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Duck House
Categories: Restaurants Chinese Event Planning & Services Caterers Chinese, Caterers [Edit]
501 S Atlantic BlvdMonterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 284-3227
Announcement
Remeber to try our famous Peking Duck skin with sugar only to taste the smokey favor or wrapped it with pancake and the new side ingredients
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11:30 am - 3 pm
Mon-Sun 5 pm - 10:30 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
317 reviews for Duck House
Review Highlights
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"I did reserve a Peking Duck and it was so worth it." In 175 reviews -
"...places in So Cal and by far Lu Din Gee is the best." In 17 reviews -
"my favorite dishes were the eel sticky rice & cumin lamb." In 22 reviews
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317 reviews in English
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Review from Francine L.
Los Angeles, CA
Duck House is on a very known street called Atlantic in Monterey Park. Business here is doing well the parking lot seems to always be full and it is quite hard to get reservations.
Finally got to try this place out and yes I really really wanted to ! It didn't disappoint me at all. The only thing semi hard was probably the language part, but either then that everything went super well!
Lets just say the food makes up for everything else. We ordered the pei king duck with jelly fish the duck soup, green beans and also this sticky rice with eel on it. All this for four people was just way too much food.
Everything we had ordered was filled with a lot of flavors and all very memorable. I would suggest coming here with a larger amount of people so you could try a lot more dishes.
Happy Duck Hunting ;)Listed in: SGV- Asian Invasion is the…, Chinese
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Review from Adelaide H.
Tustin, CA
5/18/2012 1 Check-in Here
Seriously underwhelmed.
The duck was mediocre, the meat was dry and the skin was ok, but nothing special.
If a restaurant names itself "Duck House" then they better know their duck. We pre- ordered and ordered the duck 2 way (don't like duck soup). The 1st duck is served sliced with the skin, the 2nd way was stir fried--which was a little better because the dry duck was masked by sauce.
We also ordered some shrimp and something else which was not worth remembering.
If you want some good duck you'll have to look elsewhere. -
Review from jackie l.
Los Angeles, CA
5/13/2012
For some reason I really wanted Peking duck.. Let's just say I come from a place where I can get one of the best peking duck in the world.. its not beijing. So of course I was a little hesitant but I had to give it a try.. Well I guess my search continues.
Most of the places I tried in Los angeles the duck has been dry.. well here.. it was alright but does not make it on my list
We had the duck two courses (the duck was not that flavorful), the jellyfish also a little odd tasting than what I am used to, eel with sticky rice (OMG it was HUGE), and garlic stir fried beans
The funny thing is... it is called the duck house but the dish that stands out to me the most is the BEANS no joke. I would come back just for that. -
Review from Angela F.
5/8/2012 1 Check-in Here
This is one of the few places that offer the traditional pancakes with the roasted peking duck so I was very excited to come here for dinner. Luckily, we made reservations on a Sunday night because there seemed to be quite a wait. The restaurant is not too big and has a semi-outdoor area that is covered and has heat lamps.
I was quite disappointed by the peking duck. For a restaurant that's known for the duck, I would expect the dish to be amazing but it sadly was not. The duck skin was more fried than roasted and the pieces still had a lot of fat on it. The pancakes did not disappoint though but I wish they gave more or didn't charge extra for refills (each duck served with 12 pancakes; additional order of pancakes is $5.95). We got the peking duck in two ways so we chose the special duck bone soup which was quite delicious. My favorite dish of the night was the "Spicy Konnyaku Salad". This dish was very refreshing and the sauce was very tasty. We also got stir fried vegetables which I enjoyed also. Another dish I liked was the "XO Jellyfish Head". For special dishes, the prices range from $13 to $25. The duck prepared in two ways is around $45.
Overall, the food was good. I took off stars because I truly believe that a restaurant's signature dish should be one of the best dishes on the menu and this simply was not the case. -
Review from Siao J.
