The consolidated Peking Duck thread
 

Hello, all. I've just completed another series of back-to-back duck nights and felt compelled to share my experiences with you guys. While my first inclination was to bring back the relevant thread from DiningBuzz, I'm posting here instead because I think this topic is more appropriate here.

We went to the new Da Dong (Da Dong is widely regarded as the best in town right now) last night and the Xiaowangfu near the Kerry Centre tonight. As far as I'm concerned (and please keep my peculiar tastes in mind), the Xiaowangfu (which isn't a duck restaurant) product is much, much tastier.

Since my opinion is only an opinion, I would like to encourage all of you that pass through Beijing to eat duck twice (lunch is fine) and report back with your results. (I'm tempted to say "at least" twice, but I respect the fact that duck isn't all that easy on many of our "western" stomachs.)

Moderator note: be sure to check this recent post from iambackpacker with luscious photos.

Xiaowangfu near the Kerry Centre is one of my favorite places for good ole home cooking. The duck is excellent, you walk by the 'oven' when you enter the main entrance....and most everything there is good ^ ^ ^

Thanks for the rec's...moondog, I PM'd you a while back re: drivers and the like. Did you get it?

I've eaten duck at a few places, including Xiaowangfu's with moondog about a week ago, and Xiao Wang's is excellent. However, the best is a restaurant near the Andingmen Subway stop on the first floor of a hotel. I'm blank on the name, but will look it up and post the info.

P.S.: 室雅人和 Restaurant (Shi4 Ya3 Ren2 He2) near Andingmen 安定门 next to Ditan Park 地坛公园
Address: 地址：朝阳区安定门外大街188号　- Open until 10pm

Any good Peking Duck places to recommend in Hong Kong? I wouldn't normally do it but HK is the closest this friend from Spain is going to get to Beijing.

I second that Da Dong is the most over-rated duck in Beijing.

I have heard many good things about "Made In China" in the Grand Hyatt. Is it really as good as the reviews?

How does it compare to the old DaDong (near the PCCW towers) or LiQun (both of which I have tried)?

Will be back in Beijing next week and would appreciate some reviews.

Went to Xiao Wang Fu when we were in Beijing...it was quite good. Liked that there was a lot of skin included with the duck.

We had lunch at Made in China and it was great. Staff are also very helpful selecting dishes. Haven't eaten at the others, so can't compare.

A word to the wise. It has a open kitchen and it was pretty warm at our table as we were fairly close to the ovens (and it was July).

Well it seems like Xiaowangfu is the place I gotta try--I will be there next month. I love Peking Duck and would like to try not only the best as favored by western palates, but am also open to what aficionados say is the best and most authentic. I'd like to do both while I am there. So if anyone has any ideas for the best duck on the most authentic side, please post it. Thanks.

Hmmmm, I might have to get duck tonight at the local Chinese joint here in suburban hell. As it turns out, there are some decent places!^

Don't even bother. You'll end up spending a lot of money and waiting a long time. In America, you should stick to the dishes that Americanized Chinese do well:

-mushu pork/chicken/etc (nobody knows about the pancakes here)
-walnut prawns (i got a pretty decent version in shenzhen this week, but those guys forgot the walnuts)
-boneless spareribs
-Kung Pao whatever
-things that involve lobster and what not; New England has much better seafood than we can get here

But, for duck, Beijing reigns supreme. I had one last week that blew Xiaowangfu out of the water. The restaurant was the China Lounge inside the south gate of the stadium.

Hey Moondog . . . I saw your posts in the other thread from last year. Might you be down for a duck run when I get there next month?

I had good duck last night. It might have been Americanized but it still tasted good and that's what matters. I do like most of the Americanized western dishes as you list above . . . but there are still some (not many) Chinese restaurants here in the US where they offer an authentic/traditional menu (which is not presented to Americans when they come in) and are packed with Chinese people because they are excellent. One widely praised such place near me is called China Star, in Fairfax, Va.
Looking forward to that!^

We'll be heading into Beijing in two weeks, and I'm looking forward to trying some duck. I had it in the States many times, but that's undoubtedly not the same.

(I also had duck once in Beijing twenty-five years ago on a group tour, but that was unmemorable. I'll chalk it up to being taken to a mediocre restaurant. We ate at many mediocre restaurants on that tour -- places here in the States were better. The few times that we got away from the tour and ate on our own, the food was much better.)

However, my wife is mostly vegetarian (some seafood). Is there a good place in Beijing for both duck and vegetarian food? We'll be staying at the Grand Hyatt, so "Made in China" is most convenient. But I may only be eating duck in Beijing once this trip, so I don't want to blow my duck allotment on duck that's just OK.

"Made in China" is pretty damn solid. In fact, it's one of the only two restaurants that I know of that require reservations (the other is Yotosuba). I'd be happy to dine with you, DullesJason, and anyone else. I'm planning on hitting the US again late next month, but should be around during the interim.

Cool, look forward to it. I'll probably be there in late August/early September.

