Peking Duck is a type of oven-roasted duck from Northern China, known for its thin, crispy skin which is an utter delight. Craving some Peking Duck, I went to Spring Deer Restaurant, one of the most famous Pekingese restaurants in Hong Kong, with a large group of friends. Situated on the first floor of a nondescript building near the P3 Exit of Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station, Spring Deer Restaurant is a long-standing eatery opened in the 1970s which offers one of the best Peking Ducks in town, and is popular with locals and tourists alike. The brightly-lit, down-to-earth Chinese decor is reflective of the no-frills cuisine served at this restaurant. Some of the well-drilled staff seemed like they have worked at this place for years: even though not the most attentive or deferential, the waiters were all friendly in a genuine way, and were very happy to offer food advice.

Most items on the menu come in three sizes, "Small", "Medium" and "Large", which is great for small parties who wish to try more of the restaurant's signature dishes. Except for the Peking Duck which was incredibly tasty, the rest of the Northern Chinese cuisine was only mediocre and the ingredients were not pristine. However, considering that our feast only racked up a bill of $130 per head, perhaps all could be forgiven.

想吃北京填鴨的話，不少人都會去馳名的京菜館鹿鳴春飯店。鹿鳴春的北京填鴨非常好吃，外皮甘香鬆脆，而肉質依然鮮嫩多汁，帶滿鴨香，只不過有點肥。雖然其他菜式一般，但吃得很飽才每位$130，難怪餐廳長期都客似雲來!

(1) We started off with the Fried Shredded Pork with Soya Bean Pasty Sauce ($78), which was a sweet, appetising dish with a dressing that reminded us of sweet and sour pork.(2) The Sautéed Fresh-Water Shrimps without Shells (small, $90) followed, but I was not the biggest fan as the shrimps were soft and limp, and were not firm and springy like I had hoped.(3) The Fried Shredded Beef with Chilli Sauce (dry) ($88) was moreish. Cooked in a bright red sauce which was seemingly very spicy but turned out to be sweet, the beef was terrifically crunchy and we couldn't stop eating it!(4) We put some of the shredded pork and beef into a Sesame Cake ($6 each) - the refreshing taste of sesame was a fantastic match with the meats!

(5) The Barbequed Peking Duck ($300) was definitely the highlight of our meal! The duck was brought out on a trolley and carved right in front of us. Each slice comprised a layer of skin and some meat underneath, and the roasted skin was sublime! For me, the layer (or lump) of fat underneath the skin was a bit much, but I could imagine that some people would find it perfectly indulgent.What impressed me the most was how wonderfully moist the duck meat was. I have had Peking Ducks at a few other renowned restaurants, and the lean duck meat would often be a bit dry after roasting, but here at Spring Deer, it was succulent, juicy and flavour-packed! Traditionally, the skin would be eaten on its own, while the meat would be wrapped up in steamed pancakes, but it is becoming increasingly common for the skin and meat to be wrapped together. The steamed pancake wrappers were thick, smooth and floury in a good way, and were totally complementary with duck. A sweet garlic sauce, some spring onions and some cucumber were provided, and these formed a magnificent symphony of flavours. It was simply heaven for carnivores or duck-lovers! (6) We ordered some Steamed vegetarian dumplings ($55), which had a soft, juicy filling of vegetables and rice vermicelli, and they were a delightful break from the tangy dishes at our meal. (7) The Steamed ham and Tientsin Cabbage (small, $70) was overcooked and the vegetables lost their crunch.
(8) Moving on to the desserts, we ordered a portion of Fried Glutinous Rice Cakes ($8 each). The rice balls were utterly decadent - golden brown on the surface, the glutinous rice had a chewy, stretchy texture and the centre was filled with a smooth red bean paste.(9) The Mashed Bean Pancake ($30) had a gorgeously crunchy outer layer and the red bean paste tasted delicious. It would have been even better if it was not so oily.(10) The Candied Apple (medium, $78) is a dessert very popular in China Towns all over the world. Fruits (such as banana, apples etc.) are coated in a hot syrup and are then immediately thrown into iced water so that the syrup crystallises into a hard, brittle shell. However, our candied apples had been slowly brought to our table, and by the time they were placed in the bowl of iced water the syrup coating was not hot anymore. This resulted in apples that were simply wrapped in a sweet, soggy film!This joint may not serve the finest Chinese cuisine or have the most gracious service, but the offerings were hearty and the duck was simply irresistible. It's perfect for a group Peking Duck dinner on a budget!

