Man Wah @ Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong (Da Dong Beijing Roast Duck)

My experience at Da Dong Roast Duck in Beijing was rather disappointing. Presentation seemed to have been the priority over food quality at the outlet I visited. It wasn't cheap either in relative terms but just did not live up to the expectation or what I have been told. That was six months ago. Last Friday I was kindly invited by Mandarin Oriental along with fellow foodies Patricia from 素顏天使 (Sù Yán Tiān Shǐ), @EdenaLow, @yummymummyasia, @mochachocolata and Wilson from WOM to try the dishes of Da Dong once again. Mandarin Oriental has invited the Da Dong team from Beijing to host meals at the hotel's Man Wah Restaurant during the week of 11 - 17 April 2011. Was it better than my previous experience? Definitely but to be fair, the meal I had was somewhat tailored for us so do treat this as a preview of what's on the menu. I do hope the Da Dong team can proudly depart knowing that simple elegant presentation they did for their Mandarin Oriental visit trump extravagance back home by miles.

Beijing Kitchen 滿堂彩 (Macau)

After my recent visit to Beijing Kitchen (滿堂彩) at Grand Hyatt Macau, it marked the end of my Hyatt's Peking Duck journey at three distinct locations across the Greater China region, namely, Sha Tin 18 (沙田18) at Hyatt Regency Hong Kong as well as Made in China (长安壹号) at Grand Hyatt Beijing. All 3 restaurants specializes in what we commonly known as Beijing cuisine 京菜 which is heavily influenced by Shandong cuisine 魯菜, the technically correct reference as to one of the Chinese Four or even Eight Regional Cuisines. I will leave this topic to a future post, for the time being I will focus on Peking duck. So in addition to the same cuisine specialization, all the 3 restaurants of different geographic locations have almost the SAME decor, same utensils and the identical semi-open kitchen design. Talk about uniformity and consistency ... except on the services aspects which I will shamelessly write about in details because I had two cups of coffee at 9pm and I am pretty awake now at 3:10am!

Da Dong Roast Duck 大董烤鸭店 (Beijing)

I said it once and I will say it again, I never get tired of Peking Duck! During my 3 days stay in Bejing over the National Day long weekend, we had more than one meal of Peking Duck of course, it was only fair to try as many as possible, my dear stomach told me. So after my Made in China Peking duck meal, I told myself it was hard to find one to top that and I was right. The visit to Da Dong Roast Duck 大董烤鸭店 for its famous Peking duck was rather disappointing, not just the Duck for in general. It was quite tiring too and let me tell you why in a bit. When you enter this branch, the very first thing you will see is a huge empty space in the middle of the lobby, like a stage with ovens on each 4 corners and raw ducks hanging in the center. Chefs walking back and forth holding a trident looking thing with the duck at the tip, in and out the ovens they shove the duck in to roast it. It was like a show ... but I did not recall coming here for a show, I came for the food the last I remembered. With is contemporary decor, I was quite sure they should put chairs around the stage so interested diners can sit and watch.  

Made In China 长安一号餐厅 (Beijing)

I came across an article somewhere talking about Peking Duck, particularly Sha Tin 18's Peking Duck inside Hyatt Regency Hong Kong. It reminds me of a much overdue review of my Beijing trip during early Oct 2010. Yes, it was a very crowded weekend due to China's National Day weekend but for the sake of gastronomic adventures and to get away from Hong Kong, such short trip was much needed!! Instead of going reporting my meal sequentially, let me jump the queue to the Peking Duck meal at Made in China  长安一号餐厅 in side Grand Hyatt Beijing which seriously reassemble that of Sha Tin 18 both in terms of decor and offerings. Sisters shops if you ask me!

Sha Tin 18

So another Peking duck place, what's so special about it? What's with the buzz on this hotel restaurant located in the middle of ... hummm .... Sha Tin / Tai Wai right beside The Chinese University of Hong Kong? I was here to find out. We actually walked in without a booking at around 9pm and soon after we were seated we asked for the whole Peking duck for the three of us. We were kindly informed that since we did not book in advance, longer wait time was required to prepare the duck. How long? Well, they said 1 hour but we got our duck within 20 mins, so what a larger buffer time they imposed to manage diner's expectation!

