One of my least favourite Peking Duck in town. I am aware of what a GREAT selection of other dishes they have got. But when it comes to DUCK, I never think of Dadong.

The problem is TOO skinny. Maybe many people think less fat is a good thing. But many other people and me just happen to be cholesterol and food lovers. If you imagine a skinny human being, the type skinnier than super models. That's right! It won't feel good to touch or look. When it comes to skinny duck, no good to bite or taste. That's what dadong's duck is - air dried duck sausage!

But it doesn't matter because Dadong's specialist is in other dishes anyways where he wins over other dedicated duck restaurants. I am serious! But bile ginseng and shark fin? Are they necessary? And now Gras? Their latest Dongsishitiao mansion is just a stone away from turning into a western restaurant(shock).

A plate as large as my feet-washing-tub back in college with some random colorful little things in is a typical Dadong dish now. Is it western style or maybe they are just trying to reverse Chinese cuisine back before Song Dynasty(960) when Chinese people ate individually like westerners do today. I don't get it and I don't like it.

Da Dong might be synonymous with roast duck, but his "superlean" glazed foul takes up but one page of the tome-like menu. He's been singled out as one of China's most creative chefs (and recently awarded second best restaurant in China by the Miele Guide), so next time you visit, push the boat out a little. Order a couple of his house creations - the menu's full of Chinese and fusion style seafood, beef and exotic molecular style desserts. Better bring your credit card, too. Creativity doesn't come cheap.

If you want to show someone what is real chinese restaurant (in the better ones category),show them this.

Good duck,hopeless service,stinking enviornment.

I have stopped going here unless have a visitor to make them eat Beijing Duck.

I had heard great things so I was really looking forward to taking our visitor to Da Dong Roast Duck in Dongsi shitiao last night.

As you are not able to book a table, we waited to be seated in the downstairs bar area.
There is a glass wall separating the bar from the duck ovens which is really fantastic. We sat looking directly at all the Chefs as they went about stoking the fires and roasting ducks. Really impressive! At least there was that...

Naturally, we were quite hoping to have a cocktail while we waited to be seated - that proved a challenge. As there was no staff actually working in the waiting area (there were approx. 20 ppl waiting in total) we ordered over the bar, which happens to be the same bar preparing drinks for all the downstairs tables. We waited 15-20 minutes or so without drinks (we followed-up twice during that time) and we were still empty handed by the time our table was ready. We informed the bar to send the drinks upstairs whenever they were ready.

We were then led upstairs and followed the waitress around in a haphazard manner across the restaurant. She clearly did not have a particular table in mind. We were sat at an unset table for 10 (there were 3 of us). It felt a bit odd, so we immediately asked to be moved which they were happy to do. We waited while they cleared and set a smaller table nearby.

Seeing as our drinks still hadn’t arrived we asked for some water. Despite asking again three times over 10-15 minutes, no water was brought. This was made even more frustrating by watching the staff chatting and lingering around by the water station. Our cocktails arrived (25-35 minutes wait in total) before our water was eventually poured and carried the 5 steps to our table. I would definitely have got the water myself (I tried to do so) but the water glasses were not kept at the station and we had no glasses on the table.

By the time we ordered, we were pretty frustrated with the experience so far and although the food was pretty great and the service improved, we still felt that it had been so disappointing to have had such a negative experience in the first hour of our arrival.
Unfortunately, we can never take clients there and I won’t take future guests… it just isn’t reliable enough. It was approx 250RMBpp including drinks. Nice décor and tasty duck, but the atmosphere was disorganized and the value for money was questionable.

Since I consider Beijing Kaoya to be a somewhat overrated dish, when I go out - especially with visiting friends or family - for roast duck I consider the other dishes available to be more important than the duck itself.

Though Dadong's roast duck is excellent, the restaurant's concept has gone in a direction I don't appreciate. The dishes seem to have become more focused on presentation rather than taste, and the prices have gone way up. Dadong used to be just a very nice Chinese restaurant. But now it seems Chef Dadong is trying (actually, probably succeeding) to become the premier Chinese restaurant in Beijing.

He is very innovative, and his dishes are quite impressive, until I taste them. His target audience seems to be Chinese customers, which of course makes sense, and Chinese are far more concerned with the appearance of their food than I am. But for me, it's all about taste, and the new menu just doesn't appeal to my American palate nearly as well as the menu of a few years ago. I just don't think the food tastes as good as it used to, and it's obviously more expensive than ever.

Though I consider Dadong to be an excellent restaurant, and 100% authentic, I'll be taking my visiting foreign guests to places like Huajia Yiyuan and Xiao Wang Fu in the future.

4 out of 5