The Drunken Duck

The Drunken Duck exemplifies the fine line in this Soho area of Hong Kong where price points versus quality of food often come in conflict because they are attempting to cater to a «white» expat community. And make no mistake… this place was full of white expats. The duck and the draft beer is the only reason I did not give this place a 2. We went for dinner.
PROS: Atmosphere is welcoming, warm woods, candles, dark highlights, lots of natural light, two stories. Staff was friendly, service was prompt and I think the owner was around chatting with some patrons. Draft beer pour is HUGE (by draft beer standards I normally see and am use to). The duck was really delicious and a worthy purchase (served with bread and three sauces and you make it up like a little snack sandwich… very good and clearly what they are known for). The environment seems like a great place to gather with friends and grab some drinks.
CONS: At the price point of about $ 75 or above per dish, this is where I do not think the quality is there to render the price point and thus how I have to chaulk this place up to an «expat environment». The dishes seem unique on the menu, but they were nothing exceptionally special when they crossed my mouth. $ 75HKD or above price point for a taste of something unexceptional is not a great dining experience to me. We tried the octopus, samosas, duck and meatballs. The duck is the only item we noted are truley special… and the large draft beer! Nothing was bad or distasteful, but nothing exceptional.
I am always reluctant to eat at places that seem to have bestowed the honor of being expat. The quality is rarely there, but the prices always make you think it should be. Too many options in that area so not sure we would go back.

Looks great but the food was disappointing on the whole. A few of the dishes are gimmicky, especially the chilli popcorn and the duck itself was ok but nothing special. I enjoyed the scotch eggs and they had a good craft beer selection. I would probably try it again as I know it’s quite new but at the moment I would say it slips below the high standards set by the Enoteca group

The atmosphere of this restaurant is rather hip and tendy. Came here for a company lunch with my coworkers, and we all ordered from the set lunch menu, which consisted of 3 courses.
The set lunch menu is HKD $ 138 + 10% service charge.
I ordered the grilled tofu salad, teriyaki glazed salmon, and then the mango sticky rice for dessert. Everything was very tasty, and I was very pleased with all of it!
The grilled tofu salad was the perfect texture, grilled very nicely. The salmon was delicious as well. And my favorite part (dessert!!) was sticky, moist, and sweet. Would recommend this restaurant for its fast, pleasant service, its dope ambiance, and its tasty food!

So I’ve been here twice — once for dinner and once for lunch. Dinner happened a while back and before I was back on Unilocal,but it was pleasant, good wine selection, small plates less impressive but with the mains, the duck was tender and tasty although it was odd that the skin wasn’t crispy, the Thai beef pie was yummo with a kick and the gnocchi great. Desserts were fantastic — particularly the pineapple pudding!
Now lunch. So I was here on Friday and they have a business 3 course lunch set for $ 138 + service. It started out well, tried both entrees of Thai chicken salad and potato and leek soup with poached duck egg. Definitely leaned towards the soup, great taste and interesting with the egg whilst the chicken salad was more of a herb salad with some bean sprouts and the chicken a little dry.
The main we selected the duck confit and mushroom udon. Let’s start with the positive — the udon was like a fusion pasta dish. Very heavy on the cream but with the flavours of he mushroom, not too bad. Then we have the duck confit… Honestly this was the worst duck confit I have ever had. The meat was dry as jerky and it was like leftover duck from the night before. To top off this dining experience, I found a hair in the dish which definitely did not belong to either myself or my dining companion.
I waved the manager down who apologised appropriately and advised that he will question the chef and take the dish off the bill. As we were having the lunch set, they asked if we would like another main to which the honest answer was no.
Dessert was deep fried wonton with peanut butter and cheese sticks which were pleasant enough but not that memorable. When the bill came, true to his word the manager had taken off one of the lunch sets which I think was the appropriate action.
So very different experiences — would I go back? Possibly but perhaps not for their lunch set. At least they had good service which can be rare in HK even in nicer establishments (*cough corner kitchen café cough*)