How would you rate dadong kaoya dian?

I used to live next door and thought it was pretty good (though I can't eat duck too often, you know; stomach isn't too fond), certainly better than quanjude, but I like Made in China and Xiao Wangfu because they are so much cleaner than most other Chinese restaurants.

Thanks moondog!

Brining this thread back from the dead...
 

I am a big fan of Sichuan food, and I find that Beijing has a lot to offer. I like South Beauty, Yu Xiang Ren Jia, and Chuan Ban the best. Moondog or others, can you make other recommendations?

I just returned from 2 weeks in China last week, including 5 days in Beijing. I managed to have Beijing duck 4 times, including at Quanjude and Xiao Wang Fu. My favorite duck however was at Hua Jia Yi Yuan. It's not a duck place per se, but it was fantastic! All the other items we tried there we great too. Best part of it was that the total bill for dinner for 2 was only RMB 190 (~$25). It's located on Gui Jie (this is a nickname for the street, the real name is really long and I can't remember it right now).

Xiao Wang Fu came a close second. I was hoping to try Li Qun but did not get a chance to.

Forget Courtyard
 

Dined at Courtyard a few months ago. Whilst the location is stellar - the F&B experience here was probably the worst i've had in China. I guess after hearing all the rave reviews i had pretty high expectations....but honestly this place was a miss.

The service was almost non existent and snotty when it was there. I had a four-course meal (i was starving) whilst my business partner had eaten on the plane and just wanted to have a cup of coffee....they said that there was a minimum charge of RMB200 per person...my food bill alone was RMB630+!! They wouldn't waive the RMB200! :td: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Food was passable. The scallops i had were ok, but the couscous that came with it wasn't cooked properly. The 'signature' dessert of molten chocolate cake with mint, kiwi and lime (im not making that up!) was ok at first bite, but only to realise that there were actual lime rinds in the cake that were incredibly bitter!

Oh and the place is really really dark....I have photos if anyone wants to see them!

The most memorable meals i had in beijing were at 1001 Nights for Arabic food. Opposite the golden dragon hotel near the embassies. Fantastic food and great atmosphere - felt like i was back in Dubai. South Beauty was great too. Tandoor inside the Golden Dragon hotel was also spot on.

I also don't care for Handle's restaurants. However, RBL (walking distance from the Penn) is worth checking out for two reasons: 1) they recruited the head chef from Louisianna at the Hilton, which was a great restaurant; and 2) the attached bar gets some pretty good blues bands.

On the downside, the service is surly, the portions are small, and the prices are not.

gbjd1205: Unfortunately, I am unable to expand on your list of Sichuan restaurants. I'm looking through some listings right now and you appear to have nailed the most popular places.

Thanks for taking a look. Are you using the That's BJ city guide? I find it to be very reliable (with the somewhat perplexing exception of their relentless praise for Almeda!). They have turned me on to some places that I never would have found, although I wish they had more offerings from places outside of Sanlitun, Houhai, Shunyi, and Wudaokou.

For the people who like Xiao Wang Fu, which branch have you visited? Has anyone ever been the highly exclusive Houhai outlet? I have heard that they only allow one group per evening -- can't begin to imagine that costs.

It's funny you mention TBJ because I was just on my way out the door to pick up the bottles of wine I won for last month's crossword. I own a copy of the guide (some of their day trip suggestions are quite good), but I usually use the magazine (City Weekend is also fine) for things like restaurant and bar listings because establishments come and go so quickly.

Did you ever read my letter to the editor about Almeda? I posted it on FT and also won a nice bottle of wine from the TBJ folks. I also think Almeda is overrated (hence, the letter), but I no longer suspect that they paid off TBJ for the good press. The problem with magazine surveys is that people tend to vote for places with which they are familiar. For example, the fact that Hatsune keeps winning best Japanese, illustrates that people don't get out enough. Speaking of Japanese, I've been wanting try Yotusuba, which has gotten great reviews. The problem is that it tends to full up 3 days in advance but I don't often plan my meals that far in advance.

