北京烤鸭 (Beijing Roast Duck)

Outside the restaurant.

A mandatory item on any Beijing traveler's checklist is a visit to the famous 全聚德 Quanjude Restaurant. Beijing roast duck is perhaps one of the defining dishes of Chinese cuisine; served to emperors for the past 5 centuries (and US presidents and foreign dignitaries for the past 50 years), 烤鸭 (roast duck) is certainly worth its somewhat expensive price tag.


At Quanjude.

Last Friday, a group of us Yalies from different programs in Beijing met up to eat roast duck. The first thing I notice when I entered the building is that 全聚德 does not play around when it comes to roast duck. With six floors of seating and several waitresses, carvers and chefs running around, 全聚德 certainly means business.

Three minutes after ordering two roast ducks for the eight of us, two carvers promptly rolled their carts next to our table and began carving away. Since Quanjude goes through millions of 烤鸭 in a year, both these carvers certainly know how to partition the ducks into the perfectly sized pieces.


Our two carvers.


Carving the duck.

Beijing Duck is usual served with simple flour pancakes, green onions, and a sweet bean paste. The exact flavor of Beijing duck is difficult to describe as it falls somewhere close to a savory-salty-sweet-melt-in-your-mouth-deliciousness.


Pancake + sauce + roast duck + green onion in its pre-rolled-up form.

The best part of the duck is the skin, which is usually eaten alone. Fatty and crunchy the skin disintegrates the moment it hits your mouth. Simply delicious.


The Skin.

Dumpling Count: 51