Best fish paste noodles @ Old Town

Where do you go when you crave for some good old-fashioned noodle soup that's packed with goodness? Me? I go to a little stall at the back of a house in Old Town, PJ. This little stall has no name, hence no signboards and is only known through word-of-mouth. It can't be seen from the road either because it's hidden right at the back of a house. The word-of-mouth advertising must be serving them well because it's packed with customers and waiting time for a bowl of noodle soup can stretch from 30 minutes to 40 minutes.

So, what makes them so different that people are actually willing to wait that long for a bowl of noodle soup? It's the best I've ever had. I usually order the flat rice noodles (kuey teow) and my bowl of noodles come with a very generous amount of vegetables, 3 big pieces of very tasty fish paste (yee wat) and a piece of stuffed tofu skin in a very light sweet broth that doesn't taste of MSG. The amount of vegetables in that one bowl can easily match 3 bowls at any other stall.Of course, if that's not enough, you can also add sui kow (dumplings), stuffed tau pok, stuffed brinjals and stuffed bittergourd. Be warned though, the sui kow portion is huge and is very filling! I like to add the stuffed beancurd skin. It's really delicious.They also serve pork noodles with minced & sliced pork and liver. As you can see below, the ingredients are so much more than the ones served elsewhere. The best thing about this noodle stall is not because of the generous portions of ingredients that they serve. Instead it is the wholesome goodness of the noodle soups that taste like it's home-made that keeps me going back for more.

Pun Chun Noodle House in Kota Kemuning

Found a newly opened noodle shop in Kota Kemuning last week. Apparently it's a branch of the popular Pun Chun Noodle House in Bidor. No wonder as it's always packed with customers. We found time to try it out last Saturday. Service was fast and efficient. Pun Chun serves duck noodles in either soup or dry versions. They also serve curry noodles and nasi lemak.

We ordered the soup and dry duck drumstick noodles and a portion of fresh shrimp wanton soup. The soup for the noodles is flavourful due to herbs like wai san, kei chi (wolfberries) and old ginger. The noodles were fresh and springy with just enough bite, and the meat from the duck falls off the bone with just the gentlest prodding! The dry version of the noodles were tossed in sweet dark soya sauce and comes with a separate bowl of double-boiled herbal duck soup. This soup has a more robust flavour compared to the soup from the noodles. I'm not a fowl person and duck is not on my list of favourite foods but the duck at Pun Chun was good enough for me. The shrimp wanton was very fresh in a light broth. Each bowl comes with 7 pieces which were big enough as a complete meal for the kids.


Pun Chun also sells the famous chicken biscuits (kai chai paeng) and white coffee to cater to the crowds who migrated from north.