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Palace of Pepper

Dec29

Location: 6420 Rosemead Blvd. San Gabriel, CA 91775. (626) 286-5508

Date: December 28, 2014 & June 16, 2015

Cuisine: Beijing / Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Great!

Just six months ago I ate in this same space, but it was a different Chinese restaurant at the time, Beijing Duck House. Now, due to the rising popularity of Szechuan cuisine it has been rebooted. It still looks the same. It still serves Peking Duck. But there’s a lot more pepper on the menu.

2012 Gérard Boulay Sancerre La Comtesse Monts Damnés. IWC 93. Bright yellow. Spicy aromas of tangerine, lemongrass and cardamom, with a subtle floral twist. Tightly wound, offering citrus and spice flavors, with excellent clarity and finesse. The tenacious finish is long, saline and pure. This is one of the finest Sancerres of the vintage.

Boiled peanuts. On the table at most real Chinese restaurants.

Cold appetizers. Shredded potato. Cured spicy meats and cabbage. Beef tendon.

Water. The mason jar is one little tidbit of trend that has crept into this otherwise fairly old school SGV place.

2005 Gérard Raphet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques. Burghound 91-93. A gorgeous and seductive mix of red pinot, raspberry, cool minerality and a touch of earth complements to perfection the full, rich, deep, serious and intense flavors that manage to pull off being powerful and concentrated yet supple and delicious without compromising in the slightest the balance, which is not easy to do. A really lovely 1er that offers grand cru quality.

They have a real duck carver.

Peking duck. This was one of the better peking duck’s we’ve had. Maybe not quite so good as Tasty Duck, but the meat was fabulous. The skin could have been a tad crispier, but the hoison sauce was top notch.

On our second visit the duck came in this cute duck plate.

Awesome hoisin sauce.

Pancakes and condiments.

Leftover skin is for some reason placed on a separate plate.

2011 Louis Jadot Meursault Les Narvaux. 90 points. Nice strong vanilla notes.

The second of the “3 ways” for Peking duck is the duck soup.

Duck soup. A mild but pleasant broth with bits of meat and tofu.

Duck lettuce cups. The third of the ways. Not really that exciting.

House pancake. A nice fluffy bit of fresh bread with a little sweetness.

2004 Newton Chardonnay Unfiltered. 90 points. Well integrated with pear and apple notes and overtones of oak and vanilla, but not cloyingly so… Great body, mouthfeel and smooth finish.

Bean noodles. This is mixed up and the mung bean noodles are coated in a peanuty/spicy/tangy sauce. The sauce was awesome, with a bit of a mustard component. The tofu had a spongy texture, but the dish was overall quite nice.

Pork fried rice.

It’s evil cousin, chicken fried rice.

Spicy and sour glass noodles. I love this dish, with it’s heat, both hot and numbing, and strange vinegar tang. Not for the mild mannered or uninitiated.

You can see the noodles here. And the pepper!

2013 Errazuriz Chardonnay Wild Ferment Aconcagua Costa. 90 points. On the nose, a bit of young Burgundy-like tar on the nose in addition to some lively tropical fruit. Rich fruit on the palate, along with the aforementioned tar in the background. Nice acidic foil that is approachable now but should contribute to aging this a bit. Very approachable and enjoyable now, but I suspect better and more integrated in 2+ years.

Sweet corn. Pretty much what it looks like.

Cumin lamb. A really nice version of this dish. A lot of good lamb flavor.

Sizzling beef. Isn’t the animal-shaped dish cute?

2007 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Felsentürmchen Spätlese. 91 points. Ripe apples, nectarine and slight tinned peach aromas dominating. A slight struck flint quality and also some creamy notes. In the mouth the flavours of ripe, but slightly tart, red apple is to the fore – on this tasting the acidity is a little spiky for the residual sugar but it really is very good. Fresh and lovely, I think this wine has a long life ahead of it.

Whole fish in peppers. The last part of the name is true. There wasn’t so much fish, even if the pan was huge.

But there sure were a lot of peppers, peanuts, lotus root, garlic and the like. The sauce was actually pretty darn good (and hot).

Fish with two chilies. Under that mound of tangy chili sauce (in green and red) is another fish. It was pretty darn good.

1998 Nikolaihof Riesling Federspiel Steinriesler. 93 points. Light on its feet, pure, focused with bright citrus and pear fruit, a stony mineral undercurrent, and gentle floral and high toned herbal accents. Seamless and very polished on the palate.

Kung Pao Chicken. This slightly unusual take on the classic was hot AND sweet. Very interesting, and delicious!

Spicy chicken. This classic triple fried dry woked chicken was amazing. It was hot in both ways, and full of intense fried flavor. Very salty.

Have a few peppers!

Sweet and sour spareribs. Bony, very fried, and quite tasty.

2005 Faiveley Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots. Burghound 88-91. Strong wood influence currently dominates the dark berry and black raspberry-infused nose that precedes the somewhat woody medium weight flavors that are round and sweet with fine depth and complexity but the wood is not subtle and it causes me to question whether it will cause the finish to eventually dry out?

Spicy noodles. Kind of a pepper noodle soup with bacon.

Dan dan mein. Tasty, but way way too soup to really be proper dan dan. The sauce on the mung bean noodles was closer.

2011 Faiveley Monthélie Les Champs-Fulliot. IWC 89-91. Good bright red. Vibrant aromas of cherry and pungent minerals convey a strong limestone character. Then sappy and serious on the palate, richer and deeper but less open than the Duresses. Finishes with big, rich tannins and noteworthy persistence. Very suave and structured Monthelie with good mid-term aging potential.

Shredded potato. The more or less typical Hunan / Szechuan version of this dish.

Vegetable dry hot pot. Mostly cauliflower. Nice spicy flavor. Similar to the dish (and only dish) served at Tasty Dining.

More peppers! Perhaps you sense a theme.

2007 Domaine de la Mordoree Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de la Reine des Bois. Parker 97. Evolving beautifully, the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de La Reine des Bois has shed some of its crazy tannin and is showing a more layered, voluptuous profile. Possessing beautiful kirsch, blackberry, candied licorice, flowers and lavender, it offers knockout richness and decadence to go with brilliant purity of fruit, superb concentration, and a full-bodied, layered mouthfeel. While I don’t think it matches the ’01 or ’10, it’s an incredible bottle of wine that can be consumed anytime over the coming 10-15 years.

Lamb skewers. Nice cumin flavor.

MaPo tofu. One of my favorites in general. This was a fine rendition. Not the best I’ve ever had, but certainly still had that nice soft texture and gradual heat.

