For someone who doesn't tend to have cravings (except for ice cream) I'm actually wanting to have this right now- at 1156pm- when dinner time is long over and the restaurant already closed.
Never mind that Peking Duck is not an easy dish to prep for delivery or takeaway.
Never mind that we'll lose the signature crisp of the roasted duck skin by the time it arrives at the door.
And never mind that we might even have to DIY our own crepe using the (limp) cucumber, the (entangled) leek and the plum sauce- but without any guidance from in-house experts.
Do we put the cucumber first? Do we put the leek first? Or does the nicely carved skin go onto the crepe first? What is the order? How do you fold the crepe so that none of it falls out? And how much of the plum sauce are you supposed to dip it in?
Suddenly you'll find yourself trying to remember how the staff at the restaurant did it the last time you were there (where the ingredients were top notch)- and you realize you don't know how to do it at all.
Of course they at Asia Grand could roll the crope the way they always do for us at our table when we dine in- a restaurant always has its ways- but it would take a bit of ingenuity to prevent the leek, the cucumber and the duck skin from rolling out during transit, and it would take a bit more of technique to ensure that the crepe arrived at the diner's door as crisp and fresh as it could possibly be.
So I shan't put much thought to the possibility of takeaway or delivery, and accept the truth that some foods are simply meant to be eaten fresh from the oven.
I guess that's what makes this dish of Peking Duck so special.
There're many places that serve up a good Peking Duck, by the way, but my preference leans towards Asia Grand.
Call me a creature of habit but there's nothing to fault of this full-fledged Chinese-Cantonese restaurant that serves not just this delectable dish, but a host of other dishes including poultry, beef, seafood, the vegetables in the fried yam bowl thing, noodles, rice and desserts.
It isn't just the food that makes this place special to me. It is her atmosphere. Yes, she is formal, she has propriety, and like her name, there is a sense of grandeur in her lights, her colors, and her furnishings. But the feeling of grandeur is natural and comfortable, and there is no forced pretentiousness about her elegance. Neither does she make demands about your dress. You can walk in clad in a teeshirt, a pair of chinos, your feet in flip flops, and they'll greet you the same.
I don't know about other places, but yeah, I definitely miss a dine-in here, and when the time comes I know I'll further appreciate the maitre greeting me at the door, the staff ready to guide me to my table, the waitress flipping the napkin onto my lap, the peanuts on the table, and the ubiquitous pot of Chinese tea.