Yes! Sorry! I edited :D

That' right! I want to have some large pics. But if you have time, plz help me repair them for that post!
Many thanks!^^

We need SMALLER, not larger, thanks! Some member shave less bandwidth, slower speeds and can not view the thread.

Thank you!

JDiver, Senior Moderator

So I went to Da Dong and Quanjude for dinner respectively and I got to say Da Dong is still my choice between the two for Beijing Duck.

I found Quanjude's duck too dry but service crew was better

whereas Da Dong's service was poor.

JDiver: Uh, wouldn't Oakland or San Francisco be closer to Sacramento for duck?

What, the offerings along Broadway and down at 65th & Stockton don't cut it? ;)

Sounds like Dadong, Xiao Wang Fu, Duck De Chine and Made in China are the consensus favorites in this thread.

Is the tableside service for the Peking duck pretty much standard at all of these places?

Fairly elaborate...with the presentation, and the carving, etc. I went to a place once 3 year ago, but don't remember, as I wasn't navigating, and was very tired.

Also, Made in China is in the Grand Hyatt, right? Meaning you can charge it to the room and earn pts if you were a guest there? If so, then the higher price might be partially offset by the pts earning possibility.

My personal experience has been the opposite. Of course, each person's palette is different!

I've been to Quanjude three separate times and Da Dong once. For me, Quanjude is more oily and serves duck more traditional, which I like. Da Dong was actually less oily and thus less flavorful to me. To be honest, little to no flavor.

Da Dong's presentation of the duck is much nicer (artistic presentation similar to their other dishes) and gives you many more accompaniments such as cantaloupe and 8 or so other items. Quanjude just gives you the basic sauce and scallion, which is sufficient for me.

For just the duck, Quanjude is my recommendation. On the other hand, Da Dong has been one of the hipper places to go nowadays for overall experience and dish selection. Da Dong's menu has to be one of the heaviest menus on earth!

But, YMMV! I haven't tried the other places (to my knowledge anyways) so can't say but for me Quanjude > Da Dong for duck.

I was in BJ for a week with family in end of June. Went to Bianyifang and Da Dong. This was my first time in Bianyifang, while my last time in Da Dong was probably 10 years ago or so.

Da Dong is vastly changed vs. 10 years ago. Though location is the same (Tuanjiehu), but is now much more upscale. I actually like the old feeling better, more "traditional". The food this time around also was not as good as I remembered.... too much show and less in substance. I actually find the duck at Bianyifang better, more tasty.

I also like (and prefer) the duck at quanjude over da dong. However, everything else on the menu at quanjude is pretty weak, whereas the food overall at da dong is excellent. It's more snooty at da dong, but looks far less traditional.

I think made in china is a good balance: very different duck to quanjude, but the skin is excellent and tasty, much better than da dong. The other dishes are also superb, but it's far more pricey, and especially, tea is just outrageously priced here.

tb

I agree about DaDong--I liked it better 5-10 years ago, both for the feeling and the reasonably priced non-duck dishes, which were VERY tasty. These days, when I want a really good not-too-expensive duck with great homestyle side dishes (also reasonably priced), I head for Xiang Man Lou near Xindong Lu. Ducks for RMB 98 including the fixings.

+1, I'm drooling.

Any recommendations for places in SF or Oakland would be GREATLY appreciated by this FT-er. ^ :p

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.

By the way, nobody seems to have mentioned that duck restaurant on the east side of Ritan Park (the name escapes me; find it using google maps). My business partner in Beijing swears that it is the best, though I must admit that I don't have a great deal of respect for his tastes in the general sense. I have been there numerous times, and the duck is good.

Made in China is still my personal favorite, in part because the ambiance is far better than anywhere else in town.

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.)

None of the duck places are expensive by US standards if you only eat duck; during my high school years in New Hampshire, I routinely paid $50/duck at the local Chinese restaurant, which didn't hold a candle to any duck in Beijing (I had yet to visit Beijing at that point in my life), and that was a long time ago. As long as you avoid the crab/lobster/abalone, none of the restaurants mentioned in this thread will break your bank.

