[Beijing, China] It would be a shame to visit Beijing without trying one of their best-known Peking Ducks.
If you have yet to try any Peking Ducks 北京烤鸭 before, it has quite a unique style of preparation.
Ducks bred specially for the dish are slaughtered after 2 months or so, seasoned thoroughly before being roasted in a closed or hung oven.
Peking Ducks are known for its thin and crisp skin, contrasted with little meat, often wrapped in crepe-like pancake pieces with spring onions, cucumber and sweet hoisin sauce.
If you are at lost where to head to, here are 5 highly recommended Peking Duck restaurants in Beijing:
Da Dong Roast Duck 北京大董烤鸭店 (Nanxincang)
1-2 Nanxincang Guoji Dasha, 22A Dongsishitiao, Dongcheng District, Beijing
东城区东四十条甲22号南新仓商务大厦1-2楼 (东四十条桥西南)
Tel: +86 10 5169 0329
Opening Hours: 11:00am – 10:00pm Daily
www.dadongdadong.com
Google Maps – Da Dong Roast Duck (Nanxincang)
Talk about the best Peking Duck from Beijng, Quanjude 全聚德 may be the restaurant most popular with tourists, but it is Da Dong that is known for its quality ducks and dishes.
Da Dong Roast Duck 北京大董烤鸭店 was established in Dongcheng District in Beijing, more than 30 years ago.
Its other two restaurants in Shanghai both earned a Michelin star each; while the Peking Duck restaurant has also found its way to New York City’s The Cube Building near Bryant Park.
Da Dong is synonymous to its specialty, super-lean roast duck. Instead of the traditional square oven, Da Dong uses an innovative spherical wood fired oven in cooking Peking Duck. Da Dong Roast Duck 北京大董烤鸭店 (Nanxincang, Beijing)
Billed as the modern, healthy way to eat roast duck, Da Dong Roast Duck is famous for being roasted in a leaner and less fatty way than traditional methods.
I would recommend first eating the skin san all the condiments and pancake – it could melt in the mouth with a thin layer of juicy fat. Inside, the meat is flavourful.
Siji Minfu (Deng Shi Kou) 四季民福烤鸭店(灯市口店)
32 Dengshikou W St, DongDan, Dongcheng Qu, Beijing Shi, China, 100006
东城区 灯市口西街32号
Tel: +86 10 6513 5141
Opening Hours: 10:30am – 10:30pm
Google Maps – Siji Minfu
Siji Minfu’s 四季民福烤鸭店 local specialties further set this restaurant as a sought-after culinary destination. Compared to most other Peking Duck restaurants, it has a slightly better price point.
It offers a rare combination of curated menu items, including delicacies from China and other parts of Asia.
This chain is popular for its authentic Peking duck, carved tableside. Locals and tourists alike line up out the door for the famed duck, expertly roasted so that the skin shatters while the flesh remains tender.
The duck is priced at RMB108 for half (SGD21.56, USD15.83), RMB198 (SGD39.53, USD29) for whole. A whole duck is easily enough of a meal for three to four people.
Take note there is additional RMB6 for the pancakes, and RMB5 per person for condiments.
Your meal ends with a bowl of creamy white Duck Bone Soup (additional RMB20) with choy sum, tofu and vermicelli.
It is intentionally bland to cleanse your palate of the rich flavour of duck. Siji Minfu 四季民福烤鸭店 (Beijing)
Jing Yaa Tang (The Opposite House) 京雅堂烤鸭
Lower Ground Level, The Opposite House, Taikoo Li Sanlitun North, No. 11 Sanlitun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China 100027
朝阳区三里屯路11号院1号楼瑜舍酒店LG层
Tel: +86 10 6410 5230
Opening Hours: Lunch 12pm – 2:30pm (Mon – Fri) 11am – 2:30pm (Sat – Sun); Dinner 6pm – 10:30pm (Mon – Sun)
Google Maps – Jing Yaa Tang (The Opposite House)
The Opposite House is an upscale contemporary glass-fronted hotel in the Chaoyang district, with 3 restaurants and a bar. Located in the hotel’s basement is the fancy Jing Yaa Tang, a new culinary landmark celebrating the traditional Beijing roast duck.
