Old Kingdom - for duck lovers. ;)

Are you a duck lover? I am; my group of friends too. And that was how we found ourselves at Old Kingdom located on Smith St. in Fitzroy, for the infamous 3-courses duck meal.

The wait staff will present the whole glistening duck to the table, before he gets into action and starts slicing out pieces of the skin with some meat. 

You'll be served with a basket of pancakes, still warm from the steamer, alongside with hoisin sauce, cucumber pieces and spring onions as accompaniments.

First course: The Peking Duck Pancake

Place a piece of two of the duck, with some cucumber and spring onion (which I have rather conveniently omitted) on the pancake, drizzle on with the hoisin sauce, wrap, and SHOVE it all into your mouth.

Om nom nom nom! The peking meat was so juicy and succulent, and the skin was crisp, to a perfection.

Of course, not forgetting how thin the pancake was. Some restaurants serve really thick ones - making you sick at your third serving.

Second course: Stir fried bean sprouts with shredded duck meat

I don't usually eat bean sprouts and I actually had a good stare at this bowl full of bean sprouts for a good minute or two before I actually started to dig in.

I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but man, the bean sprouts were surprisingly nice.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough shredded duck meat in there. I believe they took away our duck carcass with more meat than what was served back, hmmph!

Course 3 - Duck Broth with tofu and veg

The broth was sadly, very plain. There wasn't enough flavour in there, I figure they must have just chucked some duck bones in a huge pot with some MSG and there you go. Meh, I didn't enjoy it.

There were 8 of us, and we had 3 ducks. Some had really tiny tummies and barely ate anything, some were really big eaters so it all worked out well for us.

I'd say get 2-3 people per duck, depending on how big or small an eater you are. That way you don't have to fight or be overwhelmed with too much duck.

Would I return? Oh hell yes, never mind the lack of shredded meat or tasteless broth, I'd return just for the peking duck pancake. I just need to find my "duck kaki's".

If memory serves me right, I think it is $55 per three courses duck meal. You might think that one may not leave with a satisfied stomach, but let me tell you, those pancakes were pretty filling.

Just so you're aware, you will need to pre-order the ducks, so don't forget to call to make a booking or you'll have to scavenge for food elsewhere if you just rock up at the door.

Note: I have also recently been to the Old Kingdom at Surrey Hills, but it unfortunately wasn't as good. I'd highly recommend the Old Kingdom on Smith St. My next Peking Duck stop: Simon's Peking Duck.