I have written previously about the background of Goqui and its head chef. The dining room is smartly decorated, with attractive lanterns and a couple of cosy booths as well as the regular table seating. In addition to the a la carte, there were tasting menus at £80, £108 and £138. Salt and pepper squid stuffed with minced prawn is usually a very good dish here, but was not at its best tonight. The filling was fine but the squid itself had a definite chewiness to it which I had not encountered before (13/20).
We had pre-ordered a whole Peking duck, which was delivered to the table on a trolley and then carved in front of us. As is traditional, we started with the skin, which is cut into thin slivers and served only with a little sugar to dip. The breast skin was good but the skin from the leg was even better, crisp yet delicate. The meat itself was served with pancakes, plum sauce, spring onion and cucumber. The pancakes were extremely delicate, translucent as they should be. The duck meat itself had superb flavour, carefully cooked. The remaining duck was then minced and served as a third dish element along with some sweetcorn, and this was nicely seasoned and packed with flavour, served with lettuce leaves to wrap the duck. This was proper Peking duck service (17/20). The only Peking duck I have eaten that is substantially better than this is at Made in China in Beijing.
Also classy was teriyaki scallop, king scallops stuffed with minced prawn and teriyaki sauce. This had lovely flavour, the teriyaki sauce carefully judged and the seafood being of high quality (16/20). On the side, both gai lan with garlic and bak choi were excellent, tender and precisely cooked (15/20). Midnight Sun dessert was made of mango with a coating of black sesame and ice flavoured with passion fruit(15/20). Mystical Mountain dessert featured pineapple, Thai basil and old Bush Yunna tea, and worked quite well (14/20).
The bill came to £171 per person with wine to drink. If you ordered more abstemiously then a typical cost per person might be nearer £125. Service tonight was, unusually, up and down, in the absence of manager Jeffrey Ma. Our main waitress was very good, but the sommelier seemed quite distracted, despite it being far from a full service. We had to ask a few times to actually get our wine delivered to the table, and tipping up was erratic. This aside, the meal itself was very good overall, with the Peking duck a star dish.
Further reviews: 17th Nov 2024 | 16th May 2024 | 27th Apr 2023
tim wharton
Ate here a few weeks ago (once more on the strength of your reviews, Andy). We also pre-ordered the duck, and if there is better than this anywhere - which you suggest there is - I'd love to try it. This was pretty much perfection to us. Our soft shell crab was a little greasy to be honest, and other dishes were good, but nothing special. The duck, though, was incredible.