2010 DeRose Zinfandel Dryfarmed Old Vines Cedolini Vineyard.

Dumplings. Very nice straight up steamed potstickers. No sauce was in evidence, so we made due with Hoisin.

Kung Pao shrimp. Same sauce as the chicken above. Fabulous dish actually, even if not totally typical (with that spicy sweet vibe).

Fish filet boiled with green peppers. I couldn’t resist photoing this at a neighboring table. This is a Szechuan classic, with more of an emphasis on the numbing peppercorns (see them floating in the broth?).

Mixed Szechwan skewers. Little random bits in hot sauce.

Morning glory / Ong choy. Or some similar colon sweeper.

Overall, another highly enjoyable Chinese meal. The duck was on par with Tasty Duck and the other dishes were arguably better. This place was good before, and it’s even better now. Really, this was some very enjoyable food. A number of dishes were off the charts like the “spicy chicken.”

It should be noted that service was very good. On our second visit, our server Lulu did a fabulous job handling our “chaos.” She helped out with the ordering, managed the pacing well (not always the case at Chinese) and along with the other staff really were on point replacing plates, providing napkins, and the like. At one point when I was hunting for toothpicks she even went and brought some on a plate!

After all that heat we felt the need to cool off with a pair of massive shave ices:

Mango shaved ice with almond jelly, mango jelly, strawberries, and vanilla ice cream.

Strawberry shaved ice with almond jelly, vanilla ice cream, and honey boba.

Rose tea.

Then finished off with a nice foot massage next door. Ah, the SGV.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Chuan Ren Bai Wei, hedonists, Hoisin sauce, mapo tofu, Peking Duck, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan Chinese, Wine

Ring the Ji Rong Gong

Dec21

Restaurant: Ji Rong

Location: 8450 East Valley Boulevard #115, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 280-8600

Date: December 14, 2014 and September 3, 2018 & January 13, 2019 & February 2, 2020 & February 27, 2022

Cuisine: Beijing Chinese

Rating: Solid

More Chinese food, it never gets old. We tried out Ji Rong, another Beijing style place is Rosemead back in 2014 and then after a long gap I returned in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

More or less the usual decor.

Pretty big main room.

There are some “private” rooms off to the side, which offer some privacy, but the dividers are open lattice and offer no sound dampening.

The left side private room is a bit more “private”.

Pretty menu.

From my cellar: 2011 Louis Jadot Meursault Les Narvaux. 92 points. Nice young white Burg with a ton of vanilla on both the nose and palette.

Cold sliced pig’s foot. Rubbery.

Sea Cucumber and Vegetable Jelly (2/27/22). A bit bland.

Spicy Jellyfish (2/27/22). Amazing.

Cold spicy mung bean noodles (9/3/18 & 2/1/20). I love this tangy dish for its slippery texture and great balance.

Crab flavored black fungus (2/1/20) – as you’d expect.

Bean curd salad (2/1/20).

Cold spicy chicken (2/1/20) – lots of flavor and a good dose of heat.

Cold sliced spicy beef (9/3/18 & 2/27/22). A bit of heat, cornbeef/tendony meat, lots of cilantro.

Marinated barley, mushrooms, and beancurd (1/13/19). Unusual sweet and soy flavor and chewy texture. Delicious.

Hot and sour soup (2/1/20) – very nice version of the classic.

2014 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc.

Noodle salad. This mix of mustard, sesame, cilantro, cucumber, and a weird jellyfish noodle is all scrambled and actually quite delicious. It has a bit of a kick and fresh taste.

2001 Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling Spätlese. 91 points. Oily petrol, quince, marmalade notes in a light yellow hue. Electric acid framing lychee, flaked slate, pineapple, kumquat, apricot and lime. Excellent at this age. Slightest secondary notes of overripe fermenting fruit evident.

Pork pie (Sep 2018, 1/13/19, and 2/27/22). Yum. This was an okay but not stellar pie, but the dish is so delicious in general that it was great.

See the inside.

2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Spätlese. IWC 90. Fresh bouquet of bosc pear and acacia blossom. The palate offers a delicate sweetness, with an attractive interplay of apricot and saline soil tones. This rich spatlese finishes with lipsmacking elegance.

Peking duck (every-time). This was a solid duck. Probably around the same quality as Tasty Duck and with a very generous portion of meat. They do refuse to give you the bones and other parts except as soup.

The usual condiments. They were fresh and the plum sauce was good.

There are pancakes and duck legs. Pancakes are always better than buns.

A pancake prior to rolling.

And the usual boring duck soup. The only place I know of with a genuinely good duck soup is Shanghailander.

2007 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Felsentürmchen Spätlese. 92 points. Bright light canary yellow color; bright, floral, apple nose; tasty, solid, ripe apple, ripe citrus palate; medium-plus finish

Beef roll. I’ve had better beef rolls and I’ve had worse. It was tasty though. Dough was good.

Steamed chicken in Hunan Sauce (2/1/20) – lots of ginger, very ugly, and tons of boney little bits to chew on. I don’t think I would order this again.

From my cellar: 1999 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges. IWC 94. Full, bright, saturated medium ruby. Knockout nose of black fruits, minerals, espresso, roasted meat, licorice, violet pastille and menthol. Huge but utterly lively and suave. A sappy, perfumed wine of great intensity and inner-mouth lift. Very complex and perfectly balanced. Vibrant finish features smooth, toothcoating tannins and superb persistence. Les Saint-Georges of grand cru quality.

Dungeness Crab with Garlic and Ginger sauce (1/13/19). I don’t always love Chinese crab because it can be hard to get into but this was an awesome one. The sauce was so lick smacking good it was worth chewing the shell.

House still spicy lobster (1/13/19 and 2/1/20). Very good lobster prep, but not worth the extra cost. Other places have better lobster (and it’s common).

Clams with ginger and garlic (1/13/19). Any tasty seafood dish.

Scallops with garlic (2/27/22). Good.

Braised Croaker (2/27/22). Nice, garlicky.

Sweet and sour fish filets (1/13/19 and 2/27/22). When Seb wasn’t looking I ordered these tasty/sweet fried goodies. He likes a steamed whole fish — boring! (although I do like the whole fish in chilies)

Fish filets (2/1/20). I didn’t try these as they were at the pescatarian table.

Walnut shrimp (2/1/20) – lots of mayo and very fried.

Fried pumpkin (early and 2/27/22). Some loved this dish, I thought it was just ok.

Ma Po Tofu. In general one of my favorite dishes and this one was solidly good. Some Szechuan peppercorn heat. A little salty, but good.

