Selling itself on the claim that its birds (RMB 198 per whole duck) are leaner than those of other roast duck joints, Da Dong’s two classy branches more or less bookend the 2km strip between Changhong Qiao and Dongsishitiao. Arguments will never cease as to which kitchen produces Beijing’s best roast ducks, but Da Dong’s ability to transcend the duck genre is marked by its repeated wins as "Best Chinese Restaurant of the Year" in the Beijinger’s annual Reader Restaurant Awards. Try dipping a slice of duck in the sugar provided alongside other condiments – somehow, it works beautifully. The 160-page menu is a work of art in itself, with a plethora of duck dishes backed up by vegetable dishes, soups and more. If you’re only going to eat duck once in Beijing, book a table – or else be prepared to wait for one – at Da Dong. Voted best "Chinese Restaurant of the Year," "Beijing Duck" and "Best for Impressing Visitors" in the 2011 Reader Restaurant Awards.
Location
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- Beijing
- Beijing Duck
- Contemporary Chinese
- tbj Reader Restaurant Award Winners
- Dongsishitiao-东四十条
- Tuanjiehu-团结湖
User reviews of Da Dong Roast Duck 北京大董烤鸭店
Don't expect drinks
The food was good, some of the vegetable dishes more on the cold side of hot. We went twice so far and both times were unable to order wine or water easily. What was the most upsetting on the first visit was we were going here for a important and special occassion, the parents were over and the meal followed an extremely testing and difficult day for them. This was the reason we chose this place, as we heard it was the best in Beijing and we needed somewhere reliable, and professionally run. The restaurant fell short on both accounts. The first time we asked 4 times for water, in English and Chinese, and only until I asked the waiter in Chinese if he understood water and if they had it or not that we were finally given any! The most puzzling thing is warm water is so common in Chinese restaurants that I still dont understand the confusion/lack of bringing any. We thought at first it was the waiting staff of the night as we had come in late so maybe they were being difficult. However this was repeated on the second visit, and eventually we had to settle for overpriced bottled water just to quench out thirst. The second issues was ordering wine. On both visits, it took three attempts to order wine. Either they didnt understand what bottle we ordered, or they didnt have it. I am not unreasonable, being out of stock/not understanding is ok no problem. The issue was it took 1.5 hours to finally get a bottle of wine as there was long delays in coming back to let us know to chose another bottle. The second visit was not as bad but still not acceptable for a higher end restaurant, particularly when both visits, the restaurant was not even half full and was fully staffed (if anything was over staffed). I would suggest going for the experience but bring a bottle of water with you, and maybe a hip flask of wine!
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Da Dong is Da Meh
Food was mediocre at best, as compared to pricing. This is the 4th Duck place I have in eaten in Beijing since moving here. As I have just recently found out it is my new treat and go to dish. But of all the places, I was least impressed with this one. Service was not bad. It was portion size and pricing. Seemed as other places have hit the nail on the head - As far as pricing, quality, and consistency. I am not sure I will be back. Like I said, there are others out there that have done the job.
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Beijing roast duck, da dong restaurant supreme
As a tourist, to find great Beijing Roast Duck ?
When I'm in China, I use China Travel Service, it's the best for meeting tourists' requirements. I and a friend arranged a one day tour to travel in Beijing, private car , driver and your guide..
I asked my travel guide Miss Candy, where , can I find there today ?
She said " Da Dong, but it's fully booked, every night, I'll try to us get in tonight "
My feeling was .. Umm , can she arrange ?
.
We got there real early and waited until they opened for the evening , we could dine but had to finish by a certain time as the table was YES , already booked.
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My reaction, as I enjoy Beijing roast duck, was.
Yes, let's eat, so my friend , me , Candy and the driver
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We went in, Wonderful !! This was an unbelievable sight, seductive blue lighting, impeccable decor, generous size tables, very attentive waitresses, we sunk into the comfortable seats.
....
LA, the huge menu offered superb range of mouth watering dishes.. Where to start?
Ah Hah!! I used a Kiwi-trick.. "What would you like to eat?"
CTS to the rescue.. Candy said " recommend xxxx"
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We had a range of wonderful entrees,
Chicken, several other dishes and Da Dong's speciality Beijing Roast Duck with light fragrant Chinese tea.
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The waitress ushered in each dish when it was ready.
..
I wanted to enjoy this special time and went to see the special focus area, where cooks gently roasted in, four large roasting ovens, each taking four ducks at a time,.
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Soon a chef arrived at our table, presented the fragrant roast duck and with a flourish carefully started to slice the duck the waitress brought these to us, . feathery light pancakes with condiments, we gently wrapped these and enjoyed every mouthful.
.. A diners delight.. .
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Too soon our time was up,
My friend and I paid the bill,, four diners, for less than US$120, a bargain .
I floated out, happy
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Overall, I was impressed,, great taste, great food with best service.. Beijing at its best
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New Restaurant "Taste of Dadong" - terrible service and feeling of being ripped-off
We've been going to DaDong for quite some times, and as friends came to visit us we wanted to try the new " Taste of DaDong" restaurant. What a huge deception... As nobody told us you have to order the duck 1 day in advance when we made the reservation, we had to wait for more than 1hour and a half (staff told us 1 hour when we ordered...) to get a "baby duck", which was in fact just skin and 2 legs... When we complained about it, the staff told us it was normal and that it was a special 2 days old duck, when facing more complaints (and the fact that there was no way it was a 2 DAYS old duck...) they just keep pretending it was normal to be given that for 288RMB.
I strongly advised to stay away from this new concept, as it feels really like a scam and we were graciously offered 3 egg tarts (and unfortunately bad ones) to make us forget about the really long waiting time...
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Appalling
Had to serve wine for our table twice as staff walked by a number of times while glasses were empty. Then finally filled glasses but left the bottle out of the ice bucket do I had to walk over and put it back in! This after having to ask twice for our pancakes 20 mins after our duck arrived! No apologise just surely service. Never going back!
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- 847 reads
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