Xi He Ya Ju is what you're looking for, and it's not really a duck restaurant though they do have it. I like their food in general and often take visiting out of towners there, particularly when the weather is good and you can get a courtyard table. Don't usually eat duck there, but it is OK.

They now have a sister restaurant, Xi He Ya Yuan, which is quite nice yet still reasonable in cost, and which touts duck as more of a specialty. It is in the CityMall (3rd floor) which adjoins the Westin Chaoyang. We had our October 2011 Beijing "mini-do" dinner here, and it seemed to work out quite well. The duck was decent; we probably should have ordered more of it. :)

It is not simple as "if you look like a duck, walk like a duck and quack like a duck then you are a duck!"

Chinese ducks are a different breed and raise/fed differently than other country/region. As a result the skin's fat content is different in terms of quantity and quality. The flesh will also have a different texture or in Cantonese "the feel in the mouth" (口感).
Chinese roasting chef mentioned that they also need to learn to read the meat (piglet/duck) differently when roasting in a different region.

Quack! Quack!-- My bad. We had a dinner special at the Hong Kong Lounge, Geary Blvd./18th Avenue, SF: $69.99 for 1/2 Peking duck OR Lobster, a house soup and a choice of 4 dishes good for 4; go with 8 and get a whole duck, 2 tureens of soup, and 8 dishes (veggies/meat/fried rice). $69.99X2 + tax and tips.

We haven't been eating out much but will check around for other recommendation for duck. The take out place on Noriega (across from Safeway) had a change in cooks and the taste has changed, not for the good.:(

Cantonese restaurants like to offer hoisin for the bean spread. I understand that the Northerners use a sweet bean less garlic/seasoning.

Yup, that's the place:

http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijin...rd-restaurant/

I had always assumed that the "ya" was 鸭 (duck), but the above link proves that I was mistaken; it is 雅, which means "elegant". I also had no idea that it specialized in Huaiyang cuisine, which I typically dislike. In any event, there are enough Beijing, Sichuan, and jiachang cai dishes on the menu to satisfy my palette (and fool me into thinking it was merely a fancier version of Xiaowangfu). You learn something new everyday. :)

Not sure about the duck vs duck face-off, but in a contest of all the other dishes, Xi He Ya Ju's food beats Xiao Wang Fu's any day of the week, and twice on Sundays! I've never had a bad meal at Xi He Ya Ju (or even a bad dish), whereas at Xiao Wang Fu...well, let's just not go there.

I think Xiao Wang Fu is fine if you order the dishes they are skilled at cooking. I often go there with 2 or 3 other people, and have found that: Xianglajiding (note, the "ding" denotes the absence of bones; while many Chinese argue that bones enhance the flavor, I like the convenience factor of not having to deal with them), Cuipi Doufu (crispy toufu with chili sauce), deep fried spare ribs, a duck, and a few beers makes for a decent meal, and only costs around y70 pp (very cheap by CBD standards). Sure, if I was only in Beijing on a short visit, I would happily pay 3x the price for Made in China, but I honestly believe that Xiao Wang Fu's ducks are pretty solid.

It has been nearly a year since I have had duck from anywhere else, but for my money Xi He Ya Ju and Xi He Ya Yuan are my absolute overall favorites. I have yet to be disappointed in the duck or any of the other dishes available.

The last time I was at the City Mall/Westin location, they forgot one of our two ducks. We straightened everything out in the end but what surprised me was that the manager gave us a 50% discount on the second one as an apology.

I am feeling the need for some duck, so if anyone is interested feel free to send a note.

Are you in Beijing now? If so, I'm up for duck anytime in the next few days. :)

I sure am. How does Tuesday look?

Tuesday's great. Got your mobile, I'll SMS you tonight. Anybody else around and up for duck?