2011 Hilliard Bruce Pinot Noir Sky. IWC 92. While there is a trace of reduction here as well it’s noticeably less pronounced and doesn’t really mask the mix of upper and lower level aromas that include menthol and crushed leaf as well as cassis, dark currant and soft spice elements. The supple and vibrant middle weight flavors possess good detail as well as reasonably good complexity on the intense, clean and again ever-so-mildly edge and austere but persistent finish. While a bit more technically correct this will also need a few years of cellaring to allow the tannins and acidity to harmonize.

Lamb and cabbage soup. Surprisingly tasty.

2005 Château Rob Valentin. 93 points. Smooth and silky with soft fruits and hints of earth.

Pork. I like this dish in general. This implementation was mediocre, but it did have these interesting tofu “band-aides” to wrap the meat in.

Shredded pork (1/13/19). This is a different pork dish.

2005 Paul Autard Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee la Cote Ronde. Parker 94. The 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee La Cote Ronde is undeniably the best wine Autard has made since the 1998 rendition of this cuvee. This got a big “Wow!” when I smelled it. A stunning nose of black truffles, melted licorice, blackberries, and sweet cherries is followed by a multi-dimensional, multi-layered, full-bodied wine with tremendous power, richness, and a hint of barrique. One could say this is modern, but the Provencal personality jumps from the glass of this meaty, dense wine. Give it 2-3 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 15+ years.

Szechuan eggplant. Good, but Beijing Tasty had a better version.

Shrimp with glass noodles. Interesting, and quite good.

Pork belly. Bland and fatty.

Second time with this dish, which is braised pork belly with preserved vegetables (9/3/18) and I loved it. I do (nowadays) love the contrast between the slightly sweet succulent pork and the salty vegetables.

Beef fried rice. Delicious and not greasy.

Spicy beef with celery. This dish was very hot. The beef had a nice flavor though and I enjoyed it a lot.

House special pancake. Croissant-like texture. Greasy and without flavor.

Shrimp dry hot pot (2/27/22).

Whole fried fish with chilies (9/3/18 and 2/1/20). Delicious fish. Sauce I’ve had better, but it was still very good. In 2/1/20 the sauce was better, more mala. The veggies, like lotus root, were great too.

Crispy fried aromatic lamb ribs (9/3/18 & 1/13/19). Not a lot of meat, but awesome flavor to gnaw on.

Dung Po Whole Pig Elbow (2/1/20 and 2/27/22) – this was an awesome dish, if a bit jiggly. Lots of fat and very tender meat, but it was really all about the salty sauce of ground pork, preserved vegetables, and tons of ginger and garlic.

Tender (fatty) meat and incredible umami sauce. This dish was an 11 for us Chinese style fans.

Kung Pao Beef (2/27/22).

Pea tendrils with garlic (2/1/20) – very nice.

Mixed vegetables (9/3/18). Light flavor and great texture.

String beans (9/3/18). Always good and these had some nice crunch.

Spicy Cabbage (1/13/19 and 2/1/20 and 2/27/22). I love this dish. There must be pork or something in the sauce as it’s so delicious.

Plain noodles (9/3/18) for my son.

Bean curd with Jalepenos and pork (2/27/22).

Veggie fried rice (9/3/18). Not as good as the meat one, but still a tasty fried rice (how can you go wrong?).

XLB soup dumplings (9/3/18 and 2/1/20). Quite solid soup dumplings. Skins a little thicker than at an absolutely first rate specialist place like this, but still we ordered a second round.

Sauce for the dumplings.

Sicily via Sonoma – Goat Cheese Gelato with house-made Blackberry Honey Coulis and Marzipan Brownies (Sep 2018) — this was a new recipe I concocted for @sweetmilkgelato – Milk and Chevre are both from Sonoma, although I couldn’t get the chevre completly melted so there is still a chalky quality to the base. Blackberries are from Avignon. Raw Honey from California. Marzipan made with Sicilian Noto Romano Almonds and Amaretto. #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #SummerTime #marzipan #almonds #amaretto #Chevre #GoatCheese #Blackberries #honey #cake #sonoma #brownies.

My gelati from 1/13/19:

Torta di Frutta alla Mandorla Siciliana Gelato (Sicilian Fruit & Almond Tart) made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — toasted Sicilian almond base with Homemade Sicilian Marzipan Cake and Candied Sicilian Lemons & Oranges — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #almond #ToastedAlmond #Mandorla #lemon #orange #cake #AlmondCake #CandiedFruit

Blackberry Passionfruit Amaro Sorbetto! — like a frozen aperitivo — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #blackberry #passionfruit #amaro #cocktail #sorbet #sorbetto

My gelati from 2/1/20:

Peppered Lemongrass Ginger Creme Brûlée Gelato — A blended milk and Thai coconut cream base steeped with lemongrass and ginger and then juiced up with yuzu and black pepper. For sugar, I used coconut palm sugar and even torched the top! — created by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #lemongrass #ginger #CremeBrûlée #BlackPepper #coconut #yuzu

Mud Pie Gelato — Hot brewed espresso gelato with house-made milk chocolate coffee ganache and crushed Oreos — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — the gluttonous classic made even more gluttonus! — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #chocolate #valrhona #espresso #coffee #oreo #MudPie

Cthulhu Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato (2/27/22) – The base is made with Valrhona 62% Satilla Chocolate and then layered with house-made Hazelnut Fudge Sauce and Toffifay Eyes! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #chocolate #hazelnut #fudge #toffifay

Overall, 2014 impression of Ji Rong was just fine. Few dishes were standouts and a bunch were mediocre, but few were terrible either. The menu is a little overly Beijing only for my taste and even includes various Chinese American favorites like orange chicken. Still, an enjoyable meal. Even fair Chinese is good. Peking duck was quite good.

Returning in 2018 I thought they had improved. Maybe I know how to order better, but almost all the dishes were quite good and the duck was as good as I’ve had in the SGV, particularly since Tasty Duck has slid a bit.

In 2019 and 2020 this impression continued. Duck was excellent, probably the best in the SGV right now — although I wish someone would open a real serious Peking Duck place with table-side carving and a wood-fire oven, like this. Most other dishes were very good and they have a big interesting menu. Particularly standouts on 2/1/20 were cold spicy mung bean noodles, peking duck, whole spicy fish, hot and sour soup, and pig elbow.

In 2022 after the pandemic this was still the case. Our 2/27/22 meal was fabulous in all ways, both the duck and most of the other dishes.

After dinner in 2014, and an excellent Foot Massage, we went next door for this mega mango shaved ice with almond jelly, ice cream, and strawberries.

I’m not sure you appreciate the size of the thing.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Seb actually brought this (mediocre) wine two weeks in a row!

