A lunch of 3 Ps - Paragon Peking Duck and Pichon

Orchard Paragon is a popular place on Orchard Road. Even with the high parking rates, the carpark is packed, even on normal weekdays. During lunchtime, an extra levy of $2 is imposed for the period noon to 2 pm. Three famous restaurants here probably contribute to the lunch traffic – Din Tai Fung in the basement and the two Chinese restaurants on level 5 – Crystal Jade Golden Palace on one end and Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck (or Paragon Peking Duck as many of us call it) at the other end.

It has been some time since we last ate the Paragon Peking Duck and so we looked forward to our lunch there recently. The Imperial Treasures Super Peking Duck restaurant looks almost unchanged. It is a dimly lit restaurant with a traditional expensive Chinese restaurant feel. The dark wood and gold probably created that impression. I like the nice table cloths on the tables but am not so enthusiastic about the dim lighting which made me feel sleepy. Here are the few photos of the menu that I have – the page with the Peking Duck and the dim sum menu.

Paragon Peking Duck Menu

We were soon reminded of why the Paragon Peking Duck is regarded as one of the best in Singapore. The bird was roasted to a beautiful golden-brown sheen.

We had a whole Peking duck ($88) and an assortment of dim sum items. The dim sum at Imperial Treasures Paragon was fine but not exceptional. I prefer the dim sum at the other Chinese restaurant. The Paragon Peking Duck was the real reason we were there.

The duck was expertly carved. Unlike some places which serves only the skin to be eaten with pancakes, Here, they separate the duck into different parts with different ways of eating. The skin at the breast which is the flattest and crispiest was sliced thinly. These were eaten on their own, savouring the thinness and delicateness.

The best meat parts – the drumsticks were cut up like a regular roast duck to be enjoyed. Some parts of the duck were cut up and can be eaten on their own or with the pancakes. The remaining meaty parts were served sliced, ready to be inserted into the pancakes with vegetables, eaten in the usual Peking duck fashion.

The leftover meat on the duck that could not be easily deboned would be dealt with in the kitchen and used for a secondary dish. In this case we opted for it to be used in fried ee fu noodles.

Peking duck is best enjoyed with some accompanying wine to balance the oiliness of the dish. The wines that were in attendance that day were a couple of bottles from Paulliac, Bordeaux – a 2012 Château Pichon Lalande and a 2008 Pichon-Longueville Baron. Antonio Galloni has described the younger Pichon as “a wine of pure and total seduction”. It was indeed delicious. The older Pichon was more mature and serious. Both combined to elevate our enjoyment of our Peking duck lunch.