I came across an article somewhere talking about Peking Duck, particularly Sha Tin 18's Peking Duck inside Hyatt Regency Hong Kong. It reminds me of a much overdue review of my Beijing trip during early Oct 2010. Yes, it was a very crowded weekend due to China's National Day weekend but for the sake of gastronomic adventures and to get away from Hong Kong, such short trip was much needed!! Instead of going reporting my meal sequentially, let me jump the queue to the Peking Duck meal at Made in China 长安一号餐厅 in side Grand Hyatt Beijing which seriously reassemble that of Sha Tin 18 both in terms of decor and offerings. Sisters shops if you ask me!
I can be quite honest here and be straight forward about it, the only thing I really enjoyed at this shop was the Peking Duck, the rest of the dishes were not what I expected in many perspectives, not bad per se but unexciting I guess. Take this Spinach Leaves tossed with sesame sauce and Chinese rice vinegar ... it was overly chilled even as a cold starters in my opinion. The presentation was .... interesting, quite plastic looking right?
Red Kidney Bean "Kao Fu" wheat gluten. Quite firm to the bite, which was not exactly how it should be right???
Braised Beijing cabbage and chestnuts with saffron. Very good chestnuts! Very sweet and tasty. I am not a big fan of chestnuts but I have to give them a thumbs up! The cabbage though ... boring!
Alright, time for some action! Time for Beggar Chicken!
Of course we have to find someone to honor the moment to break the package!
The whole package looked huge but don;t be fooled by it because when you look closer, the chicken inside was ....
... rather tiny! I wonder if that was a Spring Chicken ... hummmm. It was a bit too late when I tried to ask her to hold on with her forks. Ah well, still able to capture part of the entire thing I guess. The meat was tender and the outer layer of the chicken was very flavorful, rich and intense. Oh and yes, only the outer layer was flavorful, the meat lacked the flavors, not as rich and strong as I expected from a beggar chicken.
Bring out the Peking Duck please!
They prepared the Peking Duck 3 ways as in three different parts of the duck. Before that, I got to talk about the pancake because they were not very good, rather thick and .... room temperature?
You can read my Sha Tin 18 review and understand the little story behind the 3 ways Peking Duck approach. The first plate was of course the skin only, golden brown and crisp, together with the thin layer of fat and sugar sprinkles, it literally melt in your mouth!
Second plate was the meat only serving which you can eat with the pancake or by itself. A bit dry but still very flavorful. I prefer to eat this part just by itself with some dipping sauces.
Last but not least, the skin + meat cuts! I liked how I can have a bite of the meat and get the little fat from / between the skin so it make the whole thing a bit more moist!
Ta-Da! My lovely and yummy Peking Duck warp! Seriously, I would come back just for the Peking Duck, perhaps order 2 two share among 3 people? :)
Likes
Peking Duck - the three ways of slicing provide a different eating experiences and perhaps give diners a choice of parts and play with the different combination as well.
Dislikes:
Beggar Chicken, not flavorful enough, the meat I mean.
Red Kidney Bean "Kao Fu" wheat gluten - very firm to the bite, should not be like that right?
Made In China 长安一号餐厅
1/F, Grand Hyatt Beijing, 1 Dongchang'anjie
东长安街1号东方君悦大酒店1层
Tel: (86) 10 8518 1234
http://beijing.grand.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/entertainment/index.jsp
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3 comments:
This is perfect! I have been an avid reader of your blog, hoping one day I'll be able to visit one of the restaurants you have visited.
I will be going to Beijing for the first time. Would you recommend this as the Peking Duck restaurant to go to? And might I ask, is eating at a hotel better than trying something local? Is it a huge price difference?
@Gemini Jilgi: Thanks for dropping comment indeed! If you are going to BJ for the first time (like I was) I think you should visit Made in China for sure. You raised a good question whether hotel is better than trying something local. Technically they are both local just more upscale I guess. :)
In my opinion, they are different as in the experience. If I had the chance I would visit both local / down to earth establishment as well as more upscale outlets as well just for the sake of comparison. The issue in my opinion is how we are to manage the expectation of the places we go. Like my friend @Fernandogros once mentioned, he would not mind listening to MP3 / lower quality music if he is to travel on the subway, but he he wants to listen to classical music or opera, he would go to the theater for the experience.
Please do try both sort of establishment and let me know. :) I am interested to find out and on my next visit I will surely go for some down to earth peking duck restos :)
Haha...thanks for the long and detail reply!
I will definitely try to visit Made in China and also a "down to earth establishment" and send you something. I hope I can get the two different experiences! And I love Fernandogros interpretation.
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