Dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON is impressed how well Wild Duck’s takeaway dinner travelled. 

WILD Duck is one of the original – if not the original – restaurant on the Kingston Foreshore. It’s not right on the lake, but rather a block back, not that its location affects the beauty of its cuisine. 

Lockdown service is in full swing and it’s easy to order from Wild Duck’s website. Delivery was prompt and with big smiles. 

Sure, we would prefer dining while settled into Wild Duck’s elegant cosy booth seating, but that wasn’t meant to be. Instead, we enjoyed upscale Chinese dishes at home, impressed at how well the food travelled. 

The Balmain bug dumplings were to die for. Delicate but full of flavour and the pickled ginger and rice vinegar was heavenly ($16.90). With entrees we also indulged in the traditional Peking duck that Wild Duck is so well known for ($15.90). The duck was roasted, crispy and succulent and gently encased in a crepe so beautifully thin you could see through it. 

A fun entrée is the lotus root and pork parcels that we’d never tried before but will again ($15.90). The sliced young lotus root was packed with flavourful pork mince and fried so it was crispy and light. This time the dipping sauce was created with vinegar, ginger and edamame. While we thought the salmon tataki looked beautiful, it had a bit of gristle ($17.90). Still, the flavours were inspiring – the salmon was lemongrass cured with a ginger glaze.

Our veggie hit included a fabulous eggplant. This dish is designed to present the eggplant as an accordion on crispy noodles, but the realities of takeaway mucked this around a bit ($27.90). However, it was a gorgeous dish and the eggplant was finished off with a rich chilli, garlic and vinegar sauce that added depth of colour. 

Salmon… lemongrass cured with a ginger glaze. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Eggplant… finished off with a rich chilli, garlic and vinegar sauce. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Balmain bug dumplings… delicate but full of flavour. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Side dish of beans. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Lotus root and pork parcels entree… the sliced young lotus root was packed with pork mince and fried so it was crispy and light. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Wild mushroom duck… the mix of wild Asian mushrooms was exotic. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Mains showcased how bold Wild Duck is with its fine-dining cuisine. The peppercorn Angus cubes were sensational and the beef melt-in-the-mouth ($34.90). The tenderloin is wok tossed with snow peas and king oyster mushrooms in a sexy green peppercorn reduction. It looked stunning with bright red squares of cured cherry radish. 

Our second main was wild mushroom duck breast (can one ever have too much duck?). It, too, was succulent, and the mix of wild Asian mushrooms was exotic ($34.90).

Wild Duck also offers banquet options, starting with the Chef Signature Banquet at $69 a person, minimum three people, and a degustation menu for $99 a person, minimum two people.

To further support the hospitality and wine industry during these crazy covid times, we ordered a bottle of white from Wild Duck also, a 2019 Clonakilla Viognier Nouveau to be exact. It was crisp and zesty.