Da Dong Roast Duck (with a commentary on Quanjude)

There's always this argument about whether Quanjude or Da Dong serves the best roast duck in Beijing. Having been to both twice, I would say that it really depends on the branch that you go to. I've been to the Quanjude at Qianhai before, and found it pretty good, but I'll never go back to the Wangfujing branch. I had a really fatty and oily duck there, and that put me off duck for a few months.

Da Dong has 2 branches - one at Dongsishitiao and the other at Tuanjiehu. I personally found the food at the Tuanjiehu branch to be better than Dongsishitiao - not just the duck, but all the other dishes。 They had a great kou shui ji (口水鸡, or saliva chicken - apparently named because the dish is so good you end up salivating, which was quite true for me!), and everything else was really delicious. The Tuanjiehu branch also appeared to be more down-to-earth and more comfortable. However, this may not be a fair comparison because it was a Singaporean that did the ordering at the Tuanjiehu branch, and it was a local PRC Beijing resident who did the ordering at Dongsishitiao.

The first thing you see at the entrance of the Dongsishitiao branch - ducks being ready to be roasted.

How cool is that - duck paraphernalia!

The chefs carving up our 2 ducks

Waitress giving us tuition on how to eat our duck (3 ways: skin to be dipped in sugar, wrapped up in the skin, and in the toasted bun)
Stuff to go with the duck

The most coveted duck skin. I found this to be more fatty at Dongsishitiao compared to Tuanjiehu.

Limited photos available because it was meant to be an official dinner. And reservations are very important, unless you don't mind waiting for a table.

Dongsishitiao Branch:

22 Dongsishitiao, Nanxincang International Plaza,

Dongcheng District

Tel: 86-10-51690329

Tuanjiehu Branch:

Building 3, Tuanjiehu Beikou (South-east of Chang Hong Bridge)

Chaoyang District

Tel: 80-10-65822892