Yes, the laksa at Choon Hui Cafe is good, but it is the most touristed bowl in Kuching, not automatically the best one. Choon Hui is a morning kopitiam on Jalan Ban Hock, a short walk from the Padungan end of town, and it got famous after Anthony Bourdain filmed here for No Reservations back in 2005 (he returned for Parts Unknown in 2015). The laksa stall does a clean, balanced bowl for around RM10, RM13 for the special with extra prawns. Worth a visit. Go on a weekday and skip the Sunday queue.
The cafe also does popiah (fresh, unfried spring rolls) that regulars rate as highly as the laksa, which the laksa rankings tend to skip. If you only know Choon Hui from the Sarawak laksa guide, this is the deeper look at the cafe itself.
TL;DR
- Choon Hui Cafe is at Jalan Ban Hock, Kuching, open mornings only (roughly 7am to past noon), closed one day a week, so check before you go.
- Order the Sarawak laksa, around RM10, RM13 for the special. Then order the popiah, which is the dish locals come back for.
- Anthony Bourdain first ate here for No Reservations in 2005, then came back for the Borneo episode of Parts Unknown in 2015, and that fame drives most of the foot traffic.
- It is cash only, so bring small notes. No card, no QR payment at the laksa counter.
- Weekend mornings mean a real queue and a shared table. The pot also empties as the morning goes, so late bowls run thinner.
- It is a fair RM2 to RM3 premium over a neighbourhood kopitiam, and a no-name BDC stall can beat it on a busy day.
Where is Choon Hui Cafe?
Choon Hui sits on Jalan Ban Hock, on the eastern side of central Kuching, a few minutes by car or a 15-minute walk from the Padungan shophouse strip. It is an old-style corner kopitiam: marble-topped tables, ceiling fans, the laksa stall on one side and the drinks counter on the other. Look for a plain coffee-shop frontage, not a cafe with a logo.
A Grab from the Waterfront or most central hotels runs about RM7 to RM12 and takes under ten minutes outside rush hour. Street parking on Jalan Ban Hock fills up fast on weekends, so come early on a Saturday.
What should you order at Choon Hui Cafe?
Two things: the laksa and the popiah. Get both.
The Sarawak laksa is the headline. It is a spiced shrimp-paste broth softened with coconut milk, poured over rice vermicelli and topped with shredded chicken, prawns, egg strips, and beansprouts, with lime and sambal on the side. Choon Hui’s version, the times I have caught it on a good morning, is balanced rather than aggressive: savoury and a little nutty, the coconut in the background, the sambal left for you to push the heat. Mint, as we’d say back in Manchester. The standard bowl is around RM10, the special with extra prawns around RM13.
The popiah is the one the food writers skip. These are soft fresh spring rolls, a thin wheat skin wrapped around stewed turnip (jicama), egg, bits of prawn, and a sweet-savoury sauce, served cool and unfried, around RM3 to RM5 a roll. I usually order it alongside the laksa rather than instead of it, and the Kuching friends who first brought me here do the same. If the laksa is why the tourists come, the popiah is the part I keep coming back for.
You may also see kompia (a baked Foochow wheat bun, denser and chewier than it looks) some mornings. Order drinks from the roving drinks man, not at the food stall, which trips up first-timers.
What is the Anthony Bourdain connection?
Anthony Bourdain first ate at Choon Hui in 2005 for the Malaysia episode of No Reservations, then returned for the Borneo episode of Parts Unknown that aired in November 2015. Both times he had the Sarawak laksa, praised it on camera, and the fame has trailed the cafe ever since. Walk in today and the Bourdain association is leaned into, and the crowd it pulls is why Choon Hui is busier than the kopitiam two streets over serving a near-identical bowl. The laksa that earned the praise is still being made. You are just sharing it with more people now.
What are Choon Hui Cafe’s opening hours?
Choon Hui is a morning operation. It opens around 7am and the laksa stall runs until the early afternoon, but the pot sets the real clock: when the laksa sells out, that part of the menu is done, often before the posted closing time. The cafe also closes one day a week, so a midweek visit is safer than assuming it is open daily.
Aim to arrive between 7:30am and 9am. That is the window where the broth is freshest, the prawns are not picked over, and you have not hit the weekend tour-group rush. Turn up at 11:30am on a Sunday and you risk a thin bowl, a long wait, or a stall winding down.
Bring cash. The laksa counter takes no cards or e-wallet, and there is no ATM inside, so sort your small notes first.
Is the laksa at Choon Hui actually the best in Kuching?
No, and anyone who tells you it is settled the question without eating widely enough. Choon Hui’s laksa is reliably good, and on a quiet weekday morning the broth comes out full and the prawns whole. But “famous” and “best” are not the same word, and in Kuching the gap is wide.
The honest comparison is with the no-name stalls. A neighbourhood kopitiam in BDC or Padungan will sell you a RM8 bowl with no queue and no premium for a television cameo, and on its day that bowl matches or beats the famous one. I have eaten a RM8 laksa at an unmarked BDC coffee shop that beat a watered-down Choon Hui bowl at 11am on a Sunday, flat out.
Where Choon Hui earns its spot is consistency and access: it is easy to find, the bowl is dependable, and a first-timer who wants the reference version knows where to go. That is worth a lot to a visitor with one morning and no local to ask, and less to anyone living here with a dozen RM8 stalls nearby.
| Choon Hui Cafe | No-name neighbourhood stall | |
|---|---|---|
| Laksa price (2026) | RM10, RM13 special | RM7 to RM8 |
| Weekend queue | 15 to 20 minutes common | Usually none |
| Seating | Shared tables when busy | Easy to find a spot |
| Consistency | High, dependable | Varies stall to stall |
| Best for | First-timers, the reference bowl | Locals, value, no fuss |
What is the catch with Choon Hui Cafe?
The fame is the problem, and you pay for it in queue, premium, and a thinner bowl once the pot drains. On a packed Saturday you queue, share a marble table with strangers, and the bowl that reaches you is not the one Bourdain got on a calm morning a decade ago. That does not make Choon Hui bad. It makes it popular, and popular has a cost the listicles leave out. The kopitiam everyone names is rarely the quiet bargain locals keep to themselves. Those are usually two different coffee shops, and the second one has no sign.
Should you go?
Go once, on a weekday, before 9am, with cash in your pocket. Order the laksa to see what the fuss is about, order the popiah because it is the better-kept reason to come, and skip a Sunday-morning visit unless you like queueing. For where else to eat, start with our guide to what to eat in Kuching, and read up on how Sarawak laksa differs from kolo mee before you order.
The detail I notice every visit: the table next to you almost always has popiah alongside the laksa. The people who come back for Choon Hui order both, and they order the popiah without thinking about it.
Last updated: June 2026. Prices, hours, and cash-only policy checked at Choon Hui Cafe, Jalan Ban Hock, Kuching, in May 2026. Confirm the weekly closing day before you go.