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2009-07-17
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Having been here so many times throughout the years, I can say their food has remained the same - while it cannot be considered "fine", it is generally quite authentic. Lunch party - this is my experience of their $1398 set that serves 12 people, including tea charge but not 10% service charge:Shantung chicken with jellyfish (山東雞) was the appetizer. Served with Chinese mustard, garnished with lots of parsley and onions. Chicken had a pleasant smokey flavor and was not too greasy.Roast Peking Duc
Lunch party - this is my experience of their $1398 set that serves 12 people, including tea charge but not 10% service charge:
Shantung chicken with jellyfish (山東雞) was the appetizer. Served with Chinese mustard, garnished with lots of parsley and onions. Chicken had a pleasant smokey flavor and was not too greasy.
Roast Peking Duck (北京片皮鴨): You can request for a leaner duck, which we did. The meat was nevertheless tender and the skin was crisp and hot; leeks and cucumbers that are served for garnishing is great with the hoisin sauce. Most notable are the pancakes which were warm and paper thin.
Kung Pao Shrimp (宮保蝦) Medium sized shrimps with a robust bite (very "darn ngar"), however the second piece I had was breaded too much - I can eat the goopy flour layer! While the cooking process (the timing of the frying) was good, the sauce is not strong enough - it was quite watery and can definitely use more chili and sugar. This is an example of how the food here can be a bit "unrefined"
Stir fried seafood with vegetables assorted seafood include scallops, shrimps and squid which was stir fried in high heat - you can tell with the texture of the scallops (the cooking process is called "jau yau" - literally "run oil"). Considerably "lighter" dish that has a fresh taste by itself with the seafood and therefore no special seasonings are used.
Sizzling beef with onions and leeks (鐵板蔥爆牛肉) is another signature of theirs. Beef slices are chewy with good flavor but the sauce was surprisingly thin. Heaps of leeks and onions compliment the natural beef.
Stone pot wontons with chicken and wonton (砂鍋雲吞雞) wonton skins are thin enough but chicken meat was so-so - a bit dry and can use more white pepper. The broth is sweet from the napa cabbage and Chinese ham.
Yangzhou fried rice (not pictured) (揚州炒飯) was fried with good "wok hay", with a colorful mix of vegetables, shrimps, diced ham and scrambled eggs, served fresh and hot.
Chow La Mian (fried wheat noodles) (炒拉麵): The noodles used are Shanghainese "la mian", not to be confused with ramen - they are quite like udon, but thinner. A wonderful soy sauce base with sesame oil was used to fry the noodles with spring onions, sliced bell peppers, shredded whole chicken (with skin on, giving more flavor) and shitake mushrooms, very hearty.
Souffle balls with red bean paste (高力豆沙) was for dessert. Although fresh off the fryer, the texture was a bit too stiff, not airy enough. It could easily be more enjoyable if it was served with caster, not normal, white sugar - again supporting my earlier comment that food here is not delicate enough. Another disappointment is that their red bean paste sinks to the bottom - while this doesn't affect the overall taste it does reflect the slight lack of quality. Red bean paste was also a bit too hard - it could be smoother.
American Peking has earned a solid reputation over the years and I commend it for its reliable quality of food in general, and it definitely is a good place for celebrations/gatherings owing to 1. free corkage, 2. high level of noise tolerance and 3. slicing of Peking duck (see clip) which to some may be a fascinating presentation. Prices are reasonable as well.
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