Master Duck @ Pandan Indah

We noticed a new place specialising in ducks opened up recently in our neighbourhood, Master Duck @ Pandan Indah when we were waiting for our seats in Win Win Western Food for dinner one evening and decided to check it out for an early lunch the following week.

Apparently they have another branch in Kepong but the shop here occupies a pretty small space with probably about 10+ tables inside...and that's because a major portion of its frontage space is taken up by a display cabinet (where the ducks are hung to dry) and their action counter (where the meats are chopped and prepped).

As the name implies, they're obviously a specialist in ducks...and that's the first thing that greets you when you walk into the restaurant.  On the left, you'll find ducks being hung to air dry (probably to crisp up the skin and for flavours to develop) before being roasted.

Right at the entrance, on the right, you'll see the already prepped and roasted ducks hanging deliciously to entice your palate.  Judging by the plentiful ducks on display, they must be doing good business.

Although I saw pics of wantan mee and curry mee (when I googled the restaurant), I didn't find any noodles on their menu.  Perhaps when they started a few months ago, they had that on the menu but they aren't offered now.  So our only option is to have the roasted meats with rice...and when it comes to duck, we (as a family) hardly ever never order a whole duck (coz only both of us eat duck) nor half or a quarter duck (as both of us only want duck breast)! ;D

My husband went for the Roasted Duck Rice @ RM10 with a request for duck breast and an add-on braised egg @ RM1 (he said the egg is rather cheap and I certainly agree).  I've to say the duck meat is rather meaty but tender while the skin is just lightly crispy.

As for the braised egg, the looks of it tells the story...I wouldn't call that a braised egg as the braising liquid hasn't even clung onto the egg. >_<

Taste wise, the duck was certainly decent.  Just to forewarn you, the meat marinade has a herbal flavour coz I know some people do not like roast duck with a herbal flavour (like my husband).  I too prefer a non-herbal duck but, luckily, the herbal flavour was not strong at all (in fact it's not so evident in the meat) but you can certainly taste the dong guai in the sauce underneath.  My only wish was for the duck meat to be a little juicier and perhaps a tad more flavour.

My son had the Char Siu Rice @ RM10 with a request for a half lean half fat cut of char siu.  The char siu was very tender with the meat falling apart like pulled pork.

The key to a good char siu is in the marinade and how well it's roasted.  This one met half its brief, commendable for being well roasted but the marinade could be better.

As for me, what's the best way of sampling more of their roasted meats...well, order a trio (of course) of Roasted Duck Mix Three @ RM17 of duck, char siu and siu yuk.

I asked for duck breast too...and you already know what I think of the roast duck and char siu.  As for the siu yuk, it had a fairly crispy skin and I wouldn't say it was superbly fragrant or savoury either.  I found both the skin and meat lacking in flavour.  So, it was the least successful of the 3 roasted meats I tried.

Duck (though I asked for breast, got some bones this time >.<) and char siu is what I like to get when I'm here since these two meats are preferred to the siu yuk.  It's what I usually have on my subsequent visits + I can share some of my char siu with my husband. 

At RM10 for a plate of roasted duck (breast) rice, I think it's great value with a sizeable portion.  The portion is (surprisingly) even heftier when I tapau (pack) coz they gave the bony parts as well under the breast...just look at that amount (I wasn't able to finish)! :O

Glad to come across a fresh chilli dip that's thick and spicy as many of the ones out there can be rather diluted (our second visit the chilli dip wasn't as thick but still decently thick).  It was good but could do with just a little bit more lime juice in the mix.  

I included a side dish of Choy Sum with Minced Pork @ RM8 which was just a small bowl of stir-fried finely chopped choy sum with a tiny amount of minced porked.  It was nicely executed and a good accompaniment for our otherwise meaty affair.  When I find this dish at the chap fan place in my neighbourhood, I will not hesistate to get it.  I don't particularly like choy sum but enjoy it when it's cooked this way (all chopped up).

