News location:

Canberra Today 14°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Just wild about the Duck

I LOVE the crisp white bowls with the delicate logo. And I love the way the décor holds interest every way you turn. But that’s not all I love about Wild Duck. I love the modern, authentic-tasting Asian cuisine.

Wild Duck is among a group of “fine dining” Asian restaurants popping up in Canberra (Malamay in Barton is an exquisite example). This group is lifting the bar on a wonderfully exotic and interesting cuisine that offers diners endless possibilities. Wild Duck is not just bold on the food front. It is bold to be one of the first to settle in at the Kingston Foreshore.

My recommendation is to select a banquet and just sit back to enjoy every mouthful. It’s offering an experience as much as fantastic food that thrills co-owners Shan Gao, Jack Zhong and chef Wei He.

[portfolio_slideshow]

The first décor element that strikes you is the intricately carved wooden doors. And Wild Duck’s rich, warm colours, soft lighting, teak furniture and private booths immediately create “the mood” (private rooms also available).

Everything is delicious. Banquets start at $48 per person for seven dishes plus rice and coffee/tea and top off to $68 – worth every cent. And you can add dishes, such as the stunning dragon cut baby eggplant ($24.90), finely cut, lightly fried to give three distinct textures and then finished with a chilli, garlic vinegar sauce. It’s destined to transform anyone who doesn’t like this vegetable, and did with one of our group. While discussing vegetables, Wild Duck could benefit from creating a couple more dishes for vegetarians.

Our banquet started with roasted duck rice paper rolls, with cucumber, hoisin and spring onion. The duck was tender and put a smile on everyone’s face, as did the Lotus root and pork parcel (fried in a light tempura batter) and the sexy Shanghai wonton soup.

The next dish to make a grand entrance was the wild prawns and papya in green curry, testimony to the talent in Wild Duck’s kitchen. And not a morsel of the mouth-watering lemongrass chicken and tender fillet steak in honey mustard was left on anyone’s plate.

Outside of the banquets Wild Duck offers mains like the slowcooked “lamb shank in golden sands”, shredded and tossed through toasted, golden coconut – a fantastic combination. Other mains include daikon pork belly ($29.90) and coral cut snapper ($34.90).

The service at Wild Duck is as elegant as the food and those who serve have immersed themselves in the details of each dish to readily answer questions. The service is attentive, but never intrusive.

Wild Duck’s wine list has lots of choice and is well priced. This is, put simply, a great place to dine.

71 Giles Street, Kingston Foreshore. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Call 6232 7997.

Who can be trusted?

In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

Become a supporter

Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Wendy Johnson

Wendy Johnson

Share this

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews