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Monday 10 May 2021

Soon Fatt Beijing Roast Duck @ Pudu

After a slightly underwhelming roasted meat experience at Chen Chen Roast Goose & Duck (though I have to say the roast duck was respectable), my husband wanted to bring me to another roadside stall in the same area that's also famous for roast duck.

And that was how we ended up at Soon Fatt Beijing Roast Duck @ Pudu one Sunday morning.  He had actually tried this place once but that was quite some time ago before they moved to this location.

As usual, we thought of getting a mixed platter of roast duck, siu yuk (roasted pork) and char siew (BBQ pork) all at once in order to be able to sample a variety of meats.  This cost a total of RM31 with rice and Chinese tea (for two).

First, the roast duck.  We got duck breast (as we requested) but also some very bony parts with a very thin layer of meat on top.  I guess that's the price we pay (pun intended) when we did not order a quarter or half a duck, you don't get the best cuts.  The duck skin was only just slightly crispy and the breast meat turned out a tad dry and not sufficiently tender for me...probably due to the meat being cut too thickly (that morning the stall was manned by a foreign worker).

As for the siu yuk, the skin was adequately crunchy but the seasoning on the meat fell flat and tasted rather bland.  One can certainly get much better siu yuk at any average chicken rice stalls.  Besides their signature Beijing roast duck, pipa roast duck and sesame pipa roast duck are also available with prices starting from RM20 (for a quarter duck) to RM75 (for a whole duck).  Individual plates/portions are priced from a low of RM6.50 (for just chicken rice) to RM19.50 (for all three meats of roast duck leg, crystal honey BBQ char siew & roast pork).

The Crystal Honey BBQ Char Siew or po li (glass) char siew (as it is called here) is so-called to denote the near translucent look of its char siew.  The fats on the char siew has this glass/crystal see-through effect I reckon.  As far as I'm concerned, this is just a fancy name to make us perceive that this is premium char siew.  It was neither premium in taste nor melt in the mouth like those I've eaten elsewhere.

I did enjoy the taste of the rice though.....glistening and with the right colour which comes with a good dose of chicken stock flavour.

The chilli dip was ok, not fantastically good or bad that I need to single out for special mention or criticism. Hmmm, I don't remember getting any plum sauce for the duck. ;P

But probably the most surprising was the fact that we weren't served any complimentary soup.  Now what roasted meat stall doesn't serve soup? >_<  Not sure if we didn't get any or there was none.  We didn't ask coz we noticed the table next to us was also not served any.  It's such a waste not to provide soup especially when they have in their possession some of the best residue ingredients (leftover chicken/duck bones and off cuts) to make a great tasting soup.  I guess that went into the making of their sour spicy mustard green dish (choy kiok or chai buey) instead.

My Personal Opinion

I believe the place is popular for their roast duck seeing that there were customers who took-away whole ducks....just that it didn't quite impress us.  This would, most probably, be our one and only visit.  If I happen to be in this area, I'd still pick Chen Chen's roast duck over this, at least that one has a nice, tasty soup (with free refills some more) which I can enjoy + a refreshing sweet and tangy plum sauce.

Should you find yourself here (or in Kuchai Lama where they have another outlet selling only roast ducks), you can always give it a try to see if it can impress you.....the roast duck is still the better option compared to the crystal char siew or siu yuk.

Soon Fatt Beijing Roast Duck
151 Lorong Yap Hin
Pudu
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 011-5625 5395

8 comments:

  1. I tried this place many years ago and it was an enjoyable meal, too bad that the standard has dropped now. The roasted duck restaurant in my neighbourhood that I went also doesn't serve complimentary soup >_<

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    1. Not sure if the standard has dropped since I didn't try this in its earlier years but, judging from its popularity, it still has its fans...I guess I'm just not one of them. :P

      Is it a thing with roast duck shops not serving complimentary soup? First, there was Chen Chen, then Soon Fatt and now even your neighbourhood roasted duck restaurant...ish! >_<

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  2. Too bad this was not a good experience. Your husband must have had a good experience when he last ate the duck. I bet he was disappointed too especially so since he specially wanted to take you there. There is a roast duck stall here in Damansara Uptown. I haven't tried but the other day I saw them advertising buy one free one for RM69.00. I don't know if that is worth it or not.

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    1. RM69 for two is definitely worth it coz that's usually the price for one duck (perhaps it's smaller in size). But then two of you can't eat two ducks! :P I wonder if you're referring to the one inside a fried Hokkien mee shop.

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  3. I have learnt my lesson for always being fooled by stalls and restaurants during this pandemic where you would see a long beeline of customers. They tapao home doesn't mean the food was delicious but they were not fussy like me. LOLOL

    I am surprised that you could get the whole platter with rice and served tea for only RM31.00. That's cheap and worth it. Now the verdict didn't impress you. I see there is signature Beijing roast duck, pipa roast duck and sesame pipa roast duck too. I would love the Pipa Roast Duck as I have been eating that in Penang since young. Seems like duck dishes in Penang is not as good as KL's.

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    1. Oh, so KL's roast duck is better than Penang's. I wouldn't know as I've not eaten any duck there before. Hmmm, you find RM31 cheap while I thought is was slightly pricey seeing that the smallish portion looked more like two portions (meant for one pax) with 3 types of meat.

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  4. I may have this before wayyyy back, do really start to miss dining in KL area.. been over a year.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, I read your post on that...you did enjoy the duck wayyyy back. Didn't you just dined in KL last month (at San Peng Prawn Mee)? ;D

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