Ohana means Family

Looking for a place to whet your palate? Want to savour the varieties of dishes that Kuching has to offer? How about picky friends and family members? If you say yes to any one or more or all three of these questions, then drop by Ohana, a kopitiam that serves a whole wide variety of food and dishes to serve up to your appetite. 

Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. (lemme know in the comments if you get the reference) It's a family owned kopitiam or a coffee shop located nearby Giant Hypermarket Tabuan Jaya (map here). We had the great pleasure of meeting and chit-chatting with Christine, the owner, stealing her time every now and then as she dashes about other patrons besides us. She opened the business in December 2013, and named it Ohana for the representation of a family owned business. It also means that the food are well prepared, much like a mother cooking for her family (but please don't go calling Christine 'mother'. She might just come and find me with her wooden ladle and whack me in the head >.<) Jokes aside, here's what we had that day!

1. The Rice

Nasi Kari Banjir

Lalapan Ayam

Some of Ohana's daily specials are Nasi Kari Banjir - rice with steamed chicken and vege, flooded with curry (a little spicy), Nasi Ayam and my favourite, Lalapan. You can choose to have it either with chicken or fish, I'd personally go for fish. It is served with a lot of blanced veges (long beans, cabbage, pucuk ubi or casava,cucumber, tofu and tempeh) and sambal that makes up to 8 items on the place. Choose to have it with rice or on it's own - do specify it to the waiter/waitreses as by default it is served with rice.  

Will you just look at that sambal!
Don't it look delicious?

Why do I like the Lalapan? For the sambal, of course. You may disagree with me on this, but the fact remains - Ohana made their sambals to order - which means you get fresh sambal every time, and you get to specify how many chillies you want in it (dang it, I can actually taste it in my mouth.. it is ssooooooo goooooodddd!!). I'd recommend 3 chillies, 5 or more if you dare, and if you just can't stand the spicyness but wants to try it, half-a-chilly would do nicely. 

*please note that it takes me a helluva will power to just drop this post up to here in my drafts folder and drive to Ohana for lunch.*

2. The Mee/Noodles 

Mee Jawa Special

I have not had the pleasure of trying the other noodles offered on the menu such as Mee Kolok (a uniquely Sarawakian dish) but my second favourite dish in Ohana is the Mee Jawa Special. It is mee kuning or yellow noodle, blanched and served with thick, mildly spicy curry, slickes of fried tofu, meat slices and saté. What's so special about it? The saté, of course. It is juicy and tender and cooked in a very non-conventional way. How? Well, you'll have to visit Ohana and try it yourself. Haaaammaigaaaaddd I am drooling!! 

3 special saté

The flavours and condiments

3. The Westerns

No I don't mean people from the west.. I'm talking about food! Western food! Yeap - I'm talking 'bout chicken chop, lamb chop, chicken wings and pasta! This generally appeals to the younger adults and teens (ehem ehem, myself included) and my oh my are they delicious. We tried the Chicken Chop with fries and black pepper sauce - it was so tender and juicy and the sauce was just thick enough. 

Chicken Chop with fries and black pepper sauce

4. The side dishes 

Whenever I go out with friends or family, one of questions that we would ask each other is "Where to eat?". If you have this problem too, lemme know in the comments how or what is your most common answer. Like, one friend would want to eat something, another would suggest another thing, the other one is still full and just wants something light and another one would always be hungry (this is me, by the way >.<). 

Ohana has a variety of side dishes to try, from saté to half boiled eggs, tempe and sambal, to roti canai (the whole roti kosong, roti bawang, roti susu, roti telur and the lot) and toasts. Thick toasts, always served with half boiled eggs. 

Thick toast

The verdict?

Ohana is the place to go to if you have so many different palates to satisfy. It is open Mondays through Saturdays, closed on Sundays, 9 am to 6 pm. Remember, Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. Thanks again Christine for having us!

Photos are courtesy of Garner (link) and Aliey (link)