Back at the end of May, I read about a new "fast-casual" concept restaurant specializing in Roast Duck opening in Poway named Crazy Duck. We really enjoy roast duck, but Poway, man, that's over 20 miles away and with gas prices and such..... Well, I wasn't sure. But then I read Soo's post on the place and decided to check them out. So, back in July I made the 45 minute drive to the mall in Poway. Nestled between the combo of Jamba Juice-Chipotle and Pizza Studio-Starbucks-Baskin Robbins is Crazy Duck.
I saw several roast duck hanging in the typical case as I walked in.
The place is very clean and spacious, during my visits it was a cashless process. It does look very "fast-casual".
Though the prices for the roast duck were not. It was $19.99 for a half duck in July of last year which is what I got.
I made the 45 minute drive home and the Missus and I set about to sample the duck immediately.
Sadly, this was a bust. The skin was rubbery and measures to "resuscitate" said epidermis failed. The meat was dry and tasteless and there was no "jus" to help support things. After the drive, the gas, and time...well, to say I was disappointed is an understatement.
And there was no way the Missus wanted to make an effort to actually drive to Crazy Duck and dine in. And so the photos sat........there were several moments where I was just going to delete the photos, but somehow I didn't. This is one of those situations where I felt a second visit was necessary if I was going to actually do a post. And so, I basically just sat on those photos. Then, at the beginning of December, Calvin wanted to meet for lunch. And even though he'd also had rather mediocre duck from CD, he was a good enough sport to agree to have lunch there. The one condition? "Let's have some duck, but not order a whole or half."
As of this visit, a half duck was now $20.99.
And the menu had been really expanded with a some noodle dishes, dumplings, including xiao long bao, and other items.
We were told that the noodles were hand made, so we decided to order a couple of noodle soups and some sides. And because we were dining in, we were told to help ourselves to the "soup bar".
We both got hot and sour soup, which was quite salty, gloppy, and too much white pepper, though it hit it on the head in terms of "fast food hot and sour soup".
Calvin and I got some extra bowls and split the noodle soups. The Spicy Beef Noodle Soup, while not being spicy was the better of the two.
While the beef was on the tough side, the broth had some good beefiness, soy, anise, and other spices. Plus, the sodium was under control here. It was a heck of a lot better than what I'd last had at Formoosa. The noodles were a bit on the brittle side, but was not bad. In this case, the broth is what made this NRM.
The Duck Noodle Soup was interesting.
The noodles were the same as the NRM. The duck was much better this time around; you can tell by the color, there as much more five spice flavor and the meat, while on the tough side had taste. The skin was still a bit rubbery for my taste, but the fat had been rendered nicely. This was a definite improvement.
The broth was almost a watery tonkotsu-like bone broth that really lacked flavor or richness. It was a bit of a "head scratcher" for the both of us.
We also got the version of Smacked Cucumbers.
Which had a good amount of garlic and a nice crunch, but was pretty mild overall.
We also got the Spicy Won Tons.
We both enjoyed the won tons, the wrappers had that nice balance of "pull" and tenderness and the pork filling was well seasoned. The "sauce" was on the "gravyish" side, not very spicy, but super salty. Those won tons were good though!
So, overall it seems that the duck is getting better, though the food is mixed bag. I do like this ownerships other restaurant Taste of Hunan, but it's a totally different style of Chinese cuisine. Perhaps if/when gas prices come down, I'll make the trek out to Poway again.
Crazy Duck
13487 Poway Rd.
Poway, CA 92064
Current Hours:
Sun - Tues, Thurs 11am - 8pm
Fri - Sat 11am - 9pm
Closed on Wednesday
You can read Soo's post here.
Recent Comments