Taking a (last) Bite Out of the Big Apple: Peking Duck House
The last day in New York City was probably my favorite day out of our entire trip. Of course I was sad that our vacation was coming to an end, but it couldn’t have been a more perfect day.
Having packed the night before, we got up early and got ready for a brisk morning walk to attend morning Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, probably the most beautiful Cathedral that I have ever stepped into. Not really having definite plans for our last day in New York City other than lunch, we whiled the morning away by strolling around Midtown Manhattan, caught a parade along 5th Avenue and then made our way to our lunch destination, Peking Duck House (Midtown location).
Upon our arrival, the restaurant seemed fairly busy and the noise level was pretty moderate, like in almost all Chinese restaurants on a Sunday. Towards the back of the restaurant, there were two large (and noisy) parties, but luckily we were able to secure a table in the front of the restaurant, in a semi-private room away from the noise, at the large windows facing the street.
As soon as we were seated, our waiter provided us with menus and took our drink orders. Within mere minutes, he returned with our drinks and a complimentary appetizer(-ish) of shredded cabbage and carrots, dressed lightly in a sweet vinaigrette dressing. This was quite refreshing. Unexpected. Different. But refreshing.
Because our (I mean, my) main purpose of having lunch here was for the Peking duck, it was imperative that we order it. However, unfortunately for us, the Peking duck dinner ($32.50 per person and includes 2 entrees) required a minimum of 4 people. Being that it was just the two of us, we had to order a la carte (which was considerably more expensive than the Peking Duck dinner, but a drop in the bucket compared to the dinner tasting menu at Per Se that I wish I had booked.)
According to their website, Peking duck is “one of the most sophisticated arts of Chinese Cooking. “ They “prepare well in advance. First, air is pumped into the duck to stretch and loosen the skin, and then boiled water is repeatedly spread over the bird, which is then carefully dried. The dried skin is rubbed all over with maltose and the duck is then roasted in a hot oven for a period of time until the meat is tender and the skin is crispy.”
The duck arrived at our table and was presented to us by the chef. He did a little carving presentation for us and expertly sliced up the duck into thin, medallion-like slices and arranged the slices beautifully on a plate. We almost didn’t want to disturb the presentation, but yeah, that lasted for about a minute. Hunger over-ruled aesthetics, yet again.
After carving the duck (and leaving a lot of meat left on the bone), the chef proceed to make little Peking duck “burritos” for us.
Each delicious parcel consisted of their house made pancake filled with duck slices, scallions, cucumber sticks and then topped with their special sauce, which tasted like your basic hoisin (plum) sauce to me.
The duck was pretty good. I’d have preferred the skin to be a bit crispier, but the meat was tender and juicy. I’ve never had Peking duck served with the tortilla-like pancake before. I was expecting tiny steamed buns, but it was delicious just the same. The entire duck yielded approximately 20-25 thin slices of duck meat and skin, leaving a lot more meat on the duck skeleton, which the chef promptly took away.
I immediately asked the waiter what they were going to do with the leftover duck (as there were still a lot of meat on the duck that we ordered) and he asked us if we wanted it and of course I said yes. What was I thinking? I was thinking that I wanted my $46 dollars worth of duck, dammit!
Not one to contribute to gastronomic waste, I asked for the duck, hoping that they’d at least cut it up and put it in one of those Chinese take out boxes. Boy, was I mistaken. They bagged the poor baby up in a paper sack, then put the paper sack into a plastic bag, then put the plastic bag into a plastic grocery sack. Seriously! Like I was really going to be carrying a grocery bag filled with what was obviously a carcass of some sort, through Midtown Manhattan back to our hotel. We had a plane to catch and I sure as hell wasn’t going to take that now carcass of duck on the plane in the way that they wrapped it up. The meaty duck skeleton ended up being thrown in a garbage can on our walk back to the hotel. So much for not wanting to contribute to gastronomic waste.
To complete our meal, we ordered Shrimp Fried Rice and Crispy String Beans with Minced Pork. The fried rice was flavorful and contained more than enough bay shrimp than I could have expected. The string beans were as described on the menu, crispy, with minced pork and sauteed in what seemed like garlicy oyster sauce. Delicious! A perfect meal to end a wonderful vacation.
***** Peking Duck House – Midtown location 236 East 53rd Street (Between 2nd and 3rd Avenue) New York, NY 10022 Phone: (212) 759-8260