Glenn C.
Yelp
Full 6K character review here- https://pastebin.com/4xZezdWB
Opened in the former La Grenouille location, and retaining the classic French aesthetic, except for the addition of baijiu bottles as table lamps, this is a unique new Chinese restaurant specializing in Peking Duck. They have the same name and owners as the 1 Michelin Star location in Vancouver, and a few of us went a couple of days ago to try their $299 combo for 4 (+ tax/tip.) The staff, in general, was friendly and professional, with William as our main server.
I wasn't in the mood for liquor, so instead, I went with one of their nice tea selections and ordered their Da Hong Pao, or Big Red Robe, a fancy but delicious oolong tea, for $8. The servers will come around to inspect the cup of hot water and pour more, which is appreciated for good-quality tea like this, as later steeps tend to be more flavorful. I also tried someone's White Tea ($7,) and someone's Aged Pu-erh ($8.)
The combo started with two starters. The first dish is listed online as Okra and Arctic Surf Clam with Zesty Dressing, but I believe it was made from jellyfish, judging from the texture, with the dish also having cucumber and definitely not okra. Outside of this, the dish had a crunchy and slightly chewy texture, though I found it a tiny bit sweet. It was pretty good, though a bit hard to split for four.
I heavily preferred the other appetizer, the Shanghai Smoked Fish with Plum Sauce, which also arrived smoking with some sesame seeds as well. I usually find this dish in Shanghainese spots to be a bit bony, with the fish (usually carp) either being too sweet or a bit too jerky-like, but this was perfect, being slightly hard but not too much so, with a pleasant fishiness, and the texture had a bit of chew but was soft otherwise. This was my favorite bite of the evening.
Next was the Quanjude Signature Duck Soup, which each of us had a cup of. The broth was light, tasting like it had a lot of collagen, and there was a mix of vegetables, including homemade tofu, scallions, and two types of seaweed. The soup was pretty good, though I wish there were some pieces of duck in there, similar to other restaurants such as Golden Wu-ish and even cheaper places such as Hui on the UES.
The first main dish was, of course, their Quanjude Signature Beijing Duck. They give people first individual accouterments to pair with the duck, such as scallions, cucumber, and their own sauce, which is appreciated. The duck was brought out and carved at the table, with the skin first being cut into eight thin pieces, which were paired with sugar, just like at some other fancier duck spot. While there were not many pieces, the skin was nice and crispy. The tender and meaty duck was individually sliced onto two different plates, with most of the pieces having the same thickness. While artful, I would have preferred more varied slices as the dish lacked texture compared to some other Peking ducks. My favorite piece was one of the few that combined both meat and skin. The pancakes otherwise had a good texture. Combined with the rest of the meat not being served, such as the legs or otherwise, I found it overall to be a good quality duck, but not my favorite, with a definite preference towards Jiang Nan, Juqi, and Golden Wu-ish.
There were also a few other main dishes. The Beijing Style Kung Pao Tiger Prawns was artfully presented with some edible flowers, with the fry being exceptionally light. The dish otherwise had the usual peanuts as well as a good amount of chili, which made it spicy but not too much so, with this being my other favorite of the main dishes.
The Steamed Yellow Croaker with Yellow Chili and Liquor was unique and pretty tasty. The whole imported fish was sliced into several pieces and topped with yellow peppers, which had a mildly spicy and pickled flavor. The fish itself was meaty, though a few of the other people said it was a bit muddy with the baiju-based sauce on the bottom being mildly sweet and savory.
Another main cooked with baiju (apparently) was the Seasonal Vegetables with Yanghe M6. The seasonal vegetables were pea shoots/dau miu, and the portion was ample, with the dish having the typical crunch, though not as much garlic as some other places.
The last main, which was just OK, was the Stir-Fried Vermicelli with Crab Roe. Their description sounded better than it tasted, with the server mentioning king crab and flying fish roe. The roe added some crunch, but the crab wasn't really noticeable. It was mildly sweet but a bit bland otherwise.
The remaining course was the dessert listed as Imperial Style Beijing Pastry Duo, where we each got our own portions of two small pastries, both of which contained red bean. My preferred one had a sticky rice/mochi outside, which had a pleasant texture and a light sweetness. There was also an alright one with lotus paste as the base, which was a tad grainy.
It was mainly worth it, but had a bit too many faults- Low 4.
