Duck meets disco at Navy Yard's new Chinese restaurant
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Canton Disco's "duck set" with bao buns and duck lo mein. Photo: Courtesy flipsh0t for Canton Disco
Duck. Disco. Dancing. A lively Chinese restaurant is about to light up Navy Yard.
Why it matters: Canton Disco is an exciting hometown collab — pairing chef Timothy Yu (whose family ran Wheaton dim sum legend Hollywood East Café for nearly 30 years) with Maxwell Park drink mastermind Brent Kroll and Scarlet Oak's Brian Schram for a day-to-night spot built for eating and partying.
How it works: The morning-to-late-night Cantonese concept opens Feb. 17 in the former Roy Boy's space.
- Daytime: Open at 8am for coffees, Chinese-style breakfast sandwiches and congee — laptops welcome through mid-afternoon.
- Evening and late-night: Shades down, neon lights up. The room flips into a vibe-y Chinese disco parlor with shareable, modern Cantonese plates.
Eat: Cantonese barbecue — a Hollywood East staple — finished here on a Japanese charcoal grill for extra smoke.
- Playful riffs on classics like chili wontons, orange chicken and chow fun.
- "I focused a lot on my childhood, and what's the most approachable yet fun to do," Yu tells Axios.
Don't skip: The "duck set," per Yu, who riffs on his family's Hong Kong recipe.
- Cantonese roasted duck breast is marinated in red wine and five spice, and served with crunchy skin, bao buns, a confit leg and duck lo mein.
Drink: Tea-based cocktails and Kroll's signature lineup of fun, quirky wines — many in the $12–$14 sweet spot.
- "When you have intensity of flavor in food, you need that in wine," Kroll says — think salty whites, smoky or chilled reds, plus a few splurge-worthy bubbles.
Fun fact: Yu's late father, Alan Yu, came to the U.S. with acting dreams before opening Hollywood East in 1996 (hence the name).
- He kept ties to Hong Kong's acting scene, and at home hosted full-on discos — fog machines included.
- "I wanted to do something like that," says Yu. "Introduce modern Cantonese cooking with a party atmosphere."
If you go: Canton Disco. 1025 1st Street SE. Open Feb. 17. Cafe: 8am-3pm. Dinner: 5-10pm. Late night: 10pm-1am.
Editor's note: This story and headline have been corrected to reflect that a dish at Canton Disco is Cantonese (not Peking) duck.