East Meets West at “Chef Ho’s Peking Duck Grill” in Manhattan

Newsflash!! “Celebrating Festivus” Christmas Eve 2014 at Chef Ho’s Peking Duck Grill on the Upper Eastside New York City.

This is an unofficial review of Chef Ho’s Peking Duck Grill, which is located at 1720 2nd Avenue in Manhattan.

Representing the East Coast, and the home town, were myself, Mee V. Stoogas and my Wen Dee.  From the West Coast, hailing from San Francisco, came our friends.  We intended to show them that our Chinese food was far better than the Chinese food that they proclaimed was the best in San Francisco.

The spot of this “battle” was the Upper Eastside in Manhattan.

We started the evening with a fine bottle of Santa Maria Pinot Noir 2010. Verdict: 3-1 favorable at 90+.

The Meal:

First course: Spareribs

Verdict:  The spareribs were very meaty but tasteless by a unanimous verdict.

Second course: Peking Duck

Verdicts:

East Coast – 3.25 out of 5

West Coast – 3.5 with one abstention.

Third course: Lobster with Garlic Sauce plus Scallions and Ginger

Verdicts:

East Coast – 3.5 out of 5

West Coast – One abstention and a 4.0

Fourth course: Pork Buns

Verdicts:

East Coast – 4.0 out of 5.0

West Coast – one abstention and one 3.0 out of 5.0

Fifth course: Woked Broccoli with Garlic

Verdicts:

East Coast – 4.0 out of 5.0

West Coast – 4.0 out of 5.0

The Last Word:

While it wasn’t very clear by the end of the night whether Chinese food is better on the East Coast or on the West Coast, one thing was abundantly clear and undeniable.  Chinese food is best eaten with friends.

Just Desserts:

After our dinner we had a great “yen” (excuse the pun) for fresh Carvel ice cream.  Which was hard to find indeed. It seems that there are fewer and fewer Carvel’s around, especially in the city.  This Quest took us to the Wall Street area and the only Carvel open at this time of day.  After a $28.00 taxi fare, we found our Nirvana at the corner of Broadway and Beaver Street.

Carvel was rated 10.0 of 10.0 and a good time was had by all!

Being that Christmas Eve is a Jewish holiday, we had a very difficult time making a reservation at Chef Ho’s. We ended up with a 4 o’clock reservation time. Curiously, though we were told that was the only time period that was available, no one was at the restaurant but us. The good news was that the above reservation issue allowed us access to Carvel!

Chow!

Mee V. Stoogas