Duck with Sherry & Ginger Sauce from Sally Lunn's - £9.98

4 N Parade Passage, Bath BA1 1NX - 01225 461634

www.sallylunns.co.uk

This is supposed to be one of the "must-see" places to go if you're in Bath, but it's more for its history (the restaurant is housed in the oldest building in all of Bath) than for its food. They offer tours of the building, but thanks to shotty railroad engineering, we arrived too late for that.

The meals here are served in the traditional "Trencher-style" which from what I understand is a fancy way of saying "on top of bread." Sally Lunn's claim to fame is its renowned "Lunn bun" which to me, was nothing more than light and crispy Texas toast, aka garlic bread. Although, I can imagine that if I had eaten this back in Medieval times, it would have been euphoric.

The duck itself was moderately sweet and was well-prepared, meaning that it wasn't too rare/burned. More than anything, I was relieved that it had taste at all after trying their vegetables that completely lacked flavor.

For the price I paid (~$16 USD), I would've like more quantity, especially considering that the birds I saw in the UK all looked like they were on steroids.

Also, the server seemed attentive, but he accidentally charged us with a bottle of wine instead of just a glass. Might want to be weary of that if you're ever there.

Duck Everything from Shilin Night Market – $~0.60/stick

Taipei, Taiwan

More from the night market. This will be a short one. On the way out I had some deep fried sweet potato wedges.  It was a bit dry for my taste, which is surprising considering she dunked it in hot oil for well over 2 minutes to heat it up…

We walked farther down the street and found this guy selling all things duck. Another thing I noticed about Taiwan, they love their duck there. More than they do chicken. In fact most of the time the only chicken you find are the deep fried kind.

So when I say all things duck I mean it. Here you see an overview of the cart with your choices. Oh and another thing I noticed about Taiwan, they sell a LOT of their food on sticks/skewers. A lot. Taiwan must go thru forests worth of bamboo each year. Anyways, on the cart you have, from top-down left-right order, duck head & neck, duck neck, duck head, duck blood in squares of glutinous rice, tofu, duck feet. Next row: I dunno, duck blood in coagulated form, duck drumstick and gizzard, duck wing, duck tongue (pic), dunno what the black stuff is, then tofu. Final row: duck meat ball?, quail eggs, duck intestines I think, more balls of some sort, duck heart (pic), duck butt(pic) and finally 2 varieties of duck skin.

3rd thing about Taiwan – everrryythinggg is deep fried. So naturally anything you pick off this cart will most probably be dipped into  a pot of boiling oil. If not then it’ll be grilled. Last pic is Uncle taking out some duck tongue that he just deep fried for us. Duck tongue was amazing. It looked amazing. Like something out of Aliens. There isn’t much to eat as there isn’t much meat, but it was just fun to chew on it. There were boney bits that were quite hard to chew thru, it almost felt like the plasticky backbone you find in squid, but it’s not.

Actually all we had was the duck tongue. I’m not much of an ass person, you could say I don’t have the heart for it, so I just settled for some tongue action… geddit geddit? 3 weeks later we went back to look for Uncle but his stall was closed. Pity.

Chef's Special Crispy Duck from Lao Sze Chuan - $10.95

1331 West Ogden Avenue, Downers Grove, IL - 630.663.0303

Honestly, there's nothing special about this "Chef's Special" crispy duck. Not that it was bad (in fact, it was very good), but there was nothing unique about it to receive such a name like "Chef's Special." It's a standard Chinese duck dish, served with hoisin sauce, as usual.

For those of you unfamiliar with ordering duck, $11 for an entire duck is a very fair price that you may find difficult to match. This particular version is served with bones, and some may also find it tedious to dig through them to get at the meat, but like lobster, it's well worth the effort.

Unfortunately, this is a poor representation of the restaurant itself, because the other dishes are usually more decorated and flavorful, but trust me, if you like Chinese food, this place is a winner.

Gang Ped Yang (Duck Curry) from Tasty Thai - $11.95

287 Christiana Road, New Castle, DE - (302)322-1306

The duck curry is described on the menu as "boneless roasted duck, tomato, and pineapples in chef's special red curry."

