Friday, June 19

London Fat Duck, Scotts Square

How is it that our tiny island suddenly pops up with not one but two roast duck specialty restaurants?

It is obvious a not-so-great review in Sunday Times didn't turn the crowds off. That's great because Wong Ah Yoke is quite a quack and his reviews are generally not worth reading. So yeah, we waited close to 1.5 hours at Maison Kayser, snacking on sandwiches. I know sandwiches before roast duck? Yeah, we pulled all the stops to not get hangry. Trust me, it could get ugly.

I guess it wasn't a great time to visit as we were thick in the hype. Throughout the meal, I felt incredibly hassled - not unlike the overwhelmed staff, I'm sure. I'm not sure how long you have to wait for takeaway but take that option and enjoy it from the comfort of anywhere-but-here.

Media reviews seemed unnecessarily harsh, but then again, we stuck to the roast meats and stayed clear of the dim sum. Our expectations matched the absurd waiting time, but thankfully, the quality of the food didn't suffer with the crowds or hype.


The namesake roast duck was ahh-mazing! Fatty, juicy and succulent, it delivered the goods and more. The next time we get this, I'm ordering a whole damn duck so that we won't need to ration.


Excellent smoky char siew. We promptly ordered a second plate as soon as we wiped off the first. You would scrap the plate clean just to get some of that sweet sticky sauce for your rice. Don't be embarrassed, everyone's doing it.


Crunchy crackling skin with good amount of lean meat and little fat. A little porky but dab on some mustard and that ommphy chili, and all will be fine.


The only dim sum we had were these Black Pepper London Duck Buns. They were delectable little pucks filled with peppery and juicy diced duck. Best eaten warm for that crisp wispy crust.


In case you missed the name of the restaurant, London Fat Duck is not a place you would want to bring vegetarians - unless you plan on converting them. The only greens found in the menu - seasonal vegetables with ouster sauce - were overboiled and lackluster.


These wantons were tiny bundles of crunchy shrimp wrapped in paper thin skin.

The name might be a misnomer (hint: it's not from London and has nothing to do with THE Fat Duck), but the grub is genuinely good.


1 comment:

muchadoabouteating said...

And the kickass chilli!!!! Shiok!