Cantonese-style crispy skin roast duck – a dream combo of premium Yilan northern ducks and handmade pancakes

Text and photos byPaperclip. Food Photography Delight

Longdu Roast Duck is definitely one of the famous roast duck restaurants I've always wanted to try. First, because you can't enjoy roast duck alone, and of course, you also need the right company to make the experience more enjoyable. But waiting indefinitely wasn’t an option — I might never get to try it. So back in January, I called ahead to reserve a table, planning to gather friends closer to the date. And sure enough, that’s how I finally fulfilled my long-time wish of eating at Longdu Roast Duck.

Longdu Roast Duck is tucked away in an alley on Zhongshan North Road’s Liutiao Tong area. The restaurant is much more elegant and bright than I expected. Most diners here come specifically for the roast duck, so you’ll see small carts by each table, ready to serve sliced duck. Another thoughtful service is that when guests hang their jackets on the chairbacks, the waitstaff will cover them with protective sleeves to prevent odor absorption or accidental spills from dishes.

Generally speaking, the types of roast duck you can find in Taiwan include Beijing roast duck, Taiwanese-style roast duck, and this Cantonese-style crispy skin roast duck. Beijing roast duck usually involves removing the internal organs, scalding the duck with boiling water to tenderize the meat, then glazing it with maltose syrup after cooling and air-drying it before hanging it in the oven to roast. Taiwanese roast duck involves removing the innards and stuffing the duck with local seasonings before roasting. Today’s Longdu Roast Duck is a Cantonese-style crispy skin duck. It’s similar to Taiwanese roast duck in preparation, but the duck is stuffed with aromatics like ginger, scallions, and star anise.

The roast duck only arrives once all members of the party are present, so in the meantime, we ordered some Cantonese dim sum to tide us over.

Char siu puff pastry, three pieces per serving. They’re pre-sliced in half before serving, making them easy to share. The flaky layers pair nicely with the tender char siu filling. Overall, it’s tasty, but after trying a round of all the small dishes, I felt this one was skippable — it’s comparatively less distinctive.

Sesame glutinous balls, also three per serving. We ended up ordering two rounds of these because the first person who tried them said they were really good, so we got more for those who hadn’t had any yet. In short, the texture is like a black sesame tangyuan coated in a crispy, fragrant sesame shell. When you bite carefully, the sesame filling bursts out like flowing lava — refreshing and not greasy at all.

Tofu skin shrimp rolls.

Radish cake.

Steamed spare ribs in black bean sauce — personally, I found these pretty average, too soft.

Before the roast duck is served, the sweet bean sauce and pancakes are brought to the table first. The pancakes are kept in a steamer basket, and the staff advises not to open it until you're ready to eat, so they don’t cool down and get hard. Around the sweet bean sauce are scallions, which you wrap with the duck and sauce in the pancake. The scallion pieces are also wrapped with red chili peppers, like little rings. The chili adds aroma, and if you happen to get one with extra seeds, it’s slightly spicier too. Friends who can’t handle spice can simply remove the chili.

And here’s what we came for. Even though it’s Cantonese-style crispy skin duck (1,500 NTD each), which, as the name suggests, is served with the skin and meat separated, the server still asked for our preference before slicing — whether we wanted skin and meat separated, or a mix of both. We chose the latter.

The server worked very quickly, and soon a plate of half skin, half meat slices was served.

Look at how glossy and tempting that crispy skin is. The layer beneath is rich with juicy fat. Wrapped with sweet bean sauce and scallions, one bite sends an explosion of flavor in your mouth — truly satisfying.

The second plate was served with the skin and meat fully separated. The duck meat is also very tender. Were it not for the distinct taste of duck, you’d almost forget you’re eating duck. The crispy skin is delicious on its own, but I personally prefer eating skin and meat together — the tender meat underneath cushions each bite, highlighting the crispness of the skin.

Just these two plates are sliced from one whole duck. The leftovers can be used to make congee. At Longdu, you can choose between bone-in or boneless duck bone congee. Bone-in is 300 NTD for a smaller portion, while boneless is 400 NTD.

We opted for the bone-in version, and you can still find bits of minced duck meat in it.

While eating the roast duck, we also ordered a side of stir-fried amaranth from the server, which arrived just as we were about to finish. Consider it fiber supplementation.

The final bill came to 3,221 NTD, averaging about 645 NTD per person.

[info]
Longdu Restaurant
No. 1-18-1, Lane 105, Section 1, Zhongshan North Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City
02-25639293
11:30–14:30 / 17:45–21:30
Recommended to book 2–3 months in advance

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