Jakarta : The Duck King, Senayan City

It is always a pleasure to meet up with friends. Especially, those that you have not a single clue when you will meet again.

About four months ago, we bade each other au revoir in Copenhagen. Four months later, we meet again in Indonesia.

Such reunions are incomplete without a hearty feast and a perky toss of drinks. Since we are all not drinkers, we skipped the latter.

After heeding the advice of another friend, we decided to indulge into a meaty dinner at The Duck King, which sounded extremely seducing to our sudden call of carnivorous appetite.

There was no queue though many tables were occupied (Otherwise, we would have opted for another alternative).

Upon being seated, we were handed a large menu with pictures of mouth-watering dishes for us to consult upon. Without hesitation, the duck was the first pick. We ordered one whole duck for four - two ladies, two men.

Other dishes?

Those were secondary. Having the duck alone, had satiated our hunger for meat.

Dishes that we ordered: One whole roasted duck, Braised spinach bean curd with mushrooms and Hong Kong kale with garlic.

Needless to say, the star of the night was the duck. Honestly, I didn't expect it to be that good. Good is probably an understatement.

The sound of crisp rang through my ears as I sunk my carnivorous teeth into the duck skin. Before I recovered from the pleasant surprise, the rich flavour of the moist and tender duck meat started to dance its way into my tongue.

Every bite of the meat was well marinated and the duck was cooked perfectly (according to Asian standard - the meat was not pinkish but it was very tender and succulent).

Double thumbs up for the duck! What further surprised me was that, we could actually request the bones from the duck to be removed before serving it on the table. That was a bliss! We enjoyed the duck without having to lick the bones clean.

People always sing praises to Hong Kong's roast duck and China's Peking Duck. There is no need to travel to the North Asian countries to those dishes. The Duck King can offer equally good ones. 

Apart from the roasted duck, the Peking Duck was also in the menu. We didn't try that though. Just having the skin alone would not tame our carnivorous hunger.

We noticed that many patrons in the restaurant also ordered the same bean curd that we did. That confirmed our brilliant choice.

The bean curd was firm on the outside as it had been fried but remained soft on the inside. Topping it with sprinkles of finely chopped spinach, a bed of fresh mushrooms, and a tasty pool of sauce, the combination was magical.

Coming to the Hong Kong kale. It didn't outperform the duck but credit should be given to the chef for not overcooking the vegetable, while having the thick stem cooked to a perfect softness (for me, at least).

I will definitely come back again, if I am craving for a good platter of duck meat, one day.

The Duck King is located on the 4th floor of Senayan City Mall, Jakarta. It is right next to Sushi Tei. 

Excellent news for the Muslims : the restaurant serves halal food. My friends were excited when they saw the Char Siew(BBQ pork) dish in the menu. However, the disappointment came as quickly as the excitement when the waiter told them the dish was made of chicken instead of pork, due to the halal status the restaurant holds.