Ouch, seems steep but what in SF isn't? Maybe a Bay area kaoya DO sometime? :)

I floated the duck idea past my business guest, but we decided to go to Hooter's instead. Migas afterwards. Most of you guys have me cell phone number; please feel free contact me if you are in slt this evening.

Dear all

I have a about eight-hour stop over in Beijing (arriving 7 am and departing 3 pm) on a Saturday.

I would like to visit the forbidden palace during this trip (after seeking advices from other FT travellers) and have some nice beijing duck...unfortunately alone. I decided to drop the purchaing fake goods plan...:)

Being a tourist, I only know and heard of quanjude. But it seems there are much more choices.

COuld someone recommend me a decent place (and not overly expensive) to go for some duck and side dishes (e.g. pepper beef cubes) that is not too overly far from the forbidden place or near any metro station and importantly I do not need to stay in the line for too long since I do not have too much time to spare.

Actually, I think I need to start my lunch at 11 am, so that I could finish it by 12:30 pm and get back to the airport by 2pm.

Appreciate your advices.

In light of your schedule, you should go from the airport directly to the north gate of the Forbidden City, walk south, and exit through Tian'an Men. I'm guessing you'll be out by around 1015a.

From there, the two most logical choices are the Qianmen Quanjude (10 minute walk south across Tian'an Men Square) or Made in China (15 minute walk to the east). If you decide to go with the latter, you should pre order your duck a day in advance.

With all due respect, you cannot enter Forbidden city at the north entrance - and that for several years now (2008?). You must enter via south gate and must exit north.

Considering that taxis are impossible to get at the north exit I, suggest to walk to Siji Minfu Roast Duck, about 15 mins by foot. The have a very good duck (and many other dishes, including beef cubes), and always space at noon. To continue the journey back to the airport, just take a taxi or walk to the Crowne Plaza Wangfujing nearby to get one.

Map of Siji Minfu http://goo.gl/maps/6CSvm

I've actually always entered via Tian'anmen because: 1) I feel this is the proper way to do the drill; and 2) I like following it up with Beihai Park. I only suggested the southbound approach to anaidross because someone in his other thread mentioned the idea, and it seemed to make sense in light of his objectives and time constraints.

But, let me throw one more idea out there for him/her: the Houhai Quanjude, which happens to be directly across the street from the north gate of Beihai Park. While this plan is semi-ambitious, an 1130a arrival is doable (it's only a 2 mile walk); just ask the restaurant to book a taxi to the airport (shouldn't be all that hard at 1230 or 1).

57号 Di'anmen West Street
Xicheng, Beijing, China
010-6617 2127
quanjude.com.cn‎

Siji Minfu is (way) better than Quanjude :p

Interesting--I love Sijiminfu for a quick, inexpensive place to eat near Wangfujing if I'm staying there, but I've never had the duck. My favorite there is the sauteed green beans (ganbian siji dou, right?). I've had the dish several places, and it's the best version I've had. $4 for a heaping plate seals the deal. (Of course, I'm not as well traveled as many within China, and I suspect there are places that take this dish to an even higher level).

I found Siji Minfu by accident (Wangjing Branch) and thought it was fantastic. My Chinese partners, who have not the best opinion of Quanjude, also like and recommend it. The Wangfujing Branch is amazingly relaxed and friendly.

The ganbian sijidou are different at every single place you order them - the best version for me is the mala one at Chongqing/Xiangcai restaurants. Nonetheless, no dish at Siji Minfu has disappointed yet - and service is incredibly friendly.

That said, a Beijing duck and sijidou go for less than 60 and 15 kuai, resp. at my area...

Do you have an address for Sijiminfu in Wangfujing area? It sounds like a great place for eating.

Thanks,

Google

(I don't mean to be snarky, but come on!)

There's even a link in post 150.

Thank you everyone for your time and the great insider tips.

I will try to get to Sijiminfu as it seems really interesting and not so touristy.

Beijing, here I came...:)

Wall Street Journal's take on Peking Duck:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...googlenews_wsj

Short but nice article.