Three decades ago, on my maiden week long trip to London, my senior relatives would insist on going back to London's Chinatown for lunch just to eat the London roast duck 伦敦烤鸭. No matter which part of the big city we were at, we had to make our way through London traffic, all the way back to London Chinatown just for the roast duck. This got me really, really frustrated as I wanted to try other foods as well, like fish and chips and steaks :P
Nowadays, my tastes and palate have changed, and I will probably be guilty of the same
Today, I still have relatives who will always ta pau 打包 (take away) London roast ducks back to Singapore, whenever they stopped by London.
Fortunately now, we can all enjoy authentic London roast duck in the just opened Legendary Hong Kong 港饮港食 cha chaan teng in Jurong Point, Singapore.
Legendary Hong Kong 港饮港食 has under it's roof four HK signature foods namely, roast duck and meat, noodles and congee, dim sum, and tea and desserts.
Inside Legendary Hong Kong, it has the feel, looks and sounds of a typical HK cha chaan teng 茶餐廳. The fluorescent lit dining hall is
I will be checking out each of the dishes in Legendary Hong Kong, one by one. This post is about the Hong Kong roast duck and meat.
Legendary Hong Kong's roast Chef Siu has 23 years of experience in his trade. A roast meat specialist, Hong Konger Siu has worked in the restaurants of HK and Thailand.
The roast belly pork hanging in the window.
The poached chicken. I haven't tried this yet. Must come back for it.
Legendary Hong Kong's signature London roast duck 伦敦烤鸭 is sold at SGD58 (whole), SGD30 (half) and SGD14.80 (per serving portion).
Chef Siu shared that Legendary Hong Kong uses only ducks imported from Ireland - the same fat ducks used in Chinese restaurants in Europe and London.
Ducks from Ireland (and similar colder climes) differ from ducks from tropical Malaysia as they have a thicker layer of fat and more tender, finer meat. The feathers are also hand plucked, so the skin and meat are not bruised unlike ducks mechanically de-feathered by rough tossing in a machine.
We tried Legendary Hong Kong's char siew and London roast duck 伦敦烤鸭.
The char siew was golden brown outside with charred edges.
The slices were cut thick and chunky. The meat was more tender than what is normally found in Singapore or Malaysia, with texture approaching that of braised meat.
The juicy meat was savoury with spices deeply infused in the fibers. The savouriness was balanced with sweetness from sauces on the caramelised surface.
Though different from Singapore or Malaysia char siew, I liked Legendary Hong Kong's flavoursome BBQ pork, a lot.
The signature London roast duck was golden brown outside.
Like the char siew, beneath the crispy skin, the savoury marinate with subtle herbal notes deeply infused the tender and juicy duck meat.
The crispy skin too had a robust savoury and smoky flavour.
The roast duck had a lightly herbal aroma like a very subtle seductive incense.
Fat was not excessive as much of it was melted away during the roasting process. Actually, I gladly ate the fat too as it was rich, deeply and robustly flavoured :P To me, chewing a mouthful of skin, fat and meat together is the best way to enjoy roast duck :D
Now, I fully understand what was in my senior relatives' minds when we fought our way through London traffic every lunch time, three decades ago.
Legendary Hong Kong's London roast duck and char siew are outstanding.
My thanks to Marie of Icon Group for the invite.
Restaurant name: Legendary Hong Kong 港饮港食 (roast duck and meat section)
Address: Jurong Point II, Level 3 (at Boon Lay MRT Station), Singapore
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/ZmFG2
GPS: 1.340615,103.706312
Hours: 08:00am to 11:00pm (closed 2:00pm to 5:30pm)
Non Halal
Dates visited: 27 Jul 2014, 6 Aug 2014
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