Wines from 2/1/20:

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, hedonists, Ji Rong, Peking Duck

Century City Heat

Sep26

Restaurant: Meizhou Dongpo

Location: Century City Mall Dining Deck. (310) 788-0120

Date: September 9 & 18, 2014 and October 27, 2017 and March 8, 2020

Cuisine: Beijing/Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Good to have on the westside, and now as good as some in the SGV

My faithful readers know I frequently venture out to the SGV for great Chinese, but I’m always looking for a fix closer to him. So when I heard (back in 2014) there was an actual Szechuan place in the Century City mall I went right on over. I’ve seen been a couple of times and most recently for a 6 person dinner in March of 2020.

Yeah, it’s a big premium American mall!

Meizhou Donpo (sure doesn’t roll off the Western tongue). I’ve been told this is a high end (like Houstons) chain in China that has opened a branch here. This must reflect the influx of Chinese tourists into LA. All good in my view.

The interior is sort of new Chinese mall-swank.

Smashed cucumber with garlic (3/8/20). This was an excellent multi-dimensional cucumber salad. A bit of tangy, lots of garlic, and a little spice.

Sausage plate (3/8/20). Four different types of pork sausage. Some spicy. All very tasty.

Chicken potstickers (3/8/20). Pretty much as you imagine.

Cold chicken with ratan pepper (3/8/20). Very delicious boiled chicken with that numbing and bright green flavor.

Cold mung bean noodles with chili (3/8/20). This was a spectacular version of this Chengdu street dish. Tons of flavor and a hot of heat.

Beef tendon soup (3/8/20). I didn’t try it.

The lunch special comes with hot and sour soup (2014). I’m always a fan and this was a straight up classic version, with more heat than most American ones normally have.

Then I had to try all the Schezuan classics: Dan dan noodles (2014). Not your totally typical take on it, as it’s fairly wet. Most authentic ones I’ve had you mix up and are a tad drier. Still, this had a nice chili + schezuan peppercorn taste. It was hot, but not really hot. Just a mild burn. Not so much of the nutty flavor.

Cold Szechuan Noodles (2014). These are closer to what I usually think of for Dan Dan noodles. They had a nice chili oil spice, but maybe no meat.

Sweet potato glass noodles in hot and sour sauce. (10/27/17). In general, I love this dish because of its spicy/tangy balance. For example at Beijing Tasty. This version, unfortunately, looks ok, but has no balance. It wasn’t that hot. Wasn’t that tangy. Mostly it was just salty. This seems to be a problem at MZDP.

Numb taste wontons (2014 and 10/27/17 and 3/8/20). They just called these Szechuan Wontons, but they’re supposed to be numb taste. Great flavor. Sauce was a little sweet but boy was it tasty.

Not too hot, and a really savory pork filling.

Ma Po Tofu (lunch special) (2014). Also on the plate: rice, string beans, squash, spring roll. The beans were great, but the tofu was a bit salty (MSG I think) and not too hot or numbing. Okay flavor, but the most disappointing of the dishes, particularly given how when done right this is one of my favorite dishes ever.

Peking Duck (2014). Because peking duck is so important, I’m going to SEPARATELY write up my thoughts in 2014 and 2020. This duck is expensive compared to the SGV, although they do sell a half duck (which is what we got).

The usual condiments.

And pancakes.

The meat. This duck looked great, but the hoisin was a little salty and lacking in that plummy punch and somehow the meat felt a little flat or flabby.

Duck soup (2014). Comes with the duck (optionally). Very straight up and dull.

Peking Duck (3/8/20). We ordered two whole ducks for 6 people! They carve it tableside.

This is half a duck. We had four of these plates. This was some of the best peking duck I’ve had in a while. About the same quality as the excellent NC Peking Duck. It’s cut in the modern style with much of the meat combined with the skin. It was super succulent and juicy. The skin could have been just a touch more crispy. But the pancakes were great and the overall combo delicious.

Condiments for the peking duck.

The duck here comes with ultra-thin pancakes — as always much better than the buns.

Bones (3/8/20) from the duck meat.

Duck bones fried with garlic and cumin (3/8/20). This was a stunning dish. There was a lot of bone, but the crispy fry was amazingly tasty.

Stir fried shrimp (3/8/20). This may look simple, but the shrimp was super succulent and well cooked. Delicious.

Sole Filet with green onions (3/8/20). Very lovely as well with nice thick filets.

Scallops with vermicelli (3/8/20). A nice dish, but not my absolute favorite of the night.

Aromatic fried chicken with chilies (10/27/17). Another typical Szechuan dish. This version wasn’t that spicy (despite all the peppers) and was notably sweet. It was still pretty good though, but the balance was off.

Szechuan green beans (2014). Tasty rendition of this dish.

Garlic Eggplant (10/27/17). A 7/10 version of the dish. Not as much super garlicky flavor as there should be, but good nonetheless.

Kung Pao Shrimp (2014 or 2017). Very nice. A bit of heat and lots of peanuts.

Boiled beef in chilis (2014 and 3/8/20). A classic Szechuan type dish. While this wasn’t inferno hot like the best ones in the SGV it did have a bit of Szechuan peppercorn and a nice flavor.

Fried rice with chicken (3/8/20).

Fried rice with shrimp (3/8/20). Slightly more moist than the chicken dish.

Overall writing in 2014 and 2017, I’m psyched to have Meizhou Dongpo, despite it being a bit blander, saltier, (and more expensive) than the SGV Szechuan places. It’s tasty enough and close. Too bad it’s inside the mall, because parking and getting into that beast is a nightmare. I hate that parking lot. It’s the biggest most confusing mall parking I’ve ever been too. Every direction looks the same. Ditto with the mall. I’m always getting turned around in there. Too bad the balance is off on the dishes. Service was a little slow/sloppy too on 10/27/17. The very first time I was here it was very nice, so maybe it’s just hit or miss.

Coming back for a 6-7 person dinner on 3/8/20 I had a vastly improved experience. Almost every dish was very good, some great. The peking duck was first rate. Really really good. Many of the appetizers were awesome too like the green chili chicken and cold mung bean noodles. Flavors were far less salty and much more balanced. Service was fairly good too and we had a nice large table outside on the terrace. They were super nice to us too, particularly about the corkage. I’ll have to try again to see if this is consistent, but I am raising my overall opinion substantially. On this particular night at least, this was as good as many SGV places (but certainly not as good as the best). Really a great option. The menu is nice, but not super large either.

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

The mall is also home to a mini Grom, which is a solid chain gelato place. I reviewed one in New York here.

Hazelnut on the left, cafe expresso on the right. Texture was perfect. Flavors were about 8/10. Very good gelato for America. I wish they had more flavor variety in the store though.

