Da Dong {Beiing, China}

How often do you get to eat some of the best Peking duck in the world four times in one week?

I personally don't love Peking duck (if you haven't picked up by now, I'm not a huge meat eater), but it's one of Bryan's favorite foods, so while we were in the mecca of Peking Duck Land, it seemed imperative that we at least check out the best places.

There are several of those.

We only had a week in Beijing.

So guess what? We ended up eating Peking duck almost every night.

I already described in a previous post Bryan's favorite Peking duck restaurant in China. Although I agree that Made In China has a beautiful ambiance, excellent duck, and superb service, I personally enjoyed my experience at Da Dong the most.

Unlike Made In China, which is beautiful, high-class, and quite westernized in many ways (it IS in the Grand Hyatt Hotel after all), Da Dong feels like the authentic Asian deal. It's bright, loud, and the service is fast. The space is still very nice, but you don't feel like you have to step lightly, use low voices, or keep your elbows off the table. For me, that meant I felt more comfortable in my casual outfit (Domo!) and much more at ease in general.

The menu itself is HUGE (literally, look at the picture!) and is filled with mouthwatering photos of TONS of dishes. Even though their duck is very famous, they actually have a diverse menu full of many interesting dishes. All the dishes are plated beautifully, and the menu is truly a delight just to peruse. Thankfully, it's written in English too!

Of course we ordered a Peking duck. Their ducks are unique in that they are super lean. Unlike most Peking duck, which is fatty, Da Dong's signature dish is the "Extra-lean Peking Duck." The duck is refreshingly flavorful and crisp yet not fatty at all.

Bryan still preferred the duck at Made In China, which was a bit juicer (ha ha, probably due to extra fat?). However, the duck here is still VERY GOOD and definitely a joy to eat.

What's also cool is that their servers teach you how to eat Peking Duck if you've never had it before. For example, in Beijing you are supposed to dip the skin in sugar and eat it plain. No wrappers, no sauce. You then make little "rolls" with the wrappers using duck meat from either the breast or the leg. Add hoisin sauce, scallions, cucumbers, or whatever you fancy. There are a number of different types of wrappers you can make. For example, you can also use the mashed garlic, pickled vegetables, or any other combination of the condiments that they bring you.

Here's Bryan willing to get his hands dirty to dig into his favorite food. [Bryan usually HATES getting his hands dirty and won't even eat oranges if he has to peel them.]

They also gave us these fun little sesame puffs. The puffs were completely empty inside so you could fill them with some duck and veggies to make a little sandwich.

As I mentioned earlier, Da Dong has an amazing selection of other types of food, which is actually the main reason I like Da Dong more than the other Peking Duck places we tried. As I flipped through the menu I wanted to order everything but knew I couldn't. Next to me I saw a table of 10 who had ordered up a storm. I was so jealous!!

We ordered just a few extra dishes. Each dish is presented beautifully and is surprisingly really reasonably-priced. I think all of our side dishes were well under $10 US each.  Above, a beautiful braised eggplant.

Fun little tofu starters. The yellow one is more of a tofu custard with a spicy/savory meat sauce inside. The white one is traditional silken soft tofu with a savory black sauce inside (seaweed maybe? I can't remember). Both were absolutely delicious.

Of course, you end with a bowl of delicious, creamy duck soup.

I was already super pleased with this place when they brought out the free desserts!

I almost cracked up at the over-the-top presentation. You can't really tell from the picture, but there's DRY ICE below the grapes. As they bring you your plate, white wisps of gas billow out, surrounding the grapes in this sort of unreal glow.

And it's STILL not over! Next came the free sweet corn ice cream. I know this may sound gross to some of you, but it was FANTASTIC! I love the sweet creamy taste of corn already and I love ice cream, so it was inevitable that I would totally love this dessert. I ate both mine and Bryan's, heh heh.

Overall, my total experience at Da Dong was super fun and relaxed. Not only is the Peking duck excellent, the entire experience is fun. From the front row "show" of the duck carving to the beautifully presented dishes and the wacky desserts at the end, I just had a great time there.

I think I also felt relaxed because the prices are so reasonable. True, the duck costs about the same as the duck at Made In China (around 200RMB a duck, or $30 US). However, the rest of the dishes were really reasonable, and you get so many random freebies it's actually an excellent value.

Definitely check this place out if you have time while you're in Beijing. It was one of my favorite restaurants there, and I would happily go back with a large crowd to sample all the other dishes if I had a chance. I believe they have several locations throughout Beijing. We went to the one in Chaoyang, which was near our hotel.

This is part 6 of the China Series detailing my recent trip to Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai. 
Other posts in this series: 
part 1: Wander the Streets of Beijing
part 2: Xian'r Lao Man (Dumplings)
part 3: Made in China {Peking Duck}
part 4: Noodle Bar
part 5: Bao Yuan Dumpling
China: Lost in Translation
Happy Birthday Bryan: an Ode to Noodles and Ducks