Thanks to Mandarin Oriental for inviting me to this blogger's lunch, tasting the famous Da Dong Beijing Roast Duck. This has got to be the most elegant roast duck meal I've ever had. I am by no means a Chinese food or roast duck expert. Thus, I'll just share what we had that day, which are my favorites, and just enjoy the visuals. Each dish is gawkalicious.
The
Chinese yam with preserved plum marmalade opens the meal with a sweet note.
I am not used to have something so sweet to open a meal, so I was a bit taken aback.
I love the second treat, the
goose liver aspic with mango and caviar.
The creaminess and richness of the goose liver were balanced by the other tangy components.
The spiciness of the
Sichuan style shredded duck wings was a pleasant surprise.
It gives my palate a bit of a kick, getting it ready for the next courses.
I was excited to try the soup, I remember my last fond memory of delicious soup from Man Wah.
And I wasn't disappointed. The
duck tongue and morel mushroom soup was downright delicious.
I don't normally get excited by duck tongue, but these were bouncy yet still tender. Yummy!
I had to leave my soup mid-slurp as I wanted to catch some duck carving action from the chef...
Can't wait to taste the duckie.
Da Dong's roast duck is famous for being super lean, so I didn't hold back. Crispy skin, less fat, moist meat? Come to mama.
I think I took the last remaining few pieces ^_^'
I especially love the pancakes that were served with the duck.
They were wonderfully thin and chewy.
Normally, we get
cucumber, chives and hoisin sauce to go with our roast duck, but we were served with much more.
There were pieces of gorgeous
pink radish (which I initially thought were pieces of watermelon - duh!- silly me),
pickled vegetables, sugar and garlic puree. Interesting. Couldn't wait to try.
I started with the normal combo of duck, hoisin sauce, cucumber and chives.
And then I just went crazy. I added everything onto my duck and pancake. Well, I held back on the garlic puree. I had a date that night, you see.
Obviously, avant garde food presentation isn't my thing. I should just leave it to the pros.
The next item isn't an alien. It's a super mega delicious
braised sea cucumber.
While it's a delicacy for most people, I am not a big fan of sea cucumber. I think I've just tasted too many bad sea cucumber dishes, I kinda forgot how could they could be when done right. This one was a more than good one. I cured my sea cucumber phobia instantly. Tender with a bit of a bite, and deeply flavorful. Hmm, those leaves look familiar. It's the trendy thing to do in food presentation, isn't it? While they do make plates look gorgeous, I don't think they necessarily improved the flavors.
The duck gizzards and duck parts in the
sauteed four delicacies were a bit too chewy, but I was blown away by the champagne and sour plum jelly. They added the bit of sweetness and tang that brightened up the whole dish.
I am not a big fan of garnishes that are not supposed to add value into the dish, apart from making it look pretty, so, I was a bit disappointed by the mint leaves and the wedge of lemon.
The
braised cabbage and chestnut might look a tad humble, but don't be fooled.
The braised cabbage was rich, thick, almost creamy and satisfying. The chestnut was sweet and tender. Both are really good, I'm not sure about the pairing though. It was rich on rich. This dish filled me up instantly, but I couldn't help it and finished the whole thing. It was
that good.
We were served more than 20 year old superior pu-erh tea!
It's nothing like the average pu-erh. Love it. I am not good at tea leaves reading. Did it say anything good?
The starch of the meal was this
goose liver fried rice.
The bits of goose liver were inside this pile of deliciousness. Love the idea.
We were oohing and ahhhing when the next dish entered the room in a dramatic manner.
The dry ice gave the illusion that we were going to enjoy a cold dessert, so I was really surprised when I tasted something warm.
The
coconut cream has glutinous rice dumplings filled with red bean in it. The flavors were subtle, not sickeningly sweet or creamy.
The petit four were
sweet yellow bean cake, sweet rice dumpling, glutinous sesame roll and fresh milk rolls.
The fresh milk rolls look adorable, but my favorite was the sweet rice dumplings (top left), it has a mix of sweet and savory.
As expected, I had a major food coma after this decadent meal. It was great to meet fellow bloggers, some have posted their detailed reviews, click through to check out their posts:
Edena of Ed Eats, Jason of Life as a Bon Vivant, Patricia of Su Yan Tian Shi, Amy from Yummy Mummy Asia and
Wilson from WOM Guide
Man Wah
25/F Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong
5 Connaught Road
Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2825 4003