On my second visit, I managed to try this recommended dish of Winged Beans with Dried Shrimp @ RM8 (it was not available on my previous visit) for the vegetable component of our meal.  The four angled beans was nice and crunchy although I would have preferred it to be cut a little thicker for an even crunchier bite.  Just note that the portion of vegetables is really small for RM8.  You can do an add on vegetable (for RM2) to your single meal of roasted meat rice...my husband joked "would that me one spoon of vegetables?"...lol!

For drinks, I was intrigued by the Salted Coffee and Barley Coffee on the menu, not something often offered in other restaurants.  Not knowing what it was and how it would taste, I ordered the Salted Coffee @ RM4.90 (still a safer bet than Barley Coffee I reckon).  Well, it turned out super enjoyable.  Lightly salty to counter the sweetness of the coffee (note that I didn't ask for less sweet coz I wasn't sure if the saltiness would be too much).

On my second visit, I gave Barley Coffee a thought, just for a split second (but the taste of barley in coffee doesn't quite sound as attractive or intriguing enough), before ordering the Salted Coffee again coz it was just too good to not have again.

When leaving the restaurant, lo and behold, I found the coffees being sold at the entrance.  Oh, apparently it's instant coffee from a sachet (so I can't ask for less sweet even if I wanted to)...and the brand is Uncle Wong from Taiping (since 1874!).  Well, I was tempted to cart a box home...but NO, especially not after I've read the content of sugar and salt (let's leave this for once a while indulgence when I'm here for the duck rice).

My Personal Opinion

Overall, it was a pleasant enough dining experience with the roasted meats...probably one of the better roasted duck (if not the best) we have in our taman for now though it's not among the better ones out there. Of the 3 roasted meats I tried, two were like supporting cast members to the main star as the roasted duck still came out tops (it goes without saying that they're still a master of ducks)!

It's a nice addition to the neighourhood of a standalone duck rice place (with roasted meats) where one can dine in a more comfortable environment (that's not a stall in a coffee shop)...and I'm happy that I can have my duck fix without venturing too far.  Above all else, it's really great value for duck coz at only RM10 a plate, the portion is pretty good (even bigger if you tapau). ^_~

Master Duck Roasted House

47G Jalan Pandan Indah 4/6B

Pandan Indah

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 011-5174 9741

Ming Kee Cantonese @ Jalan Imbi

My husband suggested Ming Kee Cantonese @ Jalan Imbi for dinner one evening coz he has been having his meals there rather regularly of late (like twice a week) coz it offers such great value for money, he said.

Ming Kee has many branches, some are known as Ming Kee (or MK) Porridge while others are listed as Ming Kee Cantonese.  I believe they were known for their porridge when they first started out but has now expanded their menu to serve more than just porridge.  You can find them in PJ SS2, Bukit Jalil, Bandar Puteri Puchong, Kepong Menjalara and Balakong Cheras besides the one in Imbi (sometimes referred to as Ming Kee TRX).

Seeing that this is Imbi and the restaurant is located just beside the road (along the same row as the well-known Imbi Road Fried Hokkien Mee or "once used to be good but now caters mainly to tourists due to its proximity to TRX?"), parking can be challenging.  Those not afraid of getting a summon will just park next to the road, otherwise find parking along the lorong-lorong or alleyways.

Entering the air-conditioned restaurant, I found it to be bright, clean, spacious, comfortable and just aesthetically pleasing to the eye.  I noticed a staircase too, so the restaurant spans two floors.

I'm guessing their signature dish must be porridge (from their name) and roasted meats...even though only the roast ducks were on display (it was dinner time already).  I reckon you can see all the glorious roasted meats on full display earlier on in the day. ^_~

My husband wanted me to try the food here coz he feels the price vs portion is very good value.  His favourite + usual order is this Roasted Duck Rice @ RM12.20 served with braised egg and vegetables of bok choy and radish (this didn't taste like radish to me coz the texture was chewy instead of crunchy but my husband was told it's radish!).