4 of us had b-day dinner here, we ordered
1. Beijing Duck (HK$280)
Only 2 dishes of skins for 1 whole duck, seem they didn't cut all the skin of the duck for us (e.g. they didn't cut the skin from the drumsticks).
The skins were very fatty & oily. The duck quality was not good (maybe we are not 熟客ba). Not crispy as well. The pancakes were not warm and they were very thick as well. Not good.
北京樓 is much better.

2. 京燒羊肉
Quite tastful, no "So" taste, it's good.

3. 砂鍋津白
It's similar to 砂鍋雲吞雞 (but have some pork instead of 雲吞雞), it's got some 粉絲 as well, the soup was tastful, got around 8 cups of soup. Nice!

4. 拔絲香蕉
It's good as well.

The restaurant was quite noisy (waiters are throwing dishes into the place for dish-washing), so not good if you want to spend some relaxing time
In the end, we think the signature dish - Beijing Duck is not very good. Don't know why it's number one here in openrice for Beijing food. Don't think we would go there again...

This place has been around for a very long time now. They serve traditional old school Chinese food. I remember coming here about 5 – 6 years ago whilst holidaying in Hong Kong with family and have yet to go here since I have arrived.

We ordered the Peking duck and it did not disappoint! The skin was crispy, duck meat, with a slither of fat, was juicy and succulent. It was a tad oily but satisfying. The pancakes were a little disappointing. It was too thick for my liking as I like my pancakes slightly thin!

We had two plates of this, much more than we needed, but satisfied our Peking duck cravings!

Next came the stir-fry mix vegetables. This was a little ordinary, nothing special.

A big steamer of dumplings was placed in front of us. These pork dumplings were meaty, juicy and moist. It was full of flavour and deliciously yummy.

The second course to our Peking duck was san choy bau. I was getting full by this stage (duck over load!) however, did try a bit of this and it was ok. I have had better san choy bau elsewhere. MG seemed to have enjoyed it though.

read rest of review: http://gastronomous.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/delicious-peking-duck-spring-deer-tst/

the LCB alumni food network continued, this time at spring deer restaurant (鹿鳴春飯店). it is one of my favorite chinese restaurants, and my family comes here at least once a year for their famous peking duck. J tried to eat at spring deer when she last visited hk 3 years ago, but the waitress bluntly told her the restaurant was fully booked for the next 2 weeks then hung up… indeed, spring deer is one of the very few eateries in hk that you have to jump hoops in order to get a table, regardless of what day or time your reservation is. and it isn’t because the restaurant is snooty – it is simply that popular, even after 40 years of operation.
spring deer was founded in 1969 by a shandong immigrant and has been one of the most reputable northern chinese cuisine restaurant in hk since then. thanks to the wide coverage of japanese media/travel guide, spring deer is especially popular among the japanese tourists and you almost always find japanese to make up half of all customers anytime you visit. the restaurant is well known for its authentic cooking technique and use of premium ingredients. it’s all about food – the restaurant has minimal decor and most of the servers are old enough to be my grandpa~~
we arrived at 8.30pm on a monday evening and the restaurant was full house. once we sat down, the server immediately came over and looked at me as if i was supposed to know what to order already (which i did, actually…).
賽螃蟹 egg-white crab meat - the direct translation of its chinese name is “as good as crab” because it looks like crab meat; this dish is actually egg white quickly fried in hot oil, topped with shredded dried fish (黃魚肉絲) and raw egg yolk. it is my favorite dish at spring deer as all other chinese restaurants i have eaten at simply cannot do this right – either the egg white is overcooked or they substitute dried fish with something else. here at spring deer, the egg-white crab meat was very smooth, almost a little liquid, and retained good collagen-spongy texture. the dried fish was salty and flavorful, while the sour fish sauce served on the side helped to lighten greasiness. a simply unforgettable dish.
北京填鴨 peking roasted duck – chef slowly reeled out our duck and it was bloated from hot steam inside. like foie gras, the ducks used in this northern chinese signature dish are force-fed and kept in cages to restrain them from moving about, in order to fatten them up and make the meat comparably tender. the ducks is rubbed with spices, salt, and sugar, and air-dried for 3 hours. traditional peking duck has 120 slices per full-grownduck, but here at spring deer they use a younger duck and slice into 34 pieces to give more meat in each serving, because the duck itself has more fat there should be leek, cucumber, hoisin sauce, and chinese tortilla alongside to wrap with the duck.
chef sliced the duck in front of us and the whole process took 1 minute – it was partly for the show, but more because they wanted to serve the duck steaming hot. the skin was so light and crispy that it almost felt like rice paper, and the thick layer of fat did not feel too greasy because of the leek and cucumber. the duck was okay – i have had better roasted duck in beijing where they use real wood-fired oven, but with what law allows us to have in hk, spring deer’s roasted duck is one of the best i’ve had.
干燒二荀 fried vegetables - the dish was made of fried seaweed, sugar-coated roasted almonds, fried mushroom. the almond was salty while fried seaweed fully fragrant. there was probably minimal fiber left in this “vegetable” dish, but was really, really tasty.