Updated - 5/2/2012 5 Check-ins Here
Didn't realize it's been 4 years since I've been here! Some new notes and thoughts after yesterday's visits:
- personally, I'm still a fan of the HK style roast duck. I feel like that's just more flavorful and moist. Peking duck in general gets points for their crispier skin and de-boned no mess ness~
- the duck soup still rocks, love the flavor of the duck with the napa and the tofu
- the cold spicy artic clams are delicious! it's really not that spicy-- if you were to equate my spicy handle to a how many shots it would take to get me drunk, i would be a 3 shot and i'm drunk kind of spice level guy.. and on a scale of 1-10 for me, this is really a 1! love the flavor of the sauce though, and the chewy texture of the clam
- service is good, duck comes out super fast, and kudos the the multilingual server (mandarin / canto / english)
- again, bonus points for being one of the few nicer sit down places around the SGV. By that, I mean its neither dingy like a sam woo (not hating on their food!) or gaudy like those big seafood restaurants. It's a step above a cafe, so it might actually be a nice place for you to take family out for a nicer sit down quiet dinner as you would to maybe a place like [insert nice italian restaurant name] or [insert nice french restaurant name] .. you get what i'm saying?1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/22/2008
Been on a huge roast duck binge lately-- ever since I got back from Hong Kong-- I been looking for… Read more »
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Review from Joanne L.
Los Angeles, CA
5/7/2012
4* is for their duck. 3.5* for other dishes.
I love their Beijing Duck and have yet to find another place in SGV that separates the duck meat from the duck skin while removing the fat as skillfully as Duck House. Yum! I'm salivating just thinking about my last meal here.
Lunch specials are M-F and can be found on their website along with a comprehensive menu. Some of the more memorable dishes:
* Sesame rice ball sweet soup ($4.95) - this is a huge bowl and can probably serve 6-8.
* Chinese yam salad with dried seaweed ($4.95) - yuck, this particular type of yam was very slimy and tasteless, I was not partial to it
* Peking pork strip ($6.95) - very tasty and tender
In addition, we also had kung pao chicken, tofu strip and pork, and some other dishes that were 3.5*. Duck alone was $33.95 and $42.95 if served with soup. All in all, a very satisfying lunch around $20 pp.
P.S. I'll let you in on a secret - if you suddenly have an urge for Peking Duck and cannot wait an hour, still give them a call. I've never once been turned down even if I only give 20 or 30 min notice - usually they manage to juggle and end up giving you someone else's duck if they have enough time to prepare more duck to serve everyone in time. -
Review from J H.
Los Angeles, CA
5/7/2012
$49 for Peking duck 3ways
1. Peking duck is okay. Comes with alot of meat m, some of the skin is crispy but flavorless. The crepes for some reason were oily and they don't give u enough for the amount of meat. Maybe so we'd have to pay for extra crepes
2. Soup is pretty under salted but tastes fine if u do at salt. There's no duck meat in soup. Most likely was cooked with the bones and then taken out
3. Sautéed bean sprouts with duck was pretty good. IMO I tastes better then the regular Peking duck.
Service is pretty good. Calling ahead helps if u don't want to wait long for the duck. it is alot of food can serve prob more than 4 people. -
Review from Joseph M.
Carlsbad, CA
4/15/2012
I'm not much of a Chinese Food person. In fact, a majority of the "Chinese" food I eat is your average 2 item combo (orange chicken/egg plant tofu) from Panda Express. And when I do eat Panda Express, it's not so often relative to other kinds of food I eat. In other words, I don't know what is "good" Chinese food.
I came here to celebrate a cousins birthday, as one of his favorite foods is duck. I am not a duck person, I eat duck rarely. The reason for that is the distinct duck taste one gets when eating it. The aroma to me is also bothersome. In addition, I also had a post duck experience that ended up on top of the toilet. I literally quACKKKKEd the food up.
I came here with little expectations, and as a result the effect of the food just blew my mind. The food is excellent.
I don't know the name of the dishes, but in general we ordered a noodle dish, a variety of duck dishes, fried shrimp, asian tortillas, and tofu soup. If you put the duck (and duck skin-crucial) on the asian tortillas you get a kind of melt-in--your-mouth duck burrito that is nom worthy. To me, the best part was the absence of the duck distinct flavor, therefore no flashbacks to the toilet were present.
All the food was excellent- their menu is really easy to understand...I think if you order off the "special dishes" menu any outsider (read non chinese) will be happy with the food.
