Peking Duck

Every now and then, I crave for Peking Duck. Most peking duck fans head straight for the roasted to a crisp skin of the duck. Unlike every other Peking Duck lover I know, my preference is for the thin flour pancake pastry , duck flesh sans skin and slivers of cucumber; opting to give up the skin of the duck to my other more appreciative skin dining companions.

Craving for peking duck, as i sometimes do; we went into DA HU Peking Duck chinese restaurant in Chinatown. They offer a standard duck banquet where you get four courses out of one duck.

Duck san choi bao

Duck chef showing off his slicing expertise at your table

Duck sliced ready to be wrapped as you please with the pancake, hoisin sauce, spring onion shavings. they did not offer any cucumber strips like they used to - or maybe they forgot and i had to ask for some. Anyhow, this duck was all 'tough, wobbly and soggy' - if i may describe duck this way. there was no visible attempt on roasting the duck skin to a crisp and fatty white bits wobbled in between the soggy skin and stiff yet overall wobbly duck flesh.

Duck Fried Rice - i personally like fried rice and will generally eat them when placed in front of mi regardless of quality. this one here was pretty sub standard but scoffed it down as it came with baby corn pieces and bean sprouts - i like the addition of bean sprouts in fried rice. (as opposed to bean sprouts in fried noodles - don't you think the texture and shape contrast with the soft pillows of rice?)

Duck carcass soup - duck leftover from the duck carved at your table supposedly goes into the boiling of this soup. they threw in some tofu and lettuce also.

This restaurant has sure gone downhill since my last visit a year or two ago. it is not somewhere i go for a gastronomic experience but rather an affordable place for a quick peking duck fix but i dare say i wouldn't be coming here again in the next 5 years regardless of how affordable it is.
There is a sign outside Da Hu Peking Duck restaurant claiming to have the best duck in town but please do not believe everything you see.


QUANJUDE - another peking duck restaurant in melbourne
As this place boasts of a history dating back to 1864 (Qing Dynasty), you receive a certificate citing the nutritional protein value of duck upon order of a whole roasted duck here. on this visit, it was the 115210692 numbered duck to be sacrificed for my dining pleasure.
The skin of the top most part of the duck was shaved off and offered to us as the "best part of the duck". I swallowed the oil/juice/grease oozing out as i crunched down on a piece.

waitress dressed in scary costume demonstrated how to wrap a peking duck pancake once the rest of the duck was sliced up by the slicer/chef next to our table.

i believe the duck in Quanjude is much better than Da Hu's but my Dad rated this place a 5 out of 10 and he advised for mi not to eat here again.

Hmmm... Flower Drum is still my favourite place for Peking Duck. mmmmm... gotta go dine there again soon... - mi!