Old Kingdom

9 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  10     

I had my birthday dinner here recently, there were 12 of us in total. I pre-booked and ordered 5 ducks for us which turned out to be more than enough and then some.

The duck was delicious, juicy and crispy. The staff were fantastic. I am wheat intolerant, so usually have to miss out on many delicious dishes. The staff brought me lettuce leaves to have with my duck instead of the pancakes, which my friends told me were perfect.

The second course was very good, stir fried duck with bean shoots. Really tasty and went down a treat after the roast duck course.

Third course was a yummy broth. Perfect way to end the night. I was too full to finish mine though.

We took about 7 bottles of wine and at least 4 six packs of beer with corkage costing about $12. We all paid $30 each! It was fantastic.

All in all a fantastic night. Highly recommend, in fact I plan on making a reservation for my parents 40th Wedding Anniversary.

Aug 12, 2011 

3.5 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  4      Service  3      Value  3     

Went on a Wednesday night and ordered the Peking duck for two people. Had heard some really good reviews about value for money but this isn't the case. When the duck came out we were quite surprised thinking how can we finish all that duck? The waiter cut the duck at the table and there was more than half of the duck left over. I had asked him if we don't finish the duck can we do takeaway so it doesn't go to waste and he said yes. Then comes the 2nd course, tiny shredded bits of duck with bean shoots and spring onion, nothing special. 3rd course was a duck broth or soup, again nothing special. At this point we were ready to leave and asked the waiter whether we can take the rest of the duck home and she replied with, "there is only the carcass left". Total rip off, we know for a fact that there was over half a duck left. The table next to us had 5 people and had the same amount of food served to them. We ended up going downstairs to leave and the manager was standing at the counter so i asked him if we were able to bring any left over duck home, thinking that maybe the waiter and waitress had misunderstood us. He said that once the 2nd course is over there is no meat left on the duck. He knew he was wrong because as we were leaving he gave us some sort of smirk. Never going back there again.

Jun 08, 2011 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  10     

Omg I really don't understand when someone says I know duck because "I'm asian" (after reading a review), whats that got to do with anything? Do you study and research about whats the best duck made by asians? also define authentic? does it mean when it meets ur taste or when you think it tastes good its authentic?
if you like it or not depends what type of food you really like and the tastes ur looking for, everyone tastes are different.

The first time I got there luckily my friend made a reservation so many walk-ins without reservations got rejected "sorry fully booked!", I thought immediately this place must be good, BTW this was on a wednesday night.

Anyway, for me the duck at old kingdom was absolutely excellent, better than expected. The atmosphere was buzzing with people having a great time. We had a group of 12, seating was a bit tight but thats ok to me becoz I wasn't expecting a quiet night out in a classy place with room to sleep ZzZzz.......

The peking duck was amazing especially when the waiter comes onto ur table to cut the duck with such art and professionalism, we reserved 7 ducks, (remember to request if you want all ducks cut in front of you). The peking duck was nicely cut very thinly with a slice of crispy skin and a touch of meat. I know normally peking duck is skin only but as the waiter said you can request how you want the duck cut, they can cut skin only if you just ask, also the crepes was absolutely amazing, very very thin and soft and goes nicely with the succulent duck and sauce.

As for the next course the shredded duck with bean shoots was just right to fill me up this stir fry was so tasty. The final course was the duck broth, its weird having the soup last but it was what I needed to cleanse my duck filled stomach in the end. In total great 3 course meal from the ducks.

The service was swift and friendly they always came with a smile on their face. The restaurant was a little old but hey thats the name of the place "old" kingdom, but I think thats the way they want you to feel inside the restaurant a very authentic asian feel to the place, you can say its very smith st like with the age that comes with the building around the area.

The main thing is if want a cheap and excellent peking duck feast then I can say this place is very, very highly recommended. Ahhh I want more duck now!

Aug 09, 2010 

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  9     

Whole Duck was excellent value and followed by shredded duck and soup for $55, was exceptional value with great quality.

Jun 06, 2010 

4.8 Average

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  4      Value  2     

No idea what the fuss is about. Felt ripped off. We ordered 'Peking duck' for 2 people. Paid approx $70 and got very, very little. Its suppose to be a whole duck and we can eat!..yet out came the pancakes with such little duck to put in them, then the stirfry, shredded duck, and a soup, so little duck. I actually questioned the waitress about where the rest of our duck we paid for and she faked a 'no understand' little english, I asked again and gave up.

