The conversation for where to go for Beijing's best duck pretty much begins and ends with Da Dong. There aren't other spots that can offer this kind of consistency and quality and across multiple restaurants. It isn't just Da Dong's duck that's great, the entire menu serves as an excellent example of modern Chinese food and would make a hell of a food porn book. The experience is not cheap, but as a splurge every now and then, its well worth it. After having Beijing relatives say that having eaten duck for many years, only after eating Da Dong did they realize how special the experience could be did I realize this was the spot for duck.

I went to DaDong recently for a welcome dinner and I was thoroughly impressed with the restaurant even coming from New York City. The decor is elegant--white table cloths and marble floors evoke a classic upscale restaurant feel and it manages to retain a Chinese air as well--and I found the presentation of the food to be equally pleasing. I would particularly recommend the smoked salmon appetizer, which came in the shape of a flower and was surrounded by some fried dough kind of like a Japanese dish.

I don't consider myself a duck connoisseur, but I wasn't particularly impressed by the duck. It was flavorful and the skin was crispy, but it didn't seem that different from the other top duck restaurants in Beijing (like quanjude). Also, the presentation of the duck, while cool, didn't actually seem to taste that good (particularly the demonstration when skin is put into straight sugar, which was pretty gross I thought). Overall, it's a beautiful dinner but not worth the pretty hefty price tag.

I went there twice, both restaurants can be easily found. I think it is more suitable for business lunch or dinner, and their food is more western catered.

Well, the ducks are quite good with variety of eating methods. The delegation of French president visit to China has choosen their to taste the Peking duck.

All the food are deeply flavored, toothsome, neither too spicy nor too bland,Cold shredded jellyfish is just a delivery system for the salty vinegar of its sauce.

OK, of course this place is expensive. But there's a reason it's so well-known and everyone keeps going. It's really a treat to take visitors to Beijing here and watch them be astonished by the massive menu (although less fun: waiting for them to read the menu in its entirety and try to decide which dishes to order).

The duck here is quite good, although only slightly better than other (cheaper) places I've been, in my opinion. Other dishes are good, though many of them are quite small, so be sure to order several dishes if you have a large group.

The last time I went, we were given complimentary dessert (a type of sorbet) and then brought a cold fruit tray, which may have had the best cherries I've ever had. The presentation is obviously the most important element this restaurant is selling, and in that sense, they do not come up short.

Of course, it's always best to take guests here because then hopefully they will foot the bill for you in exchange for you being their tour guide around Beijing :)

Just got back from an enjoyable meal at this restaurant. Nice roast duck and good table service but I almost died when we got the bill. The local mineral water (750ml) cost 80 - yes 80 (eighty) yuan - that's US$11.70. Unbelievable. I never thought to ask about the price when we ordered it. We've had mineral water all over the world; London, Paris, Rome, French Riviera, you name it but never paid anything like that. It really took the edge off an otherwise enjoyable night. We felt ripped off; wished we'd checked but who could have imagined.
So, enjoy the duck by all means but don't order the mineral water. Even the Evian was 60 yuan for 1 litre. I can't work it out, as water is generally not expensive in Beijing. Be careful at this restaurant; it may mess up your night, too.

Ate her in a private room with about 7-8 colleagues. The private room has a surcharge, but is nice if your group is large and gets you private servers. We were fawned over, excellent service. Beer flowed freely as continuously different dishes were rolled in.

The menu is extensive, large with page-sized pictures, with many things none of us had ever heard of before. Elegant plating. We considered the turtle soup but by then we'd ordered so much food we were afraid we wouldn't finish it. Had my "braised jellyfish" here, which was tasty and a very interesting texture. Also some spicy fish, lotus hearts, a couple of ducks, etc. etc. In total we must have ordered around 12-15 different dishes.

Whole meal took us probably around 3-4 hours, but was totally worth it. With all the restaurants in Beijing to choose from, I wouldn't be surprised if someone found something better, but for somebody in town for a week or so, this is an excellent place to have quite spectacular Chinese food in a fancy setting.

Dongsishitiao location.

Can't deny that Da Dong is up there with the best duck restaurants in Beijing. Not sure that the hype is totally justified - I don't think there's much setting it apart from the likes of Duck de Chine and even Quanjude (Made in China is for my money the best, though again it's a matter of details) - but haven't been let down by the few visits I've paid to their Nanxincang branch.

I think the sheer size of their menu is a big plus and points to possible great things. Only problem is that you never get the chance to order anything else because, well, you come for the duck, right?

We've been to two Peking Duck restaurants in Beijing and although we have our favorite of the two (Xi He Ya Yuan in ZhongGuanCun: http://www.xiheyayuan.com/demoe.htm), we wanted to give other restaurants a try. So we made a reservation at Da Dong in DongSiShiTiao. It was a little hard to find (the entrance of the restaurant is on the back side of the building), so I stopped a couple and asked them if they knew where the restaurant was. I said the name (not knowing the tones) and they had never heard of it! So I said "very famous Peking Duck restaurant". They laughed and said, the most famous restaurant was QuanJuDe! Luckily, they saw from a far the name of the restaurant in Chinese and pointed us in the right direction.

We saw others comment not to even try too many of the side dishes as they look better than they taste, so we stuck to the duck. We ordered half a duck (99RMB, literally half the price of a whole duck), a side of pea vine (42-ish RMB), and Yangzhou Fried Rice (18RMB per bowl). The duck was very good, but honestly, we couldn't differentiate between Da Dong's duck and Xi He Ya Yuan's. So here's why we choose hands-down Xi He Ya Yuan over Da Dong.

1) Condiments: At Da Dong, you pay 8RMB each for a plate of condiments. With half a duck, I had to ration my condiments or I'd run out. At Xi He Ya Yuan, you're given a huge rotating tray of condiments, included in the price, and you won't run out. And if you did, I'm sure you could ask for more w/out being charged.

2) Soup: Duck soup is included at both restaurants. At Da Dong, you're given one individual bowl of broth and maybe a few pieces of greens. At Xi He Ya Yuan, you're given a large bowl (enough to feed the entire table PLUS) including broth, meat, veggies, etc. The soup is quite bland at Da Dong and flavorful at Xi He Ya Yuan.

3) Price: If we went to Da Dong to eat duck only, we would pay for half a duck 98RMB, 2 plates of condiments 16RMB, and 10% service charge on all foods, totaling: 125.4RMB. At Xi He Ya Yuan, a WHOLE duck costs 138RMB, includes condiments and there is NO surcharge. So, 125.4RMB for half a duck verses 138RMB for a whole duck at Xi He Ya Yuan.

4) Ambiance: Da Dong's restaurant is nice and clean, no qualms there. I didn't use the bathroom, thank goodness, so I can't comment on that. Xi He Ya Yuan's restaurant is a bit cozier, however, and is built inside of an old Chinese courtyard (very historic, very beautiful). It's very clean, as are the bathrooms, and doesn't feel touristy at all. I've been there a few times and haven't seen any other foreigners but us.

So if you're willing to take a little trek out to ZhongGuanCun for duck, you will not regret it! Choose Xi He Ya Yuan over Da Dong!

Duck was good ,I was taken by someone and had warned go just for food.
We were there , and the duck was great,soft.The other chinese dishes okay too.
The waiters seemed to be too tired to give any service.

Go for duck.