SINGAPORE — It may sound too good to be true, but the Majestic Peking Duck hawker stall, opened last month by the people behind the Majestic restaurants, is the genuine deal. It is arguably the first and only such stall to offer restaurant-quality Peking duck from a hawker stall.

But unlike how the duck is served at a restaurant, where portions of the skin — and a little of the meat if desired — are wrapped and served at the table, the duck here is portioned with more of the meat, wrapped in the familiar delicate pancakes and served ready to eat.

Priced at S$24 for an order of 10 pieces of wrapped duck, it may be a little difficult to spot the savings. But Arthur Ter, general manager of Majestic Bay Seafood Restaurant, said that the most obvious savings are found in the fact that portions are bigger and that there is no service charge or government taxes included in the price. He also pointed out how there is usually an additional cost of around S$15 at a restaurant to have the meat (since most restaurants use only the skin in the wraps) cooked in a dish, which is usually either minced and stir-fried, in fried rice or ee-fu noodles, or in a soup.

To further illustrate the differences, Ter added that Majestic Restaurant uses a smaller duck of around 2kg to 2.2kg, while the birds at the duck stall range between 2.8kg and 3kg in size. But the point, he stressed, is that diners don’t have to head to a restaurant to enjoy this priced staple, adding that he is sure there will be competitors in the future hawking the dish for less.

Other parts of the duck, such as the wings, are used in a variety of dishes, such as duck wings in a sweet and sour sauce (S$8) and an organic salad with sliced duck (S$12).

Other clever dishes include duck soup with preserved vegetables (S$10) and fried duck rice with crispy cereal (S$8). There is even a dish of fried soft shell crab with Thai mango salad (S$16) to complete the meal.

Located at Makansutra Gluttons Bay, he shared that the ducks, which are imported from Malaysia, are prepared the same way they would be at the restaurant and roasted on-site in a custom-built Apollo gas oven. It is done without use of lychee wood as this would raise the prices and that is not their intention.

“We would be selling it at restaurant prices rather than a bargain price at the duck stall,” he asserted. And that would be hard to swallow given the environment. “Our current venue is an open space with no air-conditioning, whereas (places such as) London Fat Duck mostly operate indoors in an air-conditioned environment,” Ter said. Still, he added that guests who frequent the Majestic Restaurant do not mind the compromise in comfort. “We have guests who have said, ‘You know what, I can’t really afford to go to the restaurant to enjoy such a dish every day’,” he added, stressing again that it is really about having Peking duck without having to pay a premium at a restaurant.

Customers of its restaurants have visited the stall, he continued, and have been generally okay with the environment — a positive reinforcement in these difficult economic times, with the hospitality businesses struggling with rising labour costs and rentals.

And if the demand arises, Majestic Peking duck stall could find its way into the heartlands. “There are eating places far away where people would go just for the food,” he affirmed. But while he is hopeful there would be a place for a second or third outlet, he said it was simply too early to say.

Majestic Peking Duck is located at Makansutra Gluttons Bay, 8 Raffles Ave, The Esplanade.