Bidor Ducked!

Every time we go white water rafting on Kampar River, or drive past Bidor, our favourite makan place is the Bidor Duck restaurant! It's in the town center (which is like one street long, so u can't miss it) and it is the most packed coffee shop you will see. It is actually 2 lots of coffee shop, where on one side, you have the main eating place and the other side sells famous Bidor snacks like the Bidor Kai-chai-peng and other snacks and biscuits.

Since getting to Bidor from KL takes a while, and since we are naturally starving by the time we get to the coffee shop, we order the works.
My absolute favourite is the fish ball and yam balls(with pork stuffing called "Wu-kok"). This is a must for the appetizer.

Then on to the main highlight ... I, always have the duck soup wantan mee, while cumi prefers the Char Siew wantan mee. Both are equally delicious ! Portions are moderate (OK, bigger for me , but maybe small for Cumi who has a bigger appetite, haha) and really tasty. Unfortunately, eating the meal does leave us feeling thirsty after, which means that there is some MSG in the food. The duck soup is a duck drumstick in a double boiled soup. The meat is normally falling off the bone - very soft and succulent ! I totally recommend it . If you do pass by Bidor, make sure you check out the shop .

Food : 8/10
MSG level : moderate
Price : Moderate (for coffee shop food)
Cleanliness : 6/10

How we got ripped off in Balakong !

CIKI: This weekend we got ripped off! At the enticing advice of some food blogs we read, we headed out to New Village Taman Indah, Batu 11, Balakong, to try the legendary pan mee and suei kaw. Apparently the food is also MSG free. Well the food is msg free... and taste free as well.. ! NO TASTE! the soup was flat and lousy, had two small pieces of chicken and the suei kaw had hardly any prawn or mince meat in it. As a result, we finished only half our pan mee, paid and left for the duck rice stall we saw down the road (an old converted house).
The duck rice was great! Tasty succulent and really soft tender meat which melted in your mouth.. here is the picture to prove it..




unfortunately this, small plate of duck, for 2 people cost nearly RM 20 and so.. all in all, our lunch (pan mee plus duck) cost us nearly RM 35 for simple coffee shop food.
first and last time we eat pan mee in Balakong.. !

Corner house Pan Mee,
Jalan Indah 3/6
Taman Indah, Batu 11,
43200 Balakong, Selangor

Pan mee : 4/10

Duck: 6/10

Cleanliness :5/10

Price : On high side

MSG level : Moderate

Bierkeller Ahoy!

CUMI: A hidden bar that has survived through the many changes at the competitive KL 'Golden Triangle'
One Sunday evening, looking for something different, i suggested to go here for dinner. We've been here for beer but never the food.
I had a dish with beef steak served with 'German' noodles and mash potatoes. The name skips my mind. It's not NZ or USA grade A steak but it tasted pretty alright. The noodles were pretty much cornflour dough. Mash potatoes were surprisingly good.

CIKI : I decided to opt for the good ole fashion dinner that as a student in the UK, we use to rustle up in a jiffy. Meatloaf, egg and mash ! Totally satisfying! Brought back memories of hearty greasy uni meals.. haha

The food was surprisingly good for an old, somewhat musty-smelling diner. I guess Bierkeller bar and diner has seen better days, but nonetheless, we could not find any fault in their food or their beer. If you are as into German beer as Cumi and I are, but not too fussy about ambiance and looking cool in a chi-chi joint, then you will love this place :)

Dessert was (yup, u guessed it)... apple strudel and ice cream... The Apple strudel was OK. The batter was not as flaky and crumbly as we would have liked. The apple lacked tanginess. The ice cream was well.. just like ice cream ! It was like a tart without tart.. haha
All in all , we recommend the main meals and the beer.

Food Main : 7/10
Food dessert : 4/10
MSG levels : Low
Beer : 8/10
Service : Fast
Ambiance : 3/10

In search of red wine mee suah !

CIKI: One of the interesting things about Chinese cuisine is that there are so many different specialties by different Chinese dialects.

Last weekend me and Cumi decided to venture into the heart of Pudu to satisfy our appetite for red wine mee suah.

We found the shop quiet easily and settled down t0 the serious business of eating.






This red wine soup mee suah is not for the faint hearted. A strong, gingery, fermented, for want of a better word, wine-ish smell assaulted our noses... Cumi decided to try the other specialty instead (faint hearted la) , the Fu Chow fish balls noodles. Not so strong smelling, compared to the mee suah. We also tried the suei-kaw which turned out to be a solid ball of meat - no prawn... pretty filling and porky tasting.


CUMI: Mee suah isn't my favourite noodle because its usually really mushy but the bowl i had was cooked just 'aight'. The noodle still retained its texture.
The red wine soup was pretty good for a person that really dislikes Chinese wine dishes. Its strong and sweet. It won't be my everyday dish but i'll order it if its my "i'd like a change of eating choice" day.
The 'sui kau' dumpling were a disappointment. Not because of its huge stuffing of meat but the lack of a unique taste. Additionally, it wasn't well made; the skin was falling apart.
Fuchow fishball + the complementing fishcakes was good and same goes with the flat rice noodles(hor fun). The cook managed to retain the noodles nice texture and their noodle supplier provided a good tasting product. For about RM4, its slightly high priced but with a lot of lacklustre fishball noodle soups around, this was good.

These guys will be moving shop soon. Just a block across the street. Not too far walking distance; near a Cantonese Methodist Church and opposite Fathima Court. Happy searching!

This is an update on the 18th of July 2007.


The photos below are of the new coffee shop in its new premises! Nice, new and clean... :)



Rating of Food:
Foo Chow Fish balls - 7/10
Kwey Teow Soup - 7/10
Suei Kaw - 4/10
Mee Suah - 4/10

MSG level - minimal