Originally Posted by
jiejie
For that matter, Quanjude shouldn't have made it either at least not on merits of taste. An old warhorse that should be shot.
For better or for worse, many people still regard Quanjude as the
de facto standard for Peking Duck. In other words, while places like DaDong, Made in China, and Duck de Chine may have developed innovative products that arguably taste better (I certainly think so!), the simple fact that they have done this means that they are not in 100% compliance with the tradition. By contrast, I'd be willing to bet that Quanjude's duck hasn't changed a great deal since Nixon's visit 40 years ago.
I'm unimpressed. Didn't seem like all that much thought went into the list, merely regurgitating some of the same 5 found in the typical foreigner guidebook.
Yeah, the article would have been better (and more interesting) if they simply outsourced it to
The Beijinger, but I think it was good enough for their target audience, most of which is unfamiliar with both FT and the local magazines, and also less adventurous than us.
Getting back on topic, I've read that there are several new duck joints coming online during the course of the next few months that aspire to raise the bar. When this happens, some of us should try them and report back here.