Like me, my husband prefers duck breast.  Just look at the portion of thick slices of duck breast for the price of RM12.20 (!)...and it comes with a whole braised egg some more.  I don't think you can get a better deal elsewhere (and you get to eat this in comfort too).  It's like the price of a plate of chap fan in a coffee shop, he said.  By the way, a whole duck here costs RM70 (for those of you who can devour a whole duck *wink wink*)!

My son went for the 2-Combo Rice (with Char Siew & Siu Yuk) @ RM18.80 and it was similarly served with a braised egg and vegetables.  The colour on the hard-boiled egg is an indication that the egg has been braised beautifully.

As for the char siew, it arrived looking the part with well caramelised edges and a good ratio between fat and lean.  I taste tested one piece and thought it was well balanced between savoury and sweet with a very tender mouthfeel.

I chose the 2-Combo Noodle (with Roasted Duck & Siu Yuk) @ RM18.80 simply because char siew is something I'm trying to avoid and eat less of.  My plate was filled with 5 thick slices of duck breast that were indeed moist and super tender to the bite (but don't expect crispy skin ya) though I felt the meat could do with a bit more flavour.  Overall, an above average roasted duck and I can see why my husband is smitten with it.

The half lean, half fat siu yuk I had was decent too with crispy skin still (even though it was dinner time already).  The cut may not be the best (in my eyes) coz I like my siu yuk in shorter pieces which is the best cut I feel for that crunchy skin to meat ratio.  My husband says the one he eats in SS2 usually comes in a shorter cut unlike the one here.  If the cut is like this, I'd rather have the char siew over the siu yuk.

I enjoyed the texture of the noodles and the sauce it was tossed in was pleasant too with the fragrance of pork lard oil and some pork lard crisps.

I ordered a bowl of Shrimp Wantan Soup @ RM16.90 (to share) which came in a robust soup base that's probably flavoured with dried flounder shavings with a sprinkling of shrimp roe powder on top.  It's something like those you get at Mak's Chee.

The bowl had 5 big wantans that were filled with a sizeable whole prawn cut in two (with a bit of minced pork) which were reassuringly fresh, juicy and sweet tasting.  I thought the wantans were excellent.

I also ordered an appetiser in the form of a Smacked Cucumber Salad @ RM8.30 (not sure why they called it smacked...lol), something refreshing to start our meal.  I thought it'd be similar to those served in Taiwanese restaurants like Din Tai Fung.

Unfortunately, though the cucumber sticks were crunchy as they should be, it was too garlicky, the minced fresh garlic was way too pungent...and there was something else that was overpowering too, I think it was either the Chinese wine or vinegar (used in the pickling of the cucumber)! >_<  I had to ask for it to be packed (coz no-one would help me eat it) but, even then, I had to throw it away as I could not stomach it either at home.

Our plate of greens for sharing was this Dry Fried Four Seasons Beans @ RM17 (such a fancy name, four seasons beans, otherwise known as green beans lah), a popular vegetable dish I find on the menu of many restaurants.  This one was aptly executed though not quite up to the standards of the one we love in Esquire Kitchen.

The only difference with this one is that they've added Chinese mushrooms (and a bit of red chillies) to the green beans fried with minced pork.  I also had to tapau the unfinished portion into my container, not because I over ordered but because I underestimated how filling the portions of our noodle/rice dishes were.

Our drinks of a rather refreshing Cantonese Fruit Tea (Cold) @ RM6 and Hot Ginger Tea @ RM4.90.  I ordered ginger tea thinking it'd probably be the less sweet option but it turned out otherwise (even though it was thickly ginger flavoured), so my husband had to finish it for me.  For those who appreciate their utensils sanitised and served immersed in hot water, they'd be happy to know you get that here.

My Personal Opinion

In the end, I thought all the roasted meats were more than decent taking into consideration the price and portion...though for once, I can't say one was better than the other.  They also offer boiled (or poached) and soya sauce chicken on their menu besides a rather interesting option for duck...black truffle duck (which can only be ordered whole or half).  Not to forget an order of soup wantans (which were especially good with whole prawns) to go with your rice or noodles.

