2 Duck 2 Gooseious

In this go-go technological world, people don't have time for full words & phrases. Everything needs to be shortened or, as I like to say, abreived. Take 2 Duck Goose, a Cantonese restaurant that opened back around the beginning of August in the space on the corner of 4th Ave & 6th that was formerly occupied by Anthony's of 4th Ave Pizzeria.

They named the place after the beloved Duck Duck Goose children's game but this is 2014, so it's "2 Duck Goose" to you, missy.

The three owners--chef Ben Pope, ex-finance dude Alex Bacu & ex-lawyer Kay Ch'ien--opened the place to bring the good people of Parkwanus a unique twist on Cantonese cuisine. Ben trained at the French Culinary Institute. He & Kay both grew up in Hong Kong. The menu is influenced by both. With a serious lack of non-dirty Chinese food in the area, especially when it comes to places where you can sit down & eat, I was excited to see what they had to offer.

I stopped in one evening this past week & ordered some food to go, passing the time with a Lagunitas IPA ($7) & some Candied Walnuts ($2). I sat at the three-stool bar that overlooks an open prep/cold food kitchen located in the rear of the dining room.

Ms. Ch'ien was hosting & based on our few interactions, she seems damn personable. The restaurant's interior is simple, with seating for about two dozen & exposed brick walls. On the evening I was there, non-obnoxious level 2 Pac & Lauryn Hill bumped from the stereo.

Their menu stays pretty consistent but changes daily. The lady friend & I were just having a light dinner that night, so we split an entrée & a side. They've got three options for Char Siu, a roast pork that's served at room temperature--Seasonal ($18), Modern ($18) & Classic ($15).

We went with the Classic, which is made with a scallion ginger sauce. The pork was juicy & the sauce comes through in a mildly sweet flavor that I could see myself eating a shit ton of if left to my own devices.

Overall, the sides on the menu are pretty tame. We tried the Wilted Rainbow Chard ($5), which had the expected bitter, nutty flavor but did little for me. I know that sides are sides for a reason but still.

There's a bunch of other stuff on the menu that caught my eye, most notably the Paper Bag Fish ($19), a branzino fillet served on a bed of tomato fondue & roasted shiitake mushrooms. If there's one thing I've learned in all my years of consuming food, it's that everything tastes better when it comes out of a paper bag. You can't always eat food from a paper bag though. That's where the Duck Fried Rice ($14) comes in. It's apparently a mix of carrots, green peas, oyster mushrooms, egg & scallions in a duck broth reduction. I'm assuming it puts pork fried rice to shame.

Their true money dish is the Cantonese Roast Duck Feast ($100), a whole roasted Crescent Farm duck with smacked cucumber, silken tofu, wilted seasonal greens, sour plum compote & saffron rice. It serves 4–5 people but you have to let them know 24 hours in advance. The best part? Whilst feasting, you & your friends can yell "DUCK!" at each other, following up by hucking bits of duck feast at each other.

So far, they're only open for dinner during the week, and as of this past weekend, for brunch from 11am-3pm on Saturdays and Sundays. While I don’t see myself splurging for the Duck Feast, I'm definitely excited to return & see how the rest of the menu plays out. Hopefully it doesn't play out like a children's game.

2 Duck Goose, 400 4th Ave (corner of 6th St)