Abdul Karim (fourth left) declares open the restaurant, while his wife Datin Zuraini Abdul Jabbar (third left), Sim (second right), Abdul Wahap (second left) and others look on.

KUCHING: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports mulls the setting up of another ‘Top Spot Seafood Food Court’ here to cater to people in search of great food.

According to its minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, the present Top Spot Food Court at Jalan Bukit Mata here has become too congested with local and international visitors flocking to the popular food court on a regular basis for its wide array of fresh seafood.

“I have been informed by Datuk Bandar of Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) Datuk Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai, who was also present at the function, that the food court was getting too congested.

“Perhaps, we may want to have a second ‘Top Spot’ set up in Kuching to cater to the great demand, particularly visitors to the city. It can also indirectly help to transform the city landscape into a food haven,” he said at the opening of Restoran Budaya Sarawak at the Steamship Building in the Kuching Waterfront here on Tuesday.

He added that tourists arrival to Sarawak had  been picking up lately, and many of them came not only for its tourist attractions but also for its mouth-watering local cuisine.

“Food is always an important factor whenever tourists travel. In fact, there are tourists who visit a particular country just to enjoy certain foods that are available in that country.

“Penang, for instance, is famous for its wide array of local food, which attracts many tourists to the state. We should also transform Kuching into something like that so that tourists can sample our food and enjoy the scenery too.”

Abdul Karim thus commended Roland Sim the owner of Restoran Budaya Sarawak for setting up the restaurant that serves authentic local dishes such as ‘Manok Pansoh’, ‘Kerabu Midin’ and ‘Terung Dayak Ikan Masin’, among others.

“This is a very good because it will enable our visitors to have a taste of Sarawak’s cuisine and at the same time contribute to our tourism industry,” he said.