If I'm in the area, I would definitely go back.
-1 star for the pee pee smelly men's bathroom. That restroom was way dirty. -
Review from Chantelle T.
Los Angeles, CA
4/6/2012 1 Check-in Here
We didn't know where to go for dinner last night and randomly chose this place after seeing it featured in a magazine. Unfortunately, since we didn't make reservations we couldn't order the duck (would've taken an hour to prepare) so we ordered the sweet/sour shrimp and taiwanese vermicelli stir-fry instead. Both dishes were pretty good but there was nothing super special about them.
The menu has a wide variety of options including some Japanese inspired dishes which really appealed to me. Perhaps next time I'll order one of those.
The interior is nice and I can see why people choose this place for special gatherings.
The service was also good so definitely a plus! -
Review from Kristie H.
Pasadena, CA
I've been here when they used to be at the old location light years ago and have been to this location multiple times as well. I haven't been to this location for 2 years though, but tonight I was pleasantly surprised that the quality was still top notch. You have to order the duck an hour in advance. This is Northern style so you get the Chinese tortilla instead of the bun. Solid place.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/12/2010
Stick with the duck here. Just decide whether you just want the duck or if you would like to get it… Read more »
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Review from Tess H.
Los Angeles, CA
5/3/2012 1 Check-in Here
Chinese food. Best duck !!
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Review from Lin G.
2/20/2012 ROTD 3/11/2012
Naturally, being from Beijing makes me a Peking Duck snob. Random trivia: Did you know that I could eat two thirds of a whole duck all by my little lonesome?
The first time I came to Duck House was back in September of last year, with a yelp friend no less. That time, I think I once again, exceeded all expectations by single-handedly putting away almost the whole duck. YUM!
Then, last week, I was fortunate to find myself there once again! And this time, there were no limits to the amount of food we could eat. There were three of us and we ordered a whole duck, plus maybe 7 or 8 other full size entrees. I shit you not. Our table was so full the waiters had to find all these creative ways to make space and the table of four old Korean guys sucking on toothpicks at the table next to us were just floored with horror.
Oh and fuck the whole calling in ahead for the duck nonsense. We strolled in like triad kings at 7pm on a Friday and ordered duck and whatever the fuck else we felt like with no one mentioning anything about having to make a reservation. In fact, we ordered one duck and told them we MIGHT order another one later. And they were totally fine with that.
Without fail, we cleared up the whole duck within minutes. It was soooo good! Better than I remembered. The sauce was good. The duck itself was okay. I love crispy skin. The duck meat was completely separated from the skin though, and I like a little meat on the skin. Overall, the sauce and the warm flour wraps made the duck meal. And what's peking duck without tons of sauce and onion sprouts and cucumbers?
Notable other dishes include this huge angry looking fish covered with orangey sauce and pine nuts. That was really good. It wasn't supposed to have bones but still had some. So don't wolf it down. Have you ever choked on a fish bone? Not pretty.
The eel rice was kind of disappointing. It was a huge vat of sauced up rice with some pieces of eel. At this point, we were so full we could barely breath. The duck soup was DELICIOUS. And I would skip this dried out vermicelli covered shrimp creation that the restaurant came up with. Who wants to eat tons of vermicelli with shrimp? Especially when you are already so full you can barely move.
We also got this really good drink, called suan mei tang. It's a Chinese drink and they made it very authentic. We had a great time there and the service was so friendly, especially for a Chinese restaurant. But I think it's b/c we ordered enough entrees for a table of ten. Our meal for 3 came to maybe $200 before tip. That was probably overkill. Normal people, you guys can probably eat there for much less.
This is probably the best duck restaurant I've been to in LA. The only other one being Tasty Duck. And I prefer Duck House. If anyone knows of better, more authentic places for peking duck (NORTHERN STYLE! None of that folded bun crap), please drop me a note. Or better yet, take me there and watch me eat a whole duck!Listed in: Meow Bird Approved!, Ching Chong Ting Tong
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Review from Joel J.
San Clemente, CA
3/9/2012
This place is pretty darn good. Heard excellent reviews about it, so I decided to take the commute up to have dinner there.
I wasn't disappointed.
