The Best Peking Duck Experience In Melbourne – Quanjude (Restaurant Review)
8 Comments July 27, 2010 / Posted in Food & WineQuan Jude
299 Queen St
Melbourne -Victoria, Australia
P: +61 (0) 3 9670 0091
Mai - feasting at Peking Duck in Quanjude
I am always on the search for great Peking Duck as most of my friends are also great fans of this delicious poultry and most of our social lives revolve around eating.
I came across Quanjude by chance while I was walking by and when I saw a sign proclaiming itself as ’Specialising in Peking Duck”, how could I resist? Quanjude is part of a global branch of 200 restaurants around the world.
I am making the call that Quanjude is the best Peking Duck restaurant in Melbourne and now I will share my experience and the elements that support my claim.
Ambient and Attention to Details
Quanjude with its lovely decor, pleasant ambience, friendly waiters and spacious seating.
Unlike most traditional Chinese restaurants, the Quanjude dinging area is very spacious. The waiters are friendly and well presented, the bathrooms are clean and tables are set beautifully with modern, tasteful crockery and cutlery. I really love the ambience; other patrons of the restaurant are low key, not too noisy or loud so that allowed me to concentrate on the food and my dinner partner. I appreciate the fact that plates and cutlery are replaced for every single course and wine is served from a decanter, quite unusual and nice for a Chinese restaurant.
The Food – Peking Duck
The best Peking Duck Experience - Quan Jude
My fellow diner and I ordered one whole duck between us, Quanjude’s specialty.
A waiter arrived at our table with Peking Duck condiments of Hoisin Sauce and finely sliced cucumber and spring onions. I usually shy away from Spring Onion in Peking Duck because the usual large chunks have an unpleasant, strong, pungent taste to me. Quanjude however puts in a little extra effort to slice spring onion very finely, allowing the addition of just the right amount without that overpowering taste.
Peking Duck Condiments of sweet Hoisin sauce and finely sliced cucumber and spring onions
Next, the Master arrives at our table with the whole Peking Duck, he faces you, then begins to slice the duck as we watch in anticipation. The first plate he dishes up consists purely of the Crispy Duck Skin which we eat with the Hoisin sauce. It is very crispy and mouth watering tasty. The skin is said to be the tastiest piece of the whole duck, a true culinary experience, the way Peking Duck was originally intended. This is in line with the authentic Peking Duck experience in China where the crispy skin alone is eaten.
Peking Duck Master – Carves your duck at your table before your eyes
The Peking Duck experience begins with the tastiest bit of the duck, crispy duck skin
I noticed that the Master surgically slices the duck into fine pieces and places them neatly on a serving dish (most duck places in my experience are not this meticulous). Each of the duck meat pieces contain the EXACT amount of skin and flesh, a little of each.
Peking Duck Meat from the whole duck, each slice consists of a bit of skin and meat - layers of mouthwatering goodness 
, not fatty/oily yet super moist
The pancake was really thin and plentiful, whereas other restaurants I have been to tend to skimp on this. I have to also say that pancakes here are the best I have tasted. I took a piece of pancake, placed 2-3 pieces of duck meat, some finely sliced cucumber and spring onions and a teaspoon of hoisin sauce. I then wrapped the pancake around the yummy contents before savoring my first bite..
A pancake with a slice of duck, cucumber spring onion and a dollop of Hoisin sauce, superb!
A wrapped Peking duck parcel – complete and ready to be eaten - YUM!
The first bite was divine. The pancake did not taste too doughy, the duck was not oily but still moist and the freshness of the cucumber and spring onion along with the sweetness of Hoisin sauce made this first bite a taste explosion. The spring onion added an excellent element and great after taste. I cannot believe that I had given this crucial ingredient a miss in the past.
The first bite and each one after it simply WOWed me! Compared to other Peking Duck restaurants (China Town offerings, Old Kingdom in Collingwood) the duck here is less fatty and oily but still incredibly moist. I know that some prefer their duck with more fat for that extra burst of flavour (Old Kingdom) but I found that with less oil I did not have the post duck sickness (unlike the usual experience at Old Kingdom).
