Restaurants

Beijing Roast Duck

There’s a Chinese saying: no visit to Beijing is complete if you miss seeing the Great Wall or dining on Roast Duck. As a famous and delicious, Beijing Roast Duck is definitely a feast for tourists. Besides, with a long history, it will help you get a better understanding of Chinese cuisine, customs and dining culture.

Beijing duck is served with thin pancakes, plum sauce, and slivers of scallions and cucumbers. You dip the duck in the sauce and roll it up in the pancake with a few slivers of scallions and/or cucumbers. The end result is a mouthwatering combination of the cool crunchiness of the cucumber, the sharpness of the scallions, and the rich flavors of the duck.

•Quanjude, 32 Qianmen Dajie
Tell: +86 10 6510 9608.
Daily 11:30 AM-2:30 PM and 4:30-8 PM .
The oldest and most venerable of the roast duck restaurants, Quanjude is slipping these days, but its fame still brings many customers, mostly tourists eager for the “classic” experience. Ducks cost ¥199 each and ¥99 for half a duck; quality varies by location. Subway: Line 2 to Qianmen. Bus: 2, 120, 726, 826, 803 to Qianmen. The most reputable of Quanjude’s 14 branches is the listed Qianmen location. Other branches are at Hepingmen (south of the subway stop), the east side of Tian’anmen Square, and Qinghua Science Park near Wudaokou.

Here is a vedio of that quanjude chef slicing a duck in front of guests.

•Dadong Duck Restaurant.
Daily 11AM-10PM .
Considered by some to be the best Beijing duck in the city, this upscale restaurant also delivers on a nice atmosphere. Reservations suggested.

•Tuanjiehu Beikou branch , Chaoyang District, Tuanjiehu Beikou Bldg.3, East 3rd Rind Road,
Tell: +86 10 6582 2892 .

•Dongsi Shitiao branch , Dongsi Shitiao 22A, Bldg. 1-2 of the Nanxin Cang International Tower.

•Xingfu Dajie branch, Chongwen District 36 Xingfu Dajie,
Tell: +86 10 6711 6545 .

•Tiantan branch , 73 Tiantan Dong Lu.

•Chongwenmen Wai Dajie branch , 2A Chongwenmen Wai Dajie.

Beijing Hot Pot

Beijing is also known for its lamb hotpot, which originally came from the Manchu people and emphasizes lamb over other meats. Like variations of hotpot from elsewhere in China and Japan, lamb hotpot is a cook-it-yourself affair in a steaming pot in the center of the table. Unlike Sichuan hotpot, lamb hotpot features a savory, non-spicy broth. If that’s not exciting enough for you, you can also request a spicy broth (be aware that this is flaming red, filled with peppers, and not for the weak!). To play it safe and satisfy everyone, you can request a ying-yang pot divided down the middle, with spicy broth on one side and regular broth on the other.

Raw ingredients are purchased by the plate. In addition to lamb, beef, and seafood, this also includes a wide variety of vegetables, mushrooms, noodles, and tofu, so it’s also perfectly possible to have vegetarian hotpot . A dipping sauce, usually sesame, is served as well; you can add chilis, garlic, cilantro, etc, to customize your own sauce. While “raw” sounds dangerous, boiling the meat yourself is the best way to ensure that more risky meats like pork are fully cooked and free of germs. In the city center, hotpot can run as much as ¥40-¥50 per person, but on the outskirts it can be found for as little as ¥10-¥25.

•Dong Lai Shun. Daily 11 AM-2 PM and 5-9 PM . This king of Beijing hotpot has been around since the 19th century. Founded by the Hui (ethnic Muslims), Donglaishun serves halal cuts of top-quality lamb and beef. Also serves cooked-by-chef dishes, including traditional Beijing sweets.

•Wangfujing branch , Dongcheng District, 198 Wangfujing Dajie.
Tell: +86 10 6513-9661 . Subway: Line 1 to Wangfujing

•New Oriental Shopping Plaza branch , 5th floor of Sun Dong’an (New Oriental Sun) Shopping Plaza, at Tian’anmen .

•Haidian branch , 25 Yiheyuan Lu, Haidian