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Peking Duck
90 George St., 613-860-0888, pekingduck.ca
Open: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. day by day
Costs: roast half-duck $48, roast duck $88; mains $18.99 to $65.99
Entry: restaurant is on second flooring, elevator out there
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Ottawa, it appears, has waited a really very long time for the Peking duck it deserves.
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Not solely did it take the just lately opened and unambiguously named Peking Duck greater than a 12 months to launch after indicators that introduced its impending arrival have been posted within the ByWard Market.
A search of this newspaper’s digital archives going again to 1985 discovered just some fleeting mentions of Peking duck in its restaurant critiques. And the one detailed account I discovered was removed from glowing.
In 1997, my quick predecessor wrote of the Peking duck on the now-defunct Fuliwah restaurant: “The duck pores and skin (was) crispy and salty and good in a bad-for-you approach. You’re meant to roll chunks of pores and skin and a chunk of scallion into a skinny pancake you’ve first smeared with hoisin sauce. Then you definitely lick the grease because it trickles down your wrists. That is adopted by a platter of duck bones you may choose away at. The bones have been topped with tofu, watercress and mushrooms. The subsequent course was a fairly wimpy duck soup… and at last got here a chow mein wherein the duck meat was fried with carrots, bean sprouts, inexperienced onions and mushrooms. This final dish was the success of the meal (which isn’t precisely excessive reward).”
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Hardly a euphoric endorsement for what should be one of many world’s nice roast poultry feasts.
Fortunately, this new restaurant on George Road, positioned on the second flooring of what was as soon as the Actual Sports activities Bar and Grill, helps to revive the honour of its titular dish. It additionally upholds the popularity of its model, which is in truth Quanjude, a Chinese language chain of Peking duck eating places that sprang from a progenitor in Beijing that opened in 1864.
The chain has grown to incorporate not solely a number of places in China but additionally outposts in Hong Kong, Lisbon, Tokyo, Toronto, Vancouver and now Ottawa, the place a terrific many Chinese language expats have settled lately, typically after attending post-secondary research in Canada. For them, Quanjude is a identified amount, all of the extra so as a result of in China, state banquets and receptions for overseas dignitaries and celebrities have been typically held at one of many chain’s places.
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I don’t know why the Ottawa restaurant has dropped the “Quanjude” from its title. However its menu, an imposing, hardbound, bilingual (Chinese language and English) ebook full of not solely lavish images but additionally tasting notes, proudly recounts the Quanjude story. Aside from its English lettering, the restaurant’s exterior clearly resembles the skin of the chain’s first Beijing location.
Whereas chosen Ottawa eating places have had Peking duck on the menu for many years, it’s truth a multi-course delicacy that requires experience, tools and planning within the kitchen. Even at Peking Duck, the entire roast duck (between $88 and $108) have to be ordered a day upfront together with the desk reservation.
That Peking duck right here may be ordered with a facet of caviar (as much as $110 for 30 grams of untamed Atlantic sturgeon caviar) denotes that this can be a place for indulging and spending. Nevertheless, the renovated, post-sports-bar premises, that are brightly lit and surrounded by a vivid pink ceiling and partitions, have been full of what seemed to be informal gatherings of households and mates, not dignitaries and celebrities, rolling duck meat and pores and skin of their pancakes.
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Inside of Peking Duck within the ByWard MarketLet me let you know what we didn’t order earlier than detailing what we did eat, because the sprawling menu right here presents many high-end Chinese language dishes drawing from completely different culinary types.
We didn’t have any of the soups, together with the expensive and contentious hen’s nest and shark’s fin soups. We didn’t have lobster or entire fish, pretty much as good as they seemed when the arrived at neighbouring, bigger tables. We handed on pigeon, eel and sea cucumber as a result of we didn’t need to lose our deal with duck. We skipped spicier dishes akin to kung pao rooster or shrimp or mapo tofu.
We did begin with duck offal, after asking for some signature appetizers that weren’t out there, we have been instructed, as a result of the restaurant was nonetheless in its tender opening part.
Whereas the promise of salty duck liver ($15.99) introduced foie gras to thoughts, the slow-cooked slices have been a little bit chalky and didn’t fulfill the menu’s promise of a “tender as gelatin” deal with. Higher have been the duck hearts ($25.99), which had savoury flavours and crisp-chewy textures that appealed.
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Then got here our first waves of Peking duck ($88), delivered after a server identified to us that on the opposite facet of the eating room, a chef was carving our hen. (In some Peking duck eating places, carvings are accomplished tableside and we did miss that demonstration right here.)
Probably the most crisp duck pores and skin, taken from the hen’s chest, got here first, with sugar on the facet that we have been instructed was for dipping. Then got here a pair of ceramic geese, loaded with extra pores and skin and meat, which we positioned in our supple, steamed pancakes and garnished with scallions and sauce earlier than we dug in. Whereas I had no complaints, different at my desk discovered the duck a contact dry, however not dishearteningly so.
Three different dishes proved to be good selections. Sauteed pea shoots with king oyster mushroom slices ($25.99) have been contemporary and lip-smackingly savoury. A stew of tofu with crab roe ($26.99) was gentle and delicate however very tasty simply the identical. Plump, tender prawns with crisp asparagus and truffle paste ($36.99) have been umami-rich treats.
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Duck broth, which our menu instructed us could be milk-white and wealthy, was our savoury end. It was rather less duck-y than anticipated, however nonetheless a satisfying conclusion.
For dessert, golden duckling-shaped pastries ($21.99) full of date paste have been ordered largely for there cuteness and Instagram-ability. That stated, they tasted higher than mere novelties.
Duck pastries with date filling.
General, I assumed the expertise right here with Peking duck at its core was fairly good. Whereas I’ve had arguably higher Peking duck in Vancouver and New York, I additionally paid considerably extra for these birds.
Even when you need to save up a bit first, I’d advocate this restaurant each for its specialty and its different choices. Not solely has superior Peking duck been sluggish to return to Ottawa, the identical may be stated of Chinese language tremendous eating. Peking Duck could also be a series outpost, but it surely ticks off each of those packing containers.
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