Beijing Roast Duck
Might be better known to some as ‘Peking Duck,’ but ‘Beijing Roast Duck’ is the full translation of the Chinese name. Needless to say, it’s a bit of a specialty of the city, and Beijing Roast Duck restaurants abound.
I usually use ‘breaking culinary news’ to announce something upsetting or unusual, so this time I thought I’d give equal billing to what was an excellent meal.
Last week I mentioned to some friends that I hadn’t yet had the dish, which is practically a crime for anyone who has spent more then 12 hours in the city. Neither of them had either, so we made plans with a couple of longer-term Beijing residents to go out for dinner tonight.
The restaurant itself, Li Qun, seems fairly authentic. It’s an old, old courtyard house in a pretty battered looking hutong that must be a couple hundred years of age. From the piles of new bricks, the neighborhood looks like it may be in line for a renovation, but it certainly is REAL Beijing, from the tall grasses growing out of the roofs of the houses down to the kids playing in the street and the residents gathered in small clusters sitting on the sidewalks.
On the other hand, the restaurant is probably only 4-5 blocks southeast of Tienanmen Square, and I think it’s become one of those ‘authentic’ places that gets ‘discovered’ and then fills up with ‘tourists’ as the ‘prices’ go through the ‘roof.’ This impression was borne out by the review my coworkers were reading during the hour cab ride to get there through rush hour - the phrase
I recognized was ‘laowai hen dwah hen dwah’ - many, many white people.
