Dragon Noodles Academy 龍麵館 [Hong Kong] - Hand Pulled Noodles, Lobsters & Wood Oven Peking Duck

 Dragon Noodles Academy, aka D.N.A., is opened by the group behind Yum Cha Restaurant.  Here it concentrates on Lanzhou hand pulled ramens,  make many items with both local Rock Lobsters and American Lobsters, as well as making a proper Beijing style Peking Duck.  I like it how restaurants focus on only a few sell able items - as they usually do these well, kind of like how many restaurants operate in Japan.

Tossing Lobster & Salmon Chinese New Year Prosperity 'Lo Hei 撈起' -
HKD $488 for 4-6 People
A good pricing point considering the amount of seafood included.  There's also some crunchy Taro chips and Lotus Roots, together with the Colorful shredded veggies.  Good for celebrating Chinese New Year 2017 !

龍蝦蘿蔔酥 Local Rock Lobster Puff Pastry with Turnip & Water Chestnut fillers, using natural Orange Carrot juice for Pastry Coloring. HKD $69 Each, min Order 2 Pieces -
These are very photogenic,  but surprisingly I didn't notice during a previous visit that these were so affordable.  I have heard some people said they could do with more Lobster meat inside,  but at this pricing point I thought they were doing their job alright. ~ 7.5/10

Inside the Lobster Puff Pastries -

Whole Peking Duck, roasted with Apple Wood - HKD $499
Served with all the right condiments as per Beijing style, and carved 3 Ways beautifully. It is arguably the Best Authentic Bargain in Town right now. Quality seems to have improved too from previously..

Duck Breast Skin dipped into Raw Red Sugar - 

Meat Only -
Dipped into Minced Garlic

Skin on Meat from the Thighs and Back - Wrapped into Crepes 
Most of the newer Openings in Hong Kong that sell Peking Ducks are now doing a proper Beijing Artisanal version... Time for older places like Spring Deer, The American or Peking Garden to catch up and ditch those bastardized Hoisin sauce and to carve 3-4 ways!

I always wrap my own mandarin crepes with the Peking Duck Coz DIY with my preferred amount of Chinese Garlic, TianMianJiang sauce under and not above the duck, also the Rose heart Radish, Hami Melon, Cucumber & Leeks & the proportion of Meat vs Skin ratio is rather important to me

Lobster Tail and Hand Made Noodles - $149

Good amount of Lobster flavor within the soup itself.  The noodles seem slightly thicker than before, so they didn't go soft.  Overall a good pricing point for this noodles dish, and no bitterness from the Brandy input..  ~ 8.5/10

Baby Chinese Cabbage Florets with Sakura Prawns - $99
Lined at bottom with a Turnip ring and a soup boiled with Ham.  Sweet, Clear and with the veggies natural flavors retained.  Good job and nicely presented.  ~ 9.5/10

Imitation Shark Fin with Salted Egg Yolk, Minced Pork, Bean Sprouts - 
One of my previous highlight dishes,  this was full of Umami and surprisingly not fried with oil.  A must order dish for me as you can't stop refilling your bowl!  ~ 9/10

Pork Knuckle cooked with Gweilo Local Beer on Rice, Pomegranate - HKD $399, enough for 4-8 People depending on what else you order. Much better and flavorful, than during the Opening stage. A Chinese Paella.  ~ 9/10

Matcha Ice Cream - $39
With some Fried Cookie Crumble bits.  The Green Tea flavor could be stronger for me.. ~ 6.5/10

Coconut Sticky Purple Rice Garden 椰汁黑糯米 - $49

With Crispy Snow Fungus colored Naturally with Beetroot and Vegetables. Love this and some people will inevitably prefer it with more drizzled Coconut Cream on top for layering..  ~ 7/10

Flowering Tofu Curd in a Ginger & Osmanthus, Edible Flowers Dessert Soup - $59
Delicately carved into a 花繡球 flower ball usually more prevalent in higher end 杭州菜 Hangzhou or Vegetarian Restaurants.  One purely created for taking photos!

