A Cartier
Google
In the heart of Chinatown mayhem, Peoples eatery sticks out and yet fits in with it's surroundings. A chic black minimalist entry gives way to a long bar and then a smaller modern dining area. Wooden mosaics creates a warmth to the area and keeps it from being too sterile. In most downtown restaurants, the bathroom is downstairs... just a warning to anyone average height or taller, the stairs down is a treacherous gauntlet and this is coming from a shorty. One unfortunate drawback of having the great open window in the front... all the fruit flies from Chinatown's groceries make its way here eventually.
Service here stands out among its peers... not only was our server was attentive, warm, and really knowledgeable about the menu, we had two other servers in addition to the manager pop by our table to ask how the food is and see if anything else was needed. I dont think I've had some many people interested in knowing how our experience was. Service is definitely a 5 star.
General Tso Fu - Savoury and spicy crispy shells covering custardy smooth tofu. This was an interesting take of the North American General Tso Chicken. This was less sweet than most places and had a nice strong kick from the dried chillis. It also had a bit of salty pungent hit from fermented black beans. I really enjoyed this appetizer and recommend it! I know black beans is usually very salty but if they could have taken it down a notch, it would be perfect. This is the perfect way to breakdown any eye rolls you get from carnivores when you say tofu. A must get! 4.5/5
Butter Lamb Croquettes - Another crunchy app but this time with a lot of tender shredded lamb encased in a crunchy batter. The addition of the sweet chutney & yogurt is a nice compliment to the stronger curried lamb. The lamb had a mild gamey flavour to let you know you're not just eating a plain old chicken. A true carnivore would like this app. A near perfect app... I enjoyed it and think it could have taken a bit more spice for curry. 4.5/5
HDB salad - An interesting and fun salad ... it comes with many ingredients where you mix tableside. It had a lot of fun components that added the crunch... crunchy puffed rice, crispy lettuce, and more vegetables added to it. The tobiko gave it a salty pop of flavour in every bite. The trout and gojuchang were mild components and shouldnt scare anyone off from this 4/5
Peking Duck - I've eaten Peking Duck in some of the best restaurants in China which specializes in this. I know this is not authentic and NOT meant to me... it's their homage and take on it. Knowing that ahead of time, I still ordered it to see how it would be. I would say their smoked duck breast was well done... perfectly medium and nice juicy slices is a great way to enjoy the duck. There was 3 parts to the platter... shiitake mushroom duck consomme, the smoked duck breast with the wrappers, and shredded duck fried rice.
The consomme was potent and highly flavourful. I could only drink so much of it as it was quite overwhelming. In the platter, the duck is not similar to traditional Peking duck but I do like how they served theirs (smoked and cooked medium rare). The sauce given was not the usual sweet hoisin sauce but rather a very pungent bean sauce. I didn't enjoy it as much as the traditional hoisin but it was a good counter to the sweet Asian pear matchsticks. The fried rice had some bigger pieces of shredded tender duck with edamame & peas. I did find the fried rice to be a little oily with some of the rice a bit lumpy. With all 3 dishes, it was a solid take on Peking duck and a nice dish to try. I wouldn't necessarily order it again as I would probably like to try other options on the menu. 3.5/5
Overall, Peoples eatery is a vibrant and great spot to enjoy modern Asian cuisine. There are wonderful flavours (the 2 apps are highly recommended) here and the service exceeded our expectations. If I'm ever in the Chinatown area, I wouldn't hesitate to return.
