Duck House Restaurant 鹿鼎記 — Restaurant in Monterey Park

Any old hand at the greater Los Angeles food scene should know by now that Monterey Park is a gold mine of the finest Chinese food outside of China, to the point where I had often thought I could charge off in a random direction and find a gem hidden within. I've only tried this once seriously, and it was then I found this gem. When I passed by Duck House Restaurant, I was merely a curious bystander. Having dined there, I'm a convert to this - one of the most underrated Chinese fine dining experiences in the city, if not the country.

The pitch for Duck House is as follows: Go out for a big event or celebration, and experience an exemplary preparation of the famous Chinese roast duck, at a restaurant with a lovely aesthetic, that has been frequented by the likes of the late Chadwick Bozeman and the legendary James Hong. Yet, when I looked up Duck House after passing it on the street, I hesitated because of two things; the price of the dishes, and a handful of low reviews, particularly on Yelp.

It is true that duck house is no impromptu excursion if you want to sample the titular duck. But if you want to experience the restaurant at a reasonable price, you absolutely can. The green onion pancake is a ridiculously low $6, and balances the oily crisp of the edges with a soft gooey interior. The lunch specials are quite varied, coming in at 12 to $14 per dish, well in line with other similar restaurants. While my group did not attend during lunch, we ordered many of the dishes which would have been on that menu, including three different tofu dishes, all unique and tasty in different ways (though the group as a whole settled on the three cups tofu as the favorite) and an eggplant dish so good, it converted someone who had never liked eggplant before.

As to the reviews, from what I could see, there were two complaints: the service was bad, and the duck wasn't good. For us, the service was tremendously accommodating and friendly. When calling ahead to ask whether they could accommodate a vegan member of our party, they both confirmed that they could, and even guided me through the process of reserving, and made sure to let me know to reserve the duck ahead of time. When we were there, they would readily answer questions, be quick to replenish food and tea, even provided complimentary gelatin treats for the birthday, something we didn't ask for, and were not charged for, and seemed to enjoy their work, and for any concerned, were perfectly fluent in English.

But you're not here to hear about the staff. You may not even be here to hear about the prices. You want to know about the duck.

To anyone unfamiliar with the famous Chinese roast duck, it is certainly a classy dish, typically ordered at banquets, and meant to serve several people. It is usually served in two parts: The meat and skin on one plate, and accoutrements on the other. The idea is to take a provided wrapping, and put in the duck, some green onions, and some hoisin savory sauce and assemble it, burrito-like, to consume. It's always quite the treat, but of the dozens of ducks I've had over the years, this one may be the best.

Unlike many restaurants, Duck House separates the skins of the duck from the meat. Duckskin is always a resplendently crispy and savory part of a meal, sometimes a little bit too rich for some, and the separation gives you the option of taking more less of it. When you do taste it, it's very well balanced, abounding with flavor without being too oily. Duck meat can sometimes be inconsistent or chewy, but the thin slices here are a joy to eat, and the green onions and cucumbers balance out the meal effortlessly. From those of us who had been eating duck for years, to people who had never tried it before, our entire party of nine left satisfied and impressed. I truly have no idea what the negative reviews of this place are talking about when it comes to the duck.

So if you have an occasion worth celebrating, don't duck out on your responsibilities; Make a detour to the duck house - they're serving duck, but clearly laying...

Holy bageezus. This was so good! My SGV friends took me here and they weren't kidding. They've been coming to this restaurant since it was in Rosemead, since forever. And even if they claimed the taste went down a little, I LOVED it!! Make reservations early! Books up, and for good reason! Freaking delicious!! It also happens to be one of the fancier sit down places in SGV, so bring the folks to impress them!

We started with "Peking Duck 3 ways" - $49. (1) "Tortilla wrap" with traditional peking duck skin and meat, green onion, cucumber, and hoisen sauce. I learned this is the traditional "Peking" way of serving, instead of with the fluffy bun (Cantonese style). Delicious and educational dinner, i likely. Take a wrap, a few pieces of skin, some meat, sauce, and some sprigs of cucumber and onions, wrap and enjoy! (2) Stir fried mung bean sprouts with duck pieces. This was AMAZING. Easily my favorite dish of the night. (3) Soup - fine, but nothing to write home about.

We added the Taiwanese Sizzling Chicken, and this was my second favorite. The sauce was perfect, and the chunks of chicken were large, juicy, and so flavorful. Served in a hot pot. Amazing.

Then we ordered the salt and pepper filet mignon cubes, which was tasty, but "ordinary tasty." still would happily order and eat it again, just didn't compare to how delicious the rest of the meal was. And added mushrooms.

And top it off with a chrysanthemum iced tea. For 6 people, our bill came out to $18 each! Not bad at all. I know, it's $$ for SGV, but for the rest of the world, that's a damn good dinner, for under $20!!

Tip: parking lot, or free on the street...

Duck house is a traditional Chinese restaurant. We went on Chinese new years. It was a full house with even some celebrities making a stop. The food was good. We had the duck. The skin is crispy and the meat is tender. Lots of flavors. It went so fast I didnt even have time to take a picture of it. We had a couple more dishes. Some noodles, duck bones, beef, fried rice, all good. The beef was especially good, we should have ordered two dishes but we already had plenty. We where a table of 10, and the dishes that came out fead everyone well, so the portions are a good size. The fish was good, it was deep fried with a sweat sauce. Like I said the food was really good, and once we put our order in the food started coming out pretty quickly. I do have to say, if you want the duck, you have to call in and order ahead, since it takes 12-24hour or so to make. The only knock is that the service is not that great. I mean its expected of traditional Chinese restaurant as from what my Chinese freinds say. Once we ordered, we did not see our waiter ever again until we buzzed him for the bill. It took one of our guest requesting 4 times for water for the table and they brought him 1 cup, lol. They have a $10 corcking fee, so I would advise to bring wines as it would take forever to get another bottle of wine or beer or water from the waiters. All and all it's a great place to try traditional Chinese food and especially Peking duck,...