Roast duck is one of our favourite dishes and whenever we have a craving for it, we head over to Dian Xiao Er (店小二). They have 15 locations island-wide and luckily the closest outlet is just a few bus stops away.
Their weekday set lunch for two offers unbeatable value. At S$36.80++, you get a generous portion of their roast duck plus a choice of three additional dishes, together with rice and tea.
There are a few flavours to choose from, but we always end up ordering the Roast Duck with Angelica Herb (当归烤鸭), which also happens to be one of their signature dishes.
Despite being drenched in the herbal sauce, the skin manages to retain its crispiness. But it’s probably because we finish eating it so fast that there’s no time to absorb moisture. The meat itself is firm, juicy and flavourful; there’s no mistaking the duckiness as you bite into it.
It was only recently that I found out that they use Cherry Valley ducks. Which are the same ones used at Red Lantern restaurant in Yilan, Taiwan, where we had the best duck meal of our lives.
All five courses were made using one entire duck, which had to be reserved in advance. On the table was a lengthy description of the origins of the duck and how they are bred. We had never heard of Cherry Valley ducks before, but after that lunch at Red Lantern, we knew that they would be our favourite from then on.
And even though we didn’t know that Dian Xiao Er used the same ducks, the fact that we kept going back was proof that Cherry Valley ducks were of consistently high quality.
While the roast duck itself was sufficient reason for us to return regularly, the other dishes in the set lunch were also pretty good. There are a few options available in the set, but we somehow end up choosing the exact same items.
The appetiser salad of crispy fish skin with fried kang kong is crunchy and refreshing, especially with the topping of shredded cucumber and Thai sweet chilli. If the lighting in the two photos below look weird, it’s because they were taken on two separate occasions.
The other two dishes that we always get are the stir-fried gourd with glass noodles and egg, and the hotplate beancurd with minced meat and pickled vegetable. The gourd is served in goopy sauce so we have to request that they skip the starch slurry and keep the soup clear.
Also, the food at Dian Xiao Er tends to be heavily seasoned, so if you’re trying to cut down on your sodium intake, remember to ask them to go easy on the salt. And while you’re at it, you might as well get them to use less oil too.
The Old Folks are also fans of the Dian Xiao Er roast duck, so once-in-a-while, we buy an entire roast duck and deliver it to them. At S$58.90++, it’s not the cheapest out there, but it’s definitely great value-for-money.
Just looking at the photo below makes me want to eat it again. It looks like we’ll be heading there again for lunch real soon.