Wines from the 3/8/20 dinner:

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Gelato, Grom, Meizhou Dongpo, Peking Duck, Szechuan Chinese, Tofu, Wonton

Lucky Ducky

Jun19

Restaurant: Beijing Duck House

Location: 6420 Rosemead Blvd. San Gabriel, CA 91775. (626) 286-5508

Date: June 14, 2014

Cuisine: Beijing Chinese

Rating: Tasty stuff

This is my third time this week out to the SGV for scrumptious Chinese. My mother apparently ate a lot of Chinese when she was pregnant with me (true) and I’ve loved it ever since I was a kid.

Tonight’s entry is Beijing Duck House which is funny enough, a Beijing style restaurant specializing in… you guessed it… Peking Duck!

The room is typical enough.

2002 Delamotte Champagne Blanc de Blancs Millésimé. IWC 92. Pale yellow-gold. Fresh citrus and orchard fruit aromas are complicated by notes of gingerbread, white flowers and sweet butter. Toasty lees and mineral qualities gain power with air, adding depth to the wine’s gently sweet pear, honey and tangerine flavors. At once rich and lively, finishing with excellent clarity and alluring mineral and floral character. This Champagne, which I’ve tasted from three different disgorgements now, is proving that it’s built for the long haul.

Marinated cucumbers, mushrooms, and boiled peanuts. This dish had an almost Vietnamese flavor too it with the slightly sweet sauce and the strong cilantro notes. Yummy.

Beef tendon. A cold dish, the tendon was chewy and the meat parts some kind of cured beef. The beef was delicious and there was a good bit of heat to the dish, plus the cilantro.

1999 Forey Père et Fils Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Gaudichots. Burghound 88. Less expressive and open than the ’99 Les St. Georges without the forbidding firmness of the Petits Monts. This still has plenty of the pinot baby fat and the substantial tannins are completely wrapped though there is sufficient structure to permit this to improve for a decade. Pure, long and pretty.

agavin: needs a little more time to open.

The duck comes up early. Our professional carver gets to work.

Beijing Duck. The meat itself served with the pancakes in the background.

And the condiments: spring onion, cucumber, jicama/radish, and the plum sauce.

All elements are combined into the pancake. Delicious and greasy as always!

2009 Maison Roche de Bellene Savigny-lès-Beaune Vieilles Vignes. BH 86-89. Here the nose is bursting with Savigny-style earth on the ripe and pretty red pinot fruit nose that introduces nicely rich, round and fleshy middle weight flavors that are also admirably delicious and while there is a touch of rusticity to the supporting tannins, the overall impression is a straightforward wine that should drink well relatively early.

agavin: surprisingly drinkable for being so young.

Duck second way. Bits of duck meat and vegetables in lettuce wrap.

Add a little plum sauce and one is good to go. PF Changs eat your heart out.

2005 Longoria Pinot Noir Fe Ciega Vineyard. Burghound 92. A really lovely nose of beautifully complex and deeply pitched red berry fruit complements the rich and ripe medium full flavors that display a fine sense of restraint and underlying reserve as well as a gamy hint, all wrapped in a moderately structured finish and fine balance. This will clearly be capable of mid-term aging and as I say, this is indeed ripe but it’s the restraint and focus that really sets it apart from the typical pinot. Recommended.

Duck Soup. This is the third way. Boney bits of duck (with meat) are cooked up in a duck version of chicken soup.

It looks normal enough in the bowl. And it basically tastes like slightly rich chicken soup.

A neighboring table featured all sorts of unusual goodies so I took a few shots.

Like duck feet and wings!

1999 Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee. Parker 92. A powerful, concentrated 1999 Chateauneuf du Papes was produced at Chateau Pegau. The dense ruby/purple-colored 1999 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee boasts a powerful bouquet of pepper, garrigue, black fruits, and earth. Full-bodied and expansive, with sweet tannin giving it a more open-knit, accessible style than most young vintages of Pegau, this is a wine to drink while waiting for the 1998 and 1995 to become fully mature. Like all of this estate’s red wines, it was bottled with neither fining nor filtration.

agavin: This had a barnyard quality. It went well with the lamb below, but got to me after a bit.

Cumin lamb. Skewers of tasty lamb loaded with cumin.

2004 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Riesling Clos Hauserer. Parker 87. The many insufficiently attentive wine aficionados who can be heard lamenting a supposed absence chez Zind-Humbrecht of dry wine should have their mouths rinsed out repeatedly with the 2004 Riesling Clos Hauserer! (And, by the say, it is the Humbrechts, not I, who have re-introduced the Umlaut.) Mint, boxwood and lime zest on the nose suggest a Sauvignon. Firm acidity, peach pit bitterness, adamantly chalky minerality, and almost explosive acidity in the mouth make for a brash and relatively spare impression, despite palpable thickness of extract and sense of amplitude. Humbrecht imagines that if he planted Riesling in the Goldert, this is the sort of wine it would become. These grapes were very ripe – “turning blue- in fact, he says – but the deeper the roots go into the mother chalk (and these vines now average thirty years of age) the longer, he claims, the wine requires to unclench, even in a less acid-retentive vintage than this. Plan not to even revisit this wine for two or three years.

agavin: disappointingly austere

Dumplings. Standard Beijing dumplings with vinegar. Shanghai XLB are better, but these are certainly tasty too.

1994 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Heimbourg Vendange Tardive. RJ Wine 95. I love extremely young ZH wines for their youthful vigor. As they age, some gets a bit to heavy and cloying showing a hint of alcohol. Also the beauty of a great desert wine is the airy/cotton candy like palate. This was an exceptional showing. Nicely focused nose displaying yellow peach, dry mango, apricot and sweeten ice tea. Lovely airy palate. The wine remains quite fresh and precise despite the dense fruit a la D’Yquem. Lovely showing.
I highly recommend.

agavin: awesome!

Corn. The sauce here had some added sugar and I found it too sweet. Otherwise, it was basically succotash.

BBQ Pork. Can anyone say bacon? I picked off most of the fat/skin later but the meat was sweet and super tasty.

2007 Nikolaihof Riesling Reserve Steiner Hund. RJ Wine 93. So serene, delicate and understated; this is a wine that really needs time and air to show its best. It’s utterly compelling though with an amazing purity to the fresh fruit flavours, greener herbal and leafy accents and a base of pure stone beneath the fruit.

Sweet and sour fried fish. Super awesome version of this typical dish.

1994 Grgich Hills Zinfandel Sonoma County. 92 points. Dark fruit, prunes. Very lively.

Spicy eggplant. In a delicious garlic sauce.

