Anju Ade
If you get bored with Sundanese, Japanese or Western food which you think is the same, you can stop by a shop in downtown Bandung, precisely on Jl. Semar No. 30, Sand Kaliki.
Here you can taste typical Chinese food, but not the common Chinese food that we are used to.
This shop sells authentic Szechwan food and drinks which are quite rare to find in the city of Bandung. The name of the shop is Wanmin Shop. Once you eat here, you will surely find new flavors that you may have never tasted before at existing Chinese food restaurants.
Wanmin shop
The shop which is located around this residential complex has a simple facade, like the houses on either side.
There’s nothing special, but when you come here, you can immediately guess that the house is a diner considering the benches and tables that are neatly placed in the yard.
Upon entering, a lady kindly greeted us and asked how many people would be eating to get our seats ready.
After that a large enough menu board was handed over so we could have a look first. Since the name of the food is not familiar, we also ask for help choosing a recommendation menu.
Gercep, the woman who is the cousin of the shop owner, helps choose food. While choosing the menu, we asked why this place was named Wanmin shop?
It turns out that they were inspired by a restaurant in the Gensin Impact game that has the same name, namely the Wanmin Restaurant.
In the plot of the game, the Wanmin shop or restaurant is a small place that sells simple food, ingredients and recipes.
It is located in Liyue Harbor and is owned by Chef Mao, the father of Xian Ling. Wanmin shop itself has been established since November 2022 and has started to enter FYP TikTok.
Recommendations Menu
At Wanmin Shop itself, there are various menus of Sichuan specialties, but we chose the recommended menu here, such as Niu Rou Mian or Beef Noodles, Lazi Ji or Chilli Fried Chicken, Suan La Mian or Spicy Sour Noodles, Gyoza, stir-fried coriander beef, and Wanmin Feng Zhua or Wanmin Chicken Feet.
They serve the food so fast, that the customers don’t have long to wait for the food.
The first dish to arrive was the Niu Rou Mian. As soon as Kelluyuran tasted the broth first, the strong spice flavor immediately burst out, the noodle soup was so fragrant and the noodles were soft.
The taste is not familiar but this is what makes Niu Rou Mian delicious, served warm with a few slices of beef which is also soft and a sprinkling of coriander leaves. It is very good to eat when it rains because it makes the body feel warm. Somehow, this menu has a healthy taste.
The second dish is, Suan La Mian. Eleven-twelve with the Niu Rou Mian menu, this one menu is a noodle dish with a spicy and sour sauce.
For those of you who like sour-spicy flavors, you will definitely like this menu. Served with thick chunks of chicken and a sprinkling of sesame and peanuts.
Both Niu Rou Mian and Suan La Mian are served with chunks of mustard greens which are fresh and crunchy when eaten.
Oh yes! The two noodles have a choice of noodles that you can request, from curly and straight noodles to noodles made from processed sweet potatoes; the shape is exactly the same as glass noodles (vermicelli) which are slightly thick.
The third menu we ate was stir-fried coriander beef, it was tasty and a little sour. The portion can be shared with friends because it’s quite a lot. The sliced meat is soft so it’s not tough or hard to eat. This menu is suitable to be eaten with white rice, considering that this menu is practically a side dish menu.
The side dish menu of the Wanmin Shop, which I ordered, also has Lazi Ji. This menu is a simple chili fried chicken. The filling contains chunks of fried chicken which are super crispy and cooked together with chunks of authentic Sichuan dried chilies which are quite spicy.
Must be eaten with rice! It can also be used as a snack, but it doesn’t taste too good.
For the next menu, there are Gyoza and Wanmin Feng Zhua. The gyoza are wrapped in green skin filled with chicken and eaten with soy sauce and coriander leaves.
One serving of Gyoza is served as many as 8 pieces. Usually this menu is eaten as a starter, but we eat it after eating the main menu.
As for the Wanmin Feng Zhua or Wanmin Chicken Feet menu, the taste is not much different from the chicken feet that you like on the dim sum menu or angsio claw. Savory and sweet.
1 portion of this menu is served as many as 5-6 chicken legs with fat sizes. I really enjoy eating this menu. Oh yeah, almost the entire menu here uses coriander leaves.
It was probably used because of the rich benefits of coriander leaves. Such as overcoming digestive problems, maintaining the quality of heart health, lowering blood sugar levels so that they are able to fight free radicals.
Isn’t it surprising that Gathering says that the taste of the entire menu here is healthy? Most importantly, the food and drinks here are halal, guys!
Tea
It’s incomplete if you eat the Chinese menu but the drinks are fusion like juice, cola or other flavored drinks.
Therefore Kedai Wanmin provides a menu of drinks from various teas such as Lapsang Souchong, Long Jing, Oolong, Long Zhu, Jin Jun Mei and Yei Zhen. Quite a lot of choices right?
If you order one of the many teas above, you can request for how many cups, because 1 portion of tea is served quite a lot, aka one thermos, so you don’t have to waste any more money to buy different drinks. Just 1 portion for sharing.
The way of serving it is quite unique, when our tea menu comes, the waiter will first explain how to drink tea properly.
Just like enjoying the Gong Fu Cha ceremony, the maid will start rinsing the tea glass first, pouring new tea and brewing it very well. Wow, it’s fun to see it.
How much do you have to spend?
Eating at Kedai Wanmin can be considered affordable, food choices start from Rp. 25,000 to above Rp. 50,000.
As for tea drinks with sharing portions, we only need to spend IDR 15,000. Cheap isn’t it? And luckily one serving of food here is really enough to make us full.
Payment at the Wanmin Shop can use QR, debit and transfer, so you don’t have to bother carrying lots of cash!
So, to come here, Wanmin Shop is open every day from 10 am to 9 pm! It’s not too far from Istana Plaza too so after eating here you can continue sightseeing.
So, for those of you who want to try a new taste of Chinese food, stopping by Kedai Wanmin is the right choice. Besides the menu that was tried above, there are still many other menus. Even when he stopped by here, the owner of the Wanmin Shop said there would be another new menu to follow.
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