糖醋豬脊 sweet sour pork – it’s not the regular sweet-sour pork as there was no pineapple or bell pepper. instead, it was lean, aromatic pork shoulder very lightly battered and deep fried. the crust was thin and a bit crunchy, whereas the meat inside was still firm, juicy, and meaty.
great authentic northern chinese food, and the peking duck did not disappoint. the waiters are actually very professional when it comes to food knowledge, only if you are patiently enough to stop them in the middle of whatever that they are always seemingly engaged in, and ask.

As someone has said, Spring Deer is a dinosaur, but a delicious dinosaur! You won't find a place like this easily! Fortunately, it is my in-laws favorite, hence this tall white fella discovered it! And lucky Texan I am!

Boy it's goooooooooooood stuff! My favorite is the Siu Gai (hope i spelled it rite!) Man, that is good Chicken! Can we get a 2nd plate of it, but the answer is always "NO".

Lots of good stuff to eat here, but i have to admit, the service is like...........well...........haphazard. Hey! Where's my Siu Gai? "20 minutes ok?"

lol, but ya gotta love this place, it's like downhome food, good stuff, and rather homely environment............but the food!.

In my mind, it's a traditional good place to head if you want some satisfying food, and give the waiter (they are all waiters at least when i have been 20 + times, usually over 65) a big smile, you might get your siu gai a bit quicker! ;) Don't make jokes about canes, that don't go over well.

but don't miss this hk classic, northern chinese style...........

Mikey

by shear luck, or by hook or crook, this spring deer dinosaur has not kicked the bucket yet!

makes me wonder who are those people who keep coming back? do they belong to the same prehistoric generation as the kitchen and front-end staff? have their tastebuds regressed back to the 1900's? or are they simply stubborn foodies who don't like to venture out to modern peking/shanghai etc restaurants? or are they clueless tourists just flocking to the advertised scene? sorry, no offense intended, just curious!

i was a guest to a celebration dinner, so i should not complain about free food, right?

to be objective, i found the mixed appetizer 雜錦拼盤 quite delicious and the thinly sliced meat very appealing. the shark fin soup 雞鍋雞飽翅 was up to standard, in both the chicken stock and quantity of the fins. the crab meat egg white dish 賽螃蟹 was ok.

the other dishes were as good as an open market eatery, and nothing more. i am lost as to why this dinosaur can 榮獲2009年OpenRice最優秀開飯京川滬菜館!

the peking duck was lame in meat texture, with anti-crispy (as in anti-matter) skin, and the wrapper was coarse. the steamed dumplings had a skin that makes an elephant jealous. the pork filling for the sesame pockets 叉子燒餅 was full of unidentified fillers or scrap meat. the drunken chicken was an old tough drunken sorry bird. the veggie dish was below par by all standards.

how about service? gee, what service?

come to think of it, it is not the cooks who caused my problem of not finding the food palatable. it could be that my standard has not been lowered to that low level to enjoy them.

