Zen – The Duck House
51-53 Adelaide Street
Belfast
028 90313270
MARIA soon-to-be-von Trapp is probably right when she says the very beginning is a very good place to start but, at the risk of disappointing singing postulants everywhere, this review starts at the very end of lunch at Zen – The Duck House in Belfast.
That’s not because everything that went before was a disappointment – far from it – but because the end of the meal brought some welcome surprises.
Those weren’t supplied by dessert – you’d be hard pressed to find many Chinese restaurants here that treat the sweet course as much more than an afterthought. The Duck House’s line-up fell into a familiar pattern with a slice of apple pie here, a creme brulee there, some poached pears if you fancy them. I have no idea if by eschewing those options I’ve missed out on the best apple pie/creme brulee/poached pears imaginable, but deciding to pick from the extensive cocktail menu instead brought no regrets.
The Old Fashioned, though a little too sweet, was still was heavy with fragrant orange and Bourbon and the sour apple martini wasn’t particularly sour but was certainly suitably apple-y. Apple also featured in the Ginger Freezer, along with ginger ale, rum and a skewered, doubled over slice of ginger that filled the nostrils with every sip. The margarita was perfect. Another one of those and regrets could have started to surface – but only a few hours later.
The food at The Duck House was less surprising but when that’s the name of a place how many surprises are you expecting? While the bigger, original Zen restaurant next door is more firmly in the Asian fusion bracket with heavy bias towards Japanese, The Duck House is mainly Cantonese, of the type most Chinese restaurants here offer.
It replicates the dark, cosy feel of its big brother with touches to remind you, as if you could forget, just what sort of house you’re in. There’s a faux cherry blossom tree whose flowers have been replaced with miniature ducks and other duck-themed motifs to get you in the mood.
So of course, my wife starts with salt and chilli squid. It’s the only duckless plate that passes our way and it’s a good one, the squid soft beneath a crisp batter with salt and chilli both present and correct.
The hot and sour soup stays true to its adjectives as well, and is superb with shredded pieces of duck sharing the broth with mushrooms and shards of bamboo and carrot.
The four ‘Duck House Specials’ on the lunch menu show some concessions to the fusion going on next door, with Beijing roasted duck with spicy hoi sin sauce on naan bread and Thai red curry duck confit.
After testing my chilli tolerance to the maximum with the hot and sour soup, the fact the red curry turned out to be warm and comforting rather than another smack in the face was a relief.
The confit leg arrived sitting on top of the soupy sauce, the skin as crisp as you’d want it, the meat not quite as soft as you’d like it but still pretty good. The whole thing, together with a nice and eggy fried rice made for a good bowl of food for an unapologetic £8 lunch.
The same went for the orange duckling, which providing melting meat in a sticky sauce with a tang-sweet balance just the right side of marmalade.
For somewhere that wears its duck on its sleeve, the menu was a little light on quacky options although, to be fair, that is at lunchtime, with the selection at dinner throwing up some intriguing options. Anyone who visits and doesn’t order the ‘Century Old Duck in Claypot’ based on the name alone should probably think about what they’re doing with their life.
And if you need any prompting to begin that sort of introspection, I’d recommend beginning by ordering one of those martinis.
THE BILL
Salt and chilli squid £4
Hot and sour soup £3.50
Thai red curry duck confit £8
Orange ducking £8
Margarita £6.95
Old Fashioned £6.95
Sour apple Martini £6.95
Ginger Freezer £6.95
Calypso coffee £4.75
Yulan flower tea £2.20
Total £58.25