This is another great selection from a mediocre Thai restaurant. The dish is supposed to be spicy, but it's not so much the burns-my-tongue kind of spicy. It's more like the tickles-my-throat-and-makes-me-want-to-cough spicy. As with all curry dishes that I know of, this comes with a little cardboard box of white rice to mix with the curry.

The angle of the picture doesn't show the size, but it comes in one of those one quart plastic tubs that most Chinese restaurants tend to use, but they probably only fill it up about 75% total. The price is a bit high in my opinion, but then I justify it by reminding myself that Thai food is more of a novelty in these parts.

Crispy Honey Roasted Duck from Tasty Thai - $11.95

287 Christiana Road, New Castle, DE - (302)322-1306

This is deep-fried boneless duck tossed in the "chef's special three flavor sauce topped with crispy basil leaves."

Although it may look spicy, it's actually a very sweet dish, and although the name says otherwise, the breading is more soggy than crispy. But even with these "setbacks" the dish holds a good flavor and I revisit this meal often.

My Birthday Dinner from Domaine Hudson

1314 North Washington Street, Wilmington, DE - (302)655-WINE

Just to prove that I don't eat garbage ALL the time, here's a few pictures from my birthday dinner yesterday.

Three Cheese Platter - $15

I never understood the hype behind "fine cheese" - at least, not until I came here. The cheese hidden behind the spoon (unfortunately) is a Le Chevrot (France / Goat's milk / Soft & Mild type). The block to the right of that is Gouda (surprisingly pronounced "how-da"), 2 year Boerenkaase (Holland / Cow's Milk / Hard type), and the cheese in front of that is a Fromage d'Affinios (France / Cow's Milk / Soft type). The cheeses were served with flat bread crackers, sliced baguette, blackberry compote, and orange & thyme marinated kalamata olives. For a more detailed description of each cheese, look at the snapshot of the menu I included. This much, I will say, however: I liked the Fromage d'Affinios the best, then the Le Chevrot, and finally the Gouda, 2 year Boernkaase, but they are all outstanding cheeses that completely changed my perspective on "fine cheeses."

Spring Asparagus & Wild Mushroom Salad - $11

This salad came with brioche, shaved black truffle cheese, pistachio and brown butter vinaigrette. I love asparagus, but everything else on the plate was so tasty, I tried to wipe it clean. If I weren't out in public, I would've lapped up that plated like a dog.

Baked Brie & Arugula Salad - $12

Aside from coming with the obvious baked brie and arugula, this salad also included walnuts, pears, and a roasted shallot vinaigrette. You would think that after just finishing a three cheese platter that the brie would be overkill, but that wasn't the case at all. I wanted to steal more off my sister's plate, but I held back to save room for my entrée.

Pan Seared Australian Lamb Rack - $29

The pan seared Australian lamb rack came with goat cheese frissee, fingerling potatoes, and a warm herb-onion vinaigrette. The lamb was so tender it made my heart melt. I was a little jealous that I didn't order this myself, but then I tasted my own dish...

Crispy Free-Range Duck Breast - $21

Finally, the meal I most looked forward to, the crispy free-range duck breast, was served with sundried tomatoes, roasted garlic polenta (cornmeal) with a dried cherry balsamic reduction and herb sautéed asparagus. The duck was cooked to perfection - crispy on the outside and juicy and tender on the inside. The sauce was sweet with a slight bit of tang, and would be fantastic with just about anything, but I didn't use very much since I didn't want to taint the perfection. I'm drooling just thinking about it...



I've eaten at Domaine Hudson before, and every time, it's a wonderful experience. The service is outstanding, the wine list is plentiful, and the price is reasonable considering the quality of the food you get. The menu changes frequently so you can expect to try new dishes on your next trip. The servers appear knowledgeable about the wines so they can help you select the best wine to complement your dish. All in all, I recommend this place to anyone looking for fine cuisine at reasonable prices.