We skipped the duck and went straight to dim sum: pork and shrimp shumai, Wagyu beef pot stickers, steamed pork buns. From our table, past the drapery, we could see and hear the casino floor. And the cocktails, because when you’re eating multiple courses of duck as the clock ticks toward midnight, you might as well also drink a Red Envelope (vodka with lychee liqueur and other fruity substances) or a Crazy for Coconuts, with mango, passionfruit, and rum, plus boba pearls to boot. The genuinely great service, everyone attentive and friendly. The diverse clientele, representing so many languages and fashion styles among them. If it didn’t quite live up to the version at China King of blessed memory, it brought with it so many other charms: The hallucinatorily ornate surroundings, all crimson and gold, with marble floors and vast glass chandeliers and towering Chinese vases everywhere. It was all tasty, and it scratched our Peking duck itch. There was soup, and noodles, and a stir-fry, and a fresh green salad with more duck, served amusingly in an edible fried wonton bowl. We ate the meat wrapped in thin, floury pancakes, dipping them in sweet-savory hoisin sauce. Steamed buns served at Red 8 in Encore Boston Harbor. (Even at Red 8, the Peking duck is now only served a la carte.) Local options for this dish have diminished greatly since the 2020 closure of China King, where it was a specialty. But I hadn’t gotten to try the Peking duck menu for two, and I wanted to. I had been once before, on my only other visit to Encore, when the casino first opened and I ate my way through the place for a story. (Sadly, there’s no Wing Lei in Everett.) Here, executive chef Richard Chen serves a menu of dim sum, wok dishes, and more. We both wanted to eat at Red 8, a branch of a restaurant also at Wynn Las Vegas. She wanted to continue her winning streak. When we docked, the night was young, and the casino wasn’t far. (It was August, and warmer, if only slightly.) Being a tourist in your own town: highly recommended. I was lured by a friend, who had tickets for a harbor cruise on a charmingly janky boat where we ignored the guide’s patter and sipped adult beverages while the sun set golden on the water.
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