I have been to The Duck King numerous times before and had enjoyed their duck (obviously), fried rices, tofu, spinaches -- you name it. The funny thing never once did I ever paid for dining in The Duck King until the day of which these very pictures are taken. Be it from a seminar invitation, a birthday celebration and graduation party, proving that the restaurant is ideal for gatherings. I never even dined at The Duck King with my family and having to spend it all on our own. This time, my brother and I finally made our own purchase at this very franchise after watching The Little Prince at Cinema XXI. It was a quiet afternoon and the restaurant were not busy. The restaurant had two types of seating, inside the actual restaurant and the outer seating that is placed near the escalator, but the indoor seating were fully closed and were cleaned up upon our arrival that day. Anyways, let's get to the food.
Bebek Panggang dengan Nasi Hainan (IDR 50.000)
The signature roasted duck paired with Hainanese rice is one of the most classic things you can have at Duck King. Upon order, the server would confirm whether you wanted the duck to be served with or without bones. My brother chose the bone-in serving, only to have most of his duck being heavy with ossein -- which he regretted, thinking at first that the bone will give extra flavor to the duck. This duck is crispy on the outside and pretty moist on the inside, but this wasn't served piping hot on the table which is unfortunate. The Hainanese rice is pretty fluffy and had a good amount of ginger. The portion comes with a hoisin sauce and a bowl of soup stock.
Nasi Goreng Seafood dengan Saus XO (IDR 56.000)
This seafood fried rice is huge! I was expecting something about the half serving of this portion but I was really happy that it was served on this big plate as it becomes easily sharable between the two of us. The fried rice were very good and the good thing is that they were served right off the pan as it came out blazing hot. The vegetables and the seafood tasted fresh and the XO sauce is blended very well into the rice. I always love the flavor of XO sauce as it goes really well with seafood. This one is our best purchase for the day.
Cheong Fan Goreng dengan Saus XO (IDR 28.800)
Chee cheong fan is one of my ever favorite dish. The silkiness of the rice noodle sheet served with protein, drizzled with the sweet-savory soy sauce and sometimes topped with sesame seeds made the humble dish very special to me. It was interesting that the restaurant has a variant of fried cheong fun on the menu, so we decided to try it out. Different from the dry cheong fan, the fried cheongfan consist of the rice noodle rolled with shredded fried shrimps and topped with diced scallions, salted fish and fried shallots. The rice noodle exterior is crunchy while its insides were very soft and chewy -- although a bit mushier and thick and there were no protein that adds another texture on the inside of the rice sheet. I would prefer the usual cheong fan any day as this is a bit too 'shrimpy' for me. The XO sauce here is part of the topping mixture but does not give enough significant flavor.
Braised Tofu with Shimeji Mushrooms (IDR 68.000)
The braised tofu is such a nice side to have here, however, this particular dish fell a bit flat as it was lacking seasoning. Usually, the sauce were thicker and slightly darker. Decent dish otherwise, but it was not our lucky day.
The braised tofu is such a nice side to have here, however, this particular dish fell a bit flat as it was lacking seasoning. Usually, the sauce were thicker and slightly darker. Decent dish otherwise, but it was not our lucky day.
Lumpia Goreng Isi Udang (IDR 26.800)
This dish consists of diced shrimp and spices wrapped inside tofu skin (or beancurd). This came out right off the fryer and were delicious, especially dipped within the soy sauce. This consist of three rolls that are cut into 6-pieces bite sized lumpia. A good appetizer to the whole meal.
The two of us spent about Rp300.000 and were very bloated. All those dishes above were successfully rummaged by the two of us and we gotten too full to function. I was a bit surprised that the food were actually fairly priced, I was a bit hesitant that some of these would dramatically damage my pocket. For great service and a good variety of Chinese food, The Duck King shall always be an option. My only input is to watch over the consistency of the food and for the staffs to be more attentive as my card were charged without the promotional discount during check out which is VERY unfortunate yet stupid of me as I only notice this once I got home. Aside from all those it was overall a good meal - maybe next time I will again pay it by myself (or shall I just wait for another invitation?) hehe.
The Duck King
Lippo Mall Kemang
1st Floor
Jl. Pangeran Antasari No. 36
South Jakarta
