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!
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