Originally Posted by
moondog
During my most recent visit to Dadong, I was shocked and awed by the prices of some of the non-duck dishes. As others have noted, they have one of the largest menus in the world (i.e. 50+ pages), and many things are reasonably priced, but if you're footing the bill, pray to God that your client isn't a fan of abalone or lobster.
Honestly, I think Made in China is cheaper than Dadong if you want to eat more than duck alone.
Da Dong is not alone in having some menu items that break the bank, and, like Da Dong, they put the glitzly menu items at the front. When I was there last month, a server walked by with a crab that was the size of a large pizza, with the claws hanging off the sides of the platter. I was glad not to be getting that bill.
That said, I thought there were plenty of reasonably priced dishes, at least as far as a more upscale restaurant goes. Sure, one could get similar dishes for less at plenty of places, but that's true of the entire menu at Da Dong - the prices are more special occasion than everyday. (Although by US standards, it's a pretty good and fancy meal for not a huge amount of money.)