The Cheung Family closed Hing Lung Company in April of this year after a decades-long run in Chinatown, citing safety reasons with their old space. They reopened as a chic-casual, dark-toned, sit-down restaurant in Bernal with a cheeky name: Go Duck Yourself. Still serving up their famed Cantonese BBQ, this paean to hanging ducks and crispy pork skin is now thrilling a whole new neighborhood. The meats — and there are plenty of them — are frickin’ good.
On a recent evening, a few of us ordered just about everything on the menu.
Of course, we got the roast duck.
Gloriously, seductively crispy-skinned, fatty and delicious, served with a plum vinaigrette and duck au jus. We tore into this glistening flesh like rabid barbarians, filling pillowy bao with it and a scattering of scallions. Heaven.
Next came the porks (be warned, the next photo is so porny it’s probably NSFW).
Crunchy pig skin over succulent pig meat, to be lovingly dipped into a hoisin sesame paste. Satisfying in a decadent yet primal way.
Followed hot on its heels by char siu.
Charred and lacquered pork collar you anoint with a blossom honey and ginger chutney, for a near-religious experience.
We’re not complete heathens; there were veggies too.
Tender greens with wok-charred garlic and shallots provided smokiness, the whole tangle finished with whiskey. A masterful palate cleanser.
Moving on to a bit more fowl, we tried the im-PECK-able wings.
Fried chicken at its finest, with chin chow bean sauce (made-in-house fermented black bean sauce), and finished off with ginger and Sichuan peppercorns for extra oomph and pizzazz.
Followed by the delicate soy-poached chicken with ginger chutney.
Glistening skin, beautifully tender flesh, juicy perfection.
Sticky rice was up next:
A homey dish of glutinous, sticky rice, wok-fried, blended with Chinese sausage, duck liver sausage, soy sauce, dried shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, and sugar-cured pork belly, all wrapped in a lotus leaf and steamed until fragrant, then bestowed upon the table like a gift at Chinese New Year. Hearty and flavorful AF.
Last, and — shockingly — perhaps my favorite dish of the night, the noodles.
Oodles of fat, chewy egg noodles vibrant with wok hei tangled around chunks of tender duck, chicken, peppers, onions, scallions, duck au jus, and white pepper. This was a dish I could not get enough of, with its sexy, slippery mouthfeel and umami just oozing all over the place.
In short, there was not one dish we would not have again, not a single errant note. How rare is that? Not only that, this place’s prices are totally reasonable.
Oh, one thing: There is no booze at GDY, at least for now, but there’s the always fabulous Wild Side across the street and, two doors down, the venerable Lucky Horseshoe. Work up that appetite. You’re going to need it.
Go Duck Yourself (Instagram)
439 Cortland Ave., San Francisco