eating good Beijing duck in Beijing

[djyee100]

We're at the end of a 2-wk vacation in China, and our last ambition is to eat a good Beijing duck in Beijing before we leave in 48 hours.

Any suggestions for a restaurant? Location? Estimated costs? We'd appreciate some help here. thanks!

[Peter Green]

We're at the end of a 2-wk vacation in China, and our last ambition is to eat a good Beijing duck in Beijing before we leave in 48 hours.

Any suggestions for a restaurant? Location? Estimated costs? We'd appreciate some help here. thanks! 

←

Quan Jude is a safe bet. It's a little touristy, but we enjoyed our meal there. I thought the place on Wangfujing was better than the old location near Tiananmen.

My favourite place was Dark&Duck in 2004, but it's been plowed under and built over.

I cribbed the below from the Beijing eating thread, it sounded promising:

"For Peking Duck:

'Da Dong' Beijing Kao Ya is not one of the big factories, but a smaller chef owned very popular-with-the-locals eatery that features exciting traditional and contemporary Bejijng food. There is a whole 'spiel' on their menu about their less fat, 'Superneat' Beijing Duck. They carve and serve it with great finesse. You might also want to try the abalone mushroom with saffron sauce (saffron is the new 'in' ingredient in Beijing) or homemade pasta with lobster flavor."

Fongyee's a good source for this if she's online.

Cheers,

Peter

[Fengyi]

Thanks Peter

I'm actually in London at the moment, so can't check up easily on things...but do try the new Da Dong branch at the south-west corner of DongSi Shitiao and 2nd ring road by the 'Old Granaries'. All reports of this place have been great - and it's very stylish.

Also worth considering is the branch of Bianyi fang which is NOT in the Hadamen hotel (good duck but TERRIBLE service) but it's in the south tower of the Xin Shi Jie (New World) shopping centre just south of the Chongwenmen subway stop. If you get the subway to Chongwenmen, just walk south past the first New World and cross the street after it and enter into the shopping centre on that side. The Bianyifang is on the 4th or 5th floor. It's great duck, good service and nice other dishes too.

One more consideration re: Quanjude - the one in the Tsinghua Science Park is really good - if you're in the Northwest.

If money is no object - Made in China in the Grand Hyatt is an option.

Good luck!

[fiore]

I heartily second the Da Dong recommendation - the duck there is excellent. Quanjude and Bianyifang are disappointing by comparison, to put it mildly.

F

[Lei Feng]

Here's a link to some good reviews of Da Dong.

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/..._Duck-BR-1.html

It's my fave for the duck. Boring atmosphere, but duck to die for.

Li Qun Kao Ya (Li Qun Roast Duck) is a fun atmosphere and has pretty good duck.

But for food alone, Da Dong is Da Joint.

[djyee100]

thanks, everyone, for your responses. Unfortunately a snafu occurred with the people with whom we were traveling, and there was not enough time to go out for Beijing duck on our last evening in the city. I was so disappointed. The next day, we had to leave the hotel at 12:30PM for our flight back to the US. I actually contemplated taking a taxi to the restaurant, which opens at 11AM, in order to pick up an order of duck. My friends pointed out that Beijing traffic being what it is, I could miss our flight, and they talked me out of the idea. Barely.

The next time I'm in Beijing, Da Dong restaurant will be a top priority.