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2011-07-01
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For a week, Da Dong was at Mandarin Oriental's Chinese restaurant, and if you don't already know, Da Dong is famed for their lean roasted ducks.... appetite-whetter of tofu, peanuts and diced duck meatza jiang mian (noodles with bean sauce) ($68)the soft yet springy cold noodles beneath the pungent bean sauce was yumm.. and my only gripe was its tiny serving - literally 2 tablespoons of noodles at this price? sauteed Romanesco broccoli in broth ($138)The English name of this dish on the menu was
appetite-whetter of tofu, peanuts and diced duck meat
za jiang mian (noodles with bean sauce) ($68)the soft yet springy cold noodles beneath the pungent bean sauce was yumm.. and my only gripe was its tiny serving - literally 2 tablespoons of noodles at this price?
sauteed Romanesco broccoli in broth ($138)The English name of this dish on the menu wasn't properly translated - "vegetable" was what they called it, so we didn't know what to expect. Upon arrival, I realised I knew this vegetable - Romanesco broccoli which is in the brasicca family. I don't remember the Chinese name either but the taste is a cross between broccoli and more on the cauliflower side. The individual pieces looked like cute mini trees (only in white and light green). I personally like cauliflower a lot so this dish was great.
Whole super lean Peking duck ($598)these are smaller than the ones served at the other restaurants. Da Dong brought these babies in from China, but is there a significant difference?
one duck, after sliced produced two of these plates. Whilst the duck meat was extremely tender and tasted 'ducky' (i.e. a little gamey but in a good way), I was disappointed with the lack of rendering done to the layer of fat. The few pieces of skin were crisp, but most of the others had a significant layer of fat underneath - so much for 'super lean'?
one of the accompaniments for the Peking duck were these hollowed crispy shells - reminded me of a pita bread, only super thin and crisp! I liked these, but the more popular steamed wrappers were even better:
super-thin, each piece easily separated from the next, right level of moisture with a slight chew...honestly i think the one of the best wrappers I've had? We were given two bamboo steamers of these wrappers and there were plenty to go around for the whole duck.
The only way to go: a piece of crispy skin with a little granulated sugar, meat (okay, skin) candy! Whilst the food was largely yum I thought for its reputation the duck could've been well... 'leaner' in its preparation method at least. We all felt Grand Hyatt's Sha Tin 18 might've done slightly better with the duck and in the noodle department too, but the wrappers here were certainly more than great.
Service was a little pushy for Mandarin...or any hotel for that matter. Our waiter was pushing us to order all these dishes when in fact we were here mostly for the duck. And honestly unless you're a party 5 or more what he was asking us to order was impossible.
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