Spring Deer 鹿鳴春飯店

2 weeks or 14 days or half a month ... that is how long most people have to book in advance in to dine here. Was it worth the 2 weeks wait? Perhaps 3 - 4 days would be more reasonable in my opinion. Anyways, this is one of the few remaining old-school Chinese restaurants in town and it is famous for its Peking Duck. It is also one of the favorites among tourists as well because you will find it being recommended in many travel books / guides. Now here is the million dollar question, if it requires weeks in advance booking, exactly when did the many tourists presence on this particular evening book their table? (did the guide book placed on their tables recommended them to book before they departure from their homeland?) hummm ... I should have asked ...

Based on the decor, I suspected that it remained pretty much the same over the last 2 (or 3) decades. We arrived around 8:30pm and it was full house with staff rushing back and forth. Dinner this evening was in celebration of my friend's birthday and he did most of the ordering as well so I was there to enjoy. Worth noting that most of the dishes come in 3 different sizes, Small - Med - Large. As mentioned in my SML post, the idea of offering different dish size was nothing new, it was there long before I was even born.

The first dish to arrive was the Saute Sliced Mutton with Spring Onion. It looked quite plain and unexciting but the flavors were rich and I ordered some rice immediately!

Saute Pig's Windpipe with Coriander was the next dish. Windpipe? Yes, this was the first time I tried it and I love it! The texture was chewy yet bouncy, toothy and carry a certain "bite" to it. Again I am in lost of words when describing the texture of "爽" in Chinese. Anyhow, with the strong flavors of coriander, the dish was quite a refreshing starter.

Of course we ordered the Peking Duck and here they offer Peking Duck - 3 Ways! The first was the traditional way of sliced skin with Chinese pancakes. It was fun watching the chef preparing our Peking duck!

The duck slices here included quite a large portion of meat and the duck was quite fatty as you can see from the fatty layer in between. It was alright, the skin was not overly crisp as expected but the meat was quite tender indeed. Flavor was fair but no surprises.

As mentioned before in my Dong Lai Shun post, one of the key factors for a good Peking duck (at least in my own opinion) is the pancake. There are quite a few style of pancakes and the one being offered here was the really thick one which I am not a big fan of. So thick that I thought I was having a pita wrap!

The Peking Duck 2nd dish was the common Lettuce Wrap with Minced Duck. Why did I focus on the lettuce? Because I was too lazy to move the dishes around for the picture. It was alright, no surprises to be honest.

The Peking Duck 3rd dish was the surprising dish or should I say soup. The remaining duck was chopped into pieces to make this soup. Not that there were much duck flavor to the soup but it was quite comforting to drink.

The simple pea sprouts in broth dish was good, not overly salty like many would prepare them.

Sizzling Shad was something new to me as well. Shad is a very rare breed apparently and is considered a delicacy in many of the coastal cities in China. One of the unique characteristics of the Shad is ....

... believe it or not, their bones and the sheer amount of them!! Every part of the Shad consisted this trident like bones and one had to be VERY careful when eating it. Did I mention there were just so many bones everywhere??? Flavor wise it was great, the sauce carried hints of acidity and went really well with the tender meat as well. Once again, be very careful!

Something I need to mention at this point: (1) The pacing of the dishes were quite ... fast, many dishes arrived at once and the whole table was full of food that we are rushing to finish! (2) When getting the bill, the server announced the amount of the receipt out loud as he approaches the table ... I really dislike this approach but have to take into account that it is one of the common practices of old-school restos in Hong Kong; but still, I hope they would change this habit.

Would I come back for their Peking duck? yes but only if I can book a table 3 days in advance. A 2 weeks advance booking for their Peking Duck might not worth the wait especially when I often have sudden cravings for Peking Duck.

Likes:

• Saute Pig's Windpipe with Coriander - love the bouncy, toothy texture!
  
• Sizzling Shad - while it consisted of way too many trident like bones, the sauce was delicious with the meat.

Dislikes:

• Pacing of dishes were quite ... fast
• Chinese pancakes for Peking Duck was too thick!

