Old Kingdom Chinese Restaurant

Jeremy wanted to treat me to dinner for designing his and Jojo's campaign posters. Before the MUOSS elections even began, he was already telling me about this restaurant.

Jeremy reserved seats for five and two ducks for 8.00 p.m. but in the end there were only four of us. Less men, more share.

I have not eaten Peking duck in a really long time so I did not really have a benchmark. However, during the long walk to the restaurant, Jeremy and Shaegan kept reassuring me that the duck will not disappoint.

At long last, we arrived.

Famous for Peking Duck.

Old Kingdom, is well, old. The building which houses the restaurant, the furniture, the surroundings are all looking almost decrepit. However, this place never gets old for duck lovers and the long queue outside the restaurant puts any argument about that to rest.

I was starving and when the duck arrived I realised that the starvation was well worth it and will be put to good use because the ducks were quite big, and we had a duck to two.

The restaurant owner slicing up the duck.

Still slicing.

And done.

Jeremy going at the duck.

I was exhilarated when the owner was done slicing up the duck. I took some pictures and put my camera to rest. I grabbed a piece of the thin pancake, chose a piece of duck skin, topped it with a piece of spring onion and cucumber, drenched those fillings with a hearty amount of plum sauce, folded the pancake, and took a bite.

That mouthful of duck goodness made me want to belt out a love song. It was just so ducking awesome. The skin was crispy, it was crunchy even. Above all, the plum sauce was just heavenly. It was not overpowering and not too salty as the average plum sauce that goes with roasted ducks. I usually cringe when I have a taste of those. This was just right that I did not mind drenching the duck in a thick layer of it.

Then I tried another piece with skin and meat. The meat was tender. Usually, I look like I wrestle ducks when I try to eat them. Old Kingdom got theirs just right. Not overcooked, and the meat still showed a tint of pink, how ducks should be. The taste was great. In fact, it was so good that I took more pictures of it so I can drool at them when I feel hungry in the night.

Got this on a third attempt.

Then came the second course.

Duck meat with bean sprouts.

The second dish was just so-so for me, maybe because I am not a fan of bean sprouts. However, I do appreciate a little bit of roughage to lessen the guilt of eating half a duck. The duck meat was also well flavoured. I just like to pick out the duck meat and eat them separately from the bean sprouts so that the latter does not overpower the former.

After that, came the duck soup.

No part of the duck goes to waste.

Duck bones.

The soup was pretty good. It was not heavily flavoured and not too oily. However, it was also not gelatinous as the duck bones were not simmered long enough. That being said, it is amazing how the taste of the duck is absorbed by the soup so quickly.

After the soup, we asked for the bill and Jeremy paid for all of us. Thank you, Jeremy. Then, it was a long walk back to Lygon Street, as we were going to hit another joint for dessert, which will be covered in my next entry.

A word of warning though, I think either the duck or the sauce is heavily salted or MSG-ed as I am experiencing an unquenchable thirst right now.

197, Smith Street,

Fitzroy, VIC 3065,

Australia.

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