Peking Duck

Since R&B was closed last night, I went to have dinner with another friend at Peking Duck. Everything was great but a tad expensive. The place was packed, with over half of the customers non-Chinese--a bit surprising.

I asked the owner to surprise us with great dishes, after turning down his suggestion of ordering half a duck. We got two cold appetizers, the first was marinated wheat gluten...+READ Since R&B was closed last night, I went to have dinner with another friend at Peking Duck. Everything was great but a tad expensive. The place was packed, with over half of the customers non-Chinese--a bit surprising.

I asked the owner to surprise us with great dishes, after turning down his suggestion of ordering half a duck. We got two cold appetizers, the first was marinated wheat gluten with peanuts and fungus, and the second was deboned duck web with celery. Both tasted great, but I was a bit shocked at the end that each cost $8, especially for the wheat gluten.

The owner suggested the pea shoot soup with crab meat, something I've tried many times in their old location, always with satisfaction.

We then got sauteed string beans that had a little kick, and a deep-fried beef short rib dish with "gold sand" (fried garlic). There was a long wait at this point between the courses, but oh well the restaurant was packed...

I wasn't full at this point, and so I ordered their signature egg white dish Dragon & Phoenix.. Interestingly there was no longer any ham in this dish, and there were fewer shrimps--only five, I counted. Kinda stingy for a $15 dish.

The free dessert was your typical red bean soup. I usually applaud restaurants for their restraint of sugar in desserts, but this one really cried out for just a bit more sweetness.

The good news was they didn't charge us corkage for the sake we brought. The bad news was they charged $1.50 for each (albeit high-quality) bowl of rice. The bill came to $68 plus tip and tax. There were no leftovers. I thought that was just too expensive, especially for a Chinese meal with little seafood. Quality of the dishes throughout was high though.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (16 Replies) (by vincentlo, created December 26, 2010)