I always go to the Xiaowangfu near the Kerry Center. I didn't know they had a Houhai branch.

I just did a search on FT and couldn't find it, but I can probably guess the content! IMO, Almeda is quite good, although they are not without serious problems (like charging 50 RMB for olives and throwing a fit when you ask for water). But I think you're right that people vote for what they know. I remember Taco Bell winning the reader's poll for tacos in Denver in the early 90s -- I think that's the last time I thought that reader's polls were particularly useful.

I haven't been to either of these places, although I have only heard things about Hatsune. Maybe a side-by-side comparison is in order!

I heard that Wang Fei had her wedding reception at the Houhai branch (sadly, I wasn't invited). I gather that they cook for one party per night and I've heard that the price is 20,000 RMB. Doubt that I will be going anytime soon -- at that price, the branch on Gongti Bei Lu suits me just fine!

One thing that I have not found in Beijing is a great Hunan place. There is a place on Lotus Lane at Houhai that is quite good, but it pales in comparison to Gu Yi Hunan in Shanghai. Does anyone have any suggestions for Hunan in Beijing?

My opinion of Hatsune is low enough to render a side-by-side comparison pointless. Surprisingly, the best sushi I have had in Beijing is from the little place in my apartment complex (Blue Castle), which happens to offer half price sushi/sashimi during lunch. Like Yotosuba, they fly their fish in from Tokyo several times per week. I'm almost positive Hatsune doesn't do that.

The problem lies in the fact that both of us were spelling it wrong. Here is the thread:

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=448258

D'oh! :o

Last time I was there, the service and the steak were fine. And I agree with the Economist that their fixed-price lunch is a good deal. Their chocolate desserts are also quite good. I also like the fact that it has a non-smoking section, a rarity in China. All that being said, there are lots of places with OK service, OK steaks, and good desserts in that price range, so I think that Alameda's real draw is its location.

Incidentally, I agree with your assessment of Annie's. I think it's pretty good Italian in the same way that the place in the strip mall in every town in the US is pretty good Italian, but it certainly isn't the best in town.

come on! it's off a bar street, and a has-been bar street, at that. the lunch set it can routinely fetch consists of ibm employees and a limited subset of embassy staffs. although i don't think they paid off tbj, the fact that they could generate an economist review with such an undistinguished product suggests to me that their PR is above average, to say the least.

btw, while i was out tonight, morrel's struck me as another restaurtant that should be mentioned here. in case you haven't figured it out yet, chinese food isn't really my thing (i even went so far as to pack a bag full of "duck sauce" that i picked up in baltimore several weeks back, for the sole purpose of sprucing the local fare up a bit) so it's hard for me to respond to your regionally specific queries.

that said: 1) my mind is open; 2) there are a handful of chinese restaurants that i like in both beijing and shanghai; and 3) i know the western restaurant scene cold in both cities.

Morrel's is a great restaurant, certainly much better than Alameda for steak. I haven't been there for a long time, but I should make a point of going next time I'm in town.

As far as Alameda's location, it is down a little alley on a rapidly declining Jiu Ba Jie, and it is hard to find the first time you go. Still, it's it's one of the few Western restaurants left in the immediate area (especially with the demise of Mediteraneo a couple of years back), and there is still a huge embassy crowd in the area. The other alternatives are a little farther (e.g. Athena), a little less business friendly (e.g. The Book Worm), or even harder to find (e.g. De Niro's).

When I'm not in China, I live in a small town in Maine where it's hard to get great food (ok, plenty of lobster and blueberries), so I try to make a point of going to some of the good Italian, Thai, Korean, French, etc. restaurants when I'm there (I know it sounds weird to go to China for good French food, but there you have it). Unfortunately, most of my Chinese friends don't care for Western food too much, so I usually end up in Chinese places nonetheless.