2 weeks or 14 days or half a month ... that is how long most people have to book in advance in to dine here. Was it worth the 2 weeks wait? Perhaps 3 - 4 days would be more reasonable in my opinion. Anyways, this is one of the few remaining old-school Chinese restaurants in town and it is famous for its Peking Duck. It is also one of the favorites among tourists as well because you will find it being recommended in many travel books / guides. Now here is the million dollar question, if it requires weeks in advance booking, exactly when did the many tourists presence on this particular evening book their table? (did the guide book placed on their tables recommended them to book before they departure from their homeland?) hummm ... I should have asked ...
Based on the decor, I suspected that it remained pretty much the same over the last 2 (or 3) decades. We arrived around 8:30pm and it was full house with staff rushing back and forth. Dinner this evening was in celebration of my friend's birthday and he did most of the ordering as well so I was there to enjoy. Worth noting that most of the dishes come in 3 different sizes, Small - Med - Large. As mentioned in my SML post, the idea of offering different dish size was nothing new, it was there long before I was even born.
The first dish to arrive was the Saute Sliced Mutton with Spring Onion. It looked quite plain and unexciting but the flavors were rich and I ordered some rice immediately!
Saute Pig's Windpipe with Coriander was the next dish. Windpipe? Yes, this was the first time I tried it and I love it! The texture was chewy yet bouncy, toothy and carry a certain "bite" to it. Again I am in lost of words when describing the texture of "爽" in Chinese. Anyhow, with the strong flavors of coriander, the dish was quite a refreshing starter.
Of course we ordered the Peking Duck and here they offer Peking Duck - 3 Ways! The first was the traditional way of sliced skin with Chinese pancakes. It was fun watching the chef preparing our Peking duck!
The duck slices here included quite a large portion of meat and the duck was quite fatty as you can see from the fatty layer in between. It was alright, the skin was not overly crisp as expected but the meat was quite tender indeed. Flavor was fair but no surprises.
As mentioned before in my Dong Lai Shun post, one of the key factors for a good Peking duck (at least in my own opinion) is the pancake. There are quite a few style of pancakes and the one being offered here was the really thick one which I am not a big fan of. So thick that I thought I was having a pita wrap!
The Peking Duck 2nd dish was the common Lettuce Wrap with Minced Duck. Why did I focus on the lettuce? Because I was too lazy to move the dishes around for the picture. It was alright, no surprises to be honest.
The Peking Duck 3rd dish was the surprising dish or should I say soup. The remaining duck was chopped into pieces to make this soup. Not that there were much duck flavor to the soup but it was quite comforting to drink.
The simple pea sprouts in broth dish was good, not overly salty like many would prepare them.
Sizzling Shad was something new to me as well. Shad is a very rare breed apparently and is considered a delicacy in many of the coastal cities in China. One of the unique characteristics of the Shad is ....
... believe it or not, their bones and the sheer amount of them!! Every part of the Shad consisted this trident like bones and one had to be VERY careful when eating it. Did I mention there were just so many bones everywhere??? Flavor wise it was great, the sauce carried hints of acidity and went really well with the tender meat as well. Once again, be very careful!
Something I need to mention at this point: (1) The pacing of the dishes were quite ... fast, many dishes arrived at once and the whole table was full of food that we are rushing to finish! (2) When getting the bill, the server announced the amount of the receipt out loud as he approaches the table ... I really dislike this approach but have to take into account that it is one of the common practices of old-school restos in Hong Kong; but still, I hope they would change this habit.
Would I come back for their Peking duck? yes but only if I can book a table 3 days in advance. A 2 weeks advance booking for their Peking Duck might not worth the wait especially when I often have sudden cravings for Peking Duck.
Likes:
* Saute Pig's Windpipe with Coriander - love the bouncy, toothy texture!
* Sizzling Shad - while it consisted of way too many trident like bones, the sauce was delicious with the meat.
Dislikes:
* Pacing of dishes were quite ... fast
* Chinese pancakes for Peking Duck was too thick!
Avg Spending: HKD 200 - 300 per person

Original Blog with more pictures: http://jason-bonvivant.blogspot.com/2010/02/spring-deer.html

Was invited to a birthday dinner of a family friend who has been a "historic" customer with this restaurant. This is my second visit, and the dishes that I had are mostly different.

雜錦冷盤: The presentation is worth mentioning - all ingredients were finely sliced and laid out like a fan (as you can see). I especially enjoyed the beef shank which was not too tender. Dig to the bottom of the center and find hidden treasures of marinated silken tofu, pig tongue, and pig intestines. We ordered this last time as well. A refreshing start to a Pekingnese meal, like a "Chinese salad"!

Sheep stomach: Surprisingly not too overwhelmingly "sheep" tasting, extremely tender, and a nutritional collagen rich bonus! Chives and garlic helped to ward off the otherwise pungent sheep taste. The boiling process and time it took to cook resulted in a mild, almost sweet-tasting broth.

窩燒肘子: roasted pork belly: Fresh and crisp skin, just-charred giving a slight smoky flavor. Caution for cholesterol/fat overload! Inner flesh was a lot like beef brisket - fluffs, and not greasy. Cooked in its own meat, the pork was just slightly salted and not marinated.

Kung pao shrimp: I enjoyed it because I love shrimp. But nothing especially worth mentioning. Battered and deep fried. Not spicy, unlike the usual "kung pao" one would expect. But shrimps were fresh. Although the color looks promisingly vibrant, I thought it was neither sweet nor sour enough. Sauce could have been thicker.

