To me, this is more than just a pilgrimage to the best roasted duck in Beijing. In fact, I am more interested in some of Da Dong's other signature dishes which I heard, have incorporated molecular gastronomy techniques into the mix.
Out of the many Da Dong branches, we picked this one on Jinbao Street for two very different reasons - (1) It's fairly close to our hotel and (2) It's perched inside a quiet commercial building so we hope the place should be less crowded (boy are we wrong!).
But we ended up missing our 6:30 reservation and the waiting staff made us wait all over again - a total of one and a half hours!
One could easily tell Da Dong is quite different from any traditional roast duck restaurants. Just look at the interior décor, you knew they have added a contemporary touch to tradition (same like their cuisine perhaps?).
Chef Dong is in pretty selected company. Just look left and right - Alain Ducasse and Joel Robuchon!
They still insisted to have those ducks roasted in brick ovens along with fruit woods to enhance the smoke flavors.
Around RMB100 for a private room, am I reading this right?
As planned, we started off with a few Da Dong signature starters before our roasted duck. This one called Cherry foie gras were basically little foie gras balls coated with hawthorne berry sauce. Chef Dong showing off one of his molecular gastronomic recipes and it was a brilliant dish (8/10).
Asparagus soup with sea urchin - Silky smooth texture and it worked rather well with the rich flavor from the fresh sea urchin (7/10).
Boiled amaranth and spring pears with olive oil - Yes you got that right. Amaranth and spring pears sounded like an odd couple but it meshed rather well in the soupy broth (6/10).
Now the moment we have all been waiting for - Da Dong's "Super Lean" Roasted Duck. It comes with a whole duck, half a duck or even 1/4 of a duck.
Very nice aroma from the fruit wood. The meat was so tender, savory, mouthwatering...I am running out of words (7.5/10).
We had a quick pre-dessert, a corn sorbet before our 'real' dessert.
A traditional tiramisu at a chinese restaurant? It was surprisingly pretty tasty. Especially liked the Chinese twist with the sugar coated fruits (5.5/10).
As expected, Da Dong is more than just a one-trick pony. Other than the savory Peking duck, there's still plenty more to choose from. But one word of advice, make sure you make an advance booking. You will regret it if you don't.
Food Rating: 7/10
Price: ¥ ¥ ¥
Address: No.88 Jinbao Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China
Closest Metro Station: Dengshikou
Tel: +86 (10) 8522-1111 / 1234
Website: www.dadongdadong.com/en
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