IntroPeking Duck House - Recommended
28 Mott St, New York 10013
At Pell St
Phone: (212) 227-1810
Porthos was craving some duck, so we metup some friends at the Peking Duck House in Chinatown. Great times hanging out, although the duck really wasn't that great there. Overall, I give the restaurant a 76/100
My Menu
1) Duck Soup **
2) Steamed Dumpling *
3) BBQ Beef App
4) Spring Roll
5) Peking Duck *
6) Fried Prawns w. Chili Sauce *
7) Crispy String Beans w. Minced Pork **
8) Fried Banana ---
Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way
1) Great way to start the meal. Great broth that really screams of duck. No duck meat inside but topped with nice soft tofu and spinach.
2) Your average chinese pork dumpling. Not great, but it was still tasty - relatively juicy and flavorful.
3) Tasted like uber dry beef jerky with caked on chinese 5 spice. Definitely not worth eating.
4) Your average spring roll - oily, crispy and average veggie filling.
5) The main event - peking duck. To eat, you fill this tortilla looking thing (aka lotus pancakes), get some crispy duck, top with julienned scallions and cucumbers, and top with sweet hoison sauce. It was decent here, but I've had this a lot and I'm pretty sure there's gotta be better places in the tri-state area. I think I'd like juicier and more flavorful duck, which we didn't get here. Usually, they serve the skin and meat separately, but here they cut the meat up and leave the skin on - no big complaint from me.
6) Pretty fun dish - but not authentic. Basically a deep fried shrimp (still juicy) and topped with a sweet chili sauce. Pretty fun and I may have actually liked this more than the duck.
7) Another fun dish. Crispy string beans topped with flavorful minced pork.
8) Definitely a what the f in a bad way dish. Banana was floured up and deep fried, but not drained at all so you got a buttload of oil in the mouth. Not a fun dessert to eat.
Overall Restaurant Experience (76/100)
- Food 7.5/10 – Duck is decent, but really not worth trekking out for. The other entrees actually seemed more fun to me.
- Service 6.0/10 – Same as most Chinese restaurants, which means pretty shitty. Took a while to get someone to take our order. When our order was taken, the food took a while to get out.
- Atmosphere 7.0/10 – Looks almost Japanese in decor with the lighting and walls. Very clean place for Chinatown, but nothing that special. Music is hilarious - like all love songs from the 80's and 90's. The crowd didn't have too many Chinese there - which is usually a bad sign for a Chinese restaurant. Place was mainly packed with large groups of 6+. We got there at 6:30pm on a Thursday and was seated at 7pm with no reservations...with some prodding and reminding on our part.
- Price 9.0/10 – A pretty good bargain. 4 people - $26.50 a head for everything above (1 whole duck, soup, 3 apps, 2 entrees, and shitty banana). Definitely worth the price and everyone was relatively full afterwards.
Not necessarily sure I would go back here, but if I was invited I would. Definitely need to find me a better joint for Peking duck.
2 comments:
Totally agree with your review, however I would have given it a 6/10 (and yes, I'm Chinese). Frankly the "pancakes" were not authentic when we ate there for my birthday. They were like soft Mexican tortillas out of a bag, instead of the traditional hand-rolled Chinese dough made with bits of lotus root and green onion to infuse flavour into the soft pancake. The place is a factory - which means the service is brisk and impersonal, the duck is unremarkable in flavour. When Chinese people have Peking duck, its all about the presentation, the service (i.e. slicing the duck at your table, and helping you assemble), and the quality. So, I'd say that this joint has economized on all of the above, making it less than average.
Ken - any recommendations for peking duck in the area?
Post a Comment