The final city on a packed itinerary was Beijing. With business out of the way early afternoon, there was time to have a wander round the city. The added bonus was that my colleagues had an evening engagement so I was free to find somewhere to eat by myself. Although this trip happened at fairly short notice I had been advised to visit Da Dong by @londontastin. Booking a table was not possible for the early sitting but later reservations were available so I went for it.
Da Dong is in Jinbao Street in Dongcheng, a short walk from downtown Beijing. Jinbao Street is intended to be an upmarket designer label destination shopping area and is home to car dealerships for most of the luxury brands. There were millions of pounds worth of cars on display from Rolls Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin, FFF Pagani, Ferrari and Maserati , all within a very short distance. Lamborghini & Bugatti shared the same premises but the Bugattis were kept upstairs so they could not be seen from the street. A personal highlight was seeing a couple of Koenigsegg cars for the first time. Once I’d tired of pressing my face up against car dealerships’ windows, it was time to get some food. It turned out that the restaurant is actually on the 5th floor of the Jinbao Place shopping mall and was only accessible by lift within the mall.
Da Dong is in Jinbao Street in Dongcheng, a short walk from downtown Beijing. Jinbao Street is intended to be an upmarket designer label destination shopping area and is home to car dealerships for most of the luxury brands. There were millions of pounds worth of cars on display from Rolls Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin, FFF Pagani, Ferrari and Maserati , all within a very short distance. Lamborghini & Bugatti shared the same premises but the Bugattis were kept upstairs so they could not be seen from the street. A personal highlight was seeing a couple of Koenigsegg cars for the first time. Once I’d tired of pressing my face up against car dealerships’ windows, it was time to get some food. It turned out that the restaurant is actually on the 5th floor of the Jinbao Place shopping mall and was only accessible by lift within the mall.
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The dining room at Da Dong is vast and the route to the tables goes past a huge duck roasting area and bar. The menu is given to you but Da Dong works on the assumption that you’re going to order their roast duck because that is what they’re famed for. This means that they ask whether you want a full or half duck about the same time as you order drinks and before you’re really settled. The menu is a huge hardback book that is wonderful to leaf through. Every page has large clear photographs of the dishes and some of them looked stunning. They were so tempting that it meant I had to try something other than the duck.
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First to arrive at the table was the half roasted duck. A chef carves the meat table side and presents it as thinly sliced breast on a bed of lettuce on one plate with wing and leg on another. Each portion comes with a generous serving of pancakes and a couple of hollow sesame buns. The condiments for inclusion in each pancake included sweet sauce, shallots, garlic paste, pickles, radish and cucumber. White sugar was available for dipping the skin in. The wait staff were very helpful in showing the correct way to assemble the pancake with the sauce, vegetables and duck. The duck was tender and delicious although I could take or leave the skin-only slices. But overall this was great and I could happily have eaten more.
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Also ordered were sautéed deep fried prawns that turned up once the duck was carved and set on the table. The very lightly battered prawns were tossed in rice wine and vinegar and served with spring onions. The plate also included strawberry slices that seemed incongruous but the plump, juicy prawns were sweet enough that they partnered well together.
Around this time it was obvious that the late sitting was not the ideal time to eat at Da Dong. As I finished my mains, the duck roasting area was disassembled and washed down while there seemed to be a general push to get the remaining tables to finish up. There was no real pressure but the wait staff disappeared to focus on clearing tables and there was no doubt that the restaurant was focused on moving into clean-up mode.
Dessert was not ordered but the restaurant provided chilled strawberries served over dry ice for a bit of theatre. This was a nice end to the meal so long as you could shut out the clean-up activities.
Dessert was not ordered but the restaurant provided chilled strawberries served over dry ice for a bit of theatre. This was a nice end to the meal so long as you could shut out the clean-up activities.
Overall verdict.
The visit to Da Dong was a very pleasant experience until they started to clean up and you got the sense that your presence was no longer necessary. The food was good and I would have loved to try more things. The signature roast duck was definitely worth searching out.
Would I revisit Da Dong?
I really hope I get the opportunity to go back although the choice between going for duck again and trying other items would be tough. I could see the menu working its magic though. If there is a next time then booking early to avoid the later sitting is definitely the better approach.
Overall Rating - 3.5/5
The visit to Da Dong was a very pleasant experience until they started to clean up and you got the sense that your presence was no longer necessary. The food was good and I would have loved to try more things. The signature roast duck was definitely worth searching out.
Would I revisit Da Dong?
I really hope I get the opportunity to go back although the choice between going for duck again and trying other items would be tough. I could see the menu working its magic though. If there is a next time then booking early to avoid the later sitting is definitely the better approach.
Overall Rating - 3.5/5
