Peking Duck Forest

We recently stumbled upon Peking Duck Forest in Forest Hills, Queens at 10712 70th rd. As you can probably guess from the name, this is not a strictly vegan or vegetarian restaurant, but the dinner menu had a whole page of vegetarian entrees, so we decided to give it a shot.

Bean Curd & Corn Soup

It was a hot, humid day, not the kind of day on which you find yourself craving soup. Nevertheless I ordered some and I’m glad I did. There’s not much to say about this soup because it was so simple. It was corn and soft tofu in a starchy, salty (but not too salty) soup. That might sound boring but it wasn’t. It was extremely satisfying and I could see myself ordering this again next time I’m there. -Jim

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings

These dumplings were amazing, I liked that I could perform my usual dumpling-eating ritual (take a little bite off the top, pour sauce in, and eat the rest) and the dough was thick enough to keep everything inside. Even better was the fact that what was inside was delicious. What stood out most was the seasoning; each bite was a different taste. I think I detected fennel, but whatever it was, it was yummy. The veggies were super-shredded and very fresh. Even the dipping (or in my case pouring) sauce was of a higher quality than those found at other Chinese restaurants. -Ev
Yeah, I loved the flavor of the filling too. It was almost like a curry flavor. Very unique. -Jim

Bean Curd and Cashew in Spicy Sauce

This delicious stir fry consisted mainly of tofu, mushrooms, cashews, peppers and pineapple. The sauce was like a thick, spicy sweet and sour sauce only it was also very savory at the same time. It was almost like they took all of the different Chinese sauces that I like and combined them into one, only I would expect that to be gross and this totally wasn’t. Also, I’m usually not too into pineapple in a stir fry, but it really worked here. The pineapple matched with the sweetness of the sauce but also contrasted the savoryness of the sauce. The combination of textures and flavors in this dish really worked and I was really happy with it overall. -Jim

Sautéed Dried Bean Curd and Vegetables

So good! I was expecting your run -of-the-mill shredded stuff with brown sauce. Boy was I surprised. Right away I could see how fresh and tasty this dish would be. There were black beans and a variety of spices to really kick up the flavor, which changed with each bite- sometimes sweet, sometimes spicy, sometimes savory, sometimes all three. The bean curd was very firm and cut thin. Again, the veggies were fresh and cooked perfectly. I thought the mushrooms were especially incredible; they were fat, firm, and soooo flavorful. It will be hard to resist ordering this again next time. -Ev

The Bottom Line

We literally went into this restaurant on a whim, and I’m so glad we did. I definitely look forward to coming back here. Everything was fresh and delicious. Nothing was oily or gross. Peking Duck Forest is Chinese done well. You can certainly find more authentic Chinese cuisine down in Chinatown, but I do feel like this was probably more authentic and definitely more tasty than your average American-Chinese cuisine. Another nice thing about this restaurant is that the portion sizes are tremendous. We ate with two friends of ours and, out of the four of us, three of us brought home food that we had for lunch the next day. -Jim
A great discovery. This was the first time I felt I was eating Chinese cuisine rather than Chinese food. The dishes were fresh and delicious and had exciting flavor combinations. I've been craving it since we've eaten there. -Ev