I highly recommend going to Da Dong. A friend of the family took me there and the duck was absolutely amazing. Even my friend from the US who's never had duck before loved it. It wasn't too oily like some of the other places.

Da Dong is pretty good, but the sauce there is a little different. Might be good-different or bad-different depending on your taste. Personally, I like Ya Wang on Jianguomen. XiaoWangFu also makes a pretty good duck.

da dong = fancy modern dining room (for those fanatical about hygiene or easily grossed out by greasy walls and disgusting toilet facilities)

li qun = dingy hutong style dining room (rustic, old-Beijing style) ... seems more authentic, tasty, but definitely lacking modern conveniences (that's all part of the fun ... esp the trip down the hutongs trying to find the place)

In my opinion li qun is also tastier

Ya.. it isn't. I just had dinner over there a few days ago and i was really shocked at their food and service. The food isn't as good as before, although it's still considered decent.

Service? well, i asked to waitress to give me some more chrysanthemum because my tea was turning from dark green to .. translucent. Ya.. she took tea pot, filled it up with water and came back without telling me she didn't add any leaves until i asked her. I asked her why she didn't add any tea leaves and she basically said she can't give any more. So then we called the manager and the manager was pretty reluctant in the beginning to give us more leaves... but then she did give in and guess how many she gave us??? She ended up giving us "THREE" yes.. 3 more chrysanthemum leaves. man.. we paid like more than 4 -500 rmb for the whole meal and they're being cheap on the leaves.. dunno.. i dun think i'm going back to that restaurant.. if u're a tea lover like me.. u might as well BYOT (bring your own tea) instead!

but don't count on my word.. why don't you go and see for yourself!!!

Went to Quan Ju De last night and the service was appalling! we waited 20mins to get served, an hour and 10 mins for the duck and then they even spent 20 mins getting the bill- then had the cheek to put a 10%service charge on top!
It was terrible. Although the duck was tasty it was very small. All the condiments were great.

Had been to Li Qun previously where I had to pre-order by an hour- but the place is tiny so I can understand the need. Here, apart from the minging decor (which was OK for me- but not for my parents!), i didn't rate the pancakes (too thick) and the cucumber was cut into huge wedges.

next stop Da Dong, then the Hyatt.....