Heck to take it a step further, Monterey Park is a jem for excellent chinese food.
So what's the best thing to order? Obviously, it's the duck. Now you have to realize that there are 3 different styles of how they prepare or compliment the duck. You'll have to order an hour in advance and shouldn't just 'show up'.
1. Traditional Roasted Peking Duck with House Pancakes, Shredded Scallions and Cucumbers $33.95
2. Roasted Peking Duck in Two Ways (Choose either Stir Fried Bean Sprouts with Duck meats or Speical Duck Bone soup) $42.95
3. Roasted Peking Duck in three ways (Including Stir Fried Bean Sprouts with Duck Meats & Special Duck Bone soup)
I went with the 2. but wish I would've gone with the 3.
As for the service...It was absolutely wonderful. The staff was attentive and professional. And even complimented a desert, but by then, we were already full. Still it was a nice gesture. -
Review from Shane S.
Los Angeles, CA
3/9/2012
I first met the owner John at a sushi party at my studio. He told me about his famous Peking duck and how they take time to prepare it. They blow air to remove the skin! and to keep everything fresh you must order an hour in advance!! He also said his restaurant is one of the few that has this traditional preparation on the west coast.
The Peking duck is excellent, having it three ways with duck soup with crab and a stir fry with duck ........Incredible! I have been here a few times, sometimes we get the soup and sometimes we just order more roast peking duck!! They serve it with scallions and thin flat pancakes instead of the folded bun. It is really decadent, and a great place to have some wine with Chinese food!!
Get the Peking duck!!! -
Review from Grace C.
2/26/2012 1 Check-in Here
Never tried Peking duck with thin pancakes, but I give it two thumbs up! This combo with duck meat, duck skin, plum sauce, and thinly sliced greens allowed me to experience more of the duck than with the thick floury bun found at other places. Our team ordered the set menu for 6 (OMG, $268!) plus some additional side orders. The set menu comes with:
- Appetizer Combo Platter (jellyfish, octopus, and some other items I can't remember)
- Stir fried filet mignon cubes (the most Americanized dish in our order)
- Roast Peking Duck (needs to be ordered in advance, the set of house pancakes that come with it are not enough, additional orders cost extra)
- Whole Abalone w/ Broccoli in Oyster sauce (very tender)
- Baked Truffle Lobster (same as other Chinese restaurants)
- Duck's Bone Soup w/ Iced Tofu and Napa (very light and delicious)
- Passion Fruit Konnyaku Jell-o (free with yelp check-in)
Additional orders:
- Stir Fried Sauteed Oyster Mushrooms with Basil in Sizzling Pot (the mushrooms were so so good!)
- Szechuan Style Eggplant (same as other Chinese restaurants)
We had our own room and service was good, though it was hard to try to flag someone down when we wanted to order more wine or more pancakes, etc. The duck truly is the highlight of the meal and it was sliced perfectly, with the fat removed (other than the skin, of course), and seasoned enough to go well by itself or with the plum sauce. -
Review from Huckleberry L.
Fountain Valley, CA
4/15/2012
As my friend likes to point out, Duck House serves duck. A proper review of this place, therefore, should focus on the duck.
The roasted duck here is presented in a very nice and neat manner. The crispy duck skin comes out pre-separated from the duck meat and is arranged in a circular pattern around the duck meat. The duck meat is sliced, arranged, and presented in a style somewhat reminiscent of a carved turkey. The duck is served with thin pancakes instead of buns. There is also a jar full of cornflakes that one can add to their duck in order to give it another level of texture and crunch. Overall, the duck was quite tasty. It was moist and not too gamy nor too stringy. The accompanying duck bone soup was very bland.
My group of friends also ordered a number of other dishes:
- The fried rice with eel was very popular. I do not eat seafood but my wife and friends all loved it.
- The short ribs were very sweet and some pieces were a bit too fatty.
- The cubed filet mignon was simple and light. I appreciated the fact that they sauteed the onions with the beef instead of just placing the cubed steak on a bed of onions. Nonetheless, this dish lacked in flavor and was overpriced at nearly 20 dollars a dish.
- The eggplant was not very impressive. I've had better in less elegant settings.
- The konnyaku salad was not very good.
