Borneo Jazz Festival 2013 : The Food

There were booths being set up at the venue to provide guests with food and drinks. They were pretty strict on not allowing outside food to the venue. I suppose they must have had nasty experiences in the past with it.

On the first night, the security detail at the entrance demanded to check my tote bag.

"Check bag dulu ... ," the lady in uniform said. Let me check your bag first.

I obliged. They were after all four of them there ... and they could manhandle me anytime. ;P 

"No outside food," they explained to me.  

I merely opened my bag and received an approval. "OK," I was told and was allowed into the venue. 

"Don't check my bag again ok," I pleaded. "I'm going to be walking in and out later ... " I informed them. And well .... they did not check me after that. ;P 

***

Well, if the organisers don't allow people to bring in food or drinks from outside, then they very well have to make sure that they provide aplenty. I must say that I was rather disappointed with the food mart, as they lacked in variety and authenticity. Where was the kolo mee, for example? How can one come to Sarawak and going home without eating kolo mee? Or how about selling ayam pansuh? Or umai? Or lemang? Or local kuih-muih? 

Well, to be fair, at least there was attempt to provide local fare. Kuching laksa was available. So was fruit rojak, nasi lemak, nasi goreng kampung, satay, Nyonya curry mee, Penang laksa, char kueh tiaw, teh tarik. It was just that the presentation wasn't that great ... and did not tempt me to try or to buy. For those who prefer non-local food, there were fajitas, shawarmas, hot dogs, croissants, sandwiches, cupcakes .... 

The food stalls

 Nasi lemak .... and cupcakes and tidbits ... and corn on cob in the yonder ...

 Kajang satay

 Shawarma in the making .... roasting the meat

The ice-cream booth ... 

Fajitas on the grill ... RM10.00 each

On the first night, I ate a Bratwurst sausage on a bun ... 

My hot dog ... complete with onion relish, mayo and mustard 

It cost me RM10.00, and tasted alright - not great but edible, at least. It filled me up to the max, surprisingly.  My friend was rather annoyed that they did not serve according to the receipt number ... they must have got the orders messed up.  We ended up waiting a bit for our food. 

On the second night, I had Char Kueh Tiaw or Stir-fried flat rice noodle.... 

Char Kueh Tiaw, RM8.00

Eaten while hot, the noodle was moist and rather palatable. I finished the whole packet! 

Hmn .... I would say ...sigh .... overall a very boring food scene that needs to be jazzed up to match the great ambience and the oustanding music.