Mooncake Festival, Bidor, Malaysia

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, or more commonly named in Malaysia as Mooncake Festival - confirmed again that I'm in the right country when the nation recognizes that food is central to celebration and names it so. It is all about the mooncakes and one of the best places to get them in Malaysia, according to my local sources, is at Pun Chun Chicken Biscuits & Restaurant in Bidor. They have their very own goodie factory and KL foodies are willing to take the 1 1/2 hour trip to stock up on their specialities. Pun Chun is known for ginger and oyster mooncakes which are hard to come across in other parts of the country. A small family business, using traditional recipes and with over 70 years of experience, I can't imagine a better place from which to source these dense rich treats. 

Pun Chun Chicken Biscuits & Restaurant
38-40 Jalan Besar
Bidor
35500 Perak
Malaysia
+605 4341 554
+605 4341 562

Pun Chun Chicken Biscuits & Restaurant, Bidor, Malaysia

Pun Chun Chicken Biscuits & Restaurant is a famous local rest stop for travelers on their way to Pankor Island, Cameron Highlands and Ipoh. Take the Bidor exit off the highway and you'll find Pun Chun on the right hand side as you enter the small town of Bidor. Park where you can, but be forewarned of the weird parking system whereby you purchase a ticket resembling a scratchie lotto from a local business to stick on your dash board. It's best to ask a local to help you scratch the right boxes to show the day's date and time of parking. The ladies working at Pun Chun are very sweet and friendly and obviously take pride in the family business which has been in operation for over 70 years. The restaurant is famous for duck noodles and wonton dumplings. The yam buns filled with pork are delicious snacks with a cold drink and their specially made biscuits are an ideal takeaway purchase to get you through the rest of your road trip.  The biscuits are made in their own factory not far from the restaurant.  If you call ahead of time there is even a possibility of arranging a look around the factory.  Pun Chun Chicken Biscuits in the traditional style are filled with pork and taste sweet, savoury and chewy all at the same time.  The new style cookies are thin and crunchy. Something a little more familiar to Western taste buds are the Shat Kek Ma - caramel biscuits - they look like cornflakes mixed with caramel sauce and taste just as they sound.  You can sample some biscuits before you buy - but be careful - the more you sample - the more you are likely to buy. :-)

Pun Chun Chicken Biscuits & Restaurant
38-40 Jalan Besar
Bidor
35500 Perak
Malaysia
+605 4341 554
+605 4341 562