Peking Duck

We’re just back from a 2 ½ week eating extravaganza around Beijing, Tokyo and Kyoto. We started off in Beijing, where we obviously had to kick off the holiday with some Peking Duck. Da Dong Restaurant is probably the most famous duck restaurant in Beijing, so we of course made that our first stop.

As far as I know, there are three branches of Da Dong Restaurant in Beijing. We opted for the one in Chaoyang as it was within walking distance from our hotel. If you fancy trying it but aren’t staying in the area – it’s right next to Gongtibeilu subway station, so it’s easy to get to.

They don’t take reservations after 6.30pm, so we had to join a queue. It was about a 40 minute wait, but those folk at Da Dong know how to keep their customers happy – we had a comfy seat in the windowed corridor with views out over the street and, more importantly, free drinks (soft drinks, tea and boxed wine) while we waited.

We were fairly famished by the time we were shown to our table and were eager to get immediately stuck into the duck. We ordered half a duck, but were soon distracted by the enormous menu full of other enticing goodies. As it was our first night, we were slightly over excited and, as usual, ordered a tableful of food for just the two of us.

We ended up with Prawns with a Spicy Sauce, which were sweet, spicy, sticky and scrumptious



Australian veal with shallots



And of course some vegetables for good measure.



The duck actually arrived last – presumably as it is the most ordered item on the menu, we had to wait in line. The chef carving our duck introduced himself to us and allowed us to inspect the bird before he set about dissecting it in front of us.



This he did deftly and quickly and the succulent slices were soon set out in front of us, together with the usual accompanying paraphernalia – pancakes, various sauces, and sliced radish, cucumber and spring onion.



It was delicious – well worth the wait and thankfully lived up to our expectations. What exceeded our expectations however, was the quality of the other dishes on the table, in particular those sticky sweet prawns – they were truly fantastic and presented beautifully.

If you do happen to find yourself in Beijing with a duck craving – I’d say you could do far worse than head to Da Dong.