Our Peking duck came with a duck soup containing pieces of fresh cucumber.
The duck soup with fresh cucumber pieces is included with the Peking Duck dish
The second dish we ordered was mixed vegetables stir fry. This dish was so tasty it had me planning my return trip to Quanjude to try other non Peking Duck dishes, particularly after seeing the fantastic looking Chinese dishes on neighbouring tables.
Stir Fry Mixed Vegetables
Conclusion
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole Peking duck experience at Quan Jude. The cost for a whole Peking Duck is $68, a little pricier than the average restaurant, but certainly not by much. Not to mention that this is not your average Peking Duck restaurant, to me it is superior on all fronts, service, ambience, décor and of course, food to die for! I will be returning to Quanjude and this time with more friends and a larger appetite.
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Wooo..was planning to go Old Kingdom but I might try this place instead, thanks!
Enjoy your Quan Jude expierience shy, and please do let me know what you think
Went with the girlfriend to celebrate our anniversary and found the place disappointing Mai. First thing that I thought was missing is the stir fry dish you normally get with your duck at any peking duck restaurant. To get just wrap and soup for the more expensive price seem rather lacking. We were told half a duck would be enough for two, and although we ordered 2 entrees as well, it wasnt enough for a normal appetite. The decore is nice and service good, it fell below my expectations I’m afraid. To make matters worse, got slugged extra $8 for 8 extras pancakes when we didnt know it was going to cost us because they offered it to us and nothing was mentioned in the menu made me argue with the manager whom promptly rebutted “we run a restaurant here so ofcourse we charged for it (he was the one that offerred without explaning the costs).
Hi Shy,
Sorry you feel that way about Quanjude. I think where you went wrong was you went in expecting it to be Old Kingdom. I have been to many Peiking Duck resturants and I can say the stir fry dish is NOT the norm, which was why we ordered an extra dish. Also half a duck between 2 people is never enough. The general rule of thumb is half a duck per person, so you really needed a whole duck. You are right the waitor should have probably told you that the extra pancake should cost more BUT unlike Old Kingdom at least you can get “extras”, I’ve have asked for extra pancakes before at Old Kingdom but have always been knocked back.
It is definitely more expensive than Old Kingdom but since Old Kingdom changed owners and raised their price from $42 to $58 (need confirmation)? per duck the difference is not much. When you consider the place, the ambience, decor and service to be far superior I think it’s very well worth it
Well a different manager whom we ordered with assured us that 1/2 duck was enough if we were going to order extra dishes on the side. All up tea x2, 3 entrees, 1/2 duck came up to $90, Read a couple of reviews, its definitely a dryer version of the traditional peking duck then most places and the soup (tea size cup) felt it was taken from a big pot with not a hint of duck flavour. Couple of family next to us whom were return guest(One manager came to say hi) didnt even order duck as we overheard them saying it wasnt as good. I understand what you mean by ambience and service Mai, but its no where near the best duck restaurant in Melbourne in my opinion. The wow factor after you walk in quickly disperse once you look at the prices/value for money.
Shy we may need to agree to disagree here.
Actually I never said this was the best peiking duck restaurant, I said it was the best peiking duck experience. The way the top skin was cut into peices and also the soup broth is how they do it in China. In China they would also eat all the other parts of the duck including the insides and the feet, etc, etc. I really need to try 2 more places before I can make a blog post to lay claim to the best peiking duck in Melbourne.
Also I know that many like their duck “fattie” but I prefer it with less fat. I know that after a session at Old Kingdom you will get a little sick.
But I’m with you with the manager incident Shy. Half a duck is never enough for 2. So for those reading my blog, remember the rule of thumb HALF DUCK EACH.
try simon peiking duck
was originally owner from Old Kingdom
http://www.simonpeikingduck.com
9898 5944
or else go to Little Beijing in Canterbury Road
144A Canterbury Rd, BLACKBURN SOUTH, VIC, 3130
9878 9784
Thanks very much Tania. I went to Simon Peiking Duck and it seems he’s now semi-retired, i.e. not working so hard anymore, keeping the diner numbers small. Most of the people there are either local or his very loyal Peking Duck customers