The restaurant has a nice decor. My friends and I sat in a separate room which seemed nice at first but most of us quickly found the room very hot and stuffy. Service was nearly non-existent. We had to ask for water 5 times before we received any. The meal was pretty much over by that point. Servers would purposely ignore us or pretend not to see us. We eventually discovered a server button near the wall but that did not work much better. We heard the beeping sounds outside but eventually a server would just turn it off but no one actually came in to see what we needed. -
Review from Tony W.
2/3/2012
The peking duck was fabulous and you get a lot of duck meat too. The complimentary tofu and cabbage soup that comes with the peking duck is delicious too - soup has tons of flavor.
The miso black cod is very good too - you get 3 large pieces.
The scallops are good too. The clear and green colored noodle with peanut sauce is overwhelming because the noodles were drenched in the peanut sauce which makes it very filling.
I'll definitely come back to eat more peking duck the next time I'm in the mood! -
Review from Sarah S.
Beverly Hills, CA
2/19/2012
Thoroughly enjoyed the dining experience tonight.
made a reservation at 6.30 and the table AND duck was ready when i arrived.
The duck was delicious!!!
It was extremely busy tonight and service was a little slow. But the manager came and personally apologized for the bad service, as 2 of his waiters did not show up and gave out free dessert! You cant fault a restaurant for that. it was super packed.
It is a little expensive so will go here again but only on special occasions.
highly recommend at least just to try it. -
Review from Ben Y.
Monterey Park, CA
2/20/2012
Like others have mentioned, get the peking duck. It is their signature dish.
This place is more expensive/fancy then your typical 626 chinese restaurant. The menu has some high end items such as buddha jumps over the wall and yoshihama abalone. It's a nice place to take a large party for a more upscale chinese restaurant experience.
The menu also includes some non typical chinese dishes such as miso cod. I'll rate the following items that i've tried on a 1-5 scale
peking duck - 5
crispy golden fish - 4 (this was surprisingly good)
miso cod - 3.5
peking style pork strips - 1
truffle lobster - 2 (we paid around 85 dollars for 4lbs, definitely not worth it and was not notable in anyway)
artic surf clam - 3.5 (was a surprise hit)
filet mignon cubes - 3 (my friend loved it but i thought it tasted the same as any other place).
The portions are smaller then your standard chinese restaurant and the prices are higher but i guess the quality is also higher for their ingredients. I'd definitely recommend this place.
I think the most comparable restaurant in the area would be Mission 261 and i think this place is the better of the two. -
Review from Jessica Y.
Los Angeles, CA
1/19/2012
LOVE their peking duck. I've been here 3 times and they have not failed to disappoint. Couple tips about the duck:
1) Get it. Always.
2) You can pick to have it served to you 1, 2, or 3 ways. (I personally was not impressed by the 3rd way, it's just bean sprouts and small chunks of duck meat)
3) If you order ahead, they'll have it ready and on the table only a few minutes after you order. No waiting!
Peking duck aside, this restaurant is a bit pricier than most average chinese restaurants, but their food is always good. I also really like the peppered filet mignon cubes. :) -
Review from Martin S.
Los Angeles, CA
3/22/2012
i've been going to Duck House for different occasions. The first couple of times was for small celebration of chinese new years with friends and family. And then I start going there for thanksgiving dinner for the past couple of years. I'd prefer peking ducks to thanksgiving turkey anytime. I really enjoyed the way they served their peking ducks. They're really good at the presentation. The duck meat is already sliced without bone. The skin (the most important part) is so crispy and have a lot less fat compared to the typical peking ducks out there. This is good for those who are watching their figure. You'll be able to eat this a lot more!
I also ordered the grilled fish with miso sauce that's out of this world. I think this might even surpassed the duck, but how's that possible, this restaurant is called 'duck house' not 'fish house'.
The service is pretty good. Call an hour ahead if you're gonna order the peking duck, then you're all set. It's better to go there with more people so you can order more foods, their portion is on the larger side. -
Review from George L.
Los Angeles, CA
4/3/2012 1 Check-in Here
What can I say, it's the best Peking Duck you can get short of flying 7000 miles
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Review from Victor W.
