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2009-04-07
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Many are familiar with the film "Farewell my Concubine" by acclaimed director Chen Kaige. It tells the story of two Chinese Opera stars whose life events went parallel with the original Peking Opera about the loyalty and devotion of the Concubine towards the Emperor. With a name like 霸王山莊, the opera came to mind in a flash, as scenes of the film the Concubine's departure at the end, I couldnt get through my active imagination that if the Concubine is a foodie herself, she would've wished for a g
It wasn't that bad, in my pre-Openrice days I've been here for lunch, and the dumplings came out delicate and piping hot. Several years later things have changed. The decor was exactly the same, with its light jade walls against white booths and crystal chandeliers with a modern twist, King's Lodge was flashy enough to be called just that. Around us the waiters were gushing by here and about with no apparent destination of where they're heading towards. We ordered Peking Duck -- the typical wrap with crispy skin (烤鴨), and wraps with stir-fried minced duck(炒鴨崧), together with a "crispy fried fish with sweet and sour sauce" (松子魚), Red cooked Pork belly with Bamboo shoots (冬筍紅燒肉), Cold Spicy "Pork Stomach" (麻辣肚絲).
We were greeted with a small dish of Bean sprouts with chili oil. The bean sprouts were limp and oversalted. The chili oil has heat but tasted too bland to be called "chili oil" if it wasn't for the added orange colour to it. With a bad start, the Crispy Fried Fish arrived promptly. In an elongated dish lay a supposedly crispy fried fish, bone in with the meat cut criss-crossed and fried until the meat takes shape resembling a pine cone. This one, disappointingly did not resembled anything at all, not even a fish if it wasn't for the fried head and tail on both ends. The sweet and sour sauce was hedious with a few room temperature prawns on the top, together with what we identified as "canned mixed tropical fruit" and the sauce made of catsup, vinegar, and more catsup. The sauce itself was thick enough and tart enough to pucker the lips. The fish itself was fresh enough, but it lacks the proper taste of a fish, only to get worse buried under the sour sauce.
Red-cooked Pork Belly with Bamboo Shoots arrived next. Dishing up plain and simple with no sauce clinging to the meat chunks, the dish looked tiresome pork belly made yesterday and bamboo shoots that have just been pulled out of a can. The sauce itself was satisfactory with the balance of sweet and savoury but this was hardly enough to save the day here. The meat part of the pork belly was so overcooked I have opted for the fatty part instead.
The Peking Duck arrived later, with the manager holding a plate with the roasted duck on it. The duck looked alright, a little lean perhaps. The floured wrappers were presented in bamboo steamers, a considerate thought given that the air conditioning here was blasting at full force. The wrappers were steaming hot, while the sweet sauce and a small dish of cucumber batons and juliennes of scallions were presented as well. The skin of the bird, sliced diagonally and presented fanned out, was nowhere near fantastic in quality, The pile in the middle (see picture) was supposedly the crispy skin which wasn't crispy at all. The ones on the side have a little meat cling to it, and surprisingly enough the meat was so tough that brought back some traumatic experiences on Thanksgiving with a Turkey forgotten in the oven for too long. I found myself eating slowly through the duck, dreading each bite hoping that the stir-fried minced duck coming up to be magnificent -- but that'd be wishful thinking, wouldn't it?
The Cold Spicy Pork stomach was in fine juliennes, which was good, but that was just it. The dressing was made with the generic chili oil with the slightest hint of Szechuan peppercorn and the shocking orange colour was as unwelcoming on the eyes as it was for the palate. The Stir-fried Minced Duck, arrived finally, after we have felt no more will power to stay at the table. We picked through the pile of meat that looked like crumbled cardboard and took a bite. "Crumbled cardboard" was a generous description compared to what was in my head originally. We didn't want to be wasteful, and so, that was the only thing we decided to take home.
The service was slow and the waitstaff may not be all that familiar with the menu, as it took forever to take down what we wanted (fingers pointing at the menu). Well, let's just say that the King's Lodge may be good when you're not eating -- just sitting in one of the boots overlooking the florescent lights and people crossing the street on a busy night, This is, however, a restaurant afterall, I don't intend to come back despite reassurance that there ARE better dishes to try. I may not have the Concubine's everlasting love, or the unrequilted devotion to defend the Emperor's honour. This, was the bottom line, and King's Lodge help me draw it.
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