Decoy offers the best Peking Duck I've tried in NYC, but while there were many other good things on the menu, overall, I'm not sure it ranks at the top as a place I would put on my regulars list. That said, the the fun atmosphere and format combined with the duck made it a good dining experience.
For those who haven't been here, if you want the Peking duck, you should make a reservation to make sure you get that, but then you also commit to the prix fixe menu. My initial impression before going was that it's a little pricey for Peking duck, but then I got there and realized you don't just get a few things on the side, you get to pick a bunch of appetizers, other mains, rice/noodle, and sides too. For 6 people, we had 2 ducks, 4 small plates, 3 other (meaty) entrees, a rice, and a side. One member in our party commented "6 people is the optimal party size to maximize on food." Good thing we're all big eaters.
To start with, the assortment of homemade pickles was delicious. The staff tried to clear the tables for us a couple of times to make room for food we actually ordered, but we refused to let them take the unfinished pickles. The fish skin chips were good, but not something I would've missed.
The small plates were a huge hit -- we had the Katz's pastrami triangles, oxtail dumplings (yum), pork lettuce wraps (very flavorful), and stuffed shishito peppers (I forgot they were stuffed and was pleasantly surprised to see all that shrimp inside).
Then came the duck -- nicely done with crispy skin pieces (without too much fat) as well as duck. Sure, I've had better Peking duck with crispier skin and juicer meat, but this is the best I've had in NYC, so I'll take it. The pancakes were nice and thin; we could've used more pancake. The duck also comes with 3 sauces -- traditional hoisin, a peanut sauce, and a cranberry sauce. The peanut and cranberry sauces were good, but our entire party found them unnecessary and left them almost untouched...but we ran out of hoisin as a result.
I was less impressed by the other items, but perhaps I was just running out of steam at that point. We had the grilled pork toro with rice cake, rib steak, and steamed sea bass for entrees, the crab and scallop rice, and a side of veggies. Everything was fine, but nothing stood out and was not particularly memorable.
Overall, we had a great time and enjoyed our meal, and if I ever want Peking duck, I'll think of this place first. That said, this place almost doesn't really compete just with Peking duck restaurants and competes more with other large format dinner spots, and for the latter, this might not be my top pick.
For those who haven't been here, if you want the Peking duck, you should make a reservation to make sure you get that, but then you also commit to the prix fixe menu. My initial impression before going was that it's a little pricey for Peking duck, but then I got there and realized you don't just get a few things on the side, you get to pick a bunch of appetizers, other mains, rice/noodle, and sides too. For 6 people, we had 2 ducks, 4 small plates, 3 other (meaty) entrees, a rice, and a side. One member in our party commented "6 people is the optimal party size to maximize on food." Good thing we're all big eaters.
To start with, the assortment of homemade pickles was delicious. The staff tried to clear the tables for us a couple of times to make room for food we actually ordered, but we refused to let them take the unfinished pickles. The fish skin chips were good, but not something I would've missed.
The small plates were a huge hit -- we had the Katz's pastrami triangles, oxtail dumplings (yum), pork lettuce wraps (very flavorful), and stuffed shishito peppers (I forgot they were stuffed and was pleasantly surprised to see all that shrimp inside).
Then came the duck -- nicely done with crispy skin pieces (without too much fat) as well as duck. Sure, I've had better Peking duck with crispier skin and juicer meat, but this is the best I've had in NYC, so I'll take it. The pancakes were nice and thin; we could've used more pancake. The duck also comes with 3 sauces -- traditional hoisin, a peanut sauce, and a cranberry sauce. The peanut and cranberry sauces were good, but our entire party found them unnecessary and left them almost untouched...but we ran out of hoisin as a result.
I was less impressed by the other items, but perhaps I was just running out of steam at that point. We had the grilled pork toro with rice cake, rib steak, and steamed sea bass for entrees, the crab and scallop rice, and a side of veggies. Everything was fine, but nothing stood out and was not particularly memorable.
Overall, we had a great time and enjoyed our meal, and if I ever want Peking duck, I'll think of this place first. That said, this place almost doesn't really compete just with Peking duck restaurants and competes more with other large format dinner spots, and for the latter, this might not be my top pick.
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