12/30/2011 1 Check-in Here
This place makes the best peking duck in the area but its overall level of service and quality of food for other dish are inconsistent.
Basically, you have to get the peking duck and the duck soup. Everything else is okay. The abalone isn't worth it. The peppered steak is probably the next best food item.
Be warned, you have to pre-order the duck or else you have to wait a hour for it to be made. It's a great place to take a large group of people. -
Review from Richard F.
Walnut, CA
2/11/2012 1 Check-in Here
As other comments suggested, you come to this place mainly for their Peking duck dish. Order the 2-way (with duck meat/skin and soup) or 3-way (with duck meat/skin, soup, and bean sprout/duck meat stir fry) for best deal. For the bean sprout the ingredient might not be expensive but it's surely fresh, tasty, and a balanced dish.
Other dishes are also good with focus on details and cooking technique. More emphasis on quality over quantity compare to other similar places. As a result expect to pay higher price than average.
The place is ALWAYS packed for dinner especially on weekends so make sure you have reservation on BOTH the table and the Peking duck dish (other you will have to wait around 45min to a hour for it). Sometimes they also have a 1.5 hour limitation for dinner time (weekend, maybe weekday also), it's understandable as it's so packed.
The service is also improved, quite attentive, and friendly.
Parking could be a challenge but you can always park on the sidewalk. -
Review from Mia M.
Los Angeles, CA
2/10/2012
Four stars instead of five only because it's too expensive for me to go without a big group of people. As it was, I went with nine, and someone else paid. Yay! The peking duck here is delicious, and of the other dishes I tried, I loved the garlic spinach and the daikon and mushrooms cooked in some kind of sweet sauce.
I don't know enough to compare this place to other Chinese restaurants in the area in general, but compared to the ones I've been to previously with my elderly auntie who lives in the neighborhood, Duck House is smaller and feels more modern than the nearby restaurants with columns, giant flamboyant paintings, and waiters in tuxedos at 5pm. -
Review from Emily Y.
Irvine, CA
1/4/2012 1 Check-in Here
Not sure why it's garnering such low reviews, since I had a blast here.
I think my least fave dishes were the soy-glazed chicken, Chinese stir-fry vermicelli and the vinegar that they inexplicably added to the black sesame pearl ball dessert soup. In addition, the parking lot was abysmally small and completely full, even on a Sunday night.
However, it more than made up with great service and the Peking Duck was one of the best I've had here in California since moving from Hong Kong in 1997. Yowza, 'twas delicious! It was served with flat tortilla-like rice pancakes, spring onions and hoisin sauce and it more than lived up to its reputation. We had called the day before to claim our duck and didn't have to wait more than 15 minutes from the time we sat down until the duck plate landed on our table. We also ordered tofu soup, braised green beans with red chili flakes, beef and green onion and black sesame pearl ball soup for dessert. Yumm-o!
In addition, they serve duck feet marinated in tea and anise (similar to tea egg flavourings) as an appetizer, which, although a pain to eat, was absolutely fabulous.
Will definitely return for more! :3 -
Review from Kenny H.
Pasadena, CA
1/4/2012 1 Check-in Here
Clean, excellent food, and good service.
Most Chinese places cannot live up to these standards in Monterey Park because many cheap patrons look for good value rather than quality and service.
Duck House is one of the few Chinese restaurants in the area I can praise. The peking duck is amazing, and you have to place an order an hour in advance before you come (so call!).
Other winners include the eel sticky rice. It is magnificent, and who cares about the price? Indulge every once in a while. I believe we also ordered some sort of cut up steak cubes, which was tender and flavorful.
Even the stir-fry seasonal vegetables were top notch. They are able to turn something so simple into a clean and delicious dish (no heavy, gooey oyster sauce here!).
Highly recommended. -
Review from Shirley W.
Alhambra, CA
12/16/2011
I was there for the very first time, and the food, what shall I say, is amazing!