For the price, portion and taste (as well as the comfortable dining environment), this is a good choice to include in your list of roasted meats places to eat in.  It certainly will be ours.  The next time I'm here, I'd probably want to try their porridge which is their speciality.

A word of caution, however, is that I noticed not all branches have similar good ratings...so choose the branch you want to eat in wisely...lol!  The branch we ate in happens to have the highest ratings, so I can vouch for the taste (since I tried it) and the SS2 branch that my husband has his weekday meals regularly.

Ming Kee Cantonese

No 19 Jalan Barat

Off Jalan Imbi

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-2110 5501

Twins Signature Roast Duck @ Damansara Uptown

This place is a favourite (and very regular) haunt of one of my blogger friends whenever she needs to satisfy her carnivorous craving for roast duck.  Needless to say, she's pretty well known there...who wouldn't be when your regular order is half a duck (or sometimes a whole duck)...lol!  Another blogger friend has also tried the roast duck here (with a different outcome), so it was inevitable that I had to see for myself what Twins Signature Roast Duck @ Damansara Uptown was all about.

When I told my husband about the place, he asked, "Is it that place that's always empty when I pass by?" (he frequents PJ & Damansara areas quite a bit in his work).  That statement led me to think...hmmm, that can't bode well for the place (but I'll reserve my judgement for later).  We reached there just before 10am (on a Sunday morning after church service) to find the shop empty with no customers at all (by the way, the shop opens at 9am on Sundays and 10am on other days).  That made me second-guess if they were indeed ready to serve customers, so I checked before seating down.

I got down to ordering and thought I'd get the Triple Combo BBQ Meat @ RM46.80 so that I could taste all 3 types of meat in one go (it's the obvious thing to do after coming here all the way, right?).  

Let's start with their signature meat which is their roast duck, of course.  The meat of the roast duck was tender and moist and I liked that it wasn't overpowered by herbs and spices but there was no crispy skin though.  Reading Google reviews, there were those that showered compliments on the crispy skin while some weren't as fortunate to get crispy skin (even PH mentioned she got crispy skin in a recent visit).  So, I guess it's a case of inconsistency (and your luck) whether you get crispy skin or not! >_<  Inconsistency is something a shop should try to eliminate if they want new customers to visit again and regulars to continue to patronise.

I actually noticed 2 ducks hanging as I was walking in.  I even had to ask the lady boss (there were two of them) if they had siu yuk and char siew since I didn't see it at the shop front.  She assured me that those meats are ready and available in the kitchen.  Seeing that I was pretty much their first customer (since we were the only ones there), surely those two ducks were freshly made to start off their day...so how did it not have crispy skin, I don't know. >.<  

As for the siu yuk, the initial outlook was good, the cut was nice and short...the looks that I like.  It came with crispy skin with the ratio of meat a good balance between lean and fatty.  It could do with a bit more savouriness though but overall still a very decent siu yuk.

The savoury-sweet char siew wasn't quite at the standard of some of the excellent char siew we had.  Even though it had a good ratio of fat to lean, it wasn't quite the luscious melt-in-the-mouth bite that we were looking for which is the hallmark of a good char siew.

Of the three roasted meats we tried, I thought the siu yuk was the most successful of the three with the roast duck coming in second and char siew in last place.  My husband loves to eat siu yuk the most while my son is a big fan of char siew but, unfortunately, both these did not seem to meet their expected standards.

The meat combo came served with a dark sauce on the side...I wasn't quite sure if it was for the char siew or duck...lol!  Either way it wasn't of crucial importance since I wasn't liking the taste of the sauce all that much anyway.  It was neither here nor there...not quite the sweetish char siew sauce nor the type of sauce normally served with roast duck that we've come to know.

