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2016-06-16
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I saw supersupergirl's review and I just had to try this green chili duck (bebek penyet), $50.I was a little unclear on the script for the restaurant. Like, I didn't know if someone was supposed to seat you or how you placed an order. The guy who was serving people seemed to pay no attention to me and eventually another guy came up and asked if I wanted takeaway or to eat there. It's a genuine rarity in HK to find a restaurant serving foreign food whose principal patrons are people from the coun
I was a little unclear on the script for the restaurant. Like, I didn't know if someone was supposed to seat you or how you placed an order. The guy who was serving people seemed to pay no attention to me and eventually another guy came up and asked if I wanted takeaway or to eat there.
It's a genuine rarity in HK to find a restaurant serving foreign food whose principal patrons are people from the country the food is from. And this place had quite the charm. The guy who seated me was laughing and joking with some of the patrons and literally everyone in the place when I showed up was still there when I left. So it had kind of a cafe feel (though not look) to it: people were there to socialize or just chill and surf the web on their phones.
All of the pictures on the menu have a duck leg, I got a duck leg, so did other patrons, so it looks like that's what's on offer. From the reading around I could do, the recipe involves boiling the duck with lemongrass, ginger, garlic and lime leaves, then deep frying it, smashing it with a mallot, and finally coating it in chili sauce. The extensive preparation (boiling, frying, smashing) makes the duck fall-off-the-bone, but not especially tender, though not dry or tough either. Some of the edges are extremely crispy/ burnt. I tore all the meat off the bone, mixed it with the sauce, and ate it with the rice.
The green chili sauce did not taste how I expected it to. Mexican salsa verde has lots of tartness from tomatillos and lime juice, and when I look at a green chili sauce, I kind of naturally expect that. But this sauce-- more of a paste, was as far as I could tell just chili and as such reasonably bitter and extremely HOT.
This was one of the spicier things I've had in Hong Kong. It wasn't as hot as Heartbreak Noodle, but it was spicier than many a Sichuan dish I've had here. Luckily there was free refills of sweet tea (only $8).
I was very happy with my meal. If you don't like spice, you can get it without. I will definitely come back and try the chicken.
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