STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — How much are those Peking ducks in the Mall window?
Owners of East Pacific hope to stoke the borough’s appetite for their house-made Cantonese delicacies — roasted meats including whole pig, duck and goose.
The succulent meats are a rarity in the borough despite its booming Chinese population. Seemingly early in the game, the East Pacific crew claims a niche in the beak-to-tail market.
About a month ago, Peter Lau came up with the idea to establish a self-sufficient quick-serve station by East Pacific’s front entrance. Now, several specialties of the house come to patrons ready to go and pickup by the tray — orange-peel brined, spatchcocked duck plus a Peking version.
Also on the menu are crispy roast pork, barbecued roast pork and ribs. Whole chickens round out options either steeped in soy sauce or marinated in scallion. All food is cleaver-ed up to order.
From this little enclave of the restaurant that functions like a mini-market, patrons can score pre-orders of slow-cooked meats including suckling pig ($198) and roast goose ($118.)
MEAL COMBOS
Additionally, customers can dine-in or pick up the proteins packed into meal combos by the tray or plate. Pricing ranges from $10 to $14 with roasted chicken or duck leg or a combination of three meats. All variations come with rice. The dine-in option costs an additional $2 per order.
Helen Lau said the Canton Roast BBQ has been the most popular pick. These include three mixed meats for $32.99 or two meat variations for $24.99.
Manager Sunny Ng brimmed with excitement. He loves when guests pause at the site of hanging birds and the whole hog in the window.
The restaurant already has garnered regional interest for its weekend dim sum program. For that menu, hours span 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. with 45 styles of dim sum from continually rolling carts.
Dim sum items range from the fried — crispy spring rolls, taro rolls covered in unctuous phyllo squiggles and spongiform sesame balls filled with a savory bean paste — to the steamed — soup dumplings, tripe with ginger and scallion, lotus leaves wrapped around sticky rice — to the sweet — a cup-like pastry filled with eggy custard or a petite cake called a “Mexico Bun.”
For a range of diners with varied Asian backgrounds, bowls of congee are extremely popular in the morning, notably “Pee Dan Show Roe Joe.”
The Laus also own Empire Sechuan and East Sushi, both in Eltingville. But the Mall location features the unique roasted meats and combines sushi into the offerings.
East Pacific is located at 2655 Richmond Ave. at the Staten Island Mall. The restaurant can be reached at 718-370-2225 and the menu can be viewed at WhereYouEat.com.
Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at [email protected].
More in Staten Island Food:
https://www.silive.com/food/2023/08/nyc-restaurant-week-continues-on-staten-island.html