We got some artery-clogging Pork Lard Rice @ RM7 (how to resist when you see pork lard rice on the menu, right?).  The bowl arrived with freshly fried, crispy pork lard cubes sprinkled on top.  Why do I say it's freshly fried...coz we waited quite a while for it.  When it appeared, the looks of it immediately told me that the pork lard crisps have not been fried long enough (good pork lard has to be fried slowly till well browned and crispy).  This was just crispy...that's it, it wasn't fragrant nor had any flavour.  

My regular pork noodles stall has one of the best pork lard I've eaten, super fragrant and lightly savoury (some would even add aromatics into the oil to impart more flavour into the pork crisps).  Not only that but the rice was also too oily. I know one should expect oily rice if one orders pork lard rice but it turned out oilier than we expected (it was rather oily when we got to the bottom of the bowl).  This pork lard rice was a letdown, so skip this as the calories is not worth it! >_<

Even the normal Chinese Oil Rice @ RM4 was a little oilier than expected.  The flavour was ok, not outstanding but nothing to complain about either.  My only grouse was that it could have been served a bit warmer (not sure why the rice was barely lukewarm since it was just the start of the day).  When the rice was served, the server came with a tray filled with condiments/sauces of pickled green chillies, fresh chilli dip (on the spicier side) and a (cooked) sambal.  I took the latter two (and not the pickled green chillies) since I was not having noodles.  Both the chilli dips were alright except that the sambal seemed a bit of an odd pairing with roasted meats.

I ordered a plate of greens to go with our meaty meal of Stir-Fried String Beans with Minced Pork @ RM15.80 and it was expertly executed.  Other than the disappointment with the small serving size, the french beans were well wiltered, charred and soft and the minced pork was tasty.

It reminded me of a similarly popular dish in Esquire Kitchen which is still my gold standard when it comes to this dish.

Of course I had to end my meal with an order of Kopi-C Kosong (Cold) @ RM3.50 that my blogger friend has raved about countless times.  I've not had a cup of coffee for 6 months and decided to break my coffee fast with the one here.  It better be worth it, I said to myself! :D  Luckily, it was.  Perhaps, I can consider having kopi-c kosong once in a while (since it uses unsweetened evaporated milk, not as damaging as sugar since I find it difficult to drink kopi-o kosong without sugar, can only take it less sweet).  I say this with some conviction since my glucose reading was encouragingly within acceptableble range...even with a glass of coffee! ^_*

My Personal Opinion

I'm glad I finally came to try this roast duck that PH enjoys so much though my experience wasn't quite on a similar note as hers.  In the end, though their roast duck is the signature meat here (and it was certainly decent), I thought their siu yuk fared better.  But having said that, there's definitely better duck, siu yuk and char siew to be found elsewhere (and nearer to me).

Though prices of the roast duck seem fair (since duck is known to be expensive), I thought they were a little bit steeper based on the small portion size.  The food we ordered for the three of us (which cost more than RM80 for a simple meal of roasted meat rice) was clearly not enough to satisfy us.  My family didn't seem to enjoy the food as much as they were noticeably quiet throughout the meal...lol.

I guess when you come on a Sunday morning to find the place empty (including my husband's statement of "you mean the place that's always empty when I pass by") may be subtle clues that the food isn't quite on a stellar level (or maybe the steep prices played a part), otherwise flies will descend (good food places are always crowded no matter what time of the day...lol).  Not all is lost though as I did enjoy the coffee! ;)

I read that this place is run by twins (hence the name?) and they were formerly from the now-closed London Duck in Gurney Drive, Penang and an offshoot of Village Roast Duck in Bangsar (unconfirmed), the latter of which has a much higher Google rating (incidentally, their food photos do look a lot more tempting, especially the roasted meats, even the wantan mee, + I noticed that their roast duck is served with a sauce underneath unlike here)! @_@

Twins Signature Roast Duck

25G Jalan SS21/1A

Damansara Utama

47400 Petaling Jaya

Selangor

Tel: 016-716 3613