Order a whole Peking duck (RMB238, SGD49.98) and you’ll also get complimentary sides – stir-fried shredded duck, bamboo shoots, Chinese sausages and mushrooms.
As with traditional duck houses in Beijing, diners enjoy their duck rolled up in a pancake.
They’d flavour it with homemade sweet fermented sauce, julienned cucumber, melon and leeks, and some crunchy garlic sprinkles (to add some texture to the wrap).
The duck roasting kitchen is almost the main spectacle with the date wood-fired oven.
Once seated inside the restaurant, served by respectful and knowledgeable staff and nibbling on crunchy duck skin, it is easy to imagine that you are in a classy dining hall of modern royalty, enjoying a relaxed yet distinguished meal.
Duck de Chine 1949 The Hidden City
1949 – The Hidden City, Courtyard 4, Gongti Beilu (opposite the south gate of Pacific Century Place Mall) Chaoyang District
朝阳区工体北路4号院
Tel: +86 10 6501 8881
Opening Hours: 11:00am – 2:30pm; 5:30pm – 10:30pm (Mon – Sun)
Google Maps – Duck de Chine 1949 The Hidden City
Located away from street view just behind Pacific Century Place in Sanlitun, Duck de Chine is part of the 1949-The Hidden City, a former factory-turned-dining and nightlife complex in Beijing.
Duck de Chine’s menu incorporates both Chinese and French duck-roasting traditions. Its signature dish is roasted duck along with Cantonese cuisine.
What makes its roasted duck unique in flavour is the use of Jujube wood, which is over 60 years old. Using this type of wood when roasting imparts a strong fruit aroma to the duck, giving it especially crispy caramelized skin and a tender, juicy flavourful meat.
Moreover, Duck de Chine distinguishes itself with its homemade hoisin sauce. The sweet hoisin sauce is drizzled over sliced spring onions and cucumbers and encased with the duck skin in a thin pancake.
Quan Ju De Peking Duck (Qian Men) 全聚德烤鸭店（前门店）
30 Qianmen St, Dongcheng Qu, Beijing Shi, China, 100051
Tel: +86 10 6511 2418
Opening Hours: 10:45am – 1:45pm, 4:15pm – 8:15pm (Mon – Sun)
Google Maps – Quan Ju De Peking Duck (Qian Men)
Quanjude 全聚德 is Beijing’s oldest roast duck restaurant, being founded in the year 1864. That is over 150 years ago.
The name “Quanjude” is synonymous with traditional Beijing Roast Duck, otherwise known as Peking Duck. This special cuisine is popular with the heads of state, government officials, people from all walks of life, and tourists from home and abroad.
Ask a random local on the street about what to do in Bejiing, most of them are likely to direct you to taste roast duck in Quanjude.
The Qianmen Avenue store is a 1,600-meter-long revamped Qing Dynasty-style shopping street in front of the Forbidden City. Perhaps the most spectacular among all the branches in Beijing.
Recommended is its signature Roast Duck (RMB258, SGD54.28). Every single duck has an ID number and certificate, from the very first duck roasted since the opening of the restaurant, a century and a half ago.
To be really honest, I thought that the Roast Duck I had was just all right, as perhaps I was expecting much more.
While the meat was generally moist and tender, the skin could have been a lot crispier and glossy. Basically lacking in the “wow” factor for such as renowned brand. Quanjude Roast Duck 全聚德 (Qianmen, Beijing)
Other Related Entries
10 Must Visit Places in Beijing 北京
Da Dong Roast Duck 北京大董烤鸭店 (Nanxincang, Beijing)
Quanjude Roast Duck 全聚德 (Qianmen, Beijing)
Siji Minfu 四季民福烤鸭店 (Beijing)
Bai Jia Da Yuan 白家大院 (Haidian, Beijing)
Click HERE for other BEIJING Food Entries
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