Always a delight it is when I manage to find a place that serves really good roast duck.
Because I'm the sort who can be particular about the size of the duck (it must not be skinny!), the quality of the roast (there must have this nicely browned tone), whether the skin is shiny or not (however they do it), and if there is sufficient fat deliciously roasted around the meat (a fatty duck is what this dish is called for).
All this above means that I prefer to stick to the standards- unless I'm at a hawker centre or food court and I don't know what to eat- just so that I can make the meal a very memorable one.
Take it from a Cantonese whose Family would on occasion tapao Fatty Weng's, and on very special occasions (Chinese New Year!) would make a special trip to Aljunied and get Johnson's Duck.
I haven't had Fatty Weng's for a long, long time, and neither do I know whether Johnson's Duck is still around but these days I tend to go to the stalls on the upper floor of Smith Street Hawker Centre ($36 for a whole duck), this particular coffee shop that sits somewhere along East Coast Road, and this place which I don't know its name, but sits right at the junction of Joo Chiat Place and Tembeling Road.
We discovered this place quite recently- my dining companion and I- and quite a surprise it was to find that the duck was succulent, the skin was crispy and perfectly roasted, and best of all, the meat was tender with sufficient fat nestling just beneath the skin.
It goes well with rice, all of it, and so we often order a half portion platter to share. Their duck is roasted with XO- which is probably what grants the skin its delightful shine- the sauce has a slight tinge of XO in its flavor, and there's even a little dish of plum sauce that adds to your meat a hint of sour-sweet.