Eat. @ Simon's Peiking Duck Restaurant

197B Middleborough Rd, Box Hill South 3128 ph : (03) 9898 5944

In need of another dose of duck in the suburbs, we recently had a big family dinner out at Simon's, the famed duck-slicing ninja restaurateur who used to be behind Old Kingdom before retiring, then re-emerging in this little strip mall in the 'burbs.  

There are 2 seatings, at 6pm and 8pm, and like other specialty duck restaurants they will ask you how many ducks you would require for the night at the time of booking.  We've been told that on average you would share one duck between two adult diners.  The duck menu choices of A ($55) and B ($63) only differ based on your choice of noodles that are served after the main Peking duck event.  

The kids were totally entertained by Simon flipping pancakes onto their plates.   The pancakes were super thin and more delicious than the ones found at the average Chinese restaurant.  Simon belted out instructions on how the Peking duck should be wrapped and chastised us when it was done wrongly, in a way only an Asian Chef can get away with!

The ducks were all perfectly cooked, yielding good sized slices with light and crispy skin and succulent meat.  We ordered 4 ducks to feed 8 adults and 2 kids, finding that the quality was consistent and there was certainly plenty to go around.  

If you're still hungry after the Peking duck is gone, you can fill up with duck noodles and soup.  These were nothing to write home about, but that's not what you come to Simon's for.  The menu also had a list of the usual suspects of dishes available at your local Chinese place, but looking around us no one else ordered anything  but duck, duck and more duck!

Similar to both Old Kingdom and Little Beijing House, you're here for the sole purpose of eating yummy duck, and not for the ambiance, service or a lingering chat over desserts, nor for a place for the kids to roam and play after dinner.  However, I DO prefer this place to the other two in terms of food and access. (We had 2 kids and 3 toddlers amongst us who occupied 2 highchairs and we even manged a pram in the corner for the sleeping baby).  Simon gave us the duck carcasses to take home for my mother-in-law to make stock, which made the duck go even further.  

Eat.Play.Shop. says - Excellent duck in the 'burbs.  Need to book and visit the ATM prior as they are Cash Only. 

Highchair - yes (I'd mention you need this at booking)

Toilets - yes

Eat. @ Little Beijing House

144 Canterbury Rd, Blackburn South ph : (03) 9878 9784

I think every culture have their own versions of "Peking Duck", be it the Greek Souvalaki, the Mexican Burrito, or even the Harajuku Crepe!   Peking Duck remains my favourite type of "wrap'em-ups", and when our friends asked us to try this place out in the 'burbs, we jumped at the opportunity to have a duck feast!

Situated in a quiet shopping strip in sleepy Blackburn South, Little Beijing House is very much in the vein of Fitzroy's Old Kingdom - tables and chairs packed back to back in a little shop with little decor, everyone in the room essentially ordering the one best dish - the duck. 

And what a great duck dish it wass!  The duck was appealing to the cantonese palate (ie/ much less fatty than the real Beijing version), with crispy skin and moist, tasty duck meat. 

"Tastefully" garnished with slices of orange.  Awesome duck though!

The crepes here are obviously hand-made, and delightfully thin.  I really enjoyed this, as one of my pet peeves is poorly made, thick pastry.  This went perfectly with the crispy duck skin!

My finished product, after wrapping with cucumber and a very good peking duck sauce.  The kids all seemed to have a good time wrapping, "decorating" and eating them!

The accompanying duck soup is very "ducky" and peppery.

You can also choose to have the duck meat served with noodles.  We were charged an extra $8 for each plate.  Fairly ordinary in comparison to the spectacular Peking Duck course.  However I'm biased as both dishes were distinctly flavoured with Chinese mushrooms, which I'm not a fan of.

I think most people come here for the duck, so all the other items in the menu are all not every exciting in comparison.  We had a beef with vegies dish which was fairly standard "Chinese take-away" fare.

We were there for the first sitting and by the time we were ready to leave, the restaurant was literally packed wall to wall with patrons all munching away on their duck.  The restaurant is very cramped and they have no highchairs, so it might be difficult for parents with pram-bound babies and wandering toddlers.  Having said that their service was very fast, and after some initial table-hopping, we had no problems once we were seated and food was ordered.  It would help if someone in  your party spoke mandarin, as some of the staff had difficulties with us making requests in English, outside of the normal menu items.

Thank you to our wonderful friends for asking us to share a great meal with them.  Loved your company, the conversations, the friendship, and not least of all your understanding that bloggers have to take pictures of their food BEFORE ANYONE TOUCHES ANYTHING!

Eat.Play.Shop. Says : Come for the duck, not the decor.  Although the Santa decoration on the wall may be for Christmas in July???

Toilets - Yes

Highchairs - No