Duck in Heaven

Duck in Heaven is the Chinese fine diner on Lawrence Hargrave Drive that Thirroul kept quiet about for years, built around a wood-fired peking duck service with the rest of the menu following the duck theme. It is a dinner venue first and foremost, opening Wednesday to Sunday from 5pm, which makes it an evening-out choice for dog owners rather than a lunch stop. Booking ahead matters at the best of times here, and it matters double when you need the outdoor side.

The dog setup

Dogs are allowed at the outdoor seating areas, per Google listing summaries and directory reports, and the practical advice is the same everywhere: call ahead to secure an outdoor table, because indoor covers dominate and the outdoor count is small. Warm evenings work best, when the street side holds its heat and the queue for indoor tables rolls past. Give the venue a heads-up about the dog when booking so a suitable table is held rather than hoped for, and plan arrival for the first service slot before the night gets busy.

On the plate

Order around the duck. Peking duck pancakes and duck spring rolls are the anchor, with wontons, san choi bao and barbecued duck filling out the table. It is richer food than a standard beach-suburb dinner and the courses land steadily, so a slow walk afterward helps everyone, dogs included. Prices sit at the special-occasion end for the Illawarra, which suits a once-a-month evening rather than a weekly habit.

Street parking on Lawrence Hargrave Drive thins out on weekend nights, so arrive a touch early or take the train to Thirroul and walk up from the station side. The diner sits between the surf club end of town and the railway, an easy stroll either way, and the footpath run past the shopfronts gives a dog a chance to settle before you're seated.

Round out the plan with the neighbours: South Sailor for an alternative on the same strip, Homecoming Thirroul if the duck list is booked out, and Bark at the Beach for the morning-after swim that pays for dinner.