Best Peking Duck in Beijing?

[mister exec]

My wife and I will be in Beijing later this month and we would like to know which restaurants are highly recommended (or to be avoided) for Peking Duck. Also, how are the prices?

 

Thanks

[Barbie075]

I have been doing some research on where to eat Peking Duck in Beijing and so far have heard of the following highly recommended places to eat:

 

Made in China @ Grand Hyatt (of all places), and Da Dong. Also if you are there on a Friday they say to try Black Sesame Kitchen. You MUST have a reservation as the only accommodate a small group of people and are only open on Friday. They are a famous chinese cooking school. I suggest you go on-line to trip advisor or just google Peking Duck in Beijing.

 

Good luck and if you find a great place or try one of these suggestions follow up with a review on this site. Thanks. Barbara

[sondi 14]

We ate at Made In China last year and loved it. All the food was delicious, but the Peking Duck and their whole fish were particularly good.

[Turtles06]

I have been doing some research on where to eat Peking Duck in Beijing and so far have heard of the following highly recommended places to eat:

 

Made in China @ Grand Hyatt (of all places), and Da Dong. Also if you are there on a Friday they say to try Black Sesame Kitchen. You MUST have a reservation as the only accommodate a small group of people and are only open on Friday. They are a famous chinese cooking school. I suggest you go on-line to trip advisor or just google Peking Duck in Beijing.

 

Good luck and if you find a great place or try one of these suggestions follow up with a review on this site. Thanks. Barbara

 

I think you have been reading some of my advice and reviews! :)

 

We were in Beijing last May and had a Peking Duck dinner at Made in China. For two of us, the concierge suggested half a duck, along with other dishes. (We were staying at the Hyatt, and the concierge pre-ordered the duck for us; this is a good idea.) Our meal was simply wonderful; I wish Beijing weren't half a world away so I could easily eat there again! Others on our tour ate Peking Duck at Da Dong and loved it also.

 

In terms of Black Sesame Kitchen, where we ate as well -- it is not a Peking Duck restaurant or a restaurant at all. It is, as noted above, a cooking school that has private dining by reservation on Friday nights (and other nights if you can get a group together). It's very small and located in the Hutongs (an incredible experience just for that). We had a ten-course gourmet Chinese meal served family style.(They described the food as "northern Imperial Chinese cuisine.") Part of the amazing experience is that you eat at a table next to the tiny kitchen and watch the two chefs make this incredible meal for you. It was, hands down, THE BEST Chinese food we've ever eaten, and one of the best meals we've ever had, anywhere.

 

This is their web site:

 

http://blacksesamekitchen.com/

 

Here is Black Sesame Kitchen's Chef Chairman Wang (as they call her) making the most delicious fried dumplings we've ever eaten in our lives and probably ever will eat:

 

 

And here is our duck being carved tableside at Made in China:

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[Turtles06]

My wife and I will be in Beijing later this month and we would like to know which restaurants are highly recommended (or to be avoided) for Peking Duck. Also, how are the prices?

 

Thanks

 

See my post above re where to eat. We found the prices for food in China to be relatively inexpensive when compared with what we'd pay in the US to dine out (and we certainly haven't found Peking Duck or other Chinese food this good in the US).

 

For example, the Friday night wine 'n dine at Black Sesame Kitchen is now 300RMB per person, which is less than $50 US. And when we ate there in May, the price included wine, beer, and soda.

 

Beijing is a wonderful city. Have a great trip, and let us know if you have other questions.

[CtheW0rld]

da dong. yummy. be sure to order the condiment plate that goes with it. about 30 bucks per person.

[Roses2]

We just returned from our cruise followed by 3+ full days in Beijing. Our advice is to eschew all the fancy tourist restaurants.

 

If you have a private guide ask him/her to take you where he/she regularly eats. That way you have the opportunity to savor real excellent Chinese food -- not that made for toursits. You can get that in any metropolitan US city. We found it to be especially savory (and we are picky) with one of us a vegetarian too.

 

We felt we were there to experience Beijing (had not been there in 33 years) and although we went to all the great tourists sites, plus some off the beaten track like the Mud market, we ate Chinese food with the Chinese and were the only non-Chinese in the restaurants.

 

Of course, this is just our opinion.

 

P&J

[mister exec]

I agree with you. Our lunch at the Noodle King that our guide selected was the best meal we had on our trip - and reasonable. We did go to Da Dong and it was not an enjoyable experience. We received minimal service and the duck was good but not great and the most expensive meal we had - not worth it. They kept rushing us as they had many people waiting and 3 times I had to ask them to not take my plate until I finished. The seafood dish we had which was a whole sweet and sour fish was not too sweet, beautiful and much better than the overpriced duck.

[mister exec]

One more thing... reserve early to get a seat at the Black Sesame cooking school. After reading reviews we tried to get a reservation two weeks in advance and they were full :(

[Chelsea1]

We have just returned from Beijing and stayed at the Grand Hyatt. The hotel was good, but we had dinner at Made In China in the hotel last Sunday night and were not really impressed. The duck was OK, nothing special, and we were not given good advice as to which other dishes to order. It was very expensive and we were rushed and not even allowed to take our remaining bottle of wine to our room in the same hotel! I had a much better lunch at a local restaurant near the China World Trade centre in the business district with friends from work. I would certainly ask for reliable recommendations locally.

[JohnKen3]

A tour guide brought us to an authentic Peking Duck restaurant for the locals and we did not really like it.

 

Best one I found (on a business trip) was at the hotel I was staying in (Hilton Wangfujung) from a recomendation on TripAdvisor. Maybe I have too much of a Western taste. Ordered a whole Peking Duck for just me much to the concern of the restaurant staff. It was truely lovely.