I called 2 hours ahead to pre-order the duck, and the waiters were practically expecting us as we showed up, felt good to be special :)
We ordered the duck in 3 ways, a plate with skin and meat, for wrapping, a dish with thin-sliced duck stir fried with bean sprouts, and a soup. The tortillas, with lack of a better term (I think the peking ppl call it the "spring dough" for good luck), are almost paper thin--so ppl like me who's watching my carb intake won't be overloaded with unwanted calories--two thumbs up! It reminded me of the time when I had my peking duck in Beijing, good times! The Bean sprout dish was lightly oiled and flavored, low sodium and cholesterol, just the way I like it, uh-huh. The soup came in a huge bowl, the soup base is creamy white in color, must be boiled with em duck bones for quite sometime. We also ordered the Angel hair shrimp, which is deep fried, tastful but a guilt treat.
The check turns out to be around 70, so it's really not bad for all the food! I would definitely recommend this place for family/holiday/business parties! You've gotta try it! -
Review from Sylvan Y.
Los Angeles, CA
1/12/2012
This is an expensive but pretty okay restaurant. If you wanna try Beijing Duck, this is a must-go place.
You need to call in order to make sure there is available duck there. Otherwise you probably need to wait. The bakery of one duck take about 40 mins.
I ordered 4 lb lobster and duck, both of them are really delicious. -
Review from Seiji N.
11/20/2011 1 Check-in Here
To simply put it, the duck house is one of those places that people would have their super asian family reunions. They have a large variety of food, large tables, and once everyone is done eating, the pops of the families chip-in for the expensive tab.
When I went to the Duck House, I went for a brunch with bunch of friends so why did I start my review like that? Your guess is as good as mine.
Anyways, on my experience. Since my mandarin and duck ordering knowledge lacks quite a bit, our friends who new what they were doing ordered a pre-selected course for us. Even if you're going to do the pre-selected course, I highly recommend looking at their menu because it is like a hard-cover book on photography, which happens to photograph asian dishes.
Our first dish had a combination of things. Clams, squid, jellyfish: the usual assortment of asian seafood. I really enjoyed their jellyfish that was in a swan shaped container (?).
The next two dishes were the ants on a tree and something that resembled mongolian beef from panda express. I don't really remember the taste of these because they immediately brought out two plates of peking duck! The skin is separated from the duck already so it was much much easier to eat. They also didn't have buns. Instead, they had thin tortillas. The duck was simply amazing and I could probably live off of it for the rest of my life.
The last main dish was a whole lobster. It was a bit more difficult to eat then the duck, but still tasty. Finally, the dessert was passion fruit jellos. mmm the dessert was so good I couldn't stop eating it. Every time the table in the center was spun and I saw a jello pass by, I picked one up with my toothpick.
They are very accommodating in their service. As one of our friends has allergies to certain foods, they made sure to explain what was in each dish.
Truly enjoyable experience and I hope that I am able to have an asian family reunion here someday. -
Review from Vivian J.
Los Angeles, CA
11/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
Expensive, but worth every single penny!
So nine of our good friends meet up on a lazy Sunday to throw down for some Peking duck, and none of us were disappointed! Duck House is in the style of a traditional family-style restaurant with round tables and the spinning disc in the center. We got their special duck package with some substitutes and here were the dishes that were included:
Spicy cold big clams chopped up
Cold squid legs
Cold chopped up duck
Jellyfish
Ants on a tree
Roasted peking duck with julienned cucumbers, sauce, and thin Chinese tortillas (instead of the thicker bread)
A huge platter of lobster
A garlic beef dish with onions
Abalone
Lichee Jello cut up into hearts and x's
Each dish was flavorful, and we had lulls in our conversation where none of the 9 people were talking because they were too busy grabbing more food or eating. I loved the Peking duck because it was not as oily, the skin was crispy, and the tortillas were healthier and lighter than the breaded kind.
Our total bill with tax came out to $44 each, which is expensive for a Sunday lunch, but everyone agreed it was all worth it and that no one wanted to eat for the next day...but we ended up going to get boba afterward...We are fatties... -
Review from Jordan C.
Walnut, CA
3/20/2012 1 Check-in Here
Good duck!
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Review from Storm C.
Alhambra, CA
This place is always pack. Best to make a reservation. This is my second time here . I have been to other Peking duck houses and I really think this is the best in the San Gabriel Valley area.
The Peking duck skin is crispy and nicely sliced, fat is removed, which I like.