Avg Spending: HKD 200 - 300 per person

Spring Deer 鹿鳴春飯店
1/F, 42 Mody Road, TST
Tel: 2366 4012


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Dong Lai Shun 東來順 (Revisited)

When I spend my hard earned cash on a meal, especially a meal within a hotel establishment, I do expect the service to be of certain standard. Here at Royal Garden's Dong Lai Shun 東來順, the service of the waitstaff was great, very attentive, friendly and polite. However, what I got pissed off by was the serving speed of the food! Most of the main dishes arrived only minutes after our appetizers and even after repeated request the dishes kept on coming one after another while were were still trying to finish out first dish!!!! I felt like being rushed, no matter how polite and friend the waitstaff was, I wasn't smile at all! I feel bad for the waitstaff because I understand that there wasn't much he can do but to relay the message to the kitchen; however I find the same problem in many Chinese restaurants, even many upscale ones as well. It seemed to be a common traditional with Chinese restaurants and I wonder if the food / kitchen management style can ever be changed with respect to pacing of dishes, I truly wonder.

This meal was one of my birthday meals with relatives and I picked this place because I had the craving for Peking duck all the time! I did most of the ordering and picked my favorites as well. The dinner started with the Mashed Broad Bean & Salty Egg Yolk Rolled with Bean Curd which I ordered during my last visit here as well. The minced bean paste and egg yolk carried a contrasting flavors while their texture remained soft and mushy within the outer layer of bean curd. Interesting as always.

The Deep Fried Bean Curd (aka Veggie Duck) is a very common dish but I like it as always. While the layers were crunchy, the flavors were a bit off, not just the bean curd but the mushroom mixture inside.

Jelly Fish Tossed with Scallion, I love these stuff particular its texture. Perfect for starters to get your chewing going.

The presentation was wonderful. The Tea Leaf Smoked Duck Eggs were perfect in terms of texture but flavor wise was a bit off this time, weak smokey flavors.

Every now and then my craving for Roasted Peking Duck would kick in and the best way to get rid of such craving would be to have it, simple as that! Self-Control? Ah well, just thrown it out the window. The Peking duck here is one of their famous dishes and it looked promising the moment it was served.

However, the skin was not as crisp as it looked and the sliced pieces were rather oily / fattening. Nonetheless I was still quite happy with it.

Another important factor for a good Peking duck is the pancake. Too thick it will be like eating bread and too think it will break while eating, causing the sauce to be all over your hand. The pancakes here were fairly well made, not too thick and with the right elasticity.

Really up to you as to how you like to eat it. :)

The Peking duck I ordered came with two serving styles, after the skins were sliced, the rest of the meat would be diced up / minced and then stir-fried to be served with some lettuce wraps. Humm ... it was overly salty even with the lettuce!

The Baked Ox-tail with Black Vinegar was a pleasant surprise. The sauce was not overly sour with the black vinegar with traces of sweetness to it. It was rich in flavor but was a good combination with the soft / mushy meat of the Ox-tail. Thumbs up!

Rather disappointing Xiao long bao, dry and without any meat juice instead the overly elastic outer skin.

No surprises with the sauteed pea sprouts.

The pan-fried pork bun looked more like a dessert bun. Dough was too thick and meat was dry. Disappointing.

This pot of Boiled vegetable rice with air dried duck in Clay pot arrived like 15 mins after we ordered so I had to request it to be covered and set aside until the RIGHT TIME! Perhaps it was the delay in consuming and reheating the rice that made it rather dry. It was still alright I guess. The air dried duck was chewy (due to it being preserved) and carried the right level of saltiness as well. Worth a try.

I forgot what was the name of this dessert but obvious it has to do with pineapple just from the look of it. However, it was rather light in flavors and I didn't like the texture: overly chewy and sticky.

Likes:

• Tea Leaf Smoked Duck Eggs - although weak in smoked flavors, the texture was just right.
• Baked Ox-tail with Black Vinegar - wonder sauce and meat texture was soft and mushy. Thumbs up!