I used to live in the DC area and this is indeed a great Chinese restaurant with very good Peking duck.

Hmmmm . . . they don't make Peking Duck anymore. I just called them on Friday, since they are *the* authentic Chinese place in Fairfax, and they said they don't do it. I was stunned.:confused:

Bummer. :( It was known all over the area for its great duck. Wonder why they stopped preparing it?

You might try the Peking Gourmet Inn on Route 7 between Bailey's Crossroads and Seven Corners. I think it's in the Culmore Shopping Center. They've been there forever, and I've always enjoyed the Peking Duck there. The tableside carving is quite the production.

Xiao Wang's is excellent. The quality of the duck (particularly the crispiness of the skin) and pancakes in uniformly excellent in Beijing, but I can't get over just how sweat the Hoisin sauce is. Maybe it's my relatively uneducated American pallate, but I just prefer the hoisin sauce you get at top quality restaurants in the US and UK. Take Beijing duck and pancakes, and US hoisin sauce, and I think I'd die of a heart attack next week.

Your guess is as good as mine. But, I expect I'll be over there sometime in the next week or so. I can ask why they don't do Peking Duck when I'm there. They still have tons of excellent dishes though, and the place is packed with mostly Chinese customers.

I will definitely keep that in mind--thanks!^

I just heard from a frined another recommendation: Quanjude.

Moondog and mothers, what are your opinions?

The Qianmen location is the most famous Peking Duck restaurant in the world. Even though I'm a big fan of their product (compared to some of the other places discussed here) and I find the droves of junket tours and accompanying hooplah downright annoying, for better or for worse, it's effectively the benchmark by which all other duck restaurants are measured.

Why hard on western stomachs?
 

I keep seeing posts about the duck being hard on Western stomachs. Why is that? I've had duck a few times, granted not Peking duck, but it never bothered me. Is it specific to the way Peking duck is prepared?

At least insofar as my stomach is concerned, it's true. From what I've read/learned, the preparation has little to with it. But, it's certainly not going to kill you. (The same goes for the 3a 串 in Sanlitun.)

Good analysis!^ Thanks.

Xiaowangfu: two BIG thumbs up
 

I'm in Beijing now and have had duck twice so far.

Last night I joined the esteemed Moondog (and his cousin) at Xiaowangfu and, though it is not a duck restaurant, their duck was outstanding!

This afternoon I decided I had to go to Quanjude (Wanfujing location), given its status as the standard, the quintessential duck joint, etc. It was fine and pretty decent, but let me tell you . . . it was beyond oily! The level of oiliness was astonishing!!!:eek: Even my Chinese dining companion was turned off by its excessive oiliness.

So I don't know if that's what makes it "authentic" or not, but it's certainly how they seem to do it at Quanjude. It's not what I prefer.

Qiaowangfu was not only much less oily, but actually tasted better to me. The sauce was nice and, skin was crisper and the meat was very tender. So, based on my 2 different restaurants samples, I'm going to side with Moondog and agree that Xiaowangfu is the winning place to eat Peking Duck whilst in Beijing! ^

I'm hoping to try one more place before I leave. Will comment on it if I do.

Beijing duck restaurants
 

A friend of a friend has told me that Bianyifang (2 Chongwai Dajie, 010-67120505) has the best duck in Beijing. I did a search of this forum (I remember an old duck thread) and didn't see it mentioned. Perhaps the spelling is different?

What say the experts? FWIW, this fellow ranked Quan Jude as number two.

It should be "pianyifang" 便宜坊.

Thanks, but I don't see any flyertalk references to "pianyifang," either.

So what say folks? The place seems to have been around forever, so it should be more widely known.

Most of my friends prefer either quanjude 全聚德 or da dong 大董

Bianyifang is widely known by locals and a lot of expats and is well thought of. It's not as expensive as a place like Quanjude, which may be why it is favored by a lot of Chinese who are looking for a good meal at a good price rather than fancy marketing to tourists. It's been awhile since I've been to BYF but as I recall it was pretty good. I think I've been to another branch as well in north part of town that was very good. I'd put DaDong and Liqun before either of them, though.

Thanks. I'll try to try at least one of these restaurants this month.

We walked out of Quanjude after being told it would be an hour wait for a table and the hostess that greeted us had an attitude like they were doing us a favor by allowing us to eat at their restaurant. We asked to see a menu while we were waiting. The hostess said we could not view the menu until we were seated. We said no thanks, and walked out.

I figure if I'm going to have to wait for an hour for a table, they could at least give me the courtesy of letting me look at the menu and prices so I can decide whether I want to wait that long. Maybe I caught them on a bad day, but they just gave me a bad feeling, and seemed to have a very arogant attitude.

We ended up going to a more "local" duck place with no other foreigners around and had a great meal at a low cost. I can't remember the name of the place. Sorry.

We liked pianyifang better than qianjude.

The skin was crispier.

To us the crispy skin is what makes a better duck. Qianjude was better ambience but our choice most definietly is pianyifang.

