Phun Chun Duck Noodles, Bidor, Perak

Last Friday (8 July 2011) I had to drive to Penang for a good mate's wedding. As the usual ritual goes, I had to make a detour to Bidor for the only thing that is worth going there for. Duck Noodles! To be exact it's actually Duck's thigh noodles.

Got there at 10.30am and it was pretty quiet. The first time I was there was probably 20 odd years ago with my old man. Everything seems the same, same old tables, same old chairs, same old cutlery and same of bowls.

Ordered their famous noodles plus a portion of the duck I saw hanging outside. The food came in a jiffy and I was excited. I've always loved noodles especially wanton noodles. (I am from a noodle family) 

First things first. Give it a smell. Ginger, duck, red dates check! Tasted the soup. Not bad. Quality is still there. 

Checked the noodles. Damn! I hate dry wanton noodles that is too wet. Too much sauce. We need to understand that the art of mixing wanton noodles is to have just enough sauce. Not too dry and not too wet. (I &%#* hate it when I see cooks instinctively scoop a little soup and pour it on the noodles just before mixing!)

 The noodles were too wet. Taste was mediocre. Not enough of everything. I can do better!

Remember to scoop some of the fatty duck oil and mix it with your noodles for extra flavor. Soup was pretty standard. Not bad. Not too much ginger and not much herbal twang to it. (Ho Weng Kee's was way better. I am biased here.)

Well, the noodles were cooked al dente but the sauce was disappointing.

Before eating, scoop the top layer of the duck soup and mix it with your noodles. (something my grandfather taught me. The fatty duck oil has got this superb fragrance to it and adds flavor to your noodles.)

Overall, the soup was not too bad, duck was just tender but the noodles were a disappointment. STRIKE 1

Points = 3

Then it was onto the extra roasted duck. Nothing much to say about it as I was not too impressed. It was neither here nor there plus the gravy they splashed on it basically drowned the damn duck. I will not order that again. STRIKE 2

Points = 1 

Good thing being early is that they serve the food really fast and surprising they were polite. One more thing that I almost forgot, their kopi O ping (iced black coffee) was good. (stolen base)

Overall verdict.

If you're traveling and you happen to be near Bidor, go try it. I would go for old time's sake but not because the food is damn good but that was the only place before Ipoh that had good food before the days of the NS highway. Point to note: Do not bloody try the char siew!

(My apologies for using some baseball terminology here but it made perfect sense as I typed. STRIKE 3 and you're out!)