Rustic Borneo Kitchen in PJ
[Non-halal] Find classic Sarawakian delights such as Kolo Mee and Sarawak Laksa at Rustic Borneo Kitchen.
Those who are familiar with the area might recognise the space as Seventh Mile Kitchen (another Sarawakian restaurant), which had since moved to Cheras.
Taking up the baton since April 2022, Rustic Borneo Kitchen is now helmed by chef Alvin Yap who continues to offer authentic Sarawakian cuisine in Kelana Jaya and the surrounding area.
In fact, Alvin used to operate at I-Tea House in NZX Ara Damansara (which had incidentally moved to Puchong – see our post here).
Rustic Borneo Kitchen in Kelana Jaya
As the name implies, the establishment offers a breadth of classic Sarawakian dishes.
Besides Sarawak Laksa (their best-seller) and Kolo Mee, Rustic Borneo Kitchen also serves not-so-common dishes (in KL) such as Manicai Bihun, Tomato Crispy Mee, Fried Tee Mee (Taugeh Mee), and Cha Chu Mee (Mee Goreng Basah).
The 3-Layer Tea here is also very authentic as they use Gula Apong – a type of palm sugar found in Borneo – instead of Gula Melaka which has a different taste profile.
Sarawak Laksa is authentic
Prices at RM9.80 for a small bowl, the Sarawak Laksa here is pretty decent.
Compared to our favourites at Aunt Christina and SALTed, we found the broth to be slightly on the lighter side, and not too spicy. This is easily remedied by adding the punchy sambal paste and lime juice.
The two prawns were fresh, and we liked the generous amount of shredded chicken and omelette strips.
Kolo Mee is slick and flavourful
We found the Kolo Mee (RM7.80 for small) here to be quite enjoyable. The noodles were al-dente, slick and moist as it was tossed with a generous amount of lard and sauce for a flavourful punch.
The kitchen offers Kolo Mee in both white and red versions – we tried the latter which has a sweeter taste. The char siew and minced pork were quite flavourful too.
They also offer mee pok – which is a larger and thicker version of egg noodles.
Manicai bihun got wok hei
Ever since we first tried Manicai Bihun, the hard-to-find dish (in the Klang Valley, at least) has been one of our favourite Sarawakian noodle dishes.
The one served here has lots of wok hei, with lovely flavours from the sayur manis and fried egg bits. We just wished it had some crispy fried anchovies to come with it.
The noodles go well with the accompanying sambal belacan for a more pungent kick.
Summary
Overall, we think Borneo Rustic Kitchen serves quite a decent Sarawakian fare to satisfy most tastebuds.
However, we think hygiene is something to be improved here.
Rustic Borneo Kitchen
Address: Jalan SS 6/12, Jalan bahagia 1, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Hours: 7am-3.30pm (Closed on Mondays)
Phone: 018-389 4966
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