Holy Duck!
100 Edinburgh Rd,
Castlecrag, Sydney
This place is quite new and tucked away in a quiet shopping village in Castlecrag. There is a menu out the front with such tempting pictures you would find it hard not to enter! What immediately takes you back is the size of the place! A massive dining area, well appointed and tastefully decorated in warm hues and mirrors.
We take a table near a window and order a house red and the obligatory Chinese tea. The menu is enticing but we had already decided on the Signature Crispy Duck (of course!).
But first….Shao Long Bao, a dumpling dish on the Dim Sum menu filled with pork and hot broth. It was juicy and tasty, served with a selection of sauces. Nice one.
The Crispy Duck (we ordered a quarter serve) was slow-roasted and then deep fried to crispy perfection. Our waiter, Komang, who was both friendly and professional, shredded the meat at the table and left us to assemble our mini pancakes. The meat was delicious, pancakes were soft and there was plenty of hoi-sin sauce. Couldn’t complain about this!
Next, a couple of vegetable dishes. Handmade Pink Salt and Black Sesame & Egg Tofu arrived with flair. Don’t be afraid of this one – that’s not all salt on the top. It’s actually really gently seasoned and the texture of the tofu is like a baked custard but crispy on the outside. Very filling but just divine.
Being big fans of the crispy, we opted for the Sichuan Style Crispy Battered Zucchini. It was a bowl of yummy , honey-coated vegetable sticks with a soft centre, great taste and crunch, Quite a sweet dish, but a real hit with these Dames.
No room for dessert, but we managed to share a Vanilla Panna Cotta. It was silky smooth and combined so well with the black sesame ice cream! Black ice cream might seem a little scary, but go outside your comfort zone for this one. So good we fought over it!
The verdict: would we go back? Duck yeah. The roast meat dishes on the menu sound amazing and worth trying next time. There is easy parking in the IGA carpark under the complex and this place is so big they could easily accommodate walk-ins.
Those Dames dined as guests of Holy Duck. Special thanks to Matt and Gemma from Cardinal Spin for arranging this visit.