Peking Garden Presents the Chinese New Year Menu for the Year of the Ox...

Since 1995, Peking Garden has been known for its masterfully roasted Peking Duck considered by many as the "best Peking Duck in town." And every year, loyal diners of this enduring dining institution eagerly await the much-anticipated Chinese New Year Menu... 

Peking Garden unveils its Chinese New Year Menu for the Year of the Ox bannered by its specialty Peking Duck along with other sumptuous dishes for an auspicious feast with family and friends. With lavish packages for 6 or 12 for both dine-in and take-out, Peking Garden lets you start the Chinese New Year right with its authentic Northern Chinese cuisine perfected in its 25 years of continuous operations.

New year, new normal. Tradition endures and Peking Garden keeps in step with the times with its stringent health and safety protocols beginning with online contact tracing registration and temperature scans at the entrance to table seating following social distancing guidelines. But the experience remains exactly the way you remember it at Peking Garden, from its elegant interiors to authentic cuisine seamlessly threaded together by the gracious service of its staff. As the quarantine experience continues to transform the way we go about our daily routine, you can always count on Peking Garden to deliver the high level of service and authentic cuisine even in this new normal. Our feast with Peking Garden's Chinese New Year Menu began with flavorful starters, the Cold Cuts Platter, with soft and springy Jellyfish... 

...and delicately poached Chicken. The size of the platter is based on the package of 6 or 12 guests. The light and subtle notes of the appetizers open up the palate for the next course...

...a soothing hot bowl of Fish Lip with Assorted Seafood and Egg White Soup with its rich and comforting notes. The freshness and quality of ingredients provide all the flavors, lingering on the palate with each bite and sip setting the stage for the first of many savory main courses...  

A lot has been said and written about Peking Garden's specialty Peking Duck, and after 25 years, is still the centerpiece of any dining experience or celebration at the fine dining institution. From its rich hues and savory sheen to its juicy texture and lightly crisp layer of skin, the Peking Duck by Peking Garden is still the metro's benchmark for Chinese style roast duck.

A long-time employee of Peking Garden affectionately named "Cap" expertly carves the Peking Duck with both ease and precision honed by over 25 years of experience. Carved by your tableside, it's part of the Peking Garden dining experience that endeared it to generations of loyal diners. 

A slice here and a cut there, the carving of the duck is a ritual that whets your appetite as anticipation grows for this most noble of traditional Chinese dishes and mainstay of the imperial kitchens from the past.

With pristine white gloves, each savory slice is delicately arranged on a plate following tradition, including the delicately crisp skin. The thin pancakes, fresh leeks and hoisin sauce are then laid on the table.

A few more slices...

...and the Peking Duck platter is presented. There's just no better way to celebrate the coming of the new year.

Tender slices from the juicy breast...

...along with the skin combine for that quintessential Peking Duck experience. The savory notes of the duck drapes the palate with its richness in very bite, complemented by the sharpness of the hoisin and the refreshing and clean finish of the leeks. And Peking Garden does it well, from the tedious roasting all the way to the carving and final presentation of the dish. Wrapped in traditional pancakes with crisp leeks dabbed with hoisin, it's these contrasting flavors and textures that established Peking Garden as a dining destination in the metro's culinary scene. And after 25 years, it's still the place for one of the best roast duck dishes in Manila.  

Peking Garden brings an all-star ensemble of savory dishes to support their famous Peking Duck for a memorable Chinese New Year feast, like the Golden Prawns with Salted Egg. Large succulent prawns draped in a salted egg batter deliver equally rich flavors for an auspicious Chinese New Year feast at Peking Garden.

Each bite is announced by a fresh audible snap followed by the briny sweetness of the plump prawns and the unique notes of salted egg. It's a comfortingly familiar pairing that still delights the palate.  

Traditionally served at the end of the feast, the classic Yang Chow Fried Rice with its bountiful medley of seafood and vegetables makes an early appearance on the table transforming our elegant meal into a real feast. The distinct notes of the different ingredients come together infusing the soft and fluffy rice with a savory richness making this a meal in itself.

The fresh and clean flavors of succulent local grouper is then served with Peking Garden's Steamed Lapu-Lapu Soy Sauce. It's a dish with delicately nuanced notes, with the natural sweet notes of the grouper kicked up by the subtle sharpness of the soy-based sauce. Tender with a near melt-in-your-mouth texture, it's an elegant yet deceptively simple dish with uncluttered and uncomplicated flavors. 

Our Chinese New Year feast at Peking Garden is turned up a notch with the arrival of the next savory main...

...the Braised Pig's Knuckle with Sea Moss and Scallops. Braised for hours, the pork knuckle is transformed into a gelatinous slab of butter-like fall-of-the-bone pork made even more decadent with the addition of scallops. 

Paired with steamed buns, the dish is just pure pork indulgence slathered in a thick gravy. All you need is a fork or a spoon to carve a generous slice, no knife needed. The scallops, sea moss and vegetables add both texture and flavor to the savory richness of the pork befitting a proper and auspicious Chinese New Year feast. This is, to my mind, the perfect ending to a lavish dining experience at Peking Garden, but there's more...

The final dish is then served, the Deep-Fried Peppercorn Crab. It's yet another simple but elegant dish with large succulent crabs seasoned generously with peppercorns and deep-fried for an unctuously velvety smooth finish.

The mild sweet notes of the crab are balanced by the pronounced hints of peppercorn adding depth to the dish. Picking through the cracked shell for a lump of crab meat is easy, with only light work needed for an indulgent bite. Fresh, sweet with delicately sharp notes from the peppercorn, this is how you end a Chinese New Year feast at Peking Garden. 

Enjoy another pot of tea with the Golden Tikoy or the traditional nian gao made with glutinous rice, and make a wish for a much better year than the last. 

Whether you plan to dine in or at home, the Chinese New Menu of Peking Garden brings traditional and authentic flavors to the table for a gathering of six to twelve. The variety of dishes highlighted by the signature Peking Duck of Peking Garden adds an auspicious vibe to your celebration, just the way they've served it for the past 25 years. And it's good to know that the quality remains unchanged in this new year of the new normal.