In The Mood / Duck

With skin that can be brought to heavenly levels of crispness and meat that’s dark and moist and sweet, duck has always had worldwide appeal:

* Quanjude: Here, at the Rosemead branch of the celebrated Beijing duck restaurant of Tiananmen Square, the Beijing duck is elegant and sublime: crisp skin rolled with sweet bean sauce and scallions into thin crepes. With a large group of friends, you might try a multi-course duck banquet of poached duck webs, duck liver, gizzards, duck wings, duck broth with duck tongues, sweet and sour duck, duck hearts, duck egg rolls, etc. (Beijing duck, $21.88; duck dinner for 10 people $128 to $388.) Quanjude, 8450 E. Garvey Ave., Rosemead, (818) 280-2378.

* Obachine: Chef Naoki Uchiyama smokes his moist, rich duck over jasmine tea, black peppercorns and coriander seeds to a lacquered brown. Then it’s served with seasonal pancakes--taro root in the winter, scallion in the summer--and a sweet plum sauce. (Tea-smoked Peking duck, $17.95.) Obachine, 242 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, (310) 274-4440.

* Lucky Deli: Lucky Deli’s Cantonese roast duck, reputedly the very best in Chinatown, is sweet, garlicky and smoky, with tender, very juicy flesh. Chopped into small, finger-sized portions, these ducks make excellent party food. (Ducks: half, $5.50; whole, $10.) Lucky Deli, 706 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, (213) 625-7847.

* La Cachette: Chef Francois Meteigner double-roasts ducks and serves them medium rare in honey and orange zest sauce with braised apples, red cabbage and a scattering of crisp potatoes. (Double-roasted duck, $24.50.) La Cachette, 10506 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 470-4992.

* Cucina Paradiso: This new South Bay Italian restaurant features duck in a classic Italian pasta dish: pappardelle--

inch-wide ribbon-like egg noodles--sauced with a rich, tomato-based duck ragu. (Pappardelle with duck ragu, $10.50.) Cucina Paradiso, 1611 S. Catalina Ave., Redondo Beach, (310) 792-1972.

* Fenix: Ken Frank has always been a virtuoso with duck, and the Fenix menu regularly features duck foie gras with date sauce, duck foie gras with polenta and a “triple duck salad” (foie gras, duck prosciutto and duck confit). For entrees, there’s a grilled duck breast on a savory duck galette with Sherry vinegar and tarragon, and duck appears as enhancement for the Texas black antelope grilled with a Cabernet-foie gras sauce. Still other imaginative duck preparations are apt to appear on the ever-changing five-course “Fantasie” menu and the nine-course “Grande Bouffe” menu. (Duck dishes, $18 to $32; Fantasie menu $50 per person, $70 with wine; Grande Bouffe, $90 per person.) Fenix, Argyle Hotel, 8358 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (213) 848-6677.

* Xiomara: Owner Xiomara Ardolina has moved away from French country food into Nueva Latina cuisine, which means no more confit salad at lunch; but try the new duck ropa vieja, a wildly flavorful and spicy braised duck stew served with greens over arepa, a Colombian griddled corn cake, and boniato, a South American sweet potato. At dinner, there’s a spicy BBQ duck breast, which also comes with boniato and a warm chayote squash slaw. (Duck ropa vieja, $12; spicy BBQ duck breast, $18.) Xiomara, 69 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, (626) 796-2520.