Dislikes:

• Dishes being served too quickly!
• Xiao long bao - too dry and skin overly elastic!
• pan-fried pork bun - dough too thick and meat too dry

Avg Spending: HKD 200 - 300 per person

Dong Lai Shun 東來順
LG, The Royal Garden,
69 Mody Road, TST, KLN
Tel: 2733 2020


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Peking Garden @ TST

In celebration of my friend's birthday, the whole group decided to head to Peking Garden @ TST before heading to Salon de Ning for a further celebration. Booked a week in advance and pre-ordered a few special items just in case they are sold out. This particular outlet of Peking Garden is one of the busiest in Hong Kong (especially with tourists) and it was almost full house on this Friday night.

(1) Steamed Pork Dumpling with Supreme Soup (aka Xiao Long Bao)
Xiao Long Bao is like a standard item to order here or at other Shanghainese place. I seriously think the quality of this place has dropped over the years or maybe it is due to the busy hours. However, as I mentioned before, consistency is a key element for any good restaurant and maintain the quality even during busy hour is part of the formula. The xiao long bao being served had a very thick dumpling skin and there was so little soup / juice inside it as well. I think it is likely due to the fact that it has been placed on the steamer to keep warm since early evening since this is such a common items that they might as well pre-cook them.



(2) Quick fried shredded Eel
The serving order was not the most proper but I am okay with it since I am in a relatively good mood and I understand that kitchen management is not easy at all especially during busy hours. As for the quality of this dish, I think it was pretty good, the eel was relatively chewy and the flavors or the sauce was not too rich. If I am not a slight diet right now, I would have ordered some rice or plain steam bun to go with this dish. Not bad at all.



(3) Peking Duck
Another must order/standard item. After a very brief showing of the duck by the staff, it was being sliced somewhere in the far corner. Compared with the last few visits at this place and its Peking duck, the quality tonight was above average. The skin remained relatively crispy throughout rather than being soaky and chewy the last time I tried. However, the dough wraps were a bit too dried and thick as always. Am I asking for too much? hummm ....

(4) Beggar's Chicken (aka Wealthy Chicken)
This was my second time trying this special item, the first time was at Hong Zhou Restaurant. If I were to compared two, I prefer the one at Hong Zhou Restaurant for sure. The chicken being served here was very dry; even the dark meat portion! It was fun watching my friend crack it open with the silver hammer, but the most important is the quality of the chicken inside! Disappointing indeed.



(5) Pan-fried Bean Curd with Shrimp Roe
This dish reminded me of the Agedashi Tofu from Japanese restaurant but with thicker and more salty sauce. It was alright, nothing special about it, very ordinary.

(6) Braised Sea Cucumber with Crispy Rice
I did not try any of this dish because by the time I wanted to try, all of the crispy rice cakes were gone while plenty of the soup / dipping sauce remained. I guess I should have ordered an extra plate of rice cakes or maybe the restaurant should provide more from now on.

(7) Deep Fried Mandarin Fish with Black Vinegar Sauce

Although the dish name refers to black vinegar sauce, we can actually switch the the sweet and sour orange color sauce as an option. We picked to stay with the original sauce. It was very nice. The outer layer of the deep fried fish was very crispy and not too heavy on the batter. The fish meat inside was tender and silky smooth; the deep frying time was just right in my opinion. Together with the slightly sour sauce, it was very appetizing. (but it came near the end of the menu, not a good thing to have an appetizing feeling right?)



(8) Minced Peking duck meat with lettuce cups
The remaining meat from the Peking duck was shredded / minced and cooked into this dish. However, it was extremely salty and there seemed to be no traces of the meat anywhere?? Either the meat was minced very fine (which I doubt) or there were just little meat remained after the slicing (which I doubt again) or they simply used very little of the meat that remained. In any case, it was a very disappointing dish, very disappointing.

Likes:

• Quick fried shredded Eel - very nicely done.
• Deep Fried Mandarin Fish with Black Vinegar Sauce - not much of presentation but very well prepared in general

Dislikes:

• Minced Peking duck meat with lettuce cups - little traces of meat and extremely salty even with the lettuce cups.
• Beggar's Chicken (aka Wealthy Chicken) - meat too dry !
• Xiao Long Bao - skin / outer dough layer too thick and lack of meat juicy / soup inside.

Avg Spending: HKD 200 - 300 per person

Peking Garden Restaurant
3/F, Star House,
3 Salisbury Road, TST
Tel: 2735 8211