雞鍋翅 Chicken and shark's fin in casserole: practically boiled whole chicken and lots of shark's fin. The soup tasted very mild; there was A LOT of shark's fin though. it was the non-sticky kind that separates like a brush.

Baked buns for dipping into shark's fin soup: quite special and a rare find, because most Chinese buns are steamed. I think baking and earthen ovens are used more extensively in northern cuisines (including pekingnese) - the bread was not yeasted, which makes it quite dense, but I really enjoyed the outer baked, slightly crunchy layer.

Peking duck: Meat was succulent, not too greasy. Paper-thin wrap served with cucumbers, leeks, and sweet bean-based sauce.

鐵皮魚時魚: "Reeves shad" in english: apparently quite a rare breed, related to herring, the shad originates from somewhere in China and is now "on the verge of extinction" due to recent depletion; it seems have no negative impact on Spring Deer however, being easily available at a price. The fish was huge, about 15 inches long (I'm guessing), and the juice it was cooked in went well with the flesh and the overall taste of it. It had a lot of fine, prickly bones though. The most flavorful and juiciest parts to eat were the belly, and the back - aim for the top and bottom. Even though the fish head didn't look very luscious, I am fond of eating fish heads (especially steamed Chinese garoupa) and therefore had it - it only proved my guess correct. Trust me, go for the belly.


炸醬麵: thick hand-pulled noodles with ground meat (pork?) sauce, wok-fried with julienned cucumbers and chives. Sauce was quite dry and lacked flavor, but the noodles itself was hearty, albeit a bit greasy, a bit like "Shanghai fried thick noodles"

火腿 braised with napa cabbage (jun bark), broccoli and bok choy: I like broccoli, but found it a bit strange as I don't think it's frequently used in Pekingese cuisine. It wasn't overcooked too, so it had a nice crunch and retained its nutritional value! The ham was quite lean and a bit salty.

豆沙包: Not worth mentioning. A bit disappointing as well. The bean paste filling somehow tasted suspiciously like jujube! Or maybe I'm just biased as jujube is used quite often in Pekingnese cuisine. The bean paste was quite sweet as well. I have had fried egg white puffs "goh lik dou sah" here before and definitely would prefer that over these 豆沙包.

Black sesame tong yuen in almond paste: Tong yuen was fine (what do you expect), but I thought the almond paste and tong yuen combination makes the dessert a bit over the top! The paste was very thick but didn't taste sweet, so it was a bit gross to think I was drinking cornstarch-water.

Overall a pleasant dinner, and while the food lacks "elegance", and there is certainly room for improvement in little hiccups, I would recommend this restaurant especially for "real" Pekingnese cuisine. Service is always quick in this bustling cramped restaurant, and make sure you make reservations if you are desperate to eat there - its reasonable prices translates to high popularity and frequent business.

I can't believe the quality of all the dishes that I like are worse than last year

雞鮑翅 soup base is lack of 火腿味; the taste is not as strong as before.
填鴨 Peking Duck 唔香 and too fatty, the fat is too 厚身; 皮不脆; the quality is worse than before
雞皮粉皮 is very watery
腿茸津白 the ham is too chewy

Include other small dishes it is $200 per person but still not full.

I've been to Spring Deer more than 20 times. It is one of the best restaurant I've been in HK for food of its kind.

However, really disappointed me for the dinner tonight!!
First of all..I reserved my seat 2 weeks ago, but the seat I got is the worst I have ever sit!! I am sitting at the table just outside the female toilet. Which my seat was kick, move, touch by people pass by lots of time throughout my 2 hours dinner!!

Besides.. we ask the captain (a short and thin guy dressed in black suit) to serve the peaking duck first before other dishes, but we wait the duck for 45 mins!!! which is much longer than usual and the captain didn't remind us when we ordering!!

At last, I order the 拔絲香蕉...the captain remind me it takes time to make it, and don't push him on this dish!! (what a good service!!). When the 拔絲香蕉 came.. the sugar clotting on it is very hard that, the captain even can't separate them into small pieces easily. (I guess it was because it was not hot enough..) And the captain just place the whole big piece of 拔絲香蕉 into the ice water instead of separate it into small pieces first.....(never see other captain make it in this way before.)

Really disappointed, i think i won't go there again for the coming few months! And will suggest my friends don't go to there for a while. I do hope that Spring Deer can back to its standard, in the near future.