1995 L’Ecole No. 41 Merlot Seven Hills Vineyard. 91 points. Immediately greeted by the rich unbelievably ripe cassis perfume which sets you up for a fruit bomb, but instead the wine was very poised and restrained on the palate. Tannins are fully integrated at this stage which rewards with a velvet mouthfeel. High quality fruit here which showcases the brilliance of Seven Hills. These should be drank now. For me I’m beginning to understand L’Ecole now because they are shy, backwards and sometimes austere in youth as they reward so much with age.

Pig’s feet. Not my favorite.

Mixed fried rice. Simple and delicious.

Cabbage and glass noodles. This Chinese hot coleslaw is rather delicious.

Frog hot pot. Probably close to the Wuman dry hot pot, this had a bit of heat. It was fine, but not the best dish of the night.

Overall, another highly enjoyable Chinese meal. The duck was on par with Tasty Duck and the other dishes were arguably better. I like the Beijing style and some of these dishes were fabulous. Perhaps Beijing Restaurant is a little better within this style, but then again, there is the duck!

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beijing, Beijing Duck House, duck, hedonists, Peking Duck, poultry, Soups and Stews, Wine

Tasty Duck Will Bring You Luck

Sep30

Restaurant: Tasty Duck [1, 2, 3]

Location: 1039 E Valley Blvd. Ste B102. San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 572-3885

Date: September 28, 2013

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Great Duck!

My Hedonist food and wine club loves the SGV. This community 20 minutes East of Downtown LA boasts a staggering array of good Chinese restaurants and Tasty Duck is one of our regular spots. Even though its intensely crowded, we shoe horned 23 people in on a busy Saturday night. Of course this meant 11-12 people at tables meant for 8-10, but what’s a little elbow in your pancake among friends?

NV Pierre Péters Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Cuvée de Réserve. Burghound 93. A stunningly elegant nose of pure floral, Granny Smith apples, spice and freshly sliced lemon complements to perfection the intense and equally pure flavors that possess excellent punch like remain delicate and ultra-refined on the balanced and persistent finish. The supporting mousse displays a very find bead and the overall impression is one of subtlety and grace. Not only is this a wonderful effort but the value it offers it beyond stunning.

Cold appetizers: Jellyfish (top left), wine chicken (top), and beef (bottom). This kind of plate is very traditional in China. The beef was my favorite, marinated, a bit salty, and smoky.

Some white Bordeaux that was beyond gone. Too bad!

The main event: Peking Duck. Not only was this delectable, with fantastic crispy skin and delicate meat, but it’s artfully arranged. We had two plates of these per table and it was a feeding frenzy!

Here are the traditional accompaniments. Excellent pancakes, hoison sauce, and scallions and apple/pear. One mystery question I must ask: why do Chinese restaurants insist on putting far too few pancakes and too little hoison sauce on the table? We had to ask for refills about four times (which they happily brought).

2006 Sine Qua Non Autrement Dit. 90 points. Very nice blueberry/strawberry nose. not hot on the nose. really nice full palate and mouthfeel with a nice mix of red and blue fruits, and integrated earthiness. did not noticably detect any heat or wood on this. certainly a bigger and different type of rose, but this bottle was nicely restrained and seemed in good balance tonight.

The best American rose I’ve yet had. Rather wonderful.

Cumin lamb. A typical specimen, but with tender flavorful lamb. Some places border on mouton.

2010 Samuel Billaud Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. Burghound 92. While there is a trace of exotic fruit to the otherwise very pure aromas of white flower, citrus, wet stone and seaweed, this offers ample Chablis character. There is an attractive succulence to the fleshy middle weight flavors that exude a fine minerality on the clean, dry, linear and overtly saline-infused finish. Like the straight Chablis, this too evidences a hint of bitterness though it should pass in time.

French style Beef. Extremely tender and delicious, almost sweet, morsels of filet.

1971 Weingut Paul Ayl Ayler Kupp Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. Unfortunately a bit over the hill.

Some amazing Shanghai style soup dumplings. Tasty little morsels stuffed with pork and broth.

1994 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Heimbourg Vendange Tardive. Parker 99! These wines are made in frightfully tiny quantities, and are so rich that they make Chateau d’Yquem look like an under-nourished wine. Truly the stuff of legends, these possess 15%-18% residual sugar. All three will age for 40-50 years, but will anyone wait that long? They are “off the charts” in terms of flavor extraction, balance, quality, and the lavish quantity of extract and intensity they possess.

Wine of the night for sure!

Look who’s coming to dinner!

Crispy whole red cod with sweet and sour sauce. A really nice fish, similar to a couple weeks ago at the Shanghai place.

Bok chow and I think mushrooms, hard to tell. Mild but very pleasant.

1990 Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epeneaux. Burghound 90. Still deeply colored. An expressive, dense, indeed huge nose of roasted, ever-so-slightly stewed fruit that is already showing a great deal of secondary and even tertiary development while the muscular, rich, extracted and solidly complex flavors are underpinned by a tough, firm and very prominent tannic backbone. This is a dramatic bruiser of a wine but it’s not clear that it’s ever going to harmonize as the finish is completely dominated by the structure and given that the fruit is presently much more advanced than the evolution of the tannins, it’s a tough call to say whether the fruit will be able to stand the test of time and this most recent bottle gave no cause for optimism in this regard, indeed it seemed to confirm that this is probably a lost cause. Optimists will continue to hold the ’90 Epeneaux in the cellar as it will certainly be around 30 years from now though whether it will be any more balanced than it is now is the essential question.

Some kind of crazy pork cut. Some serious fat here and the skin was a bit mushy, but the meat fell off the bone and was incredibly tender and delicious.

1970 Bodegas El Coto Rioja Coto de Imaz. Surprisingly good for such an old non-riserva Rioja.

The proverbial, “duck soup” that is the last part of “duck three ways.” Mild and pleasant with some tofu and cabbage. I can also vouch that it was served hot, as a ladleful was poured across my hand and I had to soak my thumb in ice water all night.

Their interesting take on “walnut shrimp.” The fried shrimp, sweet mayo sauce, and walnuts is supplemented with pineapple!

Part of “duck three ways”: sprouts with bits of duck meat.

Yarom chomps on the pig bone.

Scallion pancakes.

A very nice mixed fried rice.

Beef rolls with BBQ beef and cilantro. Really nice, tasted like rolled up Pho.

Sweet egg drop soup.

Eye ball surprise anyone? Actually a very unusual dish. Like egg drop soup but sweet with these big tapioca balls. Pleasant, although continuing the general trend in which Chinese desserts bat about 50.

