happy to chat with you and relate to you his mix heritage which is prominently displayed on the wall. The ambiance is a nostalgic throwback to the 60s. On the walls are metal trays and plates, reminiscent of days gone by when guests would be served with these cutleries. Chinese ladies lined up on the wall advertising the bygone-facial powder and cosmetics of the old days. This is a cafe-of-today with a forward thinking young owner using the charm of ancient ambiance to attract and offer the diner a taste of both...

I was a bit underwhelmed by the experience. I ordered fern because I wanted to try the local vegetables. The taste was bland so I asked for some sambal, got a tiny thin sambal belacan and was charged for it - not much but a weird move. Also not sure why the rice was brought out 10 minutes before the dish arrived. The place looks nice, even though rather Vietnamese, but the food was my least favorite and accidentally most expensive in Kuching unfortunately.

Update in response to the reply: Thank you for taking the time to address my review, I appreciate it. Its been three months so it's a bit hard for me to remember in detail, but I love belancan so would have gone for it if available, maybe it got lost in the order process or I wasn't aware of it? I'd have been perfectly happy, happier actually :) if I didn't have to order additionally. As for the price, I didn't find it expensive as such it was a mere comparison to the other food I had while in Kuching that I found very satisfying although possibly heavy on the laksa and economy rice options. So if Im back in Kuching I'd be happy to give this place another try and make sure I order the...

Food is great, ordered Terung Asam bee hoon soup, crispy pork, kolo mee goreng and fried noodles with fern. Taste was not overpower, portion is worth the price charged.

However! service desperately needs to improve. Floor staff (fair skin waitress) left out my order and didn't bother to apologise, upon delivering 45min late order she simply put the plate down in a rude way and left. The restaurant was not even half full at that time.

Wasn't only my table that got missed order, other table had wrong food delivered and that waitress also had angry face and not apologising.

It's not rocket science to cross out order delivered so no order will be left out. If staff can't handle that much order then perhaps table number could be reduced.

The guys waitre and also darker skin tone waitress had good service attitude.

Lastly itt's quite stuffy and hot especially on a hot day, and that actually degrades the experience. Ventilation in the restaurant wasn't enough even having table under ceiling fan. The deco simply blocks away wind...