146 Scotts Road, Darra
With a name like Yum Yum Peking Duck, how can you go wrong? This establishment first came under my radar a million years ago when Hien's mum claimed it offered the best peking duck in town. Fast forward to last week and Jenny and I were discussing food cravings (as you do) and peking duck surfaced and refused to die down. We made arrangements to get some later that week. She also suggested Yum Yum so that settled it for me.
From the outset, the restaurant looks like a plain Asian eatery. It wasn't fancy and stylish, but it was cramped, busy, noisy and IMO this adds to authenticity. There's nothing I hate more than eating at a 'modern' Asian restaurant and knowing I'm paying 3-fold what dishes are worth just for ambient lighting and slick matte-finish menus.
Marc, Hien and I got there first and fumbled through the ample menu offerings, unable to make up our minds. We left it up to Jenny to pick the dishes. We ended up going for the 3 course peking duck (not the one depicted in menu above), plus some extra dishes to share.
Peking duck wraps
Food was served very promptly. I assume because duck is their specialty, there are always ducks crisping up, ready to be carved. The delivery wasn't as formal as peking duck restaurants I've tried tried in China (where the duck is wheeled out and carved before your eyes). In this case, it was carved on the bench at the back of the room and by the time it was brought out to us, it was in edible form. The wraps were conveniently pre-filled for us, with only folding and saucing required. The duck was indeed crispy and the flavour/seasoning of the duck was quite authentic. By Brisbane standards, I'd say this is pretty good!
Duck soup
The next course of duck was the soup. Whenever I've had peking duck, the main appeal has always been the wraps. Every other form of duck might be 'good' but not on the same I'd-order-it-as-deathrow-meal level as peking duck wraps. The soup here confirmed my feelings. It was quite plain and I fished around for sparse pieces of duck and bamboo. One could say this soup was probably quite healthy because it was low in content.
Duck san choi bao
Duck san choi bao wraps completed our 3 course duck set. I like lettuce wraps and think they're a healthy, low carb way to enjoy food. To me, this was a nondescript mince and really I could have been eating anything. If it was indeed duck meat, this is definitely not the best way to showcase duck meat.
Bok choi with garlic
For our other dishes, we selected some greens. This was simple but tasty. The greens were still vibrant and had a mild garlic seasoning.
Sizzling beef
Our sizzling beef plate arrived at our table piping hot and very noisy (it was indeed sizzling). The beef was tender and the sauce was flavoursome but perhaps had too much of a pepper kick for me. I think the others enjoyed this one though.
Combination fried rice
Something I liked much more than I expected to was the fried rice. I hate rice on a whole but I have a soft spot for fried rice. I never make it because we don't ever have left over rice in the house so when I actually do get to eat it, I'm reminded of how delicious it is. I told myself to stick to one bowl but stuck a second towards the end of the meal :).
We had a fun, enjoyable dining experience at Yum Yum Peking Duck. Food on a whole was typical of cheap Asian restaurants throughout Brisbane. Servings were generous and most dishes were tasty but not outstanding. The duck wraps weren't the same as proper peking duck from China but in my eyes, duck wraps are so delicious that as long as they're hot and crispy, they still beat most other foods and land in my ideals of yum. Or should I say, Yum Yum.
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