Chili House SF: Best Peking Duck in San Francisco

Saying Chili House SF has the best Peking duck in San Francisco is a pretty bold claim, right? With an extensive Chinatown, large Chinese population, and Chinese restaurants spread all across the city, there’s some stiff competition in town when it comes to Szechuan food. Despite all this, they have consistently impressed with many of their dishes, but none more than their Peking duck.

Peking Duck

The full Peking duck from Chili House SF comes out to $54.95 as of writing this, so it’s a bit of an investment, but 110% worth every penny. You’ll need to order an hour in advance if you want to get it, and it’s definitely worth it to plan ahead. The meat is always moist, the skin is just crispy enough and lightly salted, and the fat is, of course, where you get all that juicy, delicious flavor.

It’s served with cucumber, green onion, and their sweet sauce, with pancakes in which to wrap everything up. The sauce adds a nice touch, but isn’t even necessary to enjoy the dish since it’s roasted so well.

In pre-COVID times, it was always fun to watch them carve the duck on a cart next to your table, but in recent visits they’ve been doing all the preparation in the kitchen. I don’t know for certain if this is for health reasons, but hopefully we get to a point where Chili House starts rolling the cart back out because that was part of the experience!

Optional Duck Bone Soup

Although it costs a little extra, we highly recommend getting the duck bone soup that can be ordered with the bones from your Peking duck order! It’s a mild soup with a subtle flavor that’s soothing and perfect for washing your meal down. Plus you get some of the skin and meat that was left on the bones, so if you’re like us and can never get enough of this stuff, the soup is the way to go. Plus you feel like you’re getting more of your money’s worth.