Price: HKD $250 - 350 +10% Per Person ( This Review Meal by Invitation by DNA)

Food: ♕♕♕♕ - ♕♕♕♕ 1/2

  

Address: Man Yee Arcade Shop G04, G/F, Man Yee Building, No. 68 Des Voeux Road, (Entrance on Pottinger Street, Central, Hong Kong

Ph: +852 2561 6688

Pinot Duck [ Hong Kong ] - Duck Based Dishes, Paired with Pinot Noir Wines. A Good Concept in Basis, I Personally Think It Will Thrive More if It Opened Closer to Central area..

 Pinot Duck specializes in Duck Dishes. Some Customers call it Fusion cuisine between Chinese x French, but I don't necessarily agree with this assessment. To me, it is through and through a Duck based Cuisine restaurant, and apart from the Chinese Elements involved I could see shadows of cuisines from British, American, French or any other cuisine which loves eating Duck. As the name suggest however, they prefer to pair them with a French Burgundian Red Pinot Noir wine.

Pinot Duck in Stanley -

It's a nice Atmosphere facing the sea..

The Food Prices are reasonable and the space albeit a bit tight, kind of cozy and romantic. I took a bus to here and left with a mini-van back.  I would have preferred arriving in driving with my Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce, but the Bus will do the trick this time 

Moozen Brewery Pale Ale 'Thunder God' - Made in HK

Tropical Lemon and Mango notes, pretty decent actually. Support local.

A Pinot Noir from France- 

Part of the name of the Shop here too for a reason, so I assume they have this aspect sorted with the Wine Choices..

Peking Duck Crepe Wrap - 2 Pieces HKD $68

Duck skin was crispy, I liked how there wasn't too much sauce. The only small issue to fix is they should julienne the cucumber into more quartered thinner strips ~ 7.5/10

Mango & Duck Vietnamese Rice Paper Roll - 

The Wrap to me should be soaked up moistened more to be softer. Other than that, an appetizing dish with the Sweetish Chili Dip with Colorful Purple Cabbage ~ 7/10

Duck Fat Wedges Fries -

Love Beef Suet, Geese or Duck Fat Fries, with health concerns aside... Truth be told though, I haven't had much success in re-discovering those real Fat Fried Fries or Chips tastes within HK.  Here it was also a bit toned down somewhat and could be more crispier..  ~  6/10

Crusted Taro Mash Duck Lollies with Citrus Tartar Sauce - 荔芋香酥鴨

5 Balls for HKD $88

Pretty pleasing as an appetizer, I personally think it could do with more Duck Skins within or just coating the Outside as a contrast.. ~ 7/10

Baked Fried Duck Eggs with Pulled Duck, with Zha Jiang Sauce 炸醬汁 - 

Good Flavors, but could do with more shredded duck too!  Doesn't need to be a copious amount piling up & approaching 'Peine forte et dure' quantity... But a little more duck and some red rice could be a perfect lunch dish for me.  ~  7/10

A Nice Atmosphere by the Sea Side in Stanley - 

It seems to have quietened down a bit lately, but Stanley and Repulse Bay are nice tranquil Dating Spots indeed any day apart from the weekends in HK.  

Oh We Also Ordered Duck and Bacon Carbonara Linguine Pasta -

This Duck Carbonara concept was a novelty, although if it was me, I would put in Cured Duck Bacon instead of just Guanciale Pork Cheek, some Aged Duck Eggs, Black Pepper, Pecorino Romano Cheese, etc. Only to remain within the Spirits of a true Carbonara Pasta.  Rigatoni or Tonnarelli paste also welcome..   ~ 6.5/10

Braised Orange Segments in Hua Diao Wine, Salted Dried Plums - $68

This was surprising in that it was quite alcoholic and also pretty salty from the plums. For us this was our dessert course, but as part of a Tasting Menu planning I thought this might be the perfect course to bridge between the savories to the desserts..  7/10

Pinot Duck is an Interesting Concept - 

It endeavors to create a Duck Based Concept and usually paired with the Pinot Noir grape wines as a natural match.   Ultimately, most dishes worked and were well priced.  Some dishes could do with some more refinement.  Overall the Price vs Performance point was kept relatively intact likable..

Price: HKD $310 + 10% Per Person 

Food: ♕♕♕♕ to ♕♕♕♕ 1/2 

Address: 赤柱佳美道23號赤柱廣場地下G07號舖

Shop G07, G/F, Stanley Plaza, 23 Carmel Road, Stanley

Ph: +852  2772 0060