Re: Da Dong. I didn’t think it was in the running for best duck in Beijing, but hey, I only went to three places and I’m no expert on duck.
That said, it was a hell of a restaurant, and a great foodie experience. Couple of highlights below.
Wasabi duck feet. Crazy dish, but tasted great. Gotta be ready for the texture thought…
This mushroom/broth dish was amazing. My friend talked about picking these same types of mushrooms out on a mountain side when he was a kid, so I may have gotten caught up in the nostalgia thing
I’ve cooked several steak dinners for my friends that took me out; this was their payback. Chinese equivalent of Kobe. Was very good, but I don’t want to know what the price point was.
Vegetables were incredibly fresh. This was a pretty simple dish and believe me when I say I’m generally a red meat kind of guy… but this was fantastic.
Same thing here, insert shrimp.
As noted, I never saw a bill, so can’t speak to that. I can tell you it was a great dining experience.
Other note, seemingly random, but I don’t want to make another post - if you’re going to see Chairman Mao, bring your passport. I still managed to get in, but blowing past security with your thumb over a Chinese guy’s face on his national ID card is generally not a recommended approach Fortunately, I made it inside before the guard could catch up with me.
A few good and interesting places I recently found:
Hang Teng Ge Li - Xinjiang food in the Xinjiang provincial government representative office in Beijing, a short walk from the Bai Shi Qiao South subway stop. Serves a mean da pan ji, wicked lamb kebabs, tasty breads, and a great lamb and rice dish.
Fuzhou City of Jiangxi province representative office - somewhere in Fengtai. Never had this food before. The food was at turns spicy like neighboring Hunan (a wicked hot mi fen dish), but also featured light and delicate soups and stews that would fit in a Zhejiang restaurant.
Din Tai Fung - many locations of this Tawainese xiao long bao chain in Beijing, I’m sure. A nice one in the Parkview Green building close to Ritan Park.
Caspi - get your Azerbaijani fix in a little walking mall directly across the north gate to Ritan Park. A bit like persian, a bit like turkish, and a nice break from chinese.
Xibei You Mian Cun - several locations. Go for the oat noodles dressed with lamb sauce and an eggplant/tomato sauce.
Pleasant Seascape Restaurant - perhaps the best food I’ve had in Beijing. Mostly cantonese style dishes - excellent honey glazed roast pork, scallops stir-fried with asparagus, lilly bulb and gingko nuts, and a vinegary salad of manchurian wild rice. On the 3rd floor of the shopping mall attached to the Financial Street Ritz-Carlton, on the opposite side.
I am not sure for how long, but for anyone like me who glanced at this ‘old’ thread and went out in Shanghai, both Din Tai Fung and Crystal Jade are currently closed in Xiantiandi (the entire 2/3 floors of the building are closed).
Xiantiandi was a great place to walk around, and ended up getting a Didi to DTF in Kerry Centre.
Fortunately, I made it inside before the guard could catch up with me.![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
![[oops.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/1/1f129ddad071ffe5db6c99817c3cab666035a70a.gif "oops"){kind=small}