We then looked at the table of 5 behind us, they had the whole duck sitting on their table, something was definitely a miss here. We walked out disappointed and will never return. The waitress knew exactly what we were questioning.

May 20, 2010 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

Duck was quite good for peking duck in Melbourne, a little on the oily side, but what do you expect from duck? Ordered Chinese Vegetables on the side which had been drenched in oyster sauce. It was way too salty and we had to wash it down with herbal tea.

If you only get peking duck, its quite affordable. $55 for a duck which comes in 3 courses is extremely filling for 2, and perfect for 3 people. However, tea is charged on top. Also try Quan Je Du for peking duck in Melbourne, it is a lot less oily but a little more expensive.

Nov 10, 2009 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  6      Service  9      Value  8     

First time eater at this joint. I must admit, you don't usually expect good service at a chinese restaurant that is full of people but I was very pleasantly surprised. We had accidentally under booked and saw how crowded our seating was. We were very prepared to leave since it appeared that we wouldn't be able to get any more seating. The staff made every effort to find us extra space. I think it was part luck as well since another smaller booked table didn't show. But the lady who served us went to check anyway. And the bonus was that they were completely lovely about the whole thing!

It is a good thing we stayed because we would have missed out on the fantastic peking duck otherwise! It was perfect. The duck was so juicy and the skin so crisp. The waiter who served us the duck carved the first one (we ordered four) then showed us how to wrap the pancakes with humour and laughter. It was great.

The only downside to this place is that it gets very crowded and noisy. It was so totally worth it. I would definitely be eating here again.

TIP: When you call to make your booking, make sure you order the peking duck at the same time. Do not wait until you get to the restaurant to order the duck.

May 30, 2009 

6.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  8     

The first time I attempted to go to Old Kingdom, it was 10pm at night and I just wanted some takeaway. ‘We closing,’ exclaimed the owner. Go to Macca’s!’

The second time I went I made sure I did all the right things. I called up a few days before to book and pre-order my ducks (pre-ordering is a necessity. And one duck between two people should be more than enough) and turned up at 7 pm on Friday night with a few bottles of (cheapish) plonk and some friends in tow. It’s the way to do it.

If you want refined table service, go to Flower Drum. And if you want spiffy surroundings, go to Vue de Monde. Old Kingdom isn’t pretending to be something its not, the décor is retro and the duck, if not the best in town, is fine and reasonably priced. You get a lot of it too. The restaurant offers you traditional chinese favourites but as I was unfolding my pink napkin, I noticed it was duck, duck, duck on all the tables, as far as my eye could see. Not too many Asian faces, plenty more Aussies in fact.

The 3 course duck banquet starts off with the famous Peking duck pancakes. The young waiter cut up the duck at the table and showed us how to assemble a pancake in a brisk and slightly show-offy way that almost gave the impression he’d done this millions of times before and was inwardly sick of it. So it goes like this: take a pancake, add a swipe of plum sauce, a sprig of spring onion and a few slices of duck, and bob’s your uncle. The duck was fatty but still had a bit of a crunch in the thin layer of skin as you took a bite. The duck pancakes were plentiful, so plentiful we all started feeling full with two courses still to go!

Next: a fairly ordinary duck stir-fry which consisted of shredded duck meat tossed with bean sprouts and spring onion, served in small bowls. By the time the third course was served, a duck broth presumably made using the bones, I was so full, all I could manage was a small taste. A plate of wok-fried chinese broccoli lay almost untouched that we had mistakenly ordered thinking that the duck dishes wouldn’t be enough!

I noticed that the eccentric owner had brought out a tray of toys that looked strangely like Mr Potato Head to the table next to us. Hmmm. With our bellies full of duck and spurred on by the red wine we had supped on, we burst out onto Smith St, my pocket $40 lighter. I must have suffered a duck overdose because I haven’t eaten duck since.

Apr 18, 2009 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  9     

The 70's formica added to the ambience of this great restaurant. Food and service were excellent.

Nov 24, 2008 

3 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  3      Service  2      Value  2     

Duck was good but quite oily. Was extremely shocked when we saw the bill. An extra plate of pancakes (of 12 pancakes) was $20, combination fried noodles (not on the menu, but they said that could make it, it was for the little kids who couldn't eat peking duck) was charged at $21 for a small plate that would have only been maximum $15 at any other chinese restaurant. Duck was honestly nice, but I wouldn't go there again.

Sep 03, 2008