iambackpacker

Yes! Sorry! I edited

iambackpacker

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

JDiver

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

Thank you!

JDiver, Senior Moderator

tycosiao

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.

8dimsum

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

TravelManKen

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

portishead

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.

studentbecometeacher

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.

Chihster

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.

trueblu

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

jiejie

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.

mnredfox

+1, I'm drooling.

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

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.

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.

drewguy

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.)

moondog

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.