Secret spot for Chinese barbecue in Petaluma

Chinese barbecue in Petaluma features huge chunks of roasted duck and pork, rice in an out-of-the-way location you'd never know about.

Fantasy Restaurant Hong Kong Style BBQ in Petaluma features huge cuts of roast pork, duck, spare ribs and more. Heather Irwin/PD
Fantasy Restaurant Hong Kong Style BBQ in Petaluma features huge cuts of roast pork, duck, spare ribs and more. Heather Irwin/PD

Fantasy Restaurant Hong Kong Style BBQ in Petaluma features huge cuts of roast pork, duck, spare ribs and more. Heather Irwin/PD
Fantasy Restaurant Hong Kong Style BBQ in Petaluma features huge cuts of roast pork, duck, spare ribs and more. Heather Irwin/PD

Fantasy Hong Kong Style BBQ isn’t for everyone, but it is for anyone who is desperate to find authentic Chinese roasted duck, roasted pork belly, honey pork, and spare ribs cut to order.  This is true Chinese barbecue.

Hidden away in a former Round Table pizza, diners are greeted by lacquered roast ducks (heads still on) hanging on hooks in a glass case. The Chinatown similarities extend to a hunk of pork belly, ribs and a few, uh, unrecognizable items hanging by hooks or in steam trays (which turn out to be beef cartilage and pig ears).

Fantasy Restaurant Hong Kong Style BBQ in Petaluma features huge cuts of roast pork, duck, spare ribs and more. Heather Irwin/PD
Fantasy Restaurant Hong Kong Style BBQ in Petaluma features huge cuts of roast pork, duck, spare ribs and more. Heather Irwin/PD

Though the menu can be daunting, it’s easiest to just ask what’s good, and do the bbq special: Two meats, rice or noodles and then enjoy the show as the chef hacks slices of meat with a giant cleaver with the adeptness of a sushi chef. For about $14, you’ll get a massive plate of food that could easily feed two. Possibly three.

Fantasy Restaurant Hong Kong Style BBQ in Petaluma features huge cuts of roast pork, duck, spare ribs and more. Heather Irwin/PD
Fantasy Restaurant Hong Kong Style BBQ in Petaluma features huge cuts of roast pork, duck, spare ribs and more. Heather Irwin/PD

The roasted duck, with crispy skin and five-spice, is the best we’ve had anywhere in the North Bay, and the honey pork is sweet without being cloying. And though many high-end chefs charge a fortune for pork belly, you’ll get a huge portion with crackling skin and moist, lush fat that would cost five times as much elsewhere.

Fantasy Restaurant Hong Kong Style BBQ in Petaluma features huge cuts of roast pork, duck, spare ribs and more. Heather Irwin/PD
Fantasy Restaurant Hong Kong Style BBQ in Petaluma features huge cuts of roast pork, duck, spare ribs and more. Heather Irwin/PD

Suffice to say this is an off-the-beaten-path find that’s only been open a few months, and can only survive if more folks find it. We were stoked for some chicken feet, but the chef said he’s recently taken them off the menu for lack of interest. 

There’s a buffet with more typical Chinese offerings like lemon chicken, fish, fried rice and veggies, all made fresh. Plus, fried peanuts if you’re a fan.

Fantasy Hong Kong Style BBQ: 1520 E. Washington St., Petaluma, opening 10:30a.m. to 9p.m. daily.

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