Beijing Duck – Noshing with the Panda

Dinner at Moon House Chinese Cuisine 福滿樓 in West Los Angeles, CA

For the last 2 years, Moon House has been the “go to” place for solid Chinese (mainly Cantonese) food on the Westside, and for the most part, the food is excellent. This place has also been packed in the past Chinese students from UCLA, as well as those who live out on the Westside. However, during this time, prices have been slowly creeping up. What used to be inexpensive and reasonable is now getting to the point of being moderately pricey. Lunch Specials that used to cost $8 or $9 a dish, and a Buy 4 Lunch Special Entrees and Get 1 Free promo, now run about $12 to $14. And that Buy 4 and Get 1 Free promo is no more.

In addition to the higher prices, their Health Inspection Rating dropped, for the first time ever, from an “A” rating. Worse, the rating dropped to a “C.” It makes one wonder if the 2 issues may be the cause for their foot traffic to noticeably drop off some? So, we wonder if the offering of a 40% Off Facebook Discount was in response to the decline in sales? Whatever the reason was, we took advantage of it and dined on 16 different dishes, most of which were prepared well and were tasty.

The most luxurious item they had available was the Peking (Beijing) Duck. Though it may not have been the best preparation, it was more than adequate to satiate our palates.

The one true disappointment of the evening was the Salt & Pepper Calamari. The flour coating on the outside could have used a few more seconds frying in oil, so that the calamari would be nice and crispy. Instead, it was a little gummy, and there was a off taste to the calamari.

Service was good here. With the discount, we saved about $120 on our dinner, and with the cost of $23 per person, this meal was quite a steal.

If you can read Chinese or use a translator app, you may want to ask for the Chinese only menu to order dishes non-Chinese readers don’t know about.

As always, click on the thumbnails to enlarge the photos.

Tableside carving of the Peking Duck

Accompaniments for the Peking Duck

Peking or Beijing Duck

Remainder of the duck is served with a side of plum sauce

Crab and Fish Maw Soup

Ground Pork Patty with Salted Egg Yolk (Chinese Menu)

Black Peppered Filet Mignon Cubes

Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce

Water Boiled Fish (off menu item)

Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice

Shrimp with Honeyed Walnuts

Seafood Chow Mein (Hong Kong style with crispy noodles

Stewed Beef with Daikon Radishes

Kung Pao Chicken

Snow Peas, Shitake Mushrooms and Broccoli (Chinese Menu) – Was supposed to come with Napa Cabbage)

Szechwan Shrimp (aka Shrimp in Garlic Sauce)

Beef Chow Fun (Dry Style)

Salt and Pepper Calamari

Stir Fried Pea Shoot Leaves

Chinese Menu, Page 1

Chinese Menu, Page 2

Beijing Duck Lunch at Duck House 鹿鼎記 in Monterey Park, CA

For me, there are only a handful of places in the Greater Los Angeles Area that serves up really good Beijing Duck (aka Peking Duck), and Duck House is one of them. They have been a staple here for over 15 years, and the quality of their food hasn’t diminished since. In fact, they’re reaching out to foodies from around the city by participating in their very first DineLA Restaurant Week, which runs from July 13th through July 27th. In addition, you can now make reservations through Open Table.

After checking out their $25 lunch and $49 dinner menus for DineLA, I thought one can get a better deal buy ordering off their regular menu. So, for a party of 16 (8 per table), I ordered for each table the $268 set menu for 6 people, an extra half Beijing Duck, and 2 vegetable dishes for each table. The total for lunch unfortunately came out to be about $20 more per person, tax and gratuity included.

However, for the majority, the food was delicious, and everyone was able to get ample amount of duck. Shiny, crispy skinned duck, where some pieces had a nice layer of rendered fat on them, giving you more flavor with every bite. Duck meat is sliced nicely and evenly, making them easy to roll up into a wrap with the raw scallions, cucumbers and a drizzle of hoisin sauce. Each bite into the wrap was a mouthful of savory, ducky goodness.

The other dishes were solid, and the Baked Truffled Lobster was meaty and juicy, doused in a tasty garlicky and peppery sauce that just screams for a steamed white rice so you can use it to soak up those juices and savor the flavor.

Lunch ended with a plate of Passionfruit Konnyaku Jello, made in molds in the shape of Hello Kitty’s face. Konnyaku is made from the Amorphophallus konjac and is sometimes referred to as yam, yam cake or yam flour. It has a firmer texture than agar agar or regular gelatin. It’s not very flavorful, so you can easily taste the passionfruit flavor.