Peking Duck in Beijing

[889]

Quanjude at Qianmen roasted its last duck on April 24. Presumably it will re-open when reconstruction of Qianmen Dajie is complete.

[adrianlondon]

At 158 RMB

Wow, Dadong has ut the price up a lot. Someone told me they'd done that (claiming that the previous price was a "special offer") but now I have confirmation. It was 90y when I went this time last year.

[cdn_in_bj]

Wow, Dadong has ut the price up a lot

Yeah, it's called the "laowai effect" - it was mostly foreigners there when I went.

[adrianlondon]

It had "90RMB" written in the menu when I (and other laowai friends) went. So I don't think it's just cos your party was too foreign looking.

[cdn_in_bj]

Poor choice of wording there on my part, "laowai effect", as that can imply discrimination*. What I meant was their prices going up because they cater primarily to foreigners and realizing they could get away with the price hike.

* such as going to the Great Wall and being charged 20 RMB for a bottle of coke when the local just ahead of you was "only" charged 5 RMB.

[Long Zhiren]

cdn_in_bj wrote in October 2007:

I went back to 鸭王 a few days ago with a friend who was visiting and the duck was superb. We had the "traditional roast duck" which was 128 RMB for the whole duck

It went up in price. I went to 鸭王 this last Sunday night, January 20, 2008. The whole duck now goes for 168 RMB. It was the best Peking Duck that I've ever had--which doesn't mean much really. Pancakes cost extra, etc. I've never been in a restaurant where anywhere near as many ducks kept rolling by on carts...

As for 全聚德烤鸭店 Quanjude, this appears available ready-cooked in bags for take-out at the supermarket next to the 加州牛肉面 at 北京站. I forgot to look at the price.

Speaking of 加州牛肉面, 15RMB for 牛肉面 is a pretty good deal. 5RMB more gets you 600ml of ice cold 青島啤酒. Now, that is a "Happy Meal."

[citywayne]

Don't know if this is too late for the OP, but here is a link to Chowhounds re: Peking Duck in Beijing: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/309711

It's been 3 years, but we had Peking Duck at a place that was a few blocks south of Tien An Men Square. Sorry, I can't remember the name. It was with a tour. I do remember that it was rather fatty and the skin was real greasy also. A big tourist trap ... with a lot of certificates on the wall, as well as celebrity pictures.

But hey we were having a great time. A chef came out and carved the duck in front of us. Good pancakes, but I can't comment on the accompanyments, since I don't have any reference point. It was the only PK duck we had the entire trip.