Beijing style Peking duck @ T’ang Court~

Beijing style roasted duck is now available at T’ang Court~ Having especially recruited six top chefs from 1949 in Beijing which are renowned for roasted duck, T’ang Court are now replicating this dish using a special breed of white ducks which are then carefully grilled over aged jujube wood to enhance the flavour. 
Just hearing this description was tempting enough to ensure we paid them a visit to try their specialty during our stay at The Langham this time.

Prior to our duck arriving, condiments and julienned vegetables were served first. Rather than just serving plain hoisin sauce like most establishments, our server drizzled an ‘X’ with sesame sauce and delicately swirled the sauce around until a hypnotic swirl pattern formed on the hoisin sauce. Quite impressive~

The vegetables consisted of the normal cucumber and shallots with the addition of fuschia pink carrot sticks. Like the sauce all of these ingredients were specially flown in from Beijing which served to further authenticate the whole experience.

The duck was then pushed in on a little cart and served gueridon style by one of the chefs. Watching him carve up our duck, all plump and golden, the noise the knife made while slicing through the skin left us in no doubt how crispy it was going to be~

And yes, it was. Biting into my first piece sans pancake, a wonderful crackle could be heard releasing the rich oils captured inside… paired with the slightly nutty sweet hoisin sauce it made for a decadent mouthful~

Accompanied by both flour pancakes and pastry shells with toasted sesame seeds, the pancakes were thin with a slight chewy texture while the pastry shells although not flaky made for a more substantial mouthful especially when sandwiched with the duck meat as advised to.

Really really good~ This was certainly one of the better roast ducks I have had and I would highly recommend visiting T’ang Court for this!

Cravings satisfied~@ Nanhai No.1

I have had the biggest craving for suckling pig since I returned from my trip overseas so when I was asked what I wanted for dinner I had no hesitation in voicing my guilty craving :p

Mr. C picked Nanhai No. 1 as our dinner destination. Covering the entire 30th floor of Isquare, the restaurant was surprisingly buzzing for a weeknight. Quite dimly lit with modern decor, it does not seem like your traditional Chinese restaurant and it is correct to assume that as they claim to serve Chinese cuisine contemporary style. Yes, yes I was a little wary about the word ‘contemporary’ too, but judging from all the occupied tables that night and from their one Michelin starred status, customers seem very agreeable to it.
Being such high up, of course they have tables overlooking our gorgeous harbour and for a minimum charge of $500 per person, diners can have a window seat and enjoy the night views throughout their meal.

Looking at the menu, I only had eyes for the suckling pig, but when Mr. C suggested Peking duck I was up for that too haha 😀 Since our meat courses were settled on, it was easy enough to just choose a soup and vegetables to balance out our somewhat heavy meal~

The daily soup was pork and offal with chinese herbs (gum choh). A little overseasoned, but there was a heady depth of flavours.

Suckling pig was next! Roasted a deep golden brown, the skin already looked so alluring… Crunchy, it crackled delightfully in the mouth and the thin layer of fat under the crackling added a richness to the overall taste. Dip it in the sweet hoisin sauce or white sugar for some flavour. Perfect~

The Peking Duck was brought to us whole while we were still enjoying the suckling pig. Beautifully plump and roasted to a beautiful colour, the skin was taut and shiny hinting at its crispness. It was then brought back to us expertly sliced up, with a big steamer of flour pancakes. Spoon a generous amount of sweet hoisin sauce over the thin and chewy pancake, layer on a piece of duck with a sliver of crispy skin, add on as much cucumber and scallions as needed and then consume~ So so good. We actually finished the whole plate of duck it was that good!

The vegetables of the evening was shaved bitter gourd with beancurd, gingko nuts in broth. The gourd still retained its bitter nature, while the gingko nuts were cooked to a mushy softness, eaten together with the flavourful broth it was wonderfully light and a much needed respite from all the meat we had eaten that evening.

A very enjoyable meal, my major craving was satisfied and the Peking duck was wonderful~ Till next time another craving hits 🙂