Header photo credit: Upstart Kitchen
The struggle is so real when eating a Peking duck pancake – meat to cucumber ratio, how many slivers of spring onion and how much sweet bean sauce to add, the best folding method (burrito tuck, anyone?), with mad concentration needed in order to ensure it doesn’t fall apart on your plate… Practise, gastronauts, makes perfect.
Here are five restaurants where you can refine your Peking duck-wrapping skills:
1. American Restaurant (closed June 2018)
Straight off the bat, American Restaurant has a misleading name. From its bare, minimalistic interior to the waiters who just might have worked here more years than you’ve been alive, there is nothing American about American Restaurant. But the Peking duck here is pretty legit – thinly sliced and roasted to perfection, American Restaurant has long been a go-to place for this Beijing delicacy.
20 Lockhart Road , Wanchai, 2527 1000
2. Spring Deer
Located on the first floor of a nondescript building and above a bunch of old-school tailors in Tsim Sha Tsui is Spring Deer. The Peking duck is consistently good and as authentic as it gets with its juicy meat and crisp, textured skin. Again, this spot has a bizarre name that bears no relevance to the cuisine on offer – no deer are harmed in the making of your duck, perhaps establishing that a Peking duck meal can be both highly delicious and highly confusing.
1/F, 42 Mody Road, TST East, 2366 4012/5839
3. Peking Garden
With not two, not three, but seven locations around Hong Kong, it’s safe to say you’re never too far away from nursing that Peking duck craving at Peking Garden. This elegant restaurant is a great choice owing to its more relaxed environment (and higher likelihood of English-speaking waiters) for tourists and those new to the art of Peking duck.
Branches around town; click here for locations
4. Mott 32
Although primarily a Cantonese restaurant, Mott 32 specialises in signature Beijing dishes such as Peking duck, with its own contemporary take on the bird. Here, the Peking duck is applewood roasted and served up on three different plates: one that’s just the skin, one of meat and one that is a combination of the two. Mott 32 is one of the more expensive options about, but the dining experience, complemented by a glam interior of tastefully selected Chinese paintings and silkscreen walls, is far superior to many other Peking duck restaurants around town.
Basement, Standard Chartered Building, 4–4A Des Voeux Road Central, Central, 2885 8688, reservations@mott32.com
5. Sha Tin 18
It may be a bit out of the way, but Sha Tin 18 is very much worth the trek for what many argue to be the best Peking duck in town. Nestled on the fourth floor of the Hyatt Regency hotel, the Peking duck here is served first with a sprinkle of sugar, second with garlic and ginger and finally sliced to enjoy with your pancakes. Sha Tin 18 is the priciest option of them all, but its service and five-star ambience make the experience truly unbeatable.
4/F, Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, 18 Chak Cheung Street, Sha Tin, 3723 1234, book online
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