We've been to Quanjude before and liked it. We went on a weekday and didn't see any of the crowds mentioned, and the duck was good, though can't say it was any better to the Peking Duck we've had, say, in Hong Kong.

Am interested in Bianyifang, which uses a closed oven as opposed to a hung oven used in Quanjude, but have heard mixed reviews, here and elsewhere.

I've also heard that Dadong is the best, irregardless of price, from many sources. Anybody that's been to all three that can comment?

As an update, I did try Bianyifang. I thought the duck was quite good, but it didn't knock my socks off. Indeed, I thought the duck I had at Xihe Ya Ju on the edge of Ritan Park was more enjoyable. It could be because it was a nice night and they offered outdoor dining, though. :cool:

FWIW, Ritan Park also has a branch of Xiao Wang's, which is another excellent restaurant. Xiao Wang also has good duck, but Xihe Ya Ju's is probably better.

Surprised no one has mentioned Li Qun. This restaurant is in a hutong neighborhood, and looks ancient, even though the restaurant itself is only 17 years old. Opened by the former head chef of Quanjude, the place has quite a reputation as a lot of famous celebrities and dignitaries have visited, as shown by the photos on the wall, despite the "run-down" atmosphere of the place.

Compared to Quanjude, I have to say the duck "looks" not very pretty at all. The ducks look anemic, and the skin rather saggy, not the fat, shiny, beautiful duck that you expect. Taste-wise, it's very good. Not too oily, and the skin sliced how it should be sliced.

The restaurant itself is pretty bad. I've eaten in a lot of dumps, but this one nearly takes the cake. Forget about the toilet. If you need to drop the kids off at the pool, you're s*** out of luck. If you see the toilet, you would rather soil your pants than take them off, even after you have puked all over yourself. Definitely not a place to take a date or the kids.

Despite the quality of the duck, still, compared to Quanjude, which was a bit more oily, I liked Quanjude better.

I also went to Da Dong on my latest trip. This was the best of all.

I hereby proclaim Da Dong the best Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing!

First off, the restaurant itself is gorgeous. There are at least two Da Dong restaurants in Beijing, and I don't know the English address, but the Chinese address as sent to me is: 大董北京烤鸭店，北京东城区东四十条甲22号南新仓国际大厦1-2楼(东四十条桥西南), Tel: 86 10 51690329. This is the one I'm recommending.

The atmosphere of this place is incredible. Just a beautiful, classy restaurant with a lot of atmosphere. We had ten people and our server had politely reserved a private room for us upstairs, but I would have preferred the main downstairs dining room as the atmosphere is much better. Unfortunately, they were fully booked so we couldn't change the table. If you go, I would definitely make a reservation in advance.

Beside duck, they had a lot of other incredible Peking-style dishes, and the best was it came with an English menu with lots of photos. In fact, nearly every dish had a photo so it was easy to know what you're ordering.

But the duck, it was fantastic! Not greasy at all, it looked gorgeous and tasted better than the other two famous Peking Duck restaurants we went to. They also provided a lot more condiments, with two types of hoisin sauce, sugar, green onions, cucumbers, and some kind of pickle, and they provided the thin flour pancakes as well as a type of hollowed bread. Delicious.

After we finished the duck, they brought a duck soup made from the carcass of the duck. Awesome!

I went there with a group of 7 two weeks ago, during the Olympics, and we had someone from the Olympic desk at the hotel call and make reservations for us about 3 hours ahead. Place was pretty full when we arrived. Our reservation was under "7 Americans" as the hotel didn't ask for a name, and that seemed to work fine with the restaurant. Enjoyed the dinner very much.

PHOTOS of our dinner

> It should be "pianyifang" 便宜坊

Actually the first character is a duoyinzi, and Bian is correct, 'bianyi' meaning in this case 'convenient'.

The prices at the restaurant’s two locations are a little cheaper than at Quanjude, and the method of preparing the duck a little different. Whereas the Quanjude bird is traditionally roasted over pear wood here the method involves millet stalks. The restaurant claims an even greater antiquity than Quanjude, although not at either of its two last two addresses, and now it's in the ground floor of a modern hotel. It's the sort of place middle-ranking out-of-town cadres go to eat at the work unit's expense.

For those who like the old-school restaurants there's real and unaffected early 80s atmosphere at Jiuhua Shan, the service a bit tiefanwan (lacklustre and uninterested), which is inside the Zibao Fandian, just inside the West Third Ring Road between Hua Yuan Qian and Hang Ten Qiao. It's nothing more to write home about than Quanjude or Bianyifang, but it completes the set. The 九花山精品烤鸭 or 'top quality' duck is ¥128.

The Da Dong branch at the Nan Xin Cang (as mentioned in characters in a posting above) remains my favourite of sensibly priced ducks (as opposed to Made in China, etc.) not least because of a large supporting case of other inventive dishes. Several people of unknown reliability have recently been speaking warmly of somewhere called Duck de Chine, but I have yet to try it.

Peter N-H