So I have a friend who sometimes has a craving for Peking Duck.
This is a friend whom when the craving strikes, it really strikes, and it will not be assuaged until it is fulfilled.
At the same time, this friend is kinda particular about the place- and price- where said Peking Duck is to be found, so we've not gone to many places except for maybe just two.
We used to go to Asia Grand when they were still at Bras Basah.
But we haven't been back since they moved to Raffles City.
Instead we've been going to this (new) place at Chinatown Point on occasion, now and then.
It always surprises me whenever we turn up at this place in Chinatown Point.
Because even though we've been there a couple of times, I can never remember the name of the restaurant, nor can I remember on which floor the restaurant is.
I always tend to go to the wrong floor.
But mistake not, the Peking Duck here is good.
I don't have a lot of other Peking Ducks to compare with, but this one I know is crispy, juicy and has a bit of the burnt burnt taste distinctive in every roasted meat.
There is, of course, the bit of fat hidden underneath the crisp, crunchy skin, and it makes each bite feel so much fuller when the oil of the delicious fat bursts onto your tongue right after you've begun chewing it.
The joy of Peking Duck lies solely in the skin, and we had all of that this particular afternoon.
Some places roll the skin together with the vegetables into the crepe for you.
Here you do it yourself.
Not that we minded- it makes little difference, save for the fact that we're completely unskilled in all this rolling and so more often than not, the skin tends to come loose from the crepe upon the very first bite.
The first few pieces don't look so bad.
They look nice and neat with the crepe all carefully (and casually) rolled up around the skin.
The appearance however gets looser and looser as we gradually work through the plate.
Sometimes the crepe unrolls itself and the duck skin falls out.
Sometimes the skin drops out from the loosely-rolled crepe on its own.
By the end of it, we give up entirely and just eat all the parts separately.
My friend likes to leave out the leeks and/or the cucumber. (They get left aside)
I don't.
Whether they be rolled into the crepe or eaten separately on their own, i them all, dipping each piece with my chopsticks into the sweet plum sauce that I too always have, and never leave out.