The Meals Part III

Click here for more photos of Peking Duck

I'm going to pick this story up from my previous post. Following our gondola trip, we returned to the hotel to rest a bit and to get ready for our big night on the town. Tracy's parents, Paul and Pearl. have a big night before wedding reception soiree at a first class restaurant that prepares.....Peking Duck! This has to be experienced to be believed. Suffice it to say that it is a lifetime memorable meal. 

The Dragon Restaurant, Taepei

The restaurant is called The Dragon Restaurant and the food, the service, the atmosphere, is out of this world! It was amazing and all too much! Paul insists that there is no better Peking Duck, including in Beijing, and I found this review to back him up.

I have to mention here that all the men are expected to drink scotch with the meal. And the custom is that there is a fairly consistent raising of the glass for any particular reason. When a toast is made (frequently) everything stops and glasses are clinked (and emptied). This happens over and over, through course after course of food to the point that I'm feeling pretty silly after a while.

Paul would look at me, raise his glass and say"John"? Merriment ensued

And the food does keep coming. In the US our habit is to eat what is on the table and then move on to dessert. In Taiwan, every meal is a serious of deliveries of the greatest dishes you could ask for. One is stuffed early on but all the remaining courses must be tried. You are having a good time, after all; right? Finally, the soup arrives signaling that this is indeed, the final course.

The duck (ducks in our case; we had 2 tables) arrives early and is presented all around. It is then cut up and served. The skin is removed in small pieces and the outer meat is sliced thin and all this is placed on a serving platter.

Our "Christmas Story" moment

Serving the duck

We actually make what I can only describe as burritos next by placing the duck, skin, and sauces on a flat steamed tortilla (it's not a tortilla; but it really is). Then the rice, the pork, the vegatables come out followed by the rest of the duck, now cut up in chunks, sweet potatoes, and finally, the duck soup. What a feast! And what a great memory!