The top line: The Duck & Rice started life 10 years ago when Wagamama founder Alan Yau took over The Endurance pub on Berwick Street and transformed it into a ‘Chinese gastropub’ with large tanks of Pilsner Urquell on show downstairs and an upstairs dining room. The management has since changed and, a decade on, a second site has just opened in Battersea Power Station.
The food: As with the original, the food at the Battersea restaurant is designed to be shared and features many classic dishes found in family homes across China and other parts of Asia. The extensive menu kicks off with a decent dim sum offer that includes venison puffs, spring rolls, chicken gyoza, and scallop and prawn shumai, followed by a selection of ‘small chow’ such as sesame prawn toast, salt and pepper squid, fried chicken wings, and crispy tofu. There are also plenty of wok dishes from which to choose – such as kung po chicken, and curry soft shell crab - and a number of noodle and rice dishes, but you’ll want to try one of the restaurant’s very reasonably priced five hero dishes – the eponymous duck & rice; lobster Cantonese; lobster laksa; Cantonese house roast duck (available as a half portion); and crispy aromatic duck available as a half or quarter portion. The restaurant also offers a weekday lunch menu with options that includes sweet and sour chicken; sweet and sour pork; kung po chicken; and chicken katsu curry all served with rice, and on weekends offers a brunch menu for £45.
The vibe: The restaurant’s location within one of the turbine halls in Battersea Power Station, next to Arcade Food Hall, means that it has none of the ‘gastropub’ feel of the original, although the beer tanks are on show as in Soho. That said, its smart design dovetail’s nicely with its equally smart neighbour Arcade Food Hall and once sat down you don’t feel like you’re eating in a shopping mall. On Restaurant’s visit the restaurant was busy and buzzy and had a slickness to it.
And another thing: Could a second The Duck & Rice finally mark the start of something bigger for the brand? As far back as 2018 the owners have stated their belief that the concept can grow across London as well as in Europe and the Middle East, so more openings might be on the cards.
Level 1, Phase 2, Battersea Power Station, London, Sw11 8DD // theduckandrice.com