Chef Alvin Leung’s quirky twists delight at Forbidden Duck in Times Square
Half a Peking-style duck offers a tasty meal for three and the pepper Bombay duck was tender and light
“Demon” chef Alvin Leung has opened the Forbidden Duck at Times Square, where he serves classic Peking-style and slow-cooked roast duck, and classic Cantonese cuisine. It is described as “classic” but in true Leung-style, there are a few quirky twists to some of the dishes.
We shared half a Peking-style duck (HK$228) which came with the classic light pancake wraps, and the usual pairing condiments including sliced cucumber, sugar, spring onion and hoi sin sauce. It did not disappoint.
The pancakes are thin and light; the duck skin crispy without being oily, and the meat tender. Half a duck easily serves three people. The Peking duck second-course add-ons include lettuce wraps topped with duck done in various styles, such as classic, Portuguese, Korean, Mongolian and French with foie gras.
We chose the Portuguese wrap (HK$70) which featured a turmeric sauce, and is best eaten with fingers. As chicken feet is said to be good for the skin – it contains collagen – we tried the chicken feet with abalone (HK$78) from the dim sum menu.
We also went for the pesto duck spring roll (HK$42), which was light, crispy but not oily, and the seafood rice in aromatic duck soup (HK$168) topped with crispy rice, but you need to eat it fast to get the full crispy and soft textures. The soup was “aromatic” as it said on the menu.