One Duck Lane: The Restaurant That Made North Point a Destination
Place — One Duck Lane, Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour
By James B. Stoney, Editor ·
A Peking duck restaurant inside the Hyatt Centric that Bloomberg says rivals Hutong and Sha Tin 18. 45-day-old ducks, a custom-built oven, and a chef who trained at the Sheraton.
A Peking duck restaurant inside the Hyatt Centric that Bloomberg says rivals Hutong and Sha Tin 18. 45-day-old ducks, a custom-built oven, and a chef who trained at the Sheraton.
North Point was not, until recently, a neighbourhood most visitors built an evening around. One Duck Lane has changed that calculation for a meaningful number of people now willing to cross the harbour specifically for the duck.
The restaurant occupies the second floor of the West Tower at Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong, in the space that previously housed the hotel's buffet restaurant. The hotel itself has had more than one identity. It opened in 2018 as Hotel Vic on the Harbour, developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties, before being rebranded the following year as the first Hyatt Centric property in Greater China — a launch whose timing, arriving just before the pandemic, could hardly have been worse. One Duck Lane's arrival, considerably more recently, has given the property something it had not previously had: a restaurant people travel for rather than simply eat at because they happen to be staying upstairs.
The Duck
Peking duck in Hong Kong operates at a standard that makes any new entrant's claim worth scrutinising. The Mandarin Oriental's Michelin-starred Man Wah, the Hyatt Regency's own Sha Tin 18 in the New Territories, and Hutong with its skyline and harbour views have spent years establishing what the top tier of the dish actually looks like in this city.
Bloomberg's review put One Duck Lane directly in that company — an elegant restaurant that rivals Hutong and Sha Tin 18, a comparison that carries real weight given how seriously the publication's Hong Kong dining coverage treats this specific category. It is not a comparison made lightly, and it is not one most new restaurants in this category receive within their first year.
The process behind the signature dish explains why the comparison holds. The birds are raised for 45 days, air-dried for 72 hours, and then roasted in a custom-built oven designed specifically for the restaurant. What arrives at the table is carved tableside — the meat presented separately from the crispy skin, which comes with sugar for sprinkling, the hot oil from the skin mingling with the sugar in a way regular visitors specifically mention. A whole duck runs HK$888, a half HK$448 — pricing that several reviewers have noted is reasonable for the calibre of the dish and the setting it arrives in, particularly set against the premium most hotel-based Peking duck restaurants in this city tend to charge.
The Chef
Jack Chan runs the kitchen. He previously held the position of Chinese executive chef at the Sheraton Hong Kong's Celestial Court, a well-regarded Cantonese restaurant in its own right, and the training shows in the dishes that sit outside the duck-focused centre of the menu.
The wok-fried cumin lamb rack and the chilled Yin Yang chicken point toward a kitchen comfortable moving beyond Cantonese convention into bolder, more regionally varied territory. The crab fried rice — built around giant mud crab chosen specifically for its tender meat and the subtle sweetness of its roe, steamed together with the rice in a traditional bamboo basket — is a more recent addition to the chef's recommendations menu and the dish most likely to surprise a guest who came purely for the duck. The poached rice in supreme duck soup, served as a second course built from what remains of the bird, is the detail that separates a restaurant taking the whole animal seriously from one treating it as a single showpiece course. Dim sum, including har gow and xiao long bao, rounds out the lunch service, available alongside the chef's recommendations and weekend dim sum menus.
The Room
The interior carries designer Steve Leung's signature — contemporary and elegant, with playful nods to Hong Kong's food culture worked into the detail, oversized bamboo steamer light fixtures among them. High ceilings and Victoria Harbour views run through the dining room, a combination that makes the space suit a wide range of occasions: a family dinner, a celebration, a private corporate booking, a wedding.
The open roasting kitchen positioned near the entrance is a deliberate piece of theatre, visible before a guest has even been seated, signalling exactly what the restaurant has built its reputation around before the first course arrives. It is worth noting that the hotel's broader social spaces and food and beverage concept were originally designed by André Fu — the same architect responsible for The Upper House above Pacific Place — though One Duck Lane's own interior is a later, separate commission under Leung.
What This Does for North Point
A restaurant of this calibre opening outside Hong Kong's established dining corridors — Central, Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui — changes the calculus for a neighbourhood that has historically not needed to justify a special trip.
North Point's own pitch to visitors has long rested on its older, quieter pleasures: Chun Yeung Street's tram-line market, classic Hong Kong street food like curry fish balls and egg waffles, and a slower pace than the island's more polished districts. One Duck Lane sits that history alongside something new — a destination restaurant in the genuine sense, somewhere people travel across the harbour specifically to eat at, rather than somewhere convenient to whoever happens to already be in the area. Hong Kong's dining map has shifted before in exactly this way — a single ambitious opening pulling a neighbourhood into the city's broader culinary conversation. North Point's version of that moment has a name, and it serves duck.
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Vitae Lifestyle Scorecard
- The duck9.4 / 10
- The wider menu9.0 / 10
- The room8.9 / 10
- The value8.8 / 10
Who it's for
- Anyone who takes Peking duck seriously enough to want it judged against Hutong and Sha Tin 18 rather than against the average.
- Groups and families looking for a restaurant that suits both an ordinary dinner and a genuine celebration.
- Diners curious about North Point as a destination in its own right rather than a stop on the way somewhere else.
Questions
What is One Duck Lane known for?
Its signature roasted Peking duck — birds raised for 45 days, air-dried for 72 hours, and roasted in a custom-built oven, then carved tableside. Bloomberg has compared it directly to Hutong and Sha Tin 18, two of Hong Kong's most established Peking duck restaurants.
Where is One Duck Lane located?
On the second floor of the West Tower at Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong, 1 North Point Estate Lane, North Point, on the eastern side of Hong Kong Island.
Who is the chef at One Duck Lane?
Jack Chan, previously the Chinese executive chef at Sheraton Hong Kong's Celestial Court. His menu extends well beyond the signature duck, including wok-fried cumin lamb rack, chilled Yin Yang chicken, and a crab fried rice built around giant mud crab.
How much does the Peking duck cost at One Duck Lane?
A whole duck is HK$888, a half is HK$448. Several reviewers have noted this is reasonable pricing for the quality of the dish and the setting, particularly relative to other hotel-based Peking duck restaurants in the city.
Is One Duck Lane good for groups and celebrations?
Yes — the dining room, designed by Steve Leung with high ceilings and Victoria Harbour views, suits everything from family dinners to corporate events and weddings. Set menus including a Peking Duck Dinner Set for two are available alongside the à la carte options.
Does One Duck Lane serve dim sum?
Yes — dim sum is available at lunch via the Lunch A La Carte Menu, Chef's Recommendations Menu, and a Weekend Dim Sum & Snacks Menu. Breakfast at the restaurant is reserved for in-house hotel guests.
Is North Point worth visiting beyond the restaurant?
Yes — the district is known locally as something of a food hub, with Chun Yeung Street's tram-line market and classic Hong Kong street food including curry fish balls and egg waffles. It has historically been a quieter, more local counterpart to Hong Kong Island's more polished dining districts, which is part of what makes One Duck Lane's arrival there notable.
This article appears in Edit No. 19 — Hong Kong