They have thin tortilla like wrappers. Try it with the chopped garlic, cereal (as in breakfast cereal) and the hoisin sauce... it's good! -
Review from Kevin L.
Alhambra, CA
1/3/2012
Food - 4 Stars
Service - 5 Stars
Decor - 4 Stars
Price - 2 Stars (Expensive for just Peking Duck)
Wait - Call AHEAD! -
Review from John M.
Arcadia, CA
3/14/2012 6 Check-ins Here
I'm not a fan of duck skin but the meat itself is moist and seasoned well, the pancakes in which you put fillers inside along with the duck are very thin and quite tasty as well. The sauce which accompanies the duck is a little strong for my pallet. The sweet and sour fish is delicious. The tofu soup is also scrumptious.
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Review from Patti H.
Fremont, CA
4/24/2012
Awful, greasy, the worst Chinese food I've had in years. We didn't order any duck, lobster or other specialty dishes. We wanted a nice meal, instead got orange chicken, like little tough jerky strips. The Mu Shu pork was really greasy, with no discernible healthful veggies in it. The fried rice my brother ordered was good. The dry -fried string beans were average. It was really expensive for the poor quality we received. I would never go back.
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Review from stephen p.
Los Angeles, CA
1st: don't be like me and come here for the best duck place in LA. It's not (the Chinese name doesn't translate to Duck House).
2nd: Don't think they only serve duck here (most diners on this visit were ordering the fish, the soup etc.)
3rd: Come with more people so you can try the other menu dishes.
This was my second occasion here. The first one had me disappointed with the duck. Roasted, sliced and served in pancakes, and then the bones boiled into a soup with vermicelli noodles. Ok flavor. Not so ok price.
This time, I had a banquet-style meal because there were 10 of us. First course was an appetizer selection: squid, jellyfish and chicken. Second we have the duck with pancakes...I like my duck with more star anise like my mum's recipe. Third was shark's fin soup (we all need to boycott this dish for ethical reasons), Fourth crab which was really hard to eat because nothing was cracked for you. Fifth and final was steamed seabass - ALL TIME BEST DISH.
This place is a great, smallish restaurant for some dishes. Because it's small the ambiance and service is better than other places. But I've had better food elsewhere for less.Listed in: Favorite Chinese restaurants, Good fish eating places
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/10/2009
2.5 stars
I read Rick K's 5-star review and hoped I would feel the same way, but nope. Although his… Read more »
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Review from Ebenezer S.
San Francisco, CA
3/8/2012 1 Check-in Here
Best meal I've had in a long while and I travel 100K miles/year and eat in some of the best restaurants on both coasts. My colleagues and I enjoyed duck 3-ways, steamed whole cod, and the garlic green beans -- all were delicious! Jason our waiter was attentive and responsive. His suggestions on the fish and vegetable dishes were spot-on. Duck House is now on my bookmarked list and I will definitely return when I'm back in SoCal! Not the cheapest place in town but you definitely get what you pay for here -- a solid value for the dining dollar.
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Review from Yvette T.
8/25/2011
Here's the only thing you need to know: my grandma sat at the table and stuffed her face from start to finish without saying a word. Happy customer.
The Peking Duck was delicious: crispy but not overly greasy. I'm disappointed that they don't shave the skin off at your table, like they do in China. The show is part of the whole experience!
Another dish I highly recommend is the Buddha's Chicken, which also has to be ordered in advance. It is stuffed with 8 varieties of deluxe seafood and veggies and slow cooked to melt in your mouth goodness.
Yes, it is rather expensive, but when you compare that to a plane flight to Beijing for the real thing, you're actually saving yourself money!Listed in: Panda Express is Not Chinese…
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Review from Eric C.
San Francisco, CA
12/2/2011 1 Check-in Here
Second time here...the peking duck was a disappointment. The duck skin was not crispy as it was with my past visits. It is apparent that they re-heated the duck as opposed to cooking it to order, despite us having pre-ordered in advance. Perhaps, this was due to the TG holiday...I don't know. But if they continue down this path, I am unlikely to go back or recommend this place to others.
I also didn't like that the waiter promoted their set meals by saying it is of 'greater value.'