Overall, another fantastic meal. The total damage, including tax and a whopping 30% tip was $35 a person! “Inflated” because of our multiple ducks. The service was great (for Chinese). They were very friendly and willing to serve us the dishes one at a time over a long period . This is actually fairly unusual as a lot of Chinese restaurants like to slam you out in 45 minutes by dropping everything on the table at once. The duck was first rate, as good as Peking duck gets — more or less. The other dishes were good too, with almost all of them being very well executed and not greasy.

For more Hedonist adventures or

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Yarom with the owner

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, duck, Hedonism, Peking Duck, San Gabriel, San Gabriel California, san Gabriel valley, Tasty Duck, Valley Boulevard

Tasty Duck Lives up to its Name

May07

Restaurant: Tasty Duck [1, 2, 3]

Location: 1039 E Valley Blvd. Ste B102. San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 572-3885

Date: May 4, 2013

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Great Duck!

My Hedonist food and wine club loves the SGV. This community 20 minutes East of Downtown LA boasts a staggering array of good Chinese restaurants.

NV Pierre Peters Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Cuvee de Reserve. Parker 92. The NV Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Cuvee de Reserve is a gorgeous wine that captures the essence of Chardonnay in the Cote des Blancs. Pure, wiry and wonderfully expressive, the Cuvee de Reserve flows gracefully with layers of varietal fruit from start to finish. This shows superb clarity, depth and polish, particularly at the NV level. The current release is 65% 2007 and 35% reserve wines from a solera cuvee that contains 15 vintages. Roughly 2/3rds of the fruit comes from Mesnil, while the rest is from Cramant, Avize, Oger and Chouilly.

Cold appetizers: Jellyfish (top), wine chicken (right), and beef (left).

1971 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese. Rated 93. On the nose, lots of petrol and cotton candy. On the palate, still some good acidity and sweetness, with lots of tangerine and apricot and a long finish. May be a bit past its prime (storage was not the best according to the person who brought it) but still a lovely wine.

The main event: Peking Duck. Not only was this delectable, with fantastic crispy skin and delicate meat, but it’s artfully arranged.

Here are the traditional accompaniments. Excellent pancakes, hoison sauce, and scallions and apple/pear.

1989 Joseph Drouhin Clos Vougeot.Rated 91. Nice. Spice box nose with decent fruit and silky tannins. Defenite develpemnt. Classy finesse with earthy tones and soft red berries. It took a good hour or two for the fruit to come out, but once it did it was very nice.

Eggplant.

2010 Van Volxem Kanzemer Altenberg Riesling Alte Reben. Parker 93. The stony mineral and piquantly nutty elements present in so many of this year’s Van Volxem offerings are only enhanced when it comes to the ancient-vines 2010 Kanzemer Altenberg Riesling Alte Reben, but so is citricity, to the point where this seems electrically-charged. Mint and green tea remind me a bit of the herbal side that comes out in so many Scharzhofberger of this vintage, while iris and hedge flowers add allure. A satin-textured and rich though vivacious palate impression leads to a clarion, vibratory finishing flavor interaction of floral, herbal, citrus, nut oil, and mineral notes. I would anticipate at least 12-15 years of excitement. Interestingly, at 11.8%, this is slightly lower in alcohol than the other non-sweet wines in the present collection, which are in the lower 12s.

Part of “duck three ways”: sprouts with bits of duck meat.

1996 Domaine Chauvenet-Chopin Nuits St Georges les Murgers. Parker 90-92. This medium-to-dark ruby-colored wine has an expressive nose of cassis, cherries, Asian spices, and minerals. This massive, chewy-textured, full-bodied, and plump wine is rich, concentrated, muscular, and crammed with super-ripe blackberries awash in toasty oak.

Some amazing Shanghai style soup dumplings. Tasty little morsels stuffed with pork and broth.

2005 Camille Giroud Latricieres Chambertin. Parker 93-94. The 2005 Latricieres-Chambertin (purchased partly as grapes and partly as wine) offers a clear, enticing nose of tiny purple plums, blueberries, lilies, beef marrow, and hints of caramel and vanilla. Polished and bright, it exudes the refinement that the Chapelle lacked, leading to a real rush of lingering sweet, caramel- and vanilla-tinged fruit in the finish. The tannins are abundant but ultra-refined. Sock this away for at least a decade and figure on at least an additional decade to hold.

Great wine, although a little young. After 30-60 minutes it opened up and drank very nicely.

Shanghai style BBQ pork ribs. Twice fried (deep and stir) in a sweet and sour sauce. Very good for this dish, with relatively little bone.

1997 Rene Rostaing Cote Rotie. Parker 86-88. The dark ruby-colored 1997 Cote Rotie Cuvee Classique is an evolved, forward, fat wine with cassis and raspberry fruit flavors, medium body, and an easy-going, succulent, luscious, straightforward appeal.

Nice pairing with the lamb below.

Cumin lamb. A typical specimen, but with tender flavorful lamb. Some places border on mouton.

The proverbial, “duck soup” that is the last part of “duck three ways.” Mild and pleasant with some tofu and cabbage.

Their interesting take on “walnut shrimp.” The fried shrimp, sweet mayo sauce, and walnuts is supplemented with pineapple!

Scallion pancakes.

2006 Bressan Schioppettino. Rated 92. Clear ruby in color, with medium plus intensity and moderate consistency. The nose is clean, with medium plus intensity. The nose is quite complex, with aromas of red fruit, orange rind, sage, thyme, menthol, rhubarb, angostura bitters, black pepper, anise, violet and pine forest floor. The nose is developing, of fine quality and constantly evolving in the glass. The palate is dry, with medium plus to pronounced acidity, and flavors generally consistent with the nose. Showing red fruit, peppery spice, herbs and bitter lemon. The alcohol is moderate (-) at 13%. Thee polyalcohols are smooth (-). The tannins are medium to medium plus. The minerality is moderate +. The body is medium +. The flavors are moderately intense +. The finish is moderately persistent +. The wine is moderately balanced; it is skewed slightly towards hardness. The acidity is quite high. It’s almost as a little bit of white wine had been blended in, but the tannins are defintely still there. The palate is fine overall. This wine is ready to drink and approaching maturity, but is likely to have a long drinking window thanks to its structure. It is moderately harmonious + and extremely food friendly.

Crispy whole red cod with sweet and sour sauce. A really nice fish, similar to a couple weeks ago at the Shanghai place.

Fried rice with pineapple, which felt more Thai.

y

Beef rolls with BBQ beef and cilantro. Really nice, tasted like rolled up Pho.

