Forbidden Duck – New Peking Duck Restaurant in Singapore by ‘Demon Chef’ Alvin Leung

We are all familiar with ‘Demon Chef’ Alvin Leung. He is the Hong Kong chef who holds three Michelin stars at his restaurant Bo Innovation in Hong Kong and is famous for his take on fusion cuisine with a twist of molecular gastronomy.

He has recently opened a new Peking duck restaurant ‘Forbidden Duck’ at the Marina Bay Financial Centre, taking over the space of Crystal Jade Prestige. Here, you won’t find foams nor dehydrated items. Instead, you can expect classic Cantonese dishes done right.

When u do molecular dining, it is very niche. I want to go further and see more people. I want to go more casual. I want to make it more approachable, both to the comfort level of the dish and also to the pocketbook.

Forbidden Duck serves two styles of roasted duck – the back-to-basics Peking Duck, as well as slow-roasted whole duck. “Peking duck is usually thinly sliced, but I prefer to have it thicker so that I can eat it with the skin and meat.”

Slow-cooked in the oven for hours, the Slow Roasted Duck has irresistibly pink and juicy meat. No marinade is used, as Chef Alvin wishes to bring out the natural flavours of the duck. Yes, the skin crackles and it has a nice layer of unburnt fats. Steamed buns are flavoured with calamansi to cut through the oiliness without leaving an overly greasy aftertaste.

Since it is a Peking duck restaurant, there are many other duck dishes such as Duck in Two Ways – Laksa and Mongolian Style and Seafood Rice in Aromatic Duck Soup. The latter is a comforting dish with fresh scallops, prawns and rice pops simmered in a flavourful broth simmered with duck meat. We also had the Iberico Pork Char Siu which uses Spanish Iberico pork that melts tantalisingly in the mouth.

My favourite dish has got to be the Sri Lanka Crab in White Pepper Broth. We are all familiar with the classic black pepper crab. Inspired by his favourite Singapore dish, bak ku teh, Chef Alvin gave it a twist by cooking the crabs in a fiery white pepper broth, balanced with a touch of calamansi.

There are other dishes such as Sweet & Sour Pork with Lychee, Golden Cereal Prawns, Steamed Chicken with Mui Choy in Lotus Leaf. Crisp on the outside and succulent on the inside, the Sweet & Sour Pork with Lychee, Rose and Hawthorn comes with a refreshing twist. There is the sweetness from lychee, tartness from Hawthorne and fragrance of the rose.

Cereal prawn is interestingly a dish Chef Alvin cannot understand. “I really hate cereal prawns, it is not my favourite dish. So I had to do my version.” Hence he has created his own Golden Cereal Prawns coated with salted eggs and fruit loops.” Errr sorry, I don’t quite understand this version.

Dim Sum is available only for lunch. For duck lovers, you can order the crispy taro pasty stuffed with duck and preserved vegetables; and pesto duck spring roll. The mashed taro is stuffed with a savoury filling of duck meat and preserved vegetables.

Save some stomach space for their mouth-watering Giant Egg Tart Pomelo. It’s double the size of the normal egg tart but the addition of pomelo gives a refreshing touch to the classic egg tart.

Forbidden Duck is officially open on 3 May 2018, operating on weekdays. They will be open on Mother’s Day, 13 May 2018. From 19 May onwards, the restaurant will be open on weekends as well.

You may also want to check out this article for some of our favourite lunch spots within Marina Bay Link Mall!