Ext. of Peking Duck Sandwich Stall in Flushing, Qns. GR for Girly Network
The other day my friend, Reg, and I decided to introduce our other friend, Shirley, to my favorite cheap duck spot, Peking Duck Sandwich Stall. I was so hungry that I was debating in my head whether I would get this time 3 or 4 mini sandwiches...when I remembered that they advertised "duck bone" for $2.50. I decided that since I was so hungry I would splurge for the "duck bone", not exactly knowing what that meant. Reg and I figured it meant a piece of duck on the bone, like a leg.
Reg goes ahead and places her order with the 2 ladies behind the counter. Suddenly, they start talking loudly in Chinese among themselves as if they were confused. After much debate, they hand over her order and she opens it to find 2 duck sandwiches. "I ordered 1 duck bone, 2 sandwiches", Reg tells the lady as she hands her order back. The 2 ladies are going back and forth again in Chinese and one lady signals for me to place my order. "1 duck bone, 3 sandwiches please", I tell the woman. There's more Chinese debate and all I can understand in the midst of their excited conversation were the words "duck bone" in English. They were baffled by our "duck bone" request. Reg and I are now looking at each other not knowing what could be the issue. "What exactly is 'duck bone'?", I ask. So they call in a third lady to explain to us...with a little bit of body language. She pulls, out of a bottom shelf, a tied-up supermarket plastic bag with what looked like a whole duck inside. "Duck bone, duck bone", she yelled as she repeatedly banged it on the counter. We had no idea what she was trying to communicate and even more clueless as to why this had become such a commotion. All we wanted was more duck meat without the pancake and I couldn't understand why getting the advertised "duck bone" was so difficult. With no resolution in sight, it was clear we had held up the line long enough.
I look back to see Shirley pacing impatiently and watching the scene from a distance (I think we were embarrassing her). "Why the hell do you want "duck bone' and you don't even know what it is?", says an annoyed Shirley, who had gotten her sandwiches before the drama unfolded. "Okay, forget the duck bone...just give us the sandwiches", I say to the woman behind the counter. I walked away still intrigued as to what the hell had happened back there...but had resigned myself to leave the investigation for another day.
So, I'm at Sunday brunch yesterday with some friends and I share the "duck bone" story. We're all cracking up at what a funny scene it was...all three of us in Chinatown, 2 of us holding up the line, 1 of us pretending not to know the rest...'til I was enlightened. "I bet 'duck bone' is the carcass. They sell it to make soup...", says our friend Bharat. Aha...it all makes sense now...the lady banging the bag with a duck skeleton on the counter was trying to tell me it was just bones. I guess they knew we were after the duck meat after all.
In any event, let me tell you...the second time around, these $1 sandwiches are still delish. They may not get a high Zagat rating for service...but the taste is all there. You may just want to skip on the "duck bone".