NV Minardi Vini Passito di Pantelleria. Rated 88. Not the most balanced Pantelleria I’ve ever had, and medium sweet, like a vin santo, but very pleasant and an excellent pairing with the mild but sweet Chinese desserts.

Red bean or black sesame (I wasn’t sure) pancakes. Tasty (for a Chinese dessert).

A gooey mochi and nut thingy.

Overall, another fantastic meal. The total damage, including tax and a whopping 30% tip was $32 a person! The service was great (for Chinese). They were very friendly and willing to serve us the dishes one at a time over three hours. This is actually fairly unusual as a lot of Chinese restaurants like to slam you out in 45 minutes by dropping everything on the table at once. The duck was first rate, as good as Peking duck gets — more or less. The other dishes were good too, with almost all of them being very well executed and not greasy.

For more Hedonist adventures or

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, Chinese cuisine, hedonists, Peking Duck, San Gabriel California, Tasty Duck

Peking Duck at A-1 Chinese BBQ

Jun02

Restaurant: A-1 Chinese BBQ

Location: 2014 Pacific Coast Hwy. Lomita, CA 90717. (310) 325-6709

Date: May 19, 2012

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Great Duck

I recently joined a meetup.com foodie group and I noticed in the feed that people were talking about this place for great Peking Duck. I’ve long been a fan of the crispy foul, to the tune of eating it three nights in a row in Beijing, and it is scare represented on the Westside, so I thought a pilgrimage was in order.

If you decide to go you must call ahead to reserve/prep a duck. It takes too long for them to do to order.

This establishment is not about looks. It makes Din Tai Fung look like Cesar’s Palace.

Although, I do have to say the inside is one step up form Totoraku, and that is a high end joint!

Another great thing is: no liquor license, which means no corkage. Bring your own cork screw. This is a reliable (although not awesome) negotiant 1re cru. We had to drink it out of plastic “pizza hut style” glasses, so that didn’t help either.

NOTE: big menu, so keep scrolling for the food!

The menu is grungy and enormous.

We started with these “prawns with spicy salt, headless.” This is generally called “salt and pepper shrimp” and this particular version was one of the best I’ve had. I particularly appreciated the lack of head.

Then out rolled our feathered friend. He was carved back in the kitchen.

And served with the usual Hoisin sauce and the often seen in China but not as often here doughy buns instead of pancakes.

You put some sauce, some scallions, and some duck on the bun and enjoy. This was definitely some of the best duck I’ve had in California. The skin was perfectly crispy, and there was some, but not too much fat.

After this we switched it up to this awesome Rosso. “The 2009 Rosso di Montalcino is totally beautiful and elegant in its expressive bouquet, silky fruit and understated, harmonious personality. This is a wonderful, impeccable Rosso from Le Potazzine. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2017.”

This is “Chow Ma Mein” (I think). A spicy soup with noodles, shrimp, beef, chicken and various vegetables. It was good.

“Orange peel chicken.” Fairly typical of the type, but not bad.

“Dry braised string beans.” I like this dish when I usually have it, but this wasn’t the greatest version. It was too oily and lacking in garlicky punch.

“Sweet and sour pork.” The pork was a little tough, but flavorful. The sauce a bit goopy. Just so-so.

The check was awesome. $20 a person all in with tip.

Overall, the duck was fantastic, the shrimp and soup were very good, and the other dishes a bit mediocre. It was a very nice meal, and with a little more trial and error ordering probably could be totally first rate. I’m curious if any of you readers know any other places with great Peking Duck in LA. I’d love to find one that was 40 minutes from my house!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: A-1 Chinese BBQ, Asia, Barbecue, bbq, Beijing, China, Chinese, Chinese cuisine, Hoisin sauce, Lomita, Peking Duck

Mark’s Duck House

Apr29

Restaurant: Mark’s Duck House [1, 2]

Location: 6184 Arlington Blvd # A, Falls Church, VA 22044 703-532-2125

Date: April 23, 2011

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Very very good cantonese.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

This seeming hole in the wall in Falls Church Virginia features some of the best Cantonese food I’ve had in the states. So much so that wine guru (and foodie) Robert Parker is constantly eating (and tasting) here.

You can spot an authentic Chinese restaurant by the unassuming facade.

The minimalist decor.

The menu of sketchy meat cuts unsuited to white-bread American taste.

And the rack of roast ducks!

This was a late night family dinner, so Chinese beer seemed to suite the mood.

I’ve loved hot and sour soup since I was a kid, and this is an exemplary example. Basically perfect.

Classic Har Gow, little shrimp dumplings wrapped in rice pastry. Delectable too, as good as at various Dim Sum joints like Ping Pong, The Palace, or Xino.

They even have their own special sweet and vinegary soy for them.

And the deadly hot chili oil.

But there is one real reason why one goes to a restaurant named “Mark’s Duck House.” The pecking duck! Crispy roast whole duck is carved off the bone and brought to the table.

With the traditional scallions.

And my all time favorite, the plum sauce. This stuff has a sweet and tangy quality typical of Chinese cuisine that I just can’t get enough of.

All of the ingredients are combined in a pancake.

And then rolled into a burrito like shape. This is a delectable mix of textures and flavors. The rich duck meat, the crispy skin, the hot dripping fat off the duck, the tangy sauce, the scallions, the dry texture of the pancake. Yum! And this is as good a duck as I’ve had in the states. We wen’t to a place in Bejing a couple years back where we had three whole ducks each done a slightly different way and flayed at the table by a master carver who could have had a part in Kill Bill. That was some serious duck, and slightly better. Still, you don’t have to go all the way to China for great duck like this.

Lobster, causeway style, in crispy garlic, chillies, and chives. I’d never had this exact dish before, but it was wonderful. The closest I’ve had was at a Chinese friends 20-some course wedding banquet where the lobster was sauteed in a ginger garlic sauce. This version is dry (more or less), a little bit hot, and vary garlicky. But damn good!

Sauteed chive blossoms in oil and garlic. We asked the waiter for a vegetable recommend and out came this seasonal dish. Chive blossoms. I didn’t even know there was such a thing, and it looks like a big pile of chives. It turned out to be one of my favorite Chinese vegetable dishes in the states. Again in China I had some crazy good stuff, including one or two great all vegetable meals, but these were nice and garlicky again, piping hot.

Mark’s Duck House never fails to disappoint, but the menu is gigantic and potentially perilous. There are like 12 pages of densely packed dishes. Abalone, sea cucumbers, shark fin, you name it. One time a couple years ago we ordered oysters in garlic and ginger sauce and got this plate with three monstrous oyster beasts we nicknamed the “Grenades.” Each was about the size of a World War II weapon of the same name. Just the meat of the oyster, the size of a grenade!