review: pun chun (bidor) herbal duck noodles

address: pun chun restaurant, 40, jalan besar, 35500, bidor, perak
tel: +605 4341 554

I left KL on a drive up north to Penang at 6:30am - way too early to even think about making breakfast (even for me!). As a result, my tummy was already rumbling about an hour into the drive.

Many people have told me about the famous herbal duck noodles at Bidor, about 5 minutes off the North-South highway. I have never been tempted to stop though, because Bidor is only about an hour away from my parents' hometown, where there is even more food waiting for me! However, since this was not too much of a detour, I thought it might do for a quick breakfast.

Bidor pretty much has only one main street, so it wasn't a problem picking out Pun Chun. As it was a weekday, the restaurant was pretty quiet.

I ordered the duck noodles, and a cup of cham. I love cham - its a delicious, warm and comforting mix of coffee and tea, stirred through with condensed milk. 

When the noodles arrived, I was greeted with a plate of yellow wantan mee - basically, just plain egg noodles with some dark soy sauce underneath. The duck soup came separately, in a little tiffin container.

I felt so confused! I didn't really think the duck, with its (still slightly) gamy taste complemented the noodles, which were rather bland. The soup, which was quite thin, did not really help matters. The most apparent taste were the herbs, especially the dates, which made the soup taste quite sweet. Moreover, it was quite difficult to eat the single piece of duck drumstick with chopsticks! I felt that it was quite unwieldly, even if the meat was falling off the bone.

If I do stop by next time, I think I would prefer to try the wantan  noodles, which the restaurant also serves. The duck was a bit too heavy for me, especially so early in the morning. That being said, the weather at Bidor was great - cool and breezy, with the sun just breaking through the rain clouds. If you can stop by here early enough, it still has that old, sleepy small-town feel that we rarely see any more.

address: pun chun restaurant, 40, jalan besar, 35500, bidor, perak
tel: +605 4341 554