Duck and Rice has been one of the most hotly anticipated restaurant openings for this year, coming from London restaurateur Alan Yau, the owner of Yauatcha, Hakkasan and Wagamama. The idea is a Chinese themed gastropub in prime Soho real estate, right around the corner from Yauatcha. I thought it would be incredibly difficult to get a table, so when I emailed the reservations line a week ago, the request was more along the lines of "when is your next available table?" rather than "can I get a table next week?" But to my surprise, I was able to get a table on opening day, April 13, at my requested time of 7 PM without a problem.
The entrance is dominated by a large copper beer tank, and behind it are tables that are arranged in a high table quasi-bar setting, and I think you can just walk in there. I was confused because there was no around to check my reservation, so I wandered upstairs, which was a more obviously restaurant setting. The first day was not super crowded, as I could see the odd empty table here and there, but also not very chaotic, which I guess is the benefit of having a few weeks of soft openings already.
The menu is large and very overwhelming, with one side dedicated to food and the other, entirely to drinks. However, the menu items have no descriptions, and even with the experience of having eaten a lot of Chinese food over the years, I found myself asking the waiter a lot of questions because I didn't recognise so many of the names. In the end, we ordered two dim sum dishes - a venison puff and duck spring rolls, Singapore fried noodles, Jasmined smoked pork rib, crispy shredded beef, and some steamed rice. The waiter recommended one more dish, but that was already more than enough food. I had really wanted to order some seasonal vegetables, but at around £10 for nothing more interesting than bok choy, it seemed like a total rip off.
The first 3 plates were our dim sum dishes and the Singapore fried noodles. I loved both the venison puff and the spring rolls - you get 3 of the former and 2 of the latter, but the spring rolls are huge and cut in half, and are served with a lovely hoisin sauce. They are also very generously stuffed with duck meat, so you can't go wrong here. The Singapore noodles were the size of a main, and the main reason that we thought that we had gotten too much food. They were very heavily spiced and extremely flavorful... but definitely was enough to comfortably share between 4-5 people.
Next we had the Jasmine smoked pork rib and the crispy shredded beef. When we ordered, I had asked a lot about the crispy shredded beef, as I had never heard of anything like it before, and our Spanish waiter sounded like he didn't know much more, except that it was a highly recommended dish. It was very disappointing. In theory, they shred some beef and deep fry it, but in the end it came out like crunchy pork rind or something, served with enormous Sichuan peppers and rather unmemorable in terms of taste. The Jasmine smoked pork rib was the exact opposite, with a rack of about 7 ribs and an intensely strong smoky flavour, and very unique.
Throughout the whole meal, I had the Czech pilsner and my friend had a Chinese beer and then a Japanese beer, both of which were wheat beers that tasted like Hoegaarden. The one thing I will say is that the foreign bottled beers do not come cheap - they are upwards of £7. The ones on tap are all European, with the likes of London Pride, a Scottish pilsner, and even a cider. When we got the bill, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that we had gotten all the food at 50% off, which had not been advertised. It is unclear if they are still doing their soft opening... I asked the waiter and he said that he thought it would go on until Thursday, but it was happening at the manager's discretion. If I had known, I would have definitely gone for the roast duck or the whole lobster! (they were like £40ish)
Overall, this restaurant is certainly not cheap at normal prices, but then again it is Soho. It kind of reminds me of Hutong in the Shard, obviously with the focus on the roast duck and fairly similar prices. I don't get a strong impression that they are like a pub, large copper beer tank aside. I might pop in here for a beer, more because they stock some unique ones like the Chinese and Japanese ones my friend had, rather than for the vibe. The dishes are something in between tapas size and main plates, though personally I feel like they should focus on making them more like tapas. I'm glad I got the opportunity to check it out, but I wouldn't be in a rush to return again. read more