Food review at Peking Duck Chatswood

In this food review, Ian Davidson SC (a Senior Counsel in Sydney) joined me in the food tasting at Peking Duck Chatswood (“PDC”) located at 308 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood. PDC is famous for its Peking Duck. Almost everyone who patronised that restaurant will have a Peking Duck on the table. On this particular evening, we ordered Peking Duck and the dry handmade noodle with seafood.

The Chef skillfully carved and sliced the crispy skin off the duck

The sliced Peking Duck meat

The condiments

The sliced Peking Duck meat wrapped in a pancake

When it comes to ordering the Peking Duck, the customer has 3 options. Option 1 will be just the Peking Duck and the usual condiments. Option 2 will have the Peking Duck and a choice of either “San Choy Bow” (lettuce with fried shredded duck meat) or fried noodles with shredded duck meat. Option 3 will give you the Peking Duck and you have a choice of  2 out of 3 other dishes which consist of “San Choy Bow” , duck bone soup or the fried noodles with shredded meat. We opted for Option 1 which is just the Peking Duck and the usual condiments. The Peking Duck which we ordered came with 24 pancakes (wraps). The size of the Peking Duck could easily feed 4 to 5 people leaving each and everyone satisfied. Each of us were given a plate of the usual condiments that came with the Peking Duck. The condiments consisted of fine shredded spring onion, cucumber, sweet dark sauce, sweet chilli sauce and a small plate of sugar. The Peking Duck which had a beautiful brown colour was rolled out from the kitchen by none other than the Chef himself. The Chef then expertly sliced and carved layer by layer the crispy skin of the duck. The crispy skin of the duck was sliced very thinly which made it look really palatable. I have been to a number of restaurants in Sydney where the Peking Duck which they served were cut in the same manner as a roast duck. In other words, in big pieces and then represented itself as “Peking Duck” which is a  no-no. The sliced pieces of the duck were perfectly cooked with a beautiful texture and the appropriate moist. The duck wasn’t as fatty as some of those which I have eaten. What aroused my curiosity the most was the small plate of sugar which came with the Peking Duck. I asked the Chef why do we need sugar when we have the sweet dark sauce and the sweet chilli sauce? The Chef replied that in Beijing, that is how the Peking Duck was usually consumed - the sugar was to give a different texture and flavour to the dish. I guess it is a personal preference - something I wasn’t willing to experience. As Ian Davidson was the guest reviewer, I asked him for his rating of the Peking Duck. Ian rated the Peking Duck, 8/10. I agree with Ian as I can say that this is one of the best Peking Duck that I have ever tasted in Sydney.

The handmade noodles with seafood

Next came the dry handmade noodle with seafood which consisted of “la mien” (hand pulled noodle), squid, fish, prawns, chopped green vegetable and carrot. When it comes to dry noodle with seafood, I have my bias and tend to prefer the crispy noodle kind. However, in this instance, the word “handmade” caught our eyes and we decided to give a go. I was pleasantly surprised as the handmade noodles were soft (not tough like the egg noodle) and easily melts in my mouth. The seafood was also fresh - the fish was tender, the squids were chewy and the prawns were succulent. Ian gave this dish a rating of 8/10 while I will give it a rating of 7/10. A slightly lower rating from me is not because of the quality of the dish but rather the helping was small. For a dish that costs almost AUD20.00, one would expect a slightly bigger helping.

In conclusion and based on our dining experience, we will give 8/10 for its efficient and  courteous service. The customers can actually request for the duck bones to be wrapped and take away which made this a rather friendly restaurant. As for the ambient, we will rate it as 7/10. A good and satisfying experience.