DUCK & ROLL, KANSAS CITY

 
I am head over heels in love ----- with the latest Chinese restaurant in town! I have a weakness for Chinese food, having grown up in a city that has one of the oldest China towns in the world. So my standards for judging Chinese food are very high. On a rare occasion that I  mention that I was wowed by Chinese food, you know you are in for a treat. Another reason I fell in love with the food at  Duck & Roll, was because it serves Cantonese food. The Chinatown or the large Chinese community in my hometown, Kolkata(India) is all Cantonese. So it felt like I was eating in the Chinatown of my childhood. Take a bow Duck & Roll, Kansas City, you know how to win a foodie's heart. I am so in love with this new place, that I have already done a few rounds of takeout before I started writing this post.

I take no credit in discovering Duck & Roll, it is my husband, Debashish who did the research. I was heading downtown for a shoot when he mentioned if I wanted to try out a new place. I was pre-occupied in planning my shoot, and agreed, without even asking much. Shoot done, he mentioned that we were headed to a Chinese place. Duck & Roll, he mentioned had come near Country Club Plaza, and he had ordered our dinner online. We were doing a takeout, as you know my husband is immune-compromised for his battle with cancer. The first takeout was followed with another, within a few days. And we live nowhere close to the Plaza. Yes, we drove up all that way from a takeout from a new restaurant, during a world pandemic. That should say something about the place, right.

If you have seen pictures of videos of those amazing food stalls, and hawkers in Hing Kong, then let me tell you, Duck & Roll has been designed, on those lines. Its almost as if a few food stalls were combined into one, for the benefit of the local foodies. Loved the kitschy decor and the colors- it made me feel as if I was on a vacation to Hong Kong! Duck &Roll specializes in Chinese barbecue, dumplings, and wok bar with made-to-order fried rice and noodle dishes.

Let us start with what we ate and what we loved from the menu at Duck & Roll. Since they pride themselves on their dumplings, we started off with a few rounds of their Pork, Shrimp, Chives, and Mushroom Dumplings. Three dumplings are served per serving, so we started with a serving for each.

The second item, we tried on the menu, from their appetizer section, was their Chicken Satay, which was served with their signature peanut sauce. Our daughter loves Chinese food too, but can't handle spice. So she opted for the satay, and we sampled it, a bit.

The third item we tried out, is the item we ordered on two different occasions. Yes, the same item, as its that good - Beef Ho Fun! The beef was tender and flavorful, the flat noodles, had enough bite to hold up to the beef and the sauce!

 The fourth item we tried out was XO Shrimp with Canton Noodles. Another favorite of our daughter, who just mentioned that they were the best shrimps, she has had. It was snot spicy, yet packed a flavor punch.

The fifth item we tried out was Master Stock Chicken which was served with sesame rice. The chicken came off as briny at first bite but in a good way. It's very easy to dry out chicken, in trying to cook it. But this chicken was moist and had a good bite.

Last but not least. was Cumin Lamb! This item is a favorite of ours in general, so it was good to see a familiar name on the menu. The lamb was not gamey at all, which it can often become, if not cooked low and slow, and with the right marination. It was spicy and everything good and paired perfectly with the sesame rice. 

So if you are looking to try out a new place in town, I would say head to Duck & Roll in Main Street, in Kansas City MO! I enjoyed both our takeouts, and the portions were great. I did miss pairing the food with some good Asian beer, and also the entire charm of dining out and asking the ambiance in. Hoping the pandemic is over, we can get back to dining in and enjoy the food in-house at Duck & Roll!