Spring Deer
1/2I'm sorry to have missed the famous roast goose at Yung Kee, but at least I got a dose of Peking duck (and plenty more roasted meats in between). If James had it his way we wouldve had peking duck every night in Hong Kong.
I'm sure there are fancier spots, but Spring Deer provided all that a peking duck meal should be: fun, mildly theatrical and fat-filled. We accidentally upped the cholesterol quotient by ordering a "vegetable." At least bamboo shoots and scallops sounded semi-healthy. Our charmingly intimidating mobster-esque waiter did warn "its fried," which didnt make sense at the time. What arrived was a massive tangle of shredded deep-fried greens speckled with deep-fried bamboo shoots and dried scallop floss. I had no idea how this dish was supposed to be eaten–in small quantities, as an accompaniment to something? We just plowed into it, and well, it was good, especially since were already fried greens converts thanks to Sripraphais watercress salad, which is deep-fried and battered.
Finally, the duck arrived. It took some time, but allowed us to snoop at the proceedings at nearby private dinner parties (we were seated in a weird back room, which was our own fault for showing up over an hour early. On the train ride from the airport James called and made reservations for 9pm, which made the host seem to freak out, so me being a nervous person about being the only diner in an empty room decided we should just show up at 8pm, especially since the whole reservations craze in Asia seemed like a joke half the time as wed end up in near vacant rooms. But this restaurant was crowded and they had a little name plate Mr. James made up for us for 9pm. We totally threw things off). There was lots of cognac and what looked to be sweet and sour prawns we were envious of. 
One party was wheeled over a salt baked chicken, which was ceremoniously cracked open with a wooden mallet wielded by a drunk and/or goofy member of the group.
We were carved a lot of duck, really too much for two people, and on vacation getting food to go isnt terribly practical. But the duck was perfectly crispy and fatty, the flesh a different stronger better flavor than we were used to. The pancakes were also thicker and floury, almost tortilla-like. My only complaint would be that the cucumbers and scallions were cut too thick and stubby, making the roll ups too chunky. But thats a minor source of contention in the scheme of things.
Spring